Tag Archives: discrimination

Being Trans in Brazil: Prejudice and Murder

Summer brought a glitter ball of worldwide Pride events, and in Brazil they held the biggest Pride going. However looking past the partying, we sometimes forget about the day-to-day bravery of transgender people, and the discrimination they face.

Our world has yet to take those accepting steps towards equality, and finally turn its back on discrimination. In ‘accepting’ LGBT countries, the murder of trans women is still rising, and in Brazil abuse is a daily occurrence.

In Brazil there is no word for transgender people – it is just ‘transvestite’, which is also the word used to discriminate against trans women.

Although Brazil has laws in place to protect the trans community, in practice people say and do otherwise. Trans women are freely ridiculed in the media, and in TV ‘novellas’, the nations favorite viewing, they are stereotyped as a comedy fool or street prostitute.

This prejudice doesn’t stop there, it runs deep. Families often see trans family members as a disgrace, leaving them without support and homes. The educational system and foster homes discriminate as well.

According to Grupo Gay da Bahia, every two days a LGBT person is brutally murdered in Brazil. According to the statistics only 2% of these attackes were aimed at lesbians. Most of them are on trans people.

The problem is that people do not report such crimes. In general Brazil’s police is rather weak in the face of the large scale of crimes and corruption, as well as their own prejudices. In fact, a large amount of hate crimes in Brazil are initiated by the police. This often prevents people from reporting them at all.

The largest crime committed is rape of lesbian women. If the woman comes forward the crime will never be seen as homophobia, but solely as rape by definition.

The truth is, Brazil is far less accepting than people think. The law may seem friendly, but people continue to discriminate and commit hate crimes again the LGBT community.

Twitter Users’ Hilarious #BisexualFacts to Mark Bisexuality Visibility Week

For the second year in a row, Twitter has come up with a truely funny way to mark Bisexuality Visibility Week.

For this week, twitter users make up with hilarious (and fake) #BisexualFacts

Here are some of the best #BisexualFacts so far

 

 

 

Why Homophobic State Law Sucks –  Refused a Driving Licence, Because Texas Refuses to Recognize Same-Sex Marriages

Connie Wilson has been denied a driver’s license in Texas, because the state of Texas refuses to recognize she took her partner’s name when they married.

Mrs Wilson took her partner Aimee Wilson’s surname last year, when the couple married in California.  However, since relocating to Texas – where the marriage is not recognized – Ms Wilson has been caught in a legal limbo surrounding her name.

Under Californian law, a marriage certificate is enough to certify a change of name, however as Texas does not recognize her marriage as valid, she has found herself with no legal documentation to prove her identity.

Mrs Wilson discovered the problem when she visited the Texas Department of Public Safety to apply for a new driver’s license after her California license expired.

She told the Texas Observer about the experience she had with county clerk…

“Her only words to me were, ‘Is this same-[sex]?’ She immediately told me, ‘You can’t use this to get your license. This doesn’t validate your last name. Do you have anything else?’ She told me I would never get a license with my current name, that the name doesn’t belong to me.”

Connie Wilson

However, as her name is already legally recognized outside of the state, Ms Wilson would have to convince a court to grant her proof of a new name change despite no actual change taking place.

 “My name is already legally Wilson. I don’t know if a judge will even grant me a name change from Wilson to Wilson.

I don’t want any other person to go through what I have experienced over this. I’ve been deprived the freedom to drive a vehicle once my current California driver’s license expires. 

I’m further being deprived the freedom to use air travel, make purchases that require a valid photo identification, seek medical attention for myself or my children, as well as other situations that would require proving who I am legally as an individual.”

Connie Wilson

United States Supreme Court Set to Make Monumental Gay Rights Decision

While many countries create laws with the idea of them being nationwide, the good ol’ US of A likes to be different and leaves many of its biggest laws and rulings up to each of its 50 individual states.

Unfortunately, sometimes this means that basic human rights get left out in the cold, with the majority of American states not allowing for same gender marriage even though a handful of states such as New York, California and Washington have all deemed them legal. However, as per his triumphant support of LGBTQ rights (he helped repeal the Defense of Marriage Act along with the exclusionary army policy, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell) President Barack Obama has told the US Supreme Court not to uphold same gender marriage bans and now, with many same gender marriage cases being put forward, the Supreme Court has an incredible weight on its shoulders.

At their upcoming September 29th conference, the Supreme Court will meet and decide to hear any number of same gender marriage bans. In Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana and Wisconsin, same gender couples have all appealed to have their states’ same gender marriage bans ruled unconstitutional, looking to force same gender marriage into legality. While it’s certainly a different way of doing things, as opposed to the usual protesting, pleading and arguing that same gender couples deserve their basic humans rights, they are well within in their rights to do so and could even help move the the process of marriage equality along a bit quicker.

The Supreme Court will use their conference to decide which (if any) cases to hear and make a ruling on whether or not they should be upheld or overturned. The marriage bans being overturned is the outcome that we want – on a state level – but on a national level the impact could be greater. Theoretically, the decisions they make at the conference could determine whether or not it’s even constitutional for states to rule individually on the topic of same gender marriage. Should they deem it unconstitutional, same gender marriages could (again, this is theoretical) take place all over the United States, regardless of marriage bans previously brought into law.

Should we get a decision on same gender marriage at state level, we could get that answer as early as June, 2015 which is pretty flipping huge. We’ll keep you posted on the latest.

Rise of LGBT rights in Cuba

In the early 1970s and 1980s Cuba, like any communist country, looked at the other countries for guidance in the hope that they all would be moving in the right direction. Some people think that Cuba grew more tolerant due to the rise of the feminist movement. Many believe this was the key to a more liberal-minded attitude and greater social tolerance towards Cuba’s LGBT community.

This is usually backed up by the Cuban National Centre for Sex Eduction, which was funded by the Cuban Women’s Federation in 1977. The centre’s goal was to enlighten the outlook on homosexuality and slowly start to undermine traditional sexual prejudices and taboos. Also around this time the law of sexual division of labor was broken within the traditional family unit. By 1979 it was no longer a crime for two queer people to have sex.

But even with all these laws in power and feminism on the rise, the government still encouraged people to discriminate against open homosexuals. Some LGBT people were forced to leave as “unnecessary” parts of society, who in the eyes of the government were hampering Cuba’s development. It is believed that this strong aggression was due to Cuba’s devotion to Stalin’s ideology towards LGBT people.

Thankfully in 1986 there was a huge positive shift in Cuban law, which was the full annulment of any other laws restricting homosexulaity. Authorities were told to release anyone who had been previously jailed due to the absurd laws which had put them behind bars for simply being who they were. During this period the government became rather sex positive and were encouraging everyone to practice safe sex,. This was seen as a move to gain the support of the LGBT community. As odd as it sounds now, homosexuality was no longer seen as perversion by the medical society. This was an enormous step!

One of the biggest achievements came in June 2008, when the Cuban government permitted doctors to perform sex change operations. These are still being successfully performed. Also, state television continues to portray gay characters. Even if it’s still highly controversial, it is an essential step for society to let go of the tainted past. The Castro family have all been apologizing for their mistakes and stating that they are sorry for what they have done. It is believed that the rest of the government will not go against their words, but the fact that many LGBT people’s lives were destroyed by their hands still remains.

India’s LGBT Community Rejoices at Health Minister’s Comments

Homophobia is not an inherently held opinion; it’s learnt, bred and taught to people before they’ve wised up enough to know better or because there simply aren’t any forces to tell them otherwise.

Often, homophobia – or a general dismay for anything queer – is institutionalised and sanctioned, particularly by stifling, human rights defying laws. That’s especially the case in countries subject to colonialism in the past centuries as although the many European colonies upped and left long ago and gave (most) countries their independence back, they left behind homophobia and anti-gay laws. India is one such country but after recent comments by the country’s health minister their may just be hope for India’s LGBT community yet.

Speaking recently, India’s Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told reporters that “everybody has human rights. It is the job of the government to protect them,” when asked about his personal views on gay rights and whether or not gay sex should continue to be criminalised.

In India, Section 377 of IPC (which criminalises homosexuality) was almost repealed in 2009 but this has since been upheld and will be subject to petition, so understand, Vardhan’s comment have made serious waves. He joins fellow BJP party member Ram Madhav (the general secretary for the party) who recently stated that although he didn’t advocated for consensual gay sex, it’s up for debate about whether it should be criminalised.

This is particularly hopeful for those hoping that Section 377 will be overturned once and for all but LGBT activists in the country will have somewhat of an uphill battle on their hands as BJP’s official stance is that they support Section 377 and think that it should remain in place. BJP’s party opinion is divided though, despite their official word so with the anti-gay epithet clearly losing some of its bite, this is a human rights campaign to watch.

Dark Side of Cuban LGBT History

The future of Cuba has often been on people’s minds and thoughts; a lot of people have high hopes for it and others just dismiss it. Just like any other country, Cuba has a big population of LGBT people. In Cuba and around the world, the LGBT community is not really a minority, but often the numbers lie and unfortunately many are still in the closet.

Cuba still scores ridiculously low when it comes to basic human rights. LGBT people have always been targeted and still are to this day. Even if there is a positive gradual shift, Cuba still has a long way to go, just like the rest of the world.

The country had a few openly LGBT bars in Pre-Revolutionary Cuba, but soon that was to change. In the 1930s, a new law came to power: the Public Ostentation Law. This law heavily encouraged the discrimination of queer people and was only repealed in 1988!

Cuba’s revolution raised a lot of hope for many people and especially for LGBT people, who helped the revolution to take place. Unfortunately Castro wasn’t any kinder than the previous rulers of Cuba. Homosexuality was widely regarded as a product of capitalism, which should be entirely rooted out of a communist society.

The country used different methods to get rid of homosexuals, because in their eyes the ideal “New Man” was a strong and surely heterosexual male. UMAPs (Military Units to Aid Production) were soon introduced. These were labor camps designed to turn men into heterosexuals.

Castro later apologized for the mistreatment in the camps, but the government still tried to keep enforcing the Public Ostentation Law. The government decided that in order to rebuild the country, they had to get rid of “unwanted” people such as homosexuals, disabled people and criminals. If you were deemed undesireable by society, you were given a span of two months to leave Cuba. This was known as the Mariel Boat lift.

This was the darkest period of LGBT persecution in Cuba, but there is still more to the story.

Sia to Work with Eminem on New Song Dispute Him Using Anti-Gay Lyrics

Bisexual Australian singer Sia will work with Eminem on new song, even after he used anti-gay slur.

Guts Over Fear, which is the soundtrack to Denzel Washington’s upcoming movie The Equalizer, is the duo’s second single following Beautiful Pain, which appeared on the rapper’s 2013 album The Marshall Mathers LP 2.

Last year, people were furious over the lyrics for ‘Rap God’. Eminem raps that he will ‘break a m0ther f*cker’s table over the back of a couple of faggots and crack it in half’, and ‘you fags think it’s all a game till I walk a flock of glames off a plank’.

Sia, who is openly bisexual, defended Eminem, saying:

‘I know personally that he is not homophobic, but a performance artist. I would never work with someone I believed to be homophobic. He has a character called Slim Shady who represents the worst and darkest bile of America. I see how it can be unclear. But I assure you he is not homophobic himself. He does certainly respect the gay community he is close to in his personal life.’

Sia

However after New York based DJ and writer Keo Nozari called Sia out over her appearance on the album, she announced she would donate the proceeds from her collaboration to the Los Angeles Gay And Lesbian Center.

‘I guess my only hope at this point is that Beautiful Pain will do more good than Rap God does harm. I feel powerless. I thought Slim Shady had been put to bed. Now what’s done is done on my end.’

Sia

Eminem has said his use of the words is not directed at gay people and part of his Slim Shady persona, telling Rolling Stone:

‘The real me sitting here right now talking to you has no issues with gay, straight, transgender, at all.’

Eminem

Judges Blast Indiana and Wisconsin Marriage Bans

Federal appeals judges bristled on Tuesday at arguments defending gay marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin, with one Republican appointee comparing them to now-defunct laws that once outlawed weddings between blacks and whites.

As the legal skirmish in the United States over same-sex marriage shifted to the three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, more than 200 people lined up hours before to ensure they got a seat at the much-anticipated hearing.

While judges often play devil’s advocate during oral arguments, the panel’s often-blistering questions for the defenders of the same-sex marriage bans could be a signal the laws may be in trouble – at least at this step in the legal process.

Richard Posner, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, hit the backers of the ban the hardest. He balked when Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Timothy Samuelson repeatedly pointed to “tradition” as the underlying justification for barring gay marriage.

“It was tradition to not allow blacks and whites to marry – a tradition that got swept away,” the 75-year-old judge said. Prohibition of same sex marriage, Posner said, derives from “a tradition of hate … and savage discrimination” of homosexuals.

Attorneys general in both states asked the appellate court to permanently restore the bans, which were ruled unconstitutional in June. Its ruling could affect hundreds of couples who married after lower courts tossed the bans and before those rulings were stayed pending the Chicago appeal.

Gay marriage is legal in 19 states as well as the District of Columbia, and advocates have won more than 20 court victories around the country since the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the federal government to recognize state-sanctioned gay marriages last year.

The Supreme Court has yet to take up a case, but Utah and Oklahoma’s cases were appealed to the high court and Virginia’s attorney general also has asked the justices to weigh in. Appeals court rulings are pending for Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, while appellate court hearings are scheduled next month for Hawaii, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and is expected soon in Texas.

Posner, who has a reputation for making lawyers before him squirm, cut off Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher, just moments into his presentation and frequently chided him to answer his questions.

At one point, Posner ran through a list of psychological strains the children of unmarried same-sex couples suffered, including having to struggle to grasp why their schoolmates’ parents were married and theirs weren’t.

“What horrible stuff,” Posner said. What benefit to society in barring gay marriage, he asked, outweighs that kind of harm to children?

“All this is a reflection of biology,” Fisher answered. “Men and women make babies, same-sex couples do not… we have to have a mechanism to regulate that, and marriage is that mechanism.”

Samuelson echoed that, telling the hearing that regulating marriage – including by encouraging men and women to marry – was part of a concerted Wisconsin policy to reduce numbers of children born out of wedlock.

“I assume you know how that has been working out in practice?” Judge David Hamilton responded, citing figures that births to single women from 1990 to 2009 rose 53 percent in Wisconsin and 68 percent in Indiana.

While the judges seemed to push defenders of the bans the hardest, they also pressed the side arguing for gay marriage to say just where they themselves would draw the line about who could and couldn’t marry.

Would they argue in favor of polygamy on similar grounds, by pointing to the emotional toll on children in families with multiple mothers or fathers, asked Judge David Hamilton, a President Barack Obama appointee.

“If you have two people, it’s going to look like a marriage,” said Kenneth Falk of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana. “If you have three or four, it doesn’t. … There’s no slippery slope.”

Among those following the arguments in court was plaintiff Ruth Morrison, a retired Indianapolis Fire Department battalion chief. She said that because Indiana won’t recognize the woman she married in another state as her wife, she wouldn’t be able to pass on pension and other benefits if she dies.

“Now Indiana tells us our promises are only good if our spouses are of the opposite sex,” Morrison, wearing a fire department uniform, said during a rally ahead of the hearing Monday night.

A voter-approved constitutional amendment bans gay marriage in Wisconsin. State law prohibits it in Indiana. Neither state recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. The lawsuits that led to Tuesday’s hearing in Chicago contend that the bans violate the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection guarantee.

Despite the seriousness of the hearing, there was some levity.

At one point, a visibly uncomfortable Samuelson struggled to offer a specific reason for how gay marriage bans benefit society. He then noted a yellow courtroom light was on signaling his allotted time was nearly up.

“It won’t save you,” Judge Ann Claire Williams, a Bill Clinton appointee, told him, prompting laughter in court.

Samuleson smiled, and said: “It was worth a try.”

Federal Judge Declares Florida’s Ban on Same-Sex Marriage Unconstitutional – #MarriageEquality

A federal judge has declared Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, joining judges across the country who have sided with gay couples wishing to tie the knot.

U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle in Tallahassee ruled that the ban added to Florida’s constitution by voters in 2008 violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantees of equal protection and due process. Hinkle issued a stay delaying the effect of his order, meaning no marriage licenses will be immediately issued for gay couples. That also means gay couples legally married in other states will not immediately have their marriages recognized in Florida.

Hinkle, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, compared bans on gay marriage to the long-abandoned prohibitions on interracial marriage and predicted both would be viewed by history the same way.

“When observers look back 50 years from now, the arguments supporting Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage, though just as sincerely held, will again seem an obvious pretext for discrimination. To paraphrase a civil rights leader from the age when interracial marriage was struck down, the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Judge Robert L. Hinkle

Gay rights have long been a contentious issue in Florida, a politically complex swing state where the northern counties tend to lean Republican like their Deep South neighbors and parts of South Florida are reliably Democratic. In the 1970s, singer and orange juice spokeswoman Anita Bryant lobbied to overturn a Dade County ordinance banning discrimination against gays, though the protections were later reinstated.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Republican, has appealed previous rulings striking down the ban, which were issued earlier this year in Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach counties. Hinkle’s ruling allows time for appeals in the federal case. Bondi wants the Florida cases to remain on hold pending a definitive national ruling on gay marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The U.S. Supreme Court, they need to decide this case, they are going to decide this case, hopefully sooner than later so we will have finality. There are good people on both sides of this issue and we need to have finality for everyone involved.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi

Gay marriage proponents have won more than 20 legal decisions against state same-sex marriage restrictions since the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the federal Defense of Marriage Act last year.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court delayed an appeals court decision that would end Virginia’s gay marriage ban and, in January, the justices did the same thing in a same-sex marriage case in Utah. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati recently heard arguments in six same-sex marriage cases from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The latest Florida ruling came in a pair of lawsuits brought by gay couples seeking to marry in Florida and others who want to force Florida to recognize gay marriages performed legally in other states. Currently, 19 states and the District of Columbia permit same-sex marriage.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, which represented some of the gay couples, said the tide of rulings makes legal same-sex marriage in Florida appear inevitable.

“We’re very pleased to see the ban held unconstitutional in such unequivocal terms so that all Florida families will soon finally have the same protections,”

Daniel Tilley, ACLU staff attorney

Hinkle did add one wrinkle in his decision: he said the delay on marriages should have no effect on a proposed change to the death certificate of Carol Goldwasser, who was legally married in New York in 2011 to Arlene Goldberg before Goldwasser died earlier this year.

Goldberg, according to the ruling, has been unable to obtain Social Security survivor benefits because of Florida’s refusal to recognize their marriage, which could force her to sell her house. Hinkle said the amended death certificate showing the couple as spouses should be issued by Sept. 22, or 14 days after officials receive all the required information.

“There is no good reason to further deny Ms. Goldberg the simple human dignity of being listed on her spouse’s death certificate. Indeed, the state’s refusal to let that happen is a poignant illustration of the controversy that brings us here.”

Judge Robert L. Hinkle

WATCH: A Secret, Illegal Gay Wedding in Uganda

In February 2014, President Museveni of Uganda signed into law one of the harshest anti-gay bills in the world. As of August 2014 the “kill the gays” bill, as it was often called in the media, is no longer valid.

The bill was overturned based on a simple technicality; there were not enough members of parliament present when the bill was passed. President Museveni has recently expressed a desire to reinstate a milder version of the controversial bill.

While the draconian nature of the original bill alienated many of the western countries that Uganda relies on for foreign aid and trade, the overturning of the original bill was not based on a shift in the government’s beliefs. Regardless, many gay rights activists in Uganda are celebrating this as a step in the right direction.

Earlier this year, while the anti gay law was still in place, Vocativ attended a secret gay wedding ceremony in Uganda. If the local police force had found out about the ceremony, everyone present, including our crew, could have potentially faced jail time. Although the marriage we attended isn’t legally recognized, the couple said that it was an important symbolic ritual for them to take part in.

A Secret, Illegal Gay Wedding in Uganda

Ugandan LGBTs Who Fled to Kenya Still Feel in Danger

When a Ugandan court overturned the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act this month, rights activists worldwide claimed a victory. But not gay Ugandans who fled persecution to live in a refugee camp in neighboring Kenya.

“The reaction shocked me. I went there. I thought it would be a celebration, but … nothing. They knew at an international level and at the diplomatic level, the decision is going to have impact, but at the local level, it won’t really. You can overrule the law, but you can’t overrule the mind.”

Brizan Ogollan

Of the 155,000 refugees at Kakuma camp, 35 are registered with the U.N. refugee agency as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Ugandans who fled because of the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which became law in February.

The now-overturned law called for life jail sentences for those convicted of gay sex and criminalized vague offenses like “attempted homosexuality” and “promoting homosexuality” in a country where being gay has long been illegal.

Since the law was first proposed in 2009, public opinion in Uganda has grown increasingly anti-gay, said Geoffrey Ogwaro, a coordinator for the Civil Society Coalition for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, which is based in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Many gay Ugandans have lived in constant fear of arrest. Some were imprisoned. Landlords evicted tenants. One man tried to run over his gay son with a car, Ogwaro said.

“Unfortunately, the law’s nullification has actually polarized society more,”

Geoffrey Ogwaro

Members of parliament have started petitions to resurrect the legislation, although President Yoweri Museveni is reported to have requested the parliamentarians to reconsider.

Three years ago, when a 26-year-old gay Ugandan man was caught with another man, his stepfather threatened to report him to authorities and he fled to Nairobi. “I thought, `No one loves you in your family,'” said the man, who insisted on anonymity because of fears for his safety.

With little money in his pocket, he could not afford to stay in the Kenyan capital. He registered with the U.N.’s refugee agency, and for three years he has waited in Kakuma camp for refugee status, which would make him eligible for resettlement in a new country.

The man does not want to stay in Kenya, where same-sex conduct is also illegal, and where a bill recently introduced in parliament proposes that foreign gays be stoned to death. He continued to face harassment in Kakuma but at least he got support from fellow gay Ugandans, he said.

“For the first time, I met these people who were just like me. You think to yourself, `OK, I’m not alone.’ At least I felt there was someone who understood me.”

But last month he left for Nairobi because he thought the camp had grown too hostile. A Ugandan refugee was hospitalized in June after another refugee hurled stones and slurs at him, said Anthony Oluoch, executive director of the Gay Kenya Trust.

Recognizing the risks for LGBT refugees, the U.N. refugee agency said it is prioritizing their cases for resettlement.

The 26-year-old gay Ugandan has been trying to find work, but few employers in Nairobi are willing to hire a refugee. Two of his seven roommates have turned to prostitution. The house keeps a special fund for bribing police officers if they are arrested, he said.

Kenyan police could legally send him back to Kakuma. Some police officers have even deported asylum seekers back to Uganda against their will, said Neela Ghoshal, an LGBT rights researcher for Human Rights Watch.

“There’s no place in Kenya where I really think they can live freely and safely. They’re basically set up for a lot of bad options in life.”

Neela Ghoshal

Pennsylvania Bridal Shop Refuses Dresses for Lesbian Couple to Avoid Breaking ‘God’s law’

A Bridal Shop in Pennsylvania, has found itself amid a controversy for refusing to serve a lesbian couple.

The WW Bridal shop’s owners spoke to local media, and admitted turning away a lesbian couple because of their religious beliefs. They said they had sought legal counsel in case the couple decide to sue.

“We feel we have to answer to God for what we do. And providing those two girls dresses for a sanctified marriage would break God’s law.”

Victoria Miller, Owner

Because the state of Pennsylvania does not have a law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation, attorneys have suggested the shop may be within its rights.

One of the women originally posted on Facebook to state that she had called the shop to arrange fittings for her and her partner. After being on hold for several minutes, a worker at the shop said she could not arrange the fitting “…because they currently do not service same-sex couples — it’s just not something they do.”

Facebook commenters have taken to the social network to express their distaste at the actions of the shop.

“As a fellow Christian, I’m ashamed of people like you. We are taught to love our neighbor regardless. Did you skip that part?”

Pennsylvania became the last Northeastern state to strike down its ban on same-sex marriages in May. The state’s Governor Tom Corbett has said that he will not appeal the decision.

Chile Addresses Report on LGBTI rights violations

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), the Organización de Transexuales por la Dignidad y las Diversidad (Organization of Transsexuals for Dignity and Diversity; OTD), and 14 other organizations recently submitted a report on Human Rights Violations of LGBT people in Chile to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The report by the US-based NGO details flaws in the anti-discrimination law, abuse of gay and trans people in society and prisons, and problems relating to the general lack of dignity in the treatment of LGBTI persons.

The UN HRC also closed a dialogue with the Chilean government about the country’s pursuit of its human rights obligations in many areas.

This follows a resolution Chile signed in June at the Organization of American States (OAS) regarding “Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity and Expression” in which the government agreed “to condemn all forms of discrimination against persons by reason of their sexual orientation and gender identity or expression”, and to “eliminate, where they exist, barriers faced by lesbians, gays, and bisexual, transsexual, and intersex (LGBTI) persons in equal access to political participation and in other areas of public life, and to avoid interferences in their private life.” The resolution also urged states to adopt legislation to protect LGBTI people from violence, discrimination, and harassment.

In an IGLHRC press release, Director of Programs Marianne Møllmann said that the government of Chile has been cooperative and engaged with LGBT issues. “Throughout the committee’s dialogue with the Chilean government, it was clear that LGBTI issues are not a fringe concern,” she said. “Until our rights are fully protected, Chile’s human rights record will remain blemished.”
Chile has been on front lines of LGBTI legal progress on the continent. In response to the progress needed, the government promised to:

  • “Push for amendments to the anti-discrimination law to overcome legal uncertainty and to provide for victims reparations;
  • “Support the proposed gender identity law currently before the Chilean Congress;
  • “Create a new gender identity area within the police human rights unit;
  • “Develop and promote a protocol within the Ministry of Health to ensure that infants born with ambiguous genitals (intersex infants) will not be mutilated; and
  • “Develop and promote a protocol within the Ministry of Education to ensure and promote respect for diverse gender identities in all school.”

Director of the OTD, Andrés Ignacio Rivera Duarte, outlined avenues for progress. “We have already developed a protocol on trans diversity in schools for the Ministry of Education, which we have shared with the government,” he said. “We are working on a protocol on respect in treatment of intersex infants that we will be happy to share as well. The moment I am back in Chile, I will reach out to the government to put these commitments on a concrete timeline.”

United Nations Hails Annulment of Uganda’s Anti-homosexuality Law

United Nations officials have welcomed the decision of the Constitutional Court of Uganda to annul the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, hailing it as a victory for the rule of law and social justice.

The law, which drew condemnation from the UN when it was promulgated in February, called for a 14-year jail term for a first conviction, and imprisonment for life for ‘aggravated homosexuality’. Challenged by 10 petitioners, including civil society, parliamentarians and academics, the law was annulled by the Court over a lack of quorum when the bill was passed.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid tribute to all those who contributed to this “step forward,” particularly the human rights defenders in Uganda who spoke out, at times incurring great personal risk.

“The Secretary-General calls for further efforts to decriminalize same-sex relationships and address the stigma and discrimination that persist in Uganda against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.”

UN Spokesman

Also welcoming the decision to annul the law was the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which had warned that the legislation may obstruct effective responses to the virus.

“This is a great day for social justice. The rule of law has prevailed.”

Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director

UNAIDS noted that while homosexuality remains illegal in Uganda, annulling the law could have positive public health implications. Studies show that when gay men and other men who have sex with men face discrimination, including abuse, incarceration and prosecution, they are less likely to seek HIV testing, prevention and treatment services.

“[Ugandan] President Yoweri Museveni had personally indicated to me that he wants Uganda to accelerate its AIDS response to ensure all people have access to life-saving services.”

Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director

UNAIDS urged all Governments around the world, to protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people through repealing criminal laws against adult consensual same sex sexual conduct; implementing laws to protect people from violence and discrimination; promoting campaigns that address homophobia and transphobia; and ensuring access to health services, including HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

Today’s Topic – Breaking Down the Stereotypes People Have About Lesbians

Breaking Down the Stereotypes People Have About Lesbians

One: We all know each other. We don’t – there are 7 billion people in the world, and (give or take) 2% identify themselves as lesbians (according to some stats), add another 3% who say they’re bisexual women. Thats means there’s around 350 million of us women-loving-women. Now, I seriously do not know 350 million lesbians. Facebook tells me I know around 400 – hey I’m popular, but many of these are people I once met out and not friends, just associates. So conclusion – we don’t know each other, and before you start – I’ve not met you friend from school who kissed a girl, or your aunty Sue who now lives with Jan in 2 bed maisonette.

Two: In a lesbian relationship, one woman is always ‘the man’. Arrrrrgh my pet hate. We are both women, hence why we identify as lesbians. Get a dictionary if you need further clarification.

Three: Butch lesbians want to be men. Fat No! See above and then repeat – lesbians are women who love women. Butch, masculine women do not want to be men. A woman who identifies as a man and takes steps to transition into one. Butch women want to be just what they are: butch WOMEN.

Four: Lesbians are vegetarians. So because we don’t put a penis in our mouth, that must mean that all meat is off-limits? No. Not true – some lesbians love meat. Steaks, fish, southern fried chicken… mmmm. Some don’t. My diet preference doesn’t not determine our sexuality.

Five: Lesbians hate men. The people who constantly complain about men tend to be straight women. Lesbians don’t really care. If we want to be friends with a man, we will. If we don’t, its a non-stresser. Straight women need men for sex, we don’t.

Six: It’s easier to be in a lesbian relationship than a straight one. Ummmm.. why? Because women understand each other? What – did you meet my ex, or my ex before that? No relationship is ever easy, and just because you are both women, doesn’t make it any easier.

Seven: To be a lesbian you need to identify as one. Nope – there are many terms for us to use. Gay, queer, femme, butch, stud – we can label ourselves any way we choose.

Are Lesbians Tolerated more Than Gay Men?

When professional female athletes comes out, it’s treated as something of a non-event. However, for a man the story will make headlines for weeks. It will be a moral discussion, manhood will be questioned and support will be given to those who feel threatened.

Why? Because we live in a male-focused society.

Studies have shown that tolerance of lesbians tends to be higher than that of gay men, and lesbians are less likely to be targeted for violence because of their sexuality. Gay males are more likely to be targeted not just with verbal abuse but for crimes such as theft, vandalism, or violence.

A study in the UK found that LGBT teenagers are nearly twice as likely to be bullied by straight classmates. However, in young adulthood, lesbians and straight women faced about the same amount of harassment, young gay men were nearly four times more likely to experience abuse than their straight colleagues.

So what makes lesbianism so inoffensive? Lesbian relationships are often seen as not real relationships, because sex between 2 women is not seen as real sex because a penis is not involved. And to have real sex, you need a man.

It is also ok for women to be physically affectionate with each other (to a point) without attracting negative attention.

Switch that to 2 men being affectionate, and society freaks out. Men are ‘supposed’ to act a certain way, and anything hinting difference is mocked.

This also goes to dress – a women dressed masculine maybe hassled for looking like a ‘dyke’, but is less likely to be physically threatened, which happens to men wearing skirts.

So what does it boil down to. Simple – female invisibility. It might seem illogical to think of female invisibility as a good thing, but it does mean that women who don’t match what society expects of them can fly under the radar.

In contrast, the existence of male visibility and privilege means many men are denied the right to be themselves.

 

Hollywood is Still Not Up to Scratch When it Comes to LGBT Representation

Shock! Surprise! Utter disdain and disgust for Hollywood’s continued failure to represent the diverse moviegoers who pay to see their films!

All emotions that we’re still feeling in 2014, despite people of colour and women being the most frequent cinema ticket buyers and LGBT buying power reaching $830 billion in the United States alone. Alas, even with TV shows’ improved success when it comes to representing LGBT characters, movies just can’t get it together.

We could chalk it down to the fact that it’s a lot easier bump off a character – through a death or just by writing them out of the show – if the show gets too queer for its heteronormative boots or that the characters in TV shows can grow into their non-heterosexual or non-cisgendered selves through a beautifully written bit of character development, but when no one’s (noticeably) avoiding TV shows just because they have queer people in them, why on Earth isn’t Hollywood up to scratch yet?

And it’s not even as though LGBT characters aren’t there either as according to GLAAD’s second annual Studio Responsibility Index, across the films from the 7 major studios they surveyed just 17 films with LGBT characters passed GLAAD’s benchmark. That benchmark is the Vito Russo test and it determines that a film must have an LGBT character who isn’t defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity and that they must be tied to the plot in such a way that if they weren’t there you’d notice it.

That’s not a lot to ask but these 7 studios still mucked it up as two (Paramount and Warner Brothers) received “failing grades” and no one received top marks of “excellent” which isn’t surprising when you consider the fact that some of these films not only included anti-gay slurs (there are instances where these might be necessary – e.g to highlight the discrimination a character is facing – but I don’t think that’s the case here) and one (Anchorman 2 from Paramount) decided to throw around trans slurs just for comedic value.

Understandably, GLAAD has recommended completely valid things such as LGBT characters being leads, not just support and they’ve recommended that LGBT characters in films are made more diverse too as the lack of queer female characters and queer people of colour has clearly been transferred from all of those other erroneous times when Hollywood has failed to put (straight) women and people of colour in their films either.

It’s also worth noting that things might have been different if GLAAD had been willing to take smaller studios into account as despite leaving them out due to the fact that most smaller studios’ films are marketed less and shown in less theatres, they do tend to get it right most of the time, likely on account of the projects being seen as ‘risky’ anyway and therefore the ‘risky’ inclusion of LGBT characters is probably alright.

That’s really tragic to type, if I’m honest and it’s just as tragic to know that the same old heterosexual slice of life is being shown in cinemas time and time again so here’s to crossing our fingers, wishing on our lucky stars, horseshoes and clovers that next year’s GLAAD report will suggest that for queer characters in Hollywood, things are really getting better.

Malawi Catholic Conference Addresses the ‘Challenge’ Homosexuality

Bring up the topic of gay rights in conversation and if you’ve got a good sampling of the population listening in, the garnered responses will be mostly positive and in favour of them with a few ignorant people grumbling to themselves in the corner at best. But as with anything, you’ll also get the extreme outliers who are vehemently against equality like equality insulted their mother, robbed the food out of their mouths and TP’d their house for good measure too.

Consider then, the attitudes of many African nations who still hold on to sodomy laws left like a bitter aftertaste from the Colonial Era along with anti-gay opinions from people who haven’t been influenced by high profile LGBT shows such as Glee or The L Word. We can blame the TV networks and the language barrier all we want but the fact is, the anti-LGBT epithet in these countries is stifling (and often incredibly life threatening) to LGBT folks (or those thought to be LGBT – ignorant people are surprisingly lackadaisical about the facts would you believe) which is why it’s great news that the Malawi Catholic conference has chosen to address it at a recent meeting.

Inside Africa or not, the general consensus is that same-gender marriages are not supported by the Catholic Church and up until Pope Francis (the current Pope) got his place at the top of the Catholic food chain, we’d be lucky to hear so much as a kind word sent in the LGBT community’s direction. This is something that has been a struggle for both Catholic leadership and their followers across the world as the changing pace of opinion and the Catholic church’s inability (or unwillingness) to change means that many are leaving the church.

Father Andrew Kaufa, a member of the Association of Member Episcopal Conference in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) said as much in a recent statement about the conference,

“The church has observed that there are a number of challenges that many families from different African countries are facing which is affecting the preaching of the gospel. Many rich countries are imposing strange cultures in poor nations, an issue that calls for discussion and intervention. As we try to search for solutions in regard to family matters, the Bishops will also pay attention to the issue of same sex which is at the helm.”

His words are correct; countries such as the United States and England should not expect countries in Africa (or anywhere else) to fall in line with their social values just because they said so, especially when these rich countries have had the benefits of mass media and million dollar social projects to get these viewpoints where they are today (and keep in mind, even the support for same gender marriage sits at just 50-60% in the US). That doesn’t mean that countries like Malawi can’t take some solid cues though as their law that same sex sexual activity is punishable by up to 14 years in jail isn’t really helping anyone.

The country did recently say that it would stop arresting people for having same sex sexual relations and would review this law so at least one socially conservative country is doing its bit to become a little bit more progressive.

 

Peru’s Rights Plan Excludes All Sexual Minorities

Peru has made slow progress in the field of gay rights, and has lagged behind its neighbors in bringing recognition and equality to sexual minorities. Its bordering states Ecuador, Brazil, and Colombia all recognize gay unions or marriage equality. With Chile and Bolivia, all have policies protecting LGBT people from discrimination in the provision of services, and all include queers in hate-crime legislation. Of that group, Brazil alone doesn’t protect against LGBT employment discrimination, yet Peru has had none of these progresses.

Peru remains an island where marriage, civil unions, discrimination protection, and hate-crime protection are reserved for heterosexuals.

The Peruvian debate has been characterized by a brinkmanship between a government unable to reach consensus enough to explicitly include sexual minorities in legislation, and activist groups who see claims that protection can be extended without it as insufficient if not outright insincere.

Early this month the Peruvian federal government led by President Ollanta Humala passed National Human Rights Action Plan of 2014-2016. Complaints quickly arose that LGBT people and groups were excluded from the Plan’s protection. Last week the Minister of Justice, Daniel Figallo, responded to those complaints insisting that LGBT people are included as he called on groups and populations to work against discrimination individually as well.

“No one has been excluded. The country’s main problem is discrimination; there is widespread discrimination at various levels, and we are working against it. Those positions indicating an exclusion are incorrect.”

Daniel Figallo, Minister of Justice

Still, despite his insistence that the Plan implicitly includes sexual minorities, the Plan fails to mention them in any direct way.
Unsurprisingly, rights groups have been unsatisfied with this response. They see this as another in a long line of failures on behalf of the Humala administration to extend the protections of the state to all groups.

In 2013 a hate-crime bill that would have extended protections to queer communities was rejected by a majority coalition of the Gana Peru and Fuerza Popular parties. The same parties blocked a consensus on a following civil-unions law, and the debate was postponed and never revived.

In June of this year the Organization of American States (OAS) passed a resolution regarding “Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity and Expression” that included language agreeing to support anti-discrimination legislation and hate-crime recognition, and to avoid interfering in the private lives of LGBT individuals. While Peru signed the resolution, action has yet to be taken toward anti-discrimination and hate-crime laws for LGBT people.

During the debate on the Human Rights Plan 2014-2016, eighteen proposals regarding the LGBT community were rejected or edited before all were ultimately removed.

Virginia’s Gay Marriage Ban Struck Down by Appeals Court

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled Monday that Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

The 2-1 ruling upheld a previous decision issued earlier this year by a Virginia district court, which struck down the state’s ban on gay marriages.

“Virginia has failed to advance a compelling state interest justifying its definition of marriage as between only a man and a woman. Virginia’s laws declining to recognize same-sex marriage infringe the fundamental right to marriage and are therefore unconstitutional.”

Reads the ruling

The circuit court also has jurisdiction over three other states with similar bans: North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia. As noted in the 4th Circuit’s ruling, the Southern District of West Virginia stayed a challenge to the state’s ban pending Monday’s ruling.

In the ruling, Judge Henry Floyd argued that personal opposition to same-sex unions is not a legitimate legal basis for banning gay marriage.

“We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable.However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws. … The choice of whether and whom to marry is an intensely personal decision that alters the course of an individual’s life. Denying same-sex couples this choice prohibits them from participating fully in our society.”

Judge Henry Floyd

As the Associated Press notes, the Virginia ruling is one of several gay marriage cases that may be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Labour’s Shadow Minister says Restrictions on UK Civil Partnership Conversion are ‘Discriminatory and Unfair’

Gloria De Piero, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities has voiced concern over the regulations for converting civil partnerships to marriage, where the ceremonies can take place, and a lack of a marriage certificate for those couples.

In June, the UK Government announced that from the 10th December 2014 couples already in civil partnerships can convert to marriage.

However, Ms De Piero says the regulations state couples can only convert to marriage in a register office with a Superintendent Registrar present, which exempts many register offices and all religious venues.

In a letter addressed to newly appointed Minister for Women and Equalities Nicky Morgan, Ms De Piero also states “serious concern” over the fact that couples will also not be issued a marriage licence on converting, only a slip saying the conversion has taken place.

She writes:

“For so many couples across the country, the conversion of their civil partnership will be a moment no less important to them as to those getting married for the first time. Why has the Government chosen to place such restrictions on civil partnership conversions?”

Gloria De Piero

Ms De Piero calls the new regulations “both discriminatory and unfair”, and asks the Government to consider amending the regulations before they are approved, offering the support of Labour to do so.

Uruguayan LGBT amendment fails as UN Adopts ‘Pro-Family’ Resolution

Uruguayan efforts to include a non-hetero-normative passage in a Human Rights Council document failed last week as the United Nations body adopted its resolution on the “Protection of the Family”. The resolution supported by delegations from Uganda, Russia, Egypt, and other global leaders in LGBT-opposition, is part of a growing effort of conservative states to establish and clarify heterosexual foundations in international law, an effort aided significantly as Ugandan Sam Kutesa takes leadership of the General Assembly.

The delegation of Uruguay, a continental and global leader on legal recognition of gay rights, tabled the amendment along with Chile, France, and Ireland. The effort was to clarify that “different cultural, political and social systems various forms of the family exist” in hopes to counteract an affirmation of ‘family’ being used to discriminate against same-sex relationships. The language was rejected during debate.

The document is characteristic of the larger global debate underway in an area with few specific international precedents. These measures may often be largely rhetorical but in international law, they may be used to legitimize further action by either party. At this point delegations are hoping to quietly ‘place dominoes’ early in the process.

The resolution does not call for dramatic action. It requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights prepare a report on the status of the family and instructs the Human Rights Council to convene a “panel discussion” at its next session on the subject. It also does not specifically declare that marriage consists only of a man and a woman — Saudia Arabia and Pakistan had tabled an amendment to add that language, but withdrew it after the Uruguayan amendment was rejected.

The language battle could have significant implications, however. The direction outlined for the High Commissioner’s reports would have influence on every subsequent debate on the subject of the family and analysis in that document of non-hetero-normative family structures and the issues they face could affect the establishment of goals and norms in the future.

Overall, this phase of the process is marked only by frustrated middle-ground progress. The organized international community and the United Nations have an inherent liberal tendency toward a broad understanding of human rights, as shown by the extension of UN staff benefits to same-sex partners this week by order of Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon. Latin American countries have taken an increasingly activist role in this field in recent years but, as for now, revolution is not on the menu.

Good news – Expelled Student Christian Minard is Accepted to Another School

An honor-roll student – Christian Minard was expelled from Southwestern Christian University in Oklahoma after she married her partner woman is now enrolled at a different university in the same state.

Minard said in a post to Facebook Tuesday,

“Finally got into classes!! In the end this will all have worked out for the best! I now get to attend a university that is more than happy to have me there and has been extremely helpful towards me! Excited for this new beginning!”

Christian Minard

Adrienne Nobles, assistant vice president for university relations at the University of Central Oklahoma, confirmed Minard is enrolled in fall classes at the school in Edmond.

In a statement, Nobles said an adviser to her school’s Students Alliance for Equality organization

“We reached out to Ms. Minard via Facebook after reading (news coverage of Minard’s expulsion) to offer support and encouragement as a fellow lesbian who recently married her partner.”

Adrienne Nobles, Assistant Vice President, University of Central Oklahoma

Earlier this month, an administrator at Southwestern Christian University noted that he’d been told of Minard’s same-sex marriage and saw pictures of it posted to Facebook. Such a union is in apparent conflict with the “lifestyle covenant” of the university “that all students must agree and sign,” he added.

“As an American and a Christian, I do respect your choice. (But) I have to uphold the Lifestyle Covenant at SCU and confront you with our position. Due to this recent event, you will not be able to attend SCU in the future.”

Administrator, Southwestern Christian University

In an interview with CNN, Minard said she had received mixed reactions from the public, but said many people reached out to share their own stories.

“The LGBTQ community greatly reached out to me. Many of them had also attended religious universities and experienced problems. They connected with me and tried to help me in anyway they could.

The support I received from everyone was incredible and pushed me to move forward! The most important thing I’ve learned is to always stand up for what you believe in. 

It’s okay to not be accepted somewhere, there is somewhere else out there that will accept you and encourage you to be who you are.”

Christian Minard

Outcry as Italy Teacher Says She was Sacked for Being a Lesbian

Their has been an outcry in Italy after teacher says she was sacked for being a lesbian. The report has sparked the Italy’s Education Minister – Stefania Giannini to promise an inquiry into the claim, that a female teacher was forced out of her job because she is gay.

“If it’s confirmed that we’re dealing with a case related to discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, we will act with appropriate severity”

Stefania Giannini

Her removal from the state-funded Institute of the Sacred Heart in the northern town of Trento has angered equality campaigners and focused attention once again on the country’s record on gay rights.

Mother Libratore issued a statement denying that the teacher had been sacked. But her account seemed to reinforce the suggestion that she lost her job on account of her sexual orientation.

“Rumours reached me that she was lesbian and I spoke with her about it in order to understand if she had personal problems. If you’re a lesbian, you say so. If she’s hiding it, I want to understand if there are problems, how she intends to conduct herself, because I’m responsible for 1,000 students and 137 staff; I have educational responsibilities. She didn’t even reply and she left.”

Mother Libratore.

The teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper:

“I taught at the school for five years, with no problems; in fact, the director and the parents were enthusiastic about my work. Last Wednesday I saw the headteacher, assuming it was about a new contract, but instead she began with strange questions… whether it was true that I had a girlfriend and if I was a lesbian. Of course, I refused to answer – I felt offended by her questioning something that was so private.”

Many Italian ministers have spoken up in support of the unfair dismissal including Enrico Lillo, the regional president of Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia party, also attacked the teacher’s treatment.

“To have to learn that in 2014 a teacher has been fired for reasons linked to her sexual orientation is completely unacceptable,”

Enrico Lillo

This surprising new adherence by some Italian conservatives to the cause of lesbian and gay equality may have been prompted by Mr Berlusconi’s own volte-face on the issue.

For years Mr Berlusconi’s party has blocked attempts to introduce civil partnerships for same-sex couples. However, in June this year the disgraced three-times premier surprised campaigners by announcing that he was now joining the battle for lesbian and gay rights.

Argentina’s LGBT Activists Warm Up to Former Enemy

LGBT activists in Argentina have welcomed Pope Francis’s new moves towards reconciliation for the “grave crimes of sexual abuse” committed against children. The President of the Argentine Homosexual Community (CHA) praised Francis’s humble and fiercely-worded homily as “a much need and timely gesture” that he hopes will lead to change in lower levels of the Church. In a private mass for six victims of abuse this week, the Pope lamented the role of “Church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of abuse made by family members, as well as by abuse victims themselves.” In late May, he compared abuse by clergymen as akin to performing ‘satanic mass’.

This strong language is approached with more skepticism in the Pope’s home-country where rights groups are used to a contentious relationship with the man once known as Cardinal Jorge Bergolglio. While LGBT groups are warming up to the Pope’s role in a global debate that is far more conservative than Argentine politics, they are still cautious about how much reform is still needed.

CHA President César Cigliutti encouraged Vatican cooperation with the United Nations but remained skeptical. “In 10 years there were 3,420 priests accused of sexual abuse and only 884 were it removed, representing less than 26 percent,” he said. “We hope that in Argentina the bishops follow the example of the Pope, that they also apologize and meet with victims of abuse.”

The cooperation of bishops has been a characterizing feature of LGBT groups relationship with the Church in Argentina. As the elected president of the Argentine Episcopal Commission, Cardinal Bergoglio was an active but confusing opponent of gay-marriage when Argentina became the first Latin country to federalize equal unions. Groups like the Argentina Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Trans (FALGBT) found themselves matched against the Cardinal in a passionate national debate pitting Vatican ideology against Peronist Catholic rivalry.

The Cardinal was one of the most outspoken opponents during the marriage debate but eventually he publically supported same-sex unions as an alternative to full marriage. However, when he took this pragmatic suggestion to the commission, it was democratically rejected. While remaining an opponent of marriage, he reached out to FALGBT and other LGBT activist groups on behalf of the church, sympathising with gay issues and even calling himself a supporter of ‘gay rights’.
Now, as Pope, Francis is continuing his sympathy for gay issues, even if he remains squarely in support of doctrine. He is opening a two-year debate on LGBT topics as well as other sensitive progressive subjects such as contraceptives and the role of women. While this is unlikely to be revolutionary, Francis still plays an important role as an ally of individual liberalism.

This is where LGBT and other activists in Argentina can find some optimism in perspective. At home, Francis was a rallying force for conservative arguments relative to progressive local politics, but in a global conversation that is much more radical it’s hard to vilify a voice pushing towards center.

Meet Mexico’s Anti-homophobic Bishop

Bishop Raul Vera of Mexico has gotten attention this week for an interview with El País in which he harshly critiqued homophobia and intolerance as begin anti-catholic and ‘sick’.

Vera is a strong and active advocate of outreach to the LGBT community as well as other maligned groups in society such as immigrants, missing persons, indigenous people, prostitutes, drug addicts, and all outcasts, but this position has created problems. He is criticized by conservatives and catholics in Mexico, and has also made an enemy of the narco-cartels whose victims he helps.

In the interview he covers topics including homophobia, abortion, and drugs. He was asked what his opinions were regrading homosexuality since he baptized the daughter of a lesbian couple this year. Homosexuality, he says,

“…is a topic that we have refused to address. The people who say homosexuals are sick are sick themselves. I have a friend who is a priest and he is gay. The Church needs to come to them not with condemnation, but with dialogue. We cannot cancel out a person’s richness just because of his or her sexual preference. That is sick, that is heartless, that is lacking common sense.”

Bishop Raul Vera of Mexico

While still supporting the Church’s stance against homosexual behavior and marriage, the Bishop has nonetheless been an outspoken opponent of homophobia, although he has been ignored and disparaged for his stance in Mexico’s public sphere.

The ascension of Pope Francis, despite bringing no substantive changes to Church policy in the area, has reaffirmed a tone of compassion and a willingness to approach controversial progressive topics including the role of LGBT people and women in the Catholic community. As a result, Vera has received more of a platform since.

Last year, Vera responded to Pope Francis’s famous claim regarding homosexuality – ‘Who am I to judge?’

In a short video, he says that homophobia is a ‘mental illness’.

“They’re human beings deserving of respect. I am certain that [God] knows because, in reality, it’s many members of the Church who don’t want to recognize the scientific reality on the issue of homosexuality.”

Bishop Raul Vera of Mexico

Francis was himself a leading figure in Latin America as Cardinal Bergoglio, where he served as the head of the Argentine Conference of Bishops, and had an a confrontational but pragmatic and startlingly liberal approach to gay issues. During that time in his home-country Argentina, Bergolgio pushed for the Conference to endorse same-sex civil unions. This was meant to be an alternative to the same-sex marriage being considered at the time, which Bergolgio still condemmed.

Mexico today has limited marriage equality in certain regions of the country, such as capital Mexico City, and regional court challenges throughout the states.

Conscription is Discrimination – Trans Woman Questions Colombia’s Constitutional Law

A case was opened by the Constitutional Court of Colombia last week questioning whether military service requirements in the country discriminate against trans citizens.

Trans woman Grace Kely of capital city Bogota was denied employment as a nurse by the municipality government when she was unable to present a military service card. Kely was encouraged to apply to the nursing position last summer by the City’s subdirector of LGBT affairs, Juan Florian, but her application was suspended. She claims that, because of the social and institutional exclusion she may face in the military, she should be allowed to work without meeting the national conscription requirement.

She brought her case to the LGBT Affairs department of the Ministry of Social Integration claiming the requirement violates her right to work, right to privacy, and right to live without humiliation. After a month her case was rejected by lower courts arguing no infringement took place and that compulsory military service is a priority — no exceptions.

By this point the case had gained the attention and support of LGBT organizations. The National Transgender Community Network , activist group Diverse Colombia, and others joined a Social Integration Ministry ombudsman in submitting briefs to the court arguing the specific intolerance and potential rights infringements faced by queer service men and women, and the severe conditions faced by the trans community in particular.

The argument against the requirement goes that transgendered people face not only the social exclusion, discrimination, and abuse of the military culture, but are also subject to institutional discrimination. The military in Colombia still assigns uniforms and identification based on birth gender, creating a constant reminder of the otherness of a different gender identity. Furthermore, certain procedures such as nude public medical examinations create other opportunities for discrimination.

The City supports Kely’s case as well. Gustavo Petro, the Mayor of Bogota, filed a concept with the court referring to a 2011 study on sexual diversity finding 98% of queer people have faced discrimination. It also found a higher likelihood of discrimination amongst transgender people.

The military in Colombia began to allow LGBT servicemen and women in 1999 after a ruling by the high court. However, that ruling still allowed for military leadership to expel someone from service for moral or social disruption or indiscretion, which has since been used against open homosexuality, creating a de facto “don’t ask, don’t tell” situation where LGBT people can still be targeted.

Military conscription in Colombia mandates that only volunteers can be involved in armed combat. Average conscripted citizens generally serve in functional and administrative positions. The policy has been continuingly controversial and is an ongoing topic of discussion in political spheres, potentially leading to the courts willingness to take the case

President Obama Signs Executive Orders to Protect LGBT Employees From Federal Workplace Discrimination

President Barack Obama has given employment protection to gay and transgender workers in the federal government and its contracting agencies, after being convinced by advocates of what he called the “irrefutable rightness of your cause.”

At a signing ceremony from the White House East Room, Obama said it’s unacceptable that being gay is still a firing offense in most places in the United States.

“It’s not just about doing the right thing, it’s also about attracting and retaining the best talent”

President Barack Obama

Obama signs order 01

Until last month, Obama long resisted pressure to pursue an executive anti-discrimination covering federal contractors in the hope that Congress would take more sweeping action banning anti-LGBT workplace discrimination across the landscape of employment in America. A bill to accomplish that goal – the Employment Non-Discrimination Act – passed the Senate last year with some Republican support, but has not been taken up by the GOP-controlled House.

Since Obama announced that he would sign the orders, he’s faced pressure from opposing flanks over whether he would include an exemption for religious organizations. He decided to maintain a provision that allows religious groups with federal contracts to hire and fire based upon religious identity, but not give them any exception to consider sexual orientation or gender identity. Churches also are able to hire ministers as they see fit.

Obama’s action comes on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the Hobby Lobby case that allowed some religiously oriented businesses to opt out of the federal health care law’s requirement that contraception coverage be provided to workers at no extra charge. Obama advisers said that ruling has no impact on non-discrimination policies in federal hiring and contracting.

Obama said 18 states and more than 200 local governments already ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, as well as a majority of Fortune 500 companies. But he noted that more states allow same-sex marriage than prohibit gay discrimination in hiring.

The change for federal contracting will impact some 24,000 companies with 28 million workers, or one-fifth of the U.S. workforce. Many large federal contractors already have employment policies barring anti-gay workplace discrimination. However, the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School estimates that the executive order would extend protections to about 14 million workers whose employers or states currently do not have such nondiscrimination policies.

While few religious organizations are among the biggest federal contractors, they do provide some valued services, including overseas relief and development programs and re-entry programs for inmates leaving federal prisons.

Obama amended two executive orders. The first, signed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, prohibits federal contractors from discriminating based on race, religion, gender or nationality in hiring. President George W. Bush had amended Johnson’s order in 2002 to add the exemption for religious groups.

Obama added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protections, and ordered the Labor Department to carry out the order. Administration officials said that means the change will probably take effect by early next year.

Obama also amended an order signed by President Richard Nixon in 1969 to prevent discrimination against federal workers based on race, religion, gender, nationality, age or disability. President Bill Clinton added sexual orientation, and Obama will include gender identity in a change that will immediately take effect.

Another Day, Another Controversial Joan Rivers Quote

Another day, another controversial Joan Rivers quote. It seems that the incendiary comedian is at it again (when she’s not tearing down people’s outfits or appearances on E!’s Fashion police) as she’s now turned her attention from the Hollywood, red carpet attending populous to the President and the First Lady of the United States.

According to Rivers, President Obama is gay, with her words fired off to a journalist who asked her if we’d ever see a gay or lesbian president. “We already have it with Obama” was her response (which was subsequently captured on video below).

Although despite her suggesting that he’s unfortunately closeted and is in no way to be open or proud about his sexuality, it did seem to be more of a pointed barb in the Pres’ direction. She was invalidating his sexuality as a (seemingly) straight man in a (seemingly) happy marriage with Michelle Obama. A woman who, Rivers says, is transgender. “You know Michelle is a tr*nny. A transgender. We all know” Rivers continued, firing off the incredibly offensive transgender slur like it was anything but.

This isn’t the first time Rivers has landed herself in hot water either as last year TMZ asked her about MSNBC’s firing of Alec Baldwin (prior to his homophobic rant) and she chose to defend him, hurling a string of racist and homophobic slurs in succession, covering Chinese people, gay people, black people and plenty other identities too for good, offensive measure.

This is even despite the fact that she has actually been outspoken in support of the LGBT community, with the comedian even attending a gay marriage earlier in the week. Interestingly enough though, both MSNBC and E! (the network which Fashion Police airs on) are owned by the same parent company so whether the backlash of Rivers’ recent statements see her fired too will have to be seen.