Monthly Archives: August 2015

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Uganda News | LGBT

Uganda holds fourth-annual Pride festival amidst pervasive anti-LGBT sentiment
  • The invitation-only event includes film screenings, a cocktail party, and a low-profile parade, all held in secret locations disseminated through private networks.
  • Last year’s pride coincided with the overturning of the law condemning gays discovered by law enforcement to life imprisonment.
  • Despite the law’s overturning, Uganda continues to experience rampant anti-LGBT persecution, including media outings and violence at levels sufficient to warrant asylum in other countries.

Read the full story at the Guardian.

“The law is only part of it. … It doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have the people on your side. The biggest challenge is to get that neighbour, that shop keeper, that person working in the salon to support you.”

(Image Credit: Iain Statham/SIPA/REX Shutterstock, via The Guardian)

Gender

U.S. News | Men & Women

Netflix and Microsoft announce major expansions in parental leave policies
  • New parents at Netflix will now be able to take an unlimited amount of paid leave in the year following the birth or adoption of a child, regardless of gender.
  • At Microsoft, new fathers will be able to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave, with an additional two weeks of paid prenatal leave and eight weeks of paid disability leave for new mothers.
  • A fifth of U.S. organizations offer family leave benefits above those required by state and short-term disability laws, despite the country’s lack of laws guaranteeing paid family leave for at least new mothers.

Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal.

Nationality + Migration

Germany Data | Immigrants & Refugees

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Germany’s Record-High Immigrant Population

From Reuters:

Current number: ~11 million (20% of population)
Countries of origin: Mostly other European Union countries (including Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Romania)
Other sources: African and Middle Eastern refugees
Expected refugee numbers: 450,000 (up from 200,000 in 2014)

Source: Federal Statistics Office

(Image Credit: Michaela Rehle/Reuters)