Tag Archives: Homophobic

Teen Beaten By Classmates Who Thought She Was A Lesbian

A 15-year-old in India has reportedly been beaten and abused in twisted ways because her attackers suspected she was a lesbian.

According to The News Minute, Reshma (not her real name) went to a covenant school in Karnataka, thousands of miles from her home in Manipur, and was staying in a hostel.

After a rumour spread around the hostel that she was gay, Reshma was allegedly subjected to horrific attacks – which, she said, were fully supported by the hostel authorities.

In one attack, the warden joined the girls in pinning Reshma down and pouring chili powder in her mouth, refusing to let her drink water.

“What if it was another girl and she was actually lesbian? They would have probably killed her.”

Eventually Reshma’s brother, Renjit (not his real name), came from Manipur to investigate.

He told News Minute.

“The warden told me that my sister had tried to sexually assault another girl, which is why the other students had thrashed her. She kept telling me how my sister’s mistake was a ’spiritual’ one. The warden told me that if my sister apologizes, then everything would settle down. But my sister said that she did not want to say sorry because she was the one who had suffered.”

The siblings eventually filed a complaint with India’s Child Rights Commission.

“She is hurt both physically and mentally. She is only a little girl. What did she do to deserve such treatment?”

Authorities are now investigating and believe the warden at Reshma’s hostel might have “intimidated other students.”

Homophobic and transphobic incidents are relatively common in India, where Section 377 still criminalises homosexuality.

The Supreme Court will revisit the law before October, it was announced this week.

Martina Navratilova: Margaret Court’s LGBT Views Are ‘Sick’ And ‘Dangerous’

Martina Navratilova has called to rename Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne following the homophobic comments, the former Australian tennis champion turned pastor, said this week.

Court described initially slammed Qantas Airlines’ support for same-sex marriage, before saying tennis was “full of lesbians”, and that transgender children were the work of “the devil”.

The former Australian tennis champion turned pastor, also claimed that an Australian programme tackling homophobic bullying in schools was the work of a “gay lobby” that was trying to “get [into] the minds of children”.

Now Ms Navratilova, who has 18 grand slam titles, has penned a letter to the Margaret Court Arena for The Sunday Morning Herald.

She writes:

It is now clear exactly who Court is: an amazing tennis player, and a racist and a homophobe. Her vitriol is not just an opinion. She is actively trying to keep LGBT people from getting equal rights (note to Court: we are human beings, too). She is demonising trans kids and trans adults everywhere.

And now, linking LGBT to Nazis, communists, the devil? This is not OK. This is in fact sick and it is dangerous. Kids will suffer more because of this continuous bashing and stigmatising of our LGBT community.”

An online petition calling for the renaming of the court has attracted 3,700 signatures.

The retired Czech-American player, who married longtime girlfriend Julia Lemigova after proposing at the US Open, wrote:

We should not be celebrating this kind of behaviour, this kind of philosophy. The platform people like Margaret Court use needs to be made smaller, not bigger. Which is why I think it’s time to change your name. And I think the Evonne Goolagong Arena has a great ring to it. Now there is a person we can all celebrate. On every level.”

Billie Jean King has backed Navratilova’s call, as has the Dutch player Richel Hogencamp, who questioned whether players would feel comfortable competing on a court named in Court’s honour.

The Australian former world number four player Samantha Stosur suggested players might boycott the court at next year’s Australian Open.

It was not the first time Court has made incendiary comments about same-sex marriage, which is not yet legal in Australia, and homosexuality. Last week Court said she would boycott the Qantas airline over its support for same-sex marriage.

The Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, waded into the row last week, rejecting the calls for the arena to be renamed.

Whatever people may think about Margaret Court’s views about gay marriage … she is one of the all-time greats and the Margaret Court Arena celebrates Margaret Court the tennis player.”

In an interview with a Christian radio station this week, Court doubled down on the comments, claiming that only a minority of the LGBTQ community wanted marriage equality and describing homosexuality as “a lust of the flesh”.

 

Court, a Christian pastor at Perth’s Victory Life church, dismissed the calls for the arena to be renamed as “bullying”.

It’s their way of bullying now because I think Australia is still Judeo-Christian,” she said, adding: “I think it’s very sad they’re using that [Margaret Court Arena] to try to hit below the belt.”

Court has also targeted the Australian player, Casey Dellacqua, who has two children in a gay relationship. In a letter after the birth of Dellacqua’s son in 2013, Court wrote of her “sadness” that the baby “has seemingly been deprived of his father”.

UK News: Five Lesbians Severely Beaten In Vile Homophobic Attack By 15 Men

A group of five lesbians were set upon by more than 15 men in a homophobic beating outside of a club this weekend.

According to a report from the Portsmouth News, the victims were set upon by seven men who shouted homophobic abuse before kicking and punching them.

One woman lost seven teeth when she was punched in the face.

The women, who wish to remain anonymous, said others in their group were punched, kicked and stamped during the assault on Kingston Road.

In a joint statement, they said:

This was a brutal homophobic attack on innocent women trying to get home after a night out.”

The group said they were singing “I’m in the mood for dancing” as they walked home from a karaoke night in the North End area of the city when a man ran towards one of them, a 25 year old, and punched her in the temple.

When her 23-year-old friend tried to come to her aid, she was hit in the face, knocking out seven of her teeth and breaking her jaw.

One woman said she feared she would die from the attack, another lost seven front teeth from a single punch and a third had a fit after she was left bleeding.

A 32-year-old woman “was quickly surrounded by seven men, she tried to cover her face while being hit and grabbed as another woman pleaded for them to stop,” the women said.

Once they had finished attacking [her], they threw her against the shutters on which she was previously beaten.”

She was left with extensive bruising to her breasts and upper body.

The victims said the men then attacked a 27-year-old woman who had tried to intervene.

She was kicked to the floor, following this her head was stamped on.”

Another woman, 21, was punched, leaving her with a black eye.

The 25-year-old victim also sustained a black eye, as well as bruised kidneys and liver and a dislocated knee and shoulder.

The group added:

All involved have been left with injuries and many left emotionally scared. We are angered but overall we are fiercely upset. Innocent women trying to get home to their families should not be disgustingly attacked due to being homosexual.”

A police spokesperson said that the “altercation between two groups” is under investigation and that four men were arrested but released.

Those men are still under investigation.

‘True Love’ Web Series Shows What It’s Like to Be Queer in Homophobic South

It’s hard being gay in the American South. Unless you live in Charlotte or Atlanta, walking down the street holding hands with a same-sex partner could get you shot. Then again, people in big cities are not always safe, as illustrated by the devastating Pulse nightclub attack on the liberal southern city of Orlando, Florida in 2016.

Being gay in the South is hard enough. Being gay in working-class pockets of the rural south is a death wish. The vast majority of the working-class South voted for Trump, and the entire blue-collar region isn’t known for its liberalism as much as it’s known for its KKK rallies.

Dazed Digital‘s True Love web series follows stories of unlikely, sometimes unlucky, queer lovers around the country. The series debuts with the story of Sarah and Bri, a “young lesbian couple from Nashville, Tennessee, who are at odds not just with lingering family disapproval, but wider society.”

The series follows Sarah and Bri’s first meeting, discusses their burgeoning sexuality and documents the mixed reactions from their conservative community. Sarah’s family was relatively accepting; she came out to her father via letter at fifteen. Bri’s family was much more upset.

In order to be together, Sarah and Bri contacted each other via secret phones, watched each other through binoculars when physically separated, snuck around behind Bri’s parents’ backs, and stood up to their homophobic community.

When Bri’s family caught Sarah and Bri in the middle of a romantic encounter, they called the police and demanded that Sarah be arrested for statutory rape. Her parents claimed that the age difference between the two girls meant that Sarah raped her. Luckily, Sarah got off safely – barely.

She says,

We beat the law by ten days. If would have went to jail if I had been any older the day her mother called the police on me.”

The show’s producer, Elise Tyler, says that the show goes beyond pointing the finger at poor communities and calling them homophobic. The show aims to show that poor American communities are a victim of larger American society.

She says,

There is a war on poor people in this country, and it is frightening. It is not something we addressed directly, but I think the air of each episode alludes to the struggles so many Americans currently face.”

Watch the first episode here.

Dolly Parton To Her Homophobic Fans: ‘Spread Love Not hate’

In an interview with Larry King, country music icon Dolly Parton tells him how she deals with the opinions of her homophobic Christian fans and suggested they best thing they could do would be to stop judging other people.

I keep saying, ‘If you’re the fine Christian that you think you are, why are you judging people?’ That’s God’s job.

We’re not God, we’re not judges, we’re supposed to love one another, we’re supposed to not judge.”

She also mentioned that she has too much to do to try and exact “vengeance,” which is part of God’s job description as well.

I just think that we should be more loving, more caring. We are who we are. If you’re gay, you’re gay. If you’re straight, you’re straight. And you should be allowed to be how you are and who you are”

Watch her speak on the LGBTQ community beginning at the 9:30 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVbh2X32VvE

The Love Of Political Correctness

In Greece where I live, there is a Facebook group called ‘Ancient Memes’, which has grown really popular during the last years, since it started off as particularly funny.

Its point is to write ridiculous meme phrases on historic pieces of art, something like ‘Classical Art Memes’, with usually absurdly hilarious results.

That until lately, when their submissions have started getting wildly problematic, many of them with sexist, homophobic, with transphobic content that makes me cringe.

Here is the translation of a letter I had to write them recently, due to the extreme discomfort they’ve started causing, as well as a response to a debate that has risen on the ever so discussed issue of political correctness:

I used to love Ancient Memes, I truly did. I have spent hours scrolling down on their page and just laugh on my own. My Facebook wall was used to delirious binge-sharing. Ancient Memes are – or used to be – my favorite kind of humour because they achieved something majestic: to show that we can just as easily die laughing at a silly, absurd joke, without being macho twenty-something dudebros whose mom still brings them a glass of water, while jerking off to rape jokes.

I used to love Ancient Memes. Although some of their posts had started becoming disgusting, I kept giving the page second chances with the thought that the submissions are made by different people, and that some of them are still funny. Until a post two days ago that made me feel physically sick and I immediately reported it not to punish or to take revenge as the Black Widow of Social Justice, but mostly in case it gets deleted by Facebook so that people close to me don’t have to see it and have their day instantly ruined.

I won’t repeat the exact content of the post. The point was that, for yet another time, trans people became the butt of the joke, with the use of the T word that I refuse to write here, not because I’m scared of saying Voldemort’s name, or because ‘political correctness’ is controlling my life, but because I’ve learnt that with our language we confirm, deny or erase the very existence of a group of people, and we’re not even talking about dignity here, about mental balance, or the right to demand everything that you already have as a given in order to be laid back and make jokes on Ancient Memes, like that where a sculpture of Zeus threatens Hera with death because she hasn’t cooked yet, like every female who is inferior to your Neatherdal self should, amen.

To be more precise, Facebook deleted that post, and Ancient Memes uploaded a toddler-like “mum-the-mean-teacher-scolded-me-for-calling-my-classmate-racist-slurs” reply. They sarcastically called my report a “love attack”, they called people who “ridiculously screech for respect without being able to respect themselves” idiots, they said that people like me report things because our little brain can’t understand shit, and that memes and comedy will die because of people like us and our political correctness, that will lead us to even censor ourselves.

And at this point I’ve got to admit that I’ve never been a prouder receiver of internetic flame. You can barf in your bib all you want, I don’t give a damn, the thing continues to be as follows: my report was exactly a “love attack”. You couldn’t have fallen more to the point even if you tripped into it. And for this “love” attack you can chase me with your medieval pitchforks, for all I care. My report was an attack of even problematically overprotecting love for all the trans people I know, have into my life, and associate with every day. What you call political correctness and feel so oppressed by it, is not simple respect of some odd abstract idea. For me it has a name – names – and it might not be the case, but it could potentially have my name as well apart from those of my friends’. Some of my most beloved people in the world could have seen this meme and lock themselves into the bathroom with a panic attack, cry themselves to sleep, or think for their wonderful selves things I wouldn’t even want to know.

I don’t vouch for all these because they’re not things they’ll let me witness, but I can imagine them because they are pretty plausible reactions when someone shows you for one more time with their language and behavior that they don’t even consider you enough of a person, that they don’t give two shits for your life and existence.

And do you know what’s the most interesting thing in this equation? That the trans people I know are a hundred times cooler than you, pitiful transphobic person. Some of the cleverest people I can think of are trans, some of the sweetest and kindest and most tender and funniest (more than you and your oppressed sense of humour) are trans, activists with organizational and management abilities you’d be jealous of, students with remarkable performances and persistence who will one day become your professors at the university and your kids will nervously bite their nails about whether they’ll pass their class, musicians, artists, fashionistas, life partners of cats and dogs, people surrounded by people who love them like nothing in this world, and people so multi-dimensional that in fact it seems utterly ridiculous to me that I am still trying to explain to someone like you that they are multi-dimensional.

And maybe at this point you’d like to step back and wonder what the actual hell is going so wrong with you when your lament for your First Amendment Right that is somehow threatened because it’s not ok anymore to contribute so obviously actively in the oppression of a person who might already have been kicked out of their home, beat up on the street, have the police called when they went to get the order of their last Harry Potter book from the mail because the data on their ID doesn’t match their appearance, a person whose degree will have the wrong name on it and they’ll probably have a really hard time finding a job, a person who – to make their lives slightly easier in some occasions – allows people around them to refer to them wrongly, to talk to them wrongly, to offend – deliberately or not – every inch of their being and identity, to ask questions about their body we wouldn’t even ask our pets and to demand answers that they think they deserve, making the other person feel like garbage.

So if you have some soul left and not all of it is dedicated to the noble cause against political correctness – aka in favor of your right to make someone feel like a piece of shit whenever you want – imagine how you would feel, a cis man who whom they called with the wrong pronouns on the phone once because your life happens to be a little high-pitched, and you spent an entire day measuring your fragile masculinity on the mirror. Imagine how you would feel with this post if your life was already founded on draining fights to be accepted by a hostile shitty society, to which you offer things in any case. Think how tragically funny you considered this post, and weigh the immense loss of the internetz after it got taken down, with a less horrible day for a trans person who has already faced problems you were lucky enough to not even need to ever imagine. Do you still feel like a noble avenger of the freedom of speech – the way you define it – and a true descendant of John Stuart Mill – who probably turns in his grave with the thought of your post?

If yes, then I pity you, and I wish for you to never feel this kind of love, the love that makes you want to render the day of a person that you care off slightly easier, slightly more painless. The love that teaches you how to get in the other person’s shoes step by step, in the shoes of a person who didn’t have everything as easy as you do, the love that teaches you to acknowledge your privilege and apologize every time that you fuck up. I wish for you to never love a person so much that you shudder at the possibility of them seeing something triggering online without ever letting you know because they don’t want to ruin your day.

I wish for you to always stay such an antisocial, individualist misanthrope, so that you won’t ever need to feel the love of political correctness.”

Incredibly Poignant Graduation Day Wedding Proposal Spoiled By Homophobic Backlash

When, Huang Yang asked Wang Xiaoyu to marry her following a graduation ceremony at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China, didn’t expect the move to cause her university to threaten her with disciplinary action.

Following the proposal, onlookers cheered and filmed the couple as they shared a kiss, and the proposal was quickly covered by an LGBT group online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS2D4fx3uEg

 

Xiaoyu told BBC News.,

The proposal is proof of love. And also this action could make people aware that there are sexual minorities on the campus as well.

Last year, the university held a group wedding ceremony for 50 graduates and celebrated their love. But same-sex love was treated differently.”

However, when her university became aware of the video, officials demanded the it be removed from social media, before Xiaoyu was pulled in for questioning by the university’s party secretary.

Chinese-proposal-causes-social-media-outrage (1)

She also says they searched her room, withheld her diploma and contacted her parents.

The incident has divided public opinion on Chinese social media, with some criticising the pair and other’s voicing their support.

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Xiaoyu adds,

We want to get married but this incident still has an impact on both of us and on our families as well,”

Homosexuality was removed from China’s official list of mental disorders in 2001 but remains a taboo subject, and earlier this year, a series of adverts urging people to be more accepting of gay people were launched across the country.

Woman Sentenced For Five-Year For Attacking Deaf Lesbian Couple With Baseball

A woman has been sentenced to five years in state prison for attacking a deaf lesbian couple with a baseball bat.

Shaunda Lane of California City, pleaded guilty in mid-June to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Lane was arrested back in March, after attacking the victims with a baseball bat, striking one of them in the head, according to Desert Hot Springs police.

She allegedly became upset because she didn’t understand the women’s sign language.

The couple used hand signing to ask Lane to leave their property, but were attacked by Lane with a baseball bat according to a police report.

Lane has prior felony convictions for robbery, burglary, theft and check fraud, court records show.

Since the attack the women have been trying to get their lives back in order and the community has rallied together to help them. A Go Fund Me account has been set up to help the couple recover financially.

I really would like to thank the supporters who are my family and deaf friends, even deaf teachers, even hearing friends, also hearing families…who already knew who we are, for rest of our lives,” said Dee in the letter to SDGLN.

Both women suffered severe injuries; one a broken hand and concussion.

A Good Samaritan who only wishes to be identified as Team Mom stepped in to help the couple by setting up a GoFundMe page, which raised more than $2,300 over two months to help with the women’s medical bills.

‘Love is All You Need?’ Movie Envisions a Heterophobic Society

In movies and films that feature gay characters, it’s incredibly common that their storylines focus on homophobia or the struggles they have as they come to terms with their sexuality. But, despite this, the concept of a world that is prejudiced against someone’s sexuality is often a difficult one to grasp for heterosexual viewers.

Aiming to solve this is new movie Love is All You Need? The film, which stars Ana Ortiz, Leisha Hailey, Briana Evigan, Tyler Blackburn and more, envisions a world where it’s not gay people who are judged for their sexuality – it’s heterosexual people.

In the film’s fictional version of society, teachings against the ‘sin’ of heterosexuality are even taught in church.

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In the film, quarterback Jude has a girlfriend but she forms a connection with male frat pledge and journalist student Ryan.

The film also focuses on elementary student Emily who gets a crush on her best friend Ian and is excited to take part in the school’s production of Romeo and Julio (which the school’s theatre director decides to change to Romeo and Juliet) as if she’s cast as Juliet, it means that she’ll get to kiss a boy – but her classmates find out that she’s heterosexual and begin to bully her.

love-4

Love is All You Need? is based on a short movie about a little girl named Ashley who is harassed by her parents and even physical abused by her peers just for being a “ro” (the movie’s slur for heterosexual people) and it eventually leads her to commit suicide. The short was incredibly successful, racking up 40 million views online.

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Speaking to After Ellen, the director and co-writer of the the project, K. Rocco Shields, explains how the short film came to be:

I went to bed one night after listening to a reporter on the news talk about how she couldn’t understand why kids were killing themselves because they were gay. And I thought about how I wished this woman could feel what it would be like to be marginalized and be the proverbial other, then maybe she would understand. We need to feel things in order to make change.”

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The director and co-writer also adds,

I’m not claiming originality. I’m just putting a different spin on it. And the idea is for mainstream America to really understand what it is like to be bullied and mistreated because you are different.”

For more information on where you can watch Love is All You Need? visit the official website.

Uber Driver Fired After Lesbian Couple Records His Vile Homophobic Rant

Melbourne couple, Lucy Thomas and her girlfriend Chelsea Lang were subject to an antigay tirade and vicious harassment by their Uber driver over the weekend.

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The women recorded part of the encounter, which ultimately cost the driver his job.

The incident took place on Saturday night when Thomas and Lang ordered an Uber to return home after a night out.

Thomas tweeted about the harassment and included the audio clip.

She told Australian LGBT magazine the Star Observer that their driver, became enraged and abusive when he learned that his passengers were a lesbian couple.

It’s very wrong, but because we had long hair and were effeminate he saw us as straight women, and he hadn’t realized we weren’t until that point.”

The driver began to hurl antigay epithets at the women for the remainder of the trip to their home.

When they arrived, he continued to rant at them but refused to unlock the car doors and let them out, which is when the women began to record.

The couple then left the car and walked towards the front door, she said driver stayed idle, watching the pair walk inside.

Thomas later contacted Uber, which has since fired the driver and apologized to the couple.

Thomas is the Chief Executive of Project ROCKIT, a national youth-driven movement against bullying and hate.

If it had been a couple of gay men it potentially been a lot different. The driver didn’t see us as a threat until he realised we weren’t straight.

The only reason we decided to share this is because we want the community to know these issues are still a problem… given the current climate in Australia, it’s now more important than ever that LGBTI people are visible along with the discrimination they face.”

 

 

Science Proves That Homophobia Means You’re (Probably) Gay

According to a study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, homophobes are “more likely to be gay”. (Which, of course, we already knew, but now we’ve got science to back it up.)

This study, conducted in 2012, tested the correlation between “autonomy-thwarting parents” and internalized self-loathing homophobia, and found that the two are pretty likely to intersect.

As someone who went through a homophobic stage for the few years preceding my eventual coming out, I can definitely understand what the study is trying to convey.

I was gay-shamed by one particular family member for a long time before I even realized I was into girls (read: pre-puberty). Of course, my parents weren’t (and still aren’t) exactly homophobic, but there was a rift in place that caused me to say some pretty terrible things to some friends and later-came-out-as-gay boyfriends.

(Yes, I’ve had a few gay boyfriends. It probably should have been a sign.)

What did this study find?


Homophobia may be a mask.

When someone identifies that they’re gay, but isn’t ready to confirm it to the rest of the world, it’s somewhat normal to defiantly reject the idea. We see it a lot in other contexts, so it makes sense that it applies to human sexuality too. (Does this mean that slut-shamers wish they could get a little more action? Maybe, but I haven’t seen any data on this yet.) Another example of this connection can be seen in bullies who have a difficult or abusive home life – we hurt others to hide our own pain. It’s not right, but it is human nature.

It’s important to realize that this isn’t the only reason for homophobia, though… Just that there’s a pretty high likelihood.


Homophobia based in homosexuality can be fixed.

Richard Ryan, who was one of the authors on the previously-mentioned study, suggests that the individuals struggling with their own homophobia should take a step back from their world of hate, and instead look at their own lives. If they’re insecure about their own desires, they’re going to lash out at others. The brain tells us that we can’t like the things we like. Then, it tells us that if we can’t, no one else should, either. And voila – homophobia is born.

Like with any other insecurity, though, fixing the problem will require a commitment from the person who’s suffering from the insecurities. If they’re not ready to accept that it’s an internal problem and not an external one, they’ll never be able to get past it.


They’re hating out of jealousy.

If someone has an extreme dislike of anything, it’s because it occupies a large portion of their thoughts. What does this really mean for us as the queer community? Well, probably not much, since we already covered above that they won’t change until they’re ready to change, and most people can’t handle having their insecurities thrown in their face. This means that a homophobic person will probably not have an epiphany just because you told them they’re really just secretly gay.

It does mean that there’s a strong connection to the amount of hatred compared to the likelihood of gay-ness. That person who casually makes off-handed remarks that come across as homophobic? Probably not gay. But the person who goes out and commits hate crimes, or petitions to keep lesbians out of the ladies’ room… Probably pretty gay.


Homophobia allows a disconnect.

Most homophobic people don’t hate the individual person that they’re shaming, attacking, or otherwise hating on. Rather, they hate the fact that they can see themselves in the person’s “lifestyle” – and they feel guilty about it. By doing hateful things toward this person, they’re consciously disconnecting themselves and allowing for “proof” that they can’t possibly be gay themselves. But the gay community knows better, and has for a long time.

Does that mean it’s right for closeted people to be bigots? No, not in the least. But it does make psychological sense.


It would be okay… If it wasn’t so hurtful.

The greatest things that keep us unique in this world are our different opinions and beliefs, and as much as we don’t want to believe it, homophobia is definitely a belief system. The problem isn’t necessarily the homophobic thoughts themselves, but how a person chooses to handle these thoughts. Contrary to what much of the gay community thinks, internalizing these thoughts isn’t the best course of action, as this can lead to suicide (if the thoughts are bad enough). But unleashing it as hate crimes and harassment isn’t good, either.

From a psychological standpoint, this situation is pretty similar to the cycle of abuse. Bullies are often abused at home, or have been previously bullied by someone else. Sexual predators are quite often child victims of sexual violence. And homophobes have probably been on the other side of the hatred before. This seems to happen a lot in super-conservative families, perpetuating the idea that homosexuality is a “liberal thing”.


It’s a natural fight-or-flight.

For many homophobes, the internal struggle with their own sexuality kicks off their fight-or-flight response. In this case, “flight” represents running away from home, or possibly committing suicide, whereas “fight” represents attacking non-closeted homosexuals. There are, of course, other options, too – but the brain doesn’t always recognize those other options when it’s already battling with itself.

As members of the gay community, we have a type of obligation to be accepting of those who aren’t accepting of us. I know, that goes against basic survival instincts – but hear me out. The person will need to confront their fears about what homosexuality really means, and this could potentially distance them from all of their family. Remember, most of these people will have had it ingrained in them that they’re not allowed to be gay. We need to help them understand that they are allowed to be who they are.


Understanding the problem is not enough.

Most likely, the person already knows they’re at least a little bit gay (please, no backlash from the bisexual community – you know what I’m getting at here), and that alone isn’t enough to fix the problem. They’ve probably been conditioned their entire lives to think that being gay is something to be ashamed of – and no matter how diligent they are in fixing things, that’s not going to happen overnight. Some gay people live their whole lives in the closet, and that is their right. Anti-discrimination laws can help, too, but as is often the case, there are going to be people who don’t care what the law says.

All the studies that have been done on the subject have only discovered a connection – not a plausible solution.


Blame the parents.

In almost all cases, the way the person was raised will dictate their attitudes towards homophobia versus acceptance. In every study yet conducted on the subject, the parents were really the ones being tested. This applies whether the person is actually gay or not. In my personal life, I see a connection: I came out to the parent who was supportive before I came out to the parent who shamed me. Like, a lot earlier – I don’t think I ever formally came out to Parent #2 here, but Parent #1 knew before I turned 16.

It seems like a stereotypical answer in the psychological community, but in many ways, the methods used for raising a child are primarily responsible for how the child turns out when they grow up. Even if we wipe out homophobia, it won’t really be gone for a few generations.


Support and affection play a huge role.

Parents who are truly nurturing, supportive, and affectionate with their kids raise kids who are nicer and more accepting of the differences in people. Their personality does play a part, too, but to a lesser extent. If a child doesn’t feel loved, appreciated, and welcomed as they are, they are more likely to develop a pattern of mean behavior in the future. And children who haven’t been shown a lot of affection at home are often less able to show affection outside of the home, as they grow up.

This sounds pretty doom-and-gloom, but just as a pattern of sexual abuse can end with one person taking a stand, so can the pattern of unsupportive parenting.


Homophobia is, essentially, the same as a temper tantrum.

When a child is frustrated and unhappy, they’re going to throw a tantrum. Closeted homosexuals are, by definition, frustrated and unhappy with their situation – so they lash out at those who they feel are freer to explore their sexual desires. It all goes back to the parents – whether the person was catered to as a child (and is, therefore, spoiled as an adult) or they were neglected as a child (and, therefore, feel undeserving of happiness).

The way they were raised can even help predict the way things will be in the future – although there are always cases where a person will go against what’s expected. For some, this may be their rebellious stage – questioning the values they were raised with. For others, it may be the time they realize that the way they were raised wasn’t right, and they actively seek out a way to make the world a more beautiful place. The third category – those who develop homophobic tendencies themselves – is pretty miserable inside and wants others to feel the same type of misery.


Homophobia is a belief that hatred is OK when it can be justified by pseudo-science.

This way of thinking really needs to end, because it’s not fair to anyone involved. The need to hate or compete with others is a virus, and it spreads quickly – sometimes even accidentally (such as the parent who isn’t gay, who makes off-handed homophobic remarks in front of their closeted gay child). Other times, it’s spread intentionally, and it lights up a fire within people. Some people get seriously angry about their right to be homophobic!

There is no single step to eradicate homophobia, but one of the biggest steps in the process is to do away with the idea that it’s okay to hate someone else. The only legitimate reason to judge someone else is if they have done something directly to you that wasn’t fair – and even in those cases, people can change. You shouldn’t trust that they’ve changed without seeing proof, but whenever possible, you need to let go of the past – for your own sanity.


We’ve come a long way – but there’s still so much further to go.

The vast majority of my generation is pretty accepting of others from different cultures and communities, which is a huge deal – and the effects have been seen drastically. Whereas the original assumption was that about 10% of people were gay, bisexual, or transgender, now those numbers seem to be a little closer to 50-50. Yes, straight people are still in the majority, which is almost a biological necessity. (Newly-discovered science dealing with same-sex procreation could make it to where that’s no longer a necessity, and there’s always the bisexual community that can theoretically procreate naturally… But that’s not the point here.)

If you want to make a difference, you can – and the help is always appreciated. Just remember that the person who’s being homophobic toward you is really hurting themselves – so proceed with care! Show them that there’s no shame in being unapologetically real, including being real about who you love. Hopefully, we’ll see a homophobia-free world within our lifetimes – let’s make that happen!

Michigan Professor Admits She Made Up Gaybashing Story

A gay woman and professor at Central Michigan University has admitted that she made up a much-publicized story about being punched in the eye by a homophobic man.

According to sources at Michigan‘s Morning Sun News, in August, professor Mari Poindexter told the paper that, at a Toby Keith concert, a man had called her a “cross-dressing fag,” then punched her in the eye and spat on her in the parking lot of a bar later that night.

Pictures that she posted of herself with a black eye went viral on social media, with Poindexter receiving an outpouring of support from friends and from her university.

She also filed a police report.

But Poindexter wavered when police asked her to watch surveillance video from the parking lot with them. That same night, her friend called local 911 to say that Poindexter seemed she was going to harm herself.

On the 911 call, Poindexter told her friend she had made up the attack at the bar. She also admitted she’d punched herself in the eye.

After that, according to court records, she retained a lawyer and entered psychiatric treatment.

She was then charged with lying to a cop, and filing a false police report. However, the cop-lying charge was dropped in exchange for a guilty plea on the false report charge.

She was fined $225 and given six months probation.

Her lawyer painted her as a passionate LGBTQ advocate who’d gone too far.

On the night in question, she was accosted, by another patron at a local concert. The assault included many homophobic remarks, very mean spirited.”

But her lawyer admitted that she’d “made the mistake” in fabricating the story of the attack in the bar later that night.

Brooklyn Lesbian Shares Harrowing Homophobic Attack By Off Duty NYPD Officer (Video)

An NYPD officer is under investigation for a possible hate crime after a Brooklyn woman accused him of assaulting her and calling her homophobic slurs.

Stephanie Dorceant, an artist and film-maker, has spoken out after suffering a vile homophobic attack from an off duty police officer, who subsequently had her arrested for assaulting him.

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Dorceant claims that the unnamed officer hurled homophobic slurs at her and her then-girlfriend before repeatedly punching her in the face and strangling her.

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She recounted what happened in a video by BRIC TV, saying

It’s two or three in the morning, and this neighbourhood is really quiet, there’s a lot of kids that live here, there’s a lot of families that live here. So when someone brushed up against me I screamed, like a shriek or something and so I said “Are you OK?”And he turned around and he basically barked at me and told me to mind my f***ing business you f***ing dyke.”

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I told him to watch his mouth and then he knocked me, I told him not to touch me, and then he started to attack me, grab me by the hair, started punching me in the face and he wouldn’t let me go. We kept yelling at him to leave me alone but he didn’t even do that. And then towards the end of it he yells out that he is a cop.”

According to a report in The Huffington Post, when other police officers arrived on the scene they immediately pushed her into the pavement and arrested her.

During the incident she received bruising to her face and neck and an eye injury. She was also charged with assault, attempted assault and resisting arrest.

All of the charges have since been dropped, after a grand jury ruled in her favour.

Now Dorceant is now suing New York City and the police department for battery, unlawful stop, malicious prosecution and false arrest.

In the video, Dorceant expressed disbelief that she was talking about herself, and not something she had read online about someone else.

She went on to draw comparisons between her and other high profile cases of alleged police brutality against African-Americans and other minority’s.

Watch the full video here;

Hundreds Show Twitter Solidarity For Lesbian Who Was Assaulted For What She Was Wearing

Hundreds of people have taken pictures of themselves wearing a tie in solidarity of Helena Martins who was attacked in south London last week.

Martins was yards from her home when she was punched in the face and strangled with her tie in what she believes was a hate crime.

In her Facebook post after the attack, she wrote:

I don’t think I’ll be rocking a tie in the near future. Today, one street away from my home, I was assaulted by a man who just went berserk at me, trying to pull my tie off. I’ve got a scratched and punched face, a sore neckline by all the tie pulling and a very bruised soul.”

Martins, who has lost her hearing due to Ménière’s disease, lost her cochlear earplant, which she relies on to hear, in the assault.

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She wrote that homophobia and transphobia are “still very much alive”, and said:

If you hear or see someone making fun with pub jokes, harassing or bullying of LGBT people, making comments while watching TV or a movie or whatever… Act. Speak out. Some women wear ties, some men wear skirts. Get the heck over it. One thing is true: I shouldn’t be punched in the face for wearing a tie.”

Her experience has now inspired a friend to start #TieForHelena, asking people on social media to wear a tie on Tuesday 15 December in to show their support.

In a blog post, Patrick Smith wrote:

I think that we should show support for Helena by all of us wearing a tie – so we can all rock that look. If you already wear a tie to work, then great, you’re part of the gang. If you don’t, then for one day, please do. You can wear it rakishly, dashingly, with a suit, with slacks, or maybe even ‘Rambo style’ like we used to on the school playground occasionally. However you wear it, please take a photo and upload it to social media with the hashtag #TieForHelena.”

Sarah Moore from Stonewall, who have called on supporters to wear their ties today, said:

We believe that people of all genders should have the freedom to present their aesthetic and use clothing to express themselves in any way they choose, without fear of confrontation. Helena’s bravery and commitment to transforming this awful incident into something positive is remarkable, and we’re honoured that she is choosing to raise money for us.

Our work to end homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying and hate crime will continue until everyone, everywhere is free to express who they are and is accepted without exception.”

Thanking those who’ve taken part, Helena said:

I didn’t plan to wear a tie today. Last night while doing wife’s tie knot I felt really uncomfortable, but after seeing all the posts on Facebook and Twitter, I’m feeling the love and joy. Love conquers everything – hate included.”

 

Costa Rica’s First Lesbian Wedding Briefly Happened Due To Clerical Error

A Costa Rican woman was able to marry her girlfriend because her birth certificate records her as male.

In 1991, when Jazmin Elizondo Arias was born, someone made a mistake and noted on her birth certificate that she was male, and no one corrected the record officially due to the drawn out administration involved.

Nearly 25 years later – thanks to the simple clerical error – Elizondo was able to become one half of the first same-sex couple to marry legally in Costa Rica – at least briefly.

Jazmin Elizondo Arias

Elizondo and her partner Laura Florez-Estrada Pimentel married quietly on 25 July; their news became Costa Rican news only last week after they received their marriage certificate.

The publicity prompted an unusually quick response by Civil Registry officials, who reviewed Elizondo’s records, reclassified her as a woman and annulled the marriage. They also opened criminal complaints against the women and Marco Castillo, the lawyer, for allegedly performing an “impossible marriage”.

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Florez-Estrada said.

It’s clear the Civil Registry moved out of hate, because they not only annulled the marriage but filed this criminal complaint,”

According to Costa Rican law, knowingly entering into a marriage where there is an impediment carries a possible prison sentence of six months to three years.

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While Elizondo and Florez-Estrada await possible prosecution, the Constitutional Court is considering the case of another gay couple, whose relationship was recognised as a “de facto union” by a family judge on 2 July. Several versions of a bill proposing to recognise same-sex unions have been presented in congress, sparking fierce opposition from political parties with religious ties.

Florez-Estrada said the couple knew they could face legal problems if they went public with their marriage, but decided to do so anyway.

We had to make public that it was not our mistake. It is a question of basic rights.”

Uganda’s President Says He Will Not Pursue Further Anti-Gay Legislation In The Country

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has declared that he will not pursue further anti-gay legislation, after previous attempts to strengthen the country’s anti LGBT legislation were defeated.

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Museveni told reporters last week.

That law was not necessary, because we already have a law which was left by the British which deals with this issue.”

The long-standing leader signed the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill last February. The law called for repeat offenders to be sentenced to 14 years in prison and to make it a criminal offence not to report someone for being gay.

However, the country’s Constitutional Court later struck down the bill, finding that the speaker of parliament acted illegally by moving ahead with a vote on the law despite at least three lawmakers objecting to a lack of quorum.

Uganda’s dreadfully homophobic legislation already punishes gay sex with up to life imprisonment under a colonial-era anti-sodomy law. Same-sex marriage is also banned as part of the country’s constitution.

An asylum seeker from Uganda covers his face with a paper bag in order to protect his identity as he marches with the LGBT Asylum Support Task Force during the Gay Pride Parade in Boston

The law was heavily criticised in the west, with the US announcing sanctions against Uganda, following the implementation of the law.

In July, a Ugandan presidential candidate made history – by affirming that he opposes homophobia.

With the 2016 election approaching, former prime minister Amama Mbazazi stated that he opposes homophobia – making him one of the only Ugandan politicians to ever do so.

Last month, a small but visible group of people took to the streets of Uganda to celebrate Pride – a year since the controversial anti-gay law was scrapped.

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Evangelical Pastor Apologises for Preaching Hatred Towards LGBT Community

An evangelical pastor is begging forgiveness for spending much of his life preaching that homosexuality is wrong.

In post written on Reddit, he writes

I almost feel like I owe a debt to the LGBT community or an apology perhaps. Ya see, I spent years as an evangelical pastor, and as I’m sure we’re all aware, this didn’t afford me a lot of freedom in neither my sexuality, nor the world views I projected.”

His message continues:

I always felt strange, almost wrong, telling teenagers that ‘homosexuality is wrong’ and quoting other things that I was taught to quote to discredit the freedom of sexual expression or gender identification.

A year ago, I left that career path because I couldn’t hide that I can no longer support many of their perspectives. The one thing that has torn at my heart is that I taught and encouraged a younger generation to have a negative worldview of any LGBT individual or organization.

I fight back tears now as I regret that there are some who grew passionate about opposing this wonderful group of individuals. I know that if I stayed quiet, no one would miss a wink of sleep and I don’t think that I am changing anything.

But I want to tell anyone who may read this that I love you for who you are.

When I left the church, everyone turned their back on me, including my now ex-wife, who discovered that I am attracted to men and women equally.

So I don’t really have anyone to say this to. And if only two or three people read this, that’s okay. But I’m on course to genuinely love people and accept all walk of life from here on, and LGBT individuals need more people to turn to the rainbow side.”

Mother Has Perfect Response to Anti-Gay Vandals Targeting Her Bisexual Daughters

Miranda DeLong, who identifies as bisexual, returned from work with a transgender friend to find her garage doors spray painted with the words: ‘I’m Gay.’

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She immediately woke up her parents and her younger sister, who is also bisexual, and the family gathered outside to inspect the damage.

The sisters were in state of shock and their parents were furious, but their mother responded in the coolest way possible.

Instead of covering the graffiti in the original white, Erin and her daughters repainted the door in rainbow colours.

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Our kids are our everything, and to see them hurt is worse than being hurt ourselves.

We decided that some announcements deserve more than gray spray paint. We made it rainbow so we could include all sexualities, we have many LGBT friends that visit our house and we wanted them to all feel accepted. It was a way to support them all.”

The DeLongs then posted the before and after photos on the Stop Homophobia and Have A Gay Day Facebook pages, where the family have received an outpouring of support.

Writing on the Have A Gay Day page.

A couple nights ago someone thought it was a good idea to spray paint “I’m gay” on my house at an attempt to insult/humiliate my sister and I, we’re both bi and many of our friends who spend time at our home are lgbt members. Today, me and my mother painted it rainbow. Being gay is rad!!!”

Two Women Arrested After Allegedly Attacking Lesbian Couple at US Theme Park

According to police reports, two women have been arrested after allegedly attacking and injuring a lesbian couple they observed kissing, at Six Flags New England.

Damarielys Mukhtar, 29, of Springfield and Nikia L. Butt, 27, of Holyoke were arraigned in Westfield District Court last week on charges of assault and battery, and a civil rights violation with injury.

 

Mukhtar faces an additional charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, court documents show.

Local papers report that the couple, aged 18 and 19, were kissing and hugging outside the theme park when they noticed Mukhtar staring in their direction.

One of the girls asked Mukhtar if she had a problem. She told them that she didn’t and was simply waiting on her child. Mukhtar went on to say:

I wouldn’t care about your gay asses anyway.“

When the couple proceeded to walk away, Mukhtar began hurling homophobic insults at them.

When the girls challenged Mukhtar, she began punching them in the face. One of the girls was kicked to the ground. It was at this point that Butt began assaulting the couple.

The couple alleges that Mukhtar took the three-inch knife from her pocket and brandished it at them.

The assault ended when a crowd began to gather. Butt and Mukhtar attempted to flee the scene but were later apprehended at a car park where they were identified by the victims.

The two victims are students at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island and are thought to have suffered only minor injuries.

Lesbians Answer Questions Some People Are Too Afraid To Ask (Video)

When someone finds out you’re a lesbian, they can’t stop themselves from asking you a zillion questions.

The ladies in this video, set out to answer some of the top prying questions we all get…

I knew I was into women before I even knew anything else concrete about myself.”

Canadian Goalkeeper Erin McLeod Shuts Down Hateful Comments With One Perfect Post

Over the weekend, Women’s World Cup playing, goalkeeper Erin McLeod from Canadian, tied the knot with her girlfriend and fellow footballer Ella Masar.

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Masar came out publicly ealier this year in an article focusing on her Christian faith, after receiving homophobic comments on a personal family photo.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that I am deeply in love with Erin Katrina McLeod. Yes, I know she is a woman. Yes, I hear you, it is wrong. Yes, I know I am sinning. Yet, please tell me who can throw the first stone? Wether you believe it is a sin or not, I will never apologize for loving someone, faithfully, with everything that I am, and honoring them daily.”

Again, Masar has had to respond to hateful comments on her wedding. She posted this response:

For all the congratulations, love, and support thank you. Erin and I feel overwhelmed and blessed with everyone that has reached out… Also, to the “other” messages, thank you. Thank you for praying for me and reinforcing my own prayers because as you pray, “Lord please help Ella, allow her to see her sin for loving that woman, for respecting her, being faithful, honoring her, etc …” Know I am saying the same thing, “My Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing me find my better half, for finding someone that strengthens my faith and allows me to be the person I always imagined. Thank you for teaching me what truly loving someone and others is all about, amen.

https://instagram.com/p/49M8RssAFu/

JK Rowling Takes on Westboro Baptist Church on Twitter (and its Brilliant)

Once again JK Rowling  has demonstrated her considerable talent for shutting down Twitter haters.

This time she is taking on the Westboro Baptist Church who have objected to her recent comment on Ireland’s vote for marriage equality.

Early this week, Rowling tweeted of a fictional wedding of Harry Potter character Dumbledore and the Lord of the Rings wizard Gandalf.

Her joke was quickly pounced on by social media accounts affiliated with the Westboro Baptist Church, who had been tweeting homophobic messages “reminding” Ireland of its slogan.

The Kansas-based church has picketed Ground Zero, the funeral of soldiers and celebrities such as Michael Jackson in the past and threatened to picket Robin Williams’ funeral after saying the actor is “going to hell” and was “hated by God”.

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Never one to ignore hate-speech circulating on social media, Rowling responded excellently:

When challenged by a Twitter user for giving the Church “counter-productive” attention, Rowling insisted it is important to confront hate speech in all forms.

Racists Homophobes Target Black Lesbian Group on Facebook with Abuse

The California based group Black Lesbians United has been forced to remove a Facebook page for their annual event after receiving racist and homophobic abuse.

Their page was bombarded with thousands of internet users – mostly white men – who decided to ‘attend’ their event and take the opportunity to write disgusting racist and homophobic abuse towards other members.

Some users made crude jokes, while others posted links to hardcore lesbian porn.

Not all the commenters were abusive, with one writing:

To the black lesbians who only came to this page to find happiness and acceptance in their sexuality I want to give a sincere apology for the twisted sick people who have written racist or homophobic comments to you.

Nobody deserves to be treated that way no matter how f**king funny those idiots think they are. Keep being proud of who you are and don’t listen to the insecure people below xx Once again I am truly sorry.”

Following the huge amount of abuse, Black Lesbians United removed the event page, confirming:

We did cancel the facebook notification of our BLU retreat, but the retreat itself is still on!”

For more details on the event please go to www.blacklesbiansunited.org

Amélie Mauresmo Faces a Wave of Homophobic Comment After Announcing She is Expecting Her First Child

Yesterday, former Wimbledon and Australian Open tennis champion Amélie Mauresmo has announced that she is expecting her first child on Twitter. The 35-year-old, who revealed she was gay in 1999, is now coach of World No 3. Andy Murray and captain of the French Fed Cup team.

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But sadly her announcement has been hit by a wave of homophobic comments on twitter – “My kid has a chance to live with his father and his mother, not like that Mauresmo born from donated sperm”, “Who is the father bestiality,” “Oh Mauresmo is pregnant, I thought it was her father “…

Mauresmo has unfortunately already experienced this situation when she first came out , posing with his girlfriend at the time Sylvie Bourdon, in a Paris Match.

Then she faced comments from the the public, media and fellow competitors, including Martina Hingis, who had said: “She lives with a girl so is half a man.”

Mauresmo due to give birth in August.

Also read: Andy Murray Hires Amélie Mauresmo as His New Coach

Andy Murray spoke warmly of Mauresmo’s influence after reaching the Australian Open final earlier this year where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

I’m very thankful for Amelie for doing it (agreeing to coach me). It was, I would say, a brave choice for her to do it and hopefully I can repay her. A lot of people criticised me for working with her … women can be very good coaches as well.”

 

Nigerian LGBT Activist’s Bid for Asylum Rejected Becasue Judge Doesn’t Believe She’s a Lesbian

Nigerian LGBTI activist, Aderonke Apata, bid for asylum was rejected by a British High Court, because the judge ruled her lesbian relationship was ‘fabricated’.

Apata says she now faces persecution, imprisonment and even death if she returns to Nigeria, where she had been an outspoken gay rights activist before moving to the UK in 2004.

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Her applications for asylum have been repeatedly denied as the Home Office did not believe she was really a lesbian.

Also read: UK Home Office Claims Asylum Seeker Can’t Be A Lesbian Because She Is A Mother

Last year Apata, desperate to prove to the authorities that she is homosexual, submitted private photographs and a DVD of her sex life.

However, a Home Office barrister argued last month that Ms Apata cannot be a lesbian as she has children. He claimed that while she “indulged in same-sex activity” she was not “part of the social group known as lesbians”.

Deputy High Court Judge John Bowers QC this week said:

I find it difficult to disagree with the conclusions of the First Tier Tribunal that ‘she has engaged in same-sex relationships in detention in order to fabricate an asylum claim based on claimed lesbian sexuality. I also accept the associated submission made by [the Home Office] that she has in effect adjusted her conduct so as to adopt other customs, dress and mores of a particular social group purely as a way of gaining refugee status.”

He mentioned the “impressive” amount of support she had received, including a petition signed by several hundred thousand people, but said that did not count as evidence.

He disagreed that having children could be considered evidence against her, but did agree Ms Apata was not part of the “particular social group” of lesbians.

In court, Apata was supported by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. He said:

It’s bizarre that the judge does not accept that Aderonke is a member of a particular social group, namely lesbian women. I find it offensive to suggest that she’s adopted the ‘customs, dress and mores’ of lesbian women purely in order to gain refugee status, given the evidence that she’s presented in her claim. 

The worst aspect of the ruling is the judge doesn’t accept that she has a well founded fear of persecution if she returns to Nigeria. It’s clear that she’s been publicly identified in the UK and in Nigeria as a lesbian or bisexual woman. Such women face the twin threats of legal persecution and mob violence in Nigeria.”

In Nigeria homosexuality is punishable by up to 14 years in prison, under laws passed in January 2014; the country has also seen a spike in violence against homosexual people.

Apata’s mental healt also formed part of the case. In 2005 she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and attempted suicide while she was in prison, waiting for deportation.

She has not made a public statement, but although she is frightened of the future Apata believes there may be a chance for her to stay.

Her long-term partner Happiness Agboro, to whom Apata is engaged, is also from Nigeria and has already been granted asylum because of her sexuality.

UK Home Office Claims Asylum Seeker Can’t Be A Lesbian Because She Is A Mother

Aderonke Apata is an LBGBT rights activist, who moved to the UK from Nigeria in 2004. However, her application for asylum on the grounds of her sexuality was rejected last year, despite providing proof of former girlfriends in both the UK and Nigeria.

Ms Apata claims she is at risk of being deported to Nigeria, which an increasingly conservative Nigeria, as of January 2014 it is illegal to be gay; the punishment is imprisonment, and on a less official scale, the fear of vigilante attacks is high.

However, Andrew Bird, the lawyer for the Home Secretary Theresa May, yesterday told a court that the UK would be happy to deport Ms. Apata because, well, she doesn’t seem gay to him. Saying that although Ms Apata had “indulged in same-sex activity” she was “not part of the social group known as lesbians” because she had children.

“You can’t be a heterosexual one day and a lesbian the next day. Just as you can’t change your race.”

Andrew Bird

Um, sorry… did this guy miss the memo that there are plenty of lesbians who don’t realise they’re gay until later on in life, especially those who live in countries where it just isn’t accepted to ‘come out’. And also bisexual women who can find people of either sex attractive?

Ms Apata’s barrister Abid Mahmood attacked the claims as “highly offensive… stereotypical views of the past.”

“Some members of the public may have those views but it doesn’t mean a government department should be putting these views forward in evidence. There is evidence of the genuineness of her case, that she will be picked out as a lesbian if she is returned.”

Abid Mahmood

Deputy High Court judge John Bowers QC has delayed a decision for three weeks, saying he would like time to go over all the arguments.

For what it’s worth, Ms. Apata is in a relationship with a woman called Happiness Agboro; they’re engaged and were holding hands at the court yesterday.

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Speaking outside the court alongside her female partner, Ms Apata told the Independent:

“The Home Office has treated me badly from day one. Staying in Britain means staying safe, staying with my partner and continuing my campaigning.”

Aderonke Apata

In the UK, the government is allowed to grant people asylum on the basis of their sexuality, if it is one that could mean they’re persecuted or punished in their home country. However, the Home Office has a bad record with dealing with these sorts of cases. Until the EU banned the tests, LGBT asylum seekers have had to undergo quizzes to ‘prove’ their sexuality, like knowing stuff about 19th Century writer Oscar Wilde or answering ‘sexually intrusive’ questions about their sexuality like ‘what do you get from a homosexual relationship you can’t get from a heterosexual relationship’ and ‘Did you put your penis into X’s backside?’

 

Punished For A Kiss | Russian Police Raid Lesbian Nightclub Owned By The Woman Who Kissed Her Girlfriend In Selfie

Being a lesbian is dangerous business in Russia, but it’s especially risky when you do it in front of the country’s leading opponent of LGBT rights.

This week, the lesbian nightclub Infinity was raided by Russian police, for illegally allowing under-age people to enter, and allowing the sale of illegal drugs.

More: Isabella Moore Documents Russia’s War On Homosexuality

On February 1, club owner Kseniya Infinity, and several of her friends were flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, when they spotted Vitaly Milonov, a lawmaker famous for initiating Russia’s crackdown on LGBT rights. In protest, the women photographed themselves kissing one another in front of Milonov, and later posted the images online, where they became a viral sensation.

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After the picture went viral, Senator Milanov said:

“This shows that these people are not of a normal sexual orientation, but that their sexual deviance shows in all aspects of their lives. I didn’t understand what they are doing but they have a nice sense of humour.

I also have a good sense of humour. I will perhaps continue this joke by closing their gay club in St. Petersburg, or ban them from having meetings in public places, that’s also a funny step.”

An anti-gay online community based in Moscow and St. Petersburg published a call to get Infinity closed down. The group posted instructions and a scripted complaint to be sent to the district attorney, demanding that police shut down the lesbian nightclub.

Community members were also encouraged to appeal to Roskomnadzor, Russia’s state-run media watchdog, and federal anti-drug agents, based on claims that Infinity opens its doors to minors and operates as a center for illegal drug use.

Those who wanted the nightclub shut down were instructed to convey their concerns to police. “I have every reason to believe,” the scripted complaint reads, “that the promotional activities carried out at the lesbian club Infinity pose a serious threat to the physical and mental health of minors who manage to enter the establishment.”

The anti-gay group makes no secret of why it targeted club Infinity, citing the kissing selfies incident with Milonov on the airplane.

The Lesbian Kissing Protest Against Russia’s Anti Gay Lawmaker Goes Viral

A lesbian couple who found themselves seated on a domestic flight from Moscow to St Petersburg, near the Russian anti-LGBT politician, Vitaly Milonov, staged a fantastic loving protest in front of him.

The pair posed for a selfie while kissing in front of the extremely homophobic Senator, who was seated on the row behind them. The photos were then uploaded to social media site, and have since gone viral in Russia and started to spread around the globe

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Milonov confirmed the authenticity of the photo, telling FlashNord:

“These crazy idiots were so brave that after taking the photo they ran to the end of the plane, sat there and didn’t even stick their necks out until the end of the flight.”

Vitaly Milonov

The loving protest has infuriated the St. Petersburg city councilman, who later called the women ‘animals’ and threatened to ‘call the Cossacks’ on them.

Vitaly Milonov is well-known for his discriminating anti-LGBT stance. In December last year he staged a raid on a St Petersburg gay club where he entered the venue with riot police and arrested anyone under 18.

Following last year’s Eurovision Song Contest, which he branded a ‘Europe-wide gay parade’, Milonov tweeted that Russia should boycott the ‘Sodom show’.

Milonov co-sponsored Russia’s controversial ‘gay propaganda’ law bans displays of ‘non-traditional sexual behaviour’ in public or in front of under-18s, which was signed in to law the same year by President Vladimir Putin. The law allows the government to detain ‘homosexual or sympathetic foreigners’ for up to 14 days, after which they could face expulsion from the country.

He is also currently bringing forward legislation that would close a ‘loophole’ in the country’s laws which allowed a lesbian couple to marry.

In 2013, Milanov said that gay people were not “normal” and compared being gay to living “with a dog, with a horse, with a sheep, whatever.”.

Agree or Disagree, But Study Shows Bisexual Women Are More Likely to Have Mental Health Issues Than Lesbians

Being a member of the LGBT community, while coming with its upsides (such as Pride and community spirit) also has plenty of downsides too (abuse, persecution and the denial of human rights). And its these downsides that have a massive impact on the LGBT community as the trauma and pressure of being ‘othered’ in society often leads to mental health issues.

This is particularly the case for bisexual women who have to deal with this as well as prejudice and abuse from within the LGBT community too. According to new research published in the Journal of Public Health and put together by The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, there is a far greater likelihood that bisexual women will have mental health issues than lesbians.

After looking at the data from the 2007 Stonewall Women’s Health Survey (which included responses from 5,706 bisexual and lesbian women living in the UK) they deemed that bisexual women are a third more likely to self-harm, two-thirds more likely to have an eating disorder, more likely to stay in the closet and are more likely to face discrimination from their peer groups too.

Dr Ford Hickson, the senior study author explains:

“Bisexual people are at particular risk of invisibility and marginalisation from both gay/lesbian communities and mainstream society. Although bisexual women in our study reported experiencing less sexuality-based discrimination than lesbians, this did not benefit their mental health.

Mental health services should be aware of both the differences and the similarities in bisexual and lesbian women’s mental health care needs, and tailor the services they provide accordingly.”

The treatment of bisexual people within the LGBT community is something that’s often put up for debate. It’s not uncommon for people to ask when a bisexual is just going to ‘pick a side’ or to be treated differently by lesbians because they like two genders rather than one. And this is a viewpoint unfortunately supported in modern pop culture in shows like Glee and Faking It which have both featured gay characters saying they would refuse to date bisexuals and in shows like The L Word in which Alice’s bisexuality was a running joke for the better part of six seasons.

Lisa Colledge, the Research Assistant for the study, added that

“Homophobic prejudice is now widely and rightly condemned; specific stigma around bisexual identity needs to be similarly confronted.”

Many people are likely to agree with that as they would feel that no one – gay or bisexual – deserves mistreatment. With anti-bisexual viewpoints heavily embedded in society this will take a lot of effort to turn around, but hopefully the publishing of this study is a stepping stone on the path to better mental health.

In This Weeks “Don’t Be So Ridiculous” – Gay Mormons, Caitlin Stasey & Catholic Bigots

The LGBT news this week that made DBSA TV’s Jana Dowling say “Don’t Be So Ridiculous”.

Todays post includes the lovely Caitlin Stasey who identifies herself as lesbian but is dating a guy; gay mormons who ‘choose’ to be straight, and the Catholic school which fired gay teacher when he announced his relationship on facebook. Seriously – Don’t Be So Ridiculous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bOCllI_mBU