Category Archives: Sexual + Gender Minorities

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.K. Feature | Gay Asian Muslims

Gaysian and Proud

Image Credit: Borja Suarez/Reuters
Image Credit: Borja Suarez/Reuters

A new documentary featuring renowned British drag queen Asifa Lahore (Asif Quarashi) highlights struggles of Britain’s gay Asian and Muslim drag queen communities. Probing the complexities at the intersection of an at times violently opposed faith community and a gender and sexual minority community that often whitewashes its population, Muslim Drag Queens premieres today in celebration of Britain’s vibrant Gaysian community.

Read the full feature at the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

(Image Credit: Borja Suarez/Reuters)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.K. News & Research | LGBT

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Report: 80% of largest U.K. companies lack trans-inclusive non-discrimination policies
  • LGBT network OUTstanding found that despite general statements of commitment to diversity, most FTSE 100 companies lack explicit policies on the books to protect trans employees from employment discrimination.
  • The report also found that just under half of the U.K.’s top companies lack specifically inclusive non-discrimination policies for LGB employees.
  • However, OUTstanding also reported that LGBT issues were the second-most discussed diversity topic, following gender inequality.

“From my own experience, I know that there are many enlightened CEOs who value diversity. In fact, 62% of our members say LGBT issues have been publicly discussed by their CEO. It’s vital that more businesses – including all those in the FTSE 100 – consider their attitude to LGBT inclusion as an asset worth reporting.”

Read the full story at HITC.

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Costa Rica News | LGB

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Costa Rican president submits bill to legalize same-sex common-law marriages
  • The bill would amend the Costa Rican family code to allow for cohabitating same-sex couples who have been partnered for at least three years to meet with a lawyer or judge to apply for a common-law marriage.
  • Under common law status, the unions would purportedly provide all of the legal protections of regular marriage, with the residency and duration requirements being the point of difference.
  • In June, a judge granted the first common-law marriage to a couple in Goicoechea after slow legislative progress following a 2006 Supreme Court ruling declaring the Constitution does not prohibit same-sex marriage.

Read the full story at the Tico Times.

(Image Credit: Alberto Font/The Tico Times)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Mexico News | LGB

1 Comment
Mexico supreme court strikes down ban on same-sex adoption
  • The court ruled 9-1 that a 2013 law in the state of Campeche was unconstitutional following a filing by the state’s human rights commission.
  • Same-sex couples’ adoption rights have experienced less support than marriage equality in the country, with only 24% expressing favor versus 52% for marriage rights in a 2013 survey.
  • Adoption rights have been solidified in much of the country, with most of the opposition residing outside of the heartland.

“I see no problem for a child to be adopted in a society of co-existence, which has precisely this purpose. Are we going to prefer to have children in the street, which according to statistics exceed 100,000? We attend, of course, and perhaps with the same intensity or more, to the interests of the child.”

Read the full story at the International Business Times.

(Image Credit: Edgard Garrido/Reuters, via the International Business Times)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Australia News | LGB

Australia’s ruling coalition blocks free vote for same-sex marriage, effectively quashing chances in Parliament
  • Without a sanctioned free vote, party members are not allowed to cast votes that depart from the party line without threat of severe consequences leading up to expulsion.
  • Despite a poll from 2014 indicating 72% of Australians support same-sex marriage, socially conservative PM Tony Abbott has blocked multiple attempts to pass a marriage equality bill in Parliament.
  • After a rare full-coalition vote that saw Abbott’s Liberal Party outnumbered two to one against allowing a free vote, Abbott indicated that the coalition is open to a public referendum on same-sex marriage rights.

“If you support the existing definition of marriage between a man and a woman, the coalition is absolutely on your side but if you would like to see change at some time in the future, the coalition is prepared to make that potentially possible.”

Read the full story at Reuters.

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Nepal News | Transgender

Nepal issues its first trans-friendly passport
  • Monica Shahi, a trans LGBT activist, was awarded the passport, which includes a third category for gender minorities.
  • The issuance follows the amendment of Nepal’s passport regulations earlier in the year.
  • Nepal joins Australia and New Zealand in designating a third gender option on passports.

“Today is an important day in my life and I hope the younger generation is encouraged by the move.”

Read the full story at Firstpost.

Other, Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.S. News | Transgender

California grants first gender reassignment surgery to trans inmate
  • Following extensive medical review and testimony, the state agreed to pay for the surgery for trans woman Shiloh Quine, who will be transferred after surgery to a women’s prison.
  • However, the decision did not resolve the question of whether such surgeries are constitutionally guaranteed for prisoners, including the 400 in California alone who are receiving hormonal treatments.
  • In April, another prisoner, Michelle Norsworthy, won a court order to undergo reassignment surgery but was paroled before the procedure was carried out.

“Sex reassignment surgery is medically necessary to prevent Ms. Quine from suffering significant illness or disability, and to alleviate severe pain caused by her gender dysphoria.”

Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times.

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Jamaica News | LGBT

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Jamaica holds its first LGBT Pride celebration
  • Held in Kingston, the week-long celebration includes a flashmob, art exhibit and performances, and a dance party in the Jamaican capital.
  • The festival received the support of Kingston’s mayor and Jamaica’s minister of justice despite the continued presence of anti-sodomy laws on the books.
  • Jamaica Pride is a major step forward for a country widely known for its pervasive homophobia, including violence against gays and lesbians and abject homelessness among out gay youth.

“I think we will look back on this and see it as a turning point because many persons thought that it would never actually happen.”

Read the full AP story at the Star Tribune.

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)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Israel News | LGBT

Assailant stabs six at Jerusalem Pride
  • Yishai Schlissel, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, had been released from prison three weeks earlier for good behavior after having been imprisoned for stabbing three at 2005’s Jerusalem Pride.
  • Schlissel had released a threatening letter and railed against the celebration in an interview prior to the event, which is attended by thousands.
  • While politicians denounced the attack, attendees sharply criticized the police for the lack of security precautions given Schlissel’s release.

“We won’t allow a single excuse for violence of any kind. Jerusalem is a place for all, and we will continue to fight together with the Israel Police against all who attempt violence to harm another. … We will continue to support all groups and communities in Jerusalem and won’t be deterred by those who try perverse ways to prevent this.”

Read the full story at The Times of Israel.

(Image Credit: Screen capture/Channel 2, via The Times of Israel)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.S. News | Transgender Jews

Ritual baths pose difficult obstacle for trans individuals converting to Judaism in the U.S.
  • The last step in the conversion process, the mikvah requires submersion in water in the nude, which can be a source of anxiety for transgender converts.
  • Transgender and ally rabbis have been working together to compile a running list of transgender Jews willing to serve as witnesses for those undergoing mikvah.
  • The number of gender minorities seeking to convert has surprised some community members, but theologians note that Judaism has recognized individuals falling outside of the gender binary since its earliest times.

“The body is an area of particular vulnerability for transgender people, because so much of our identities is inextricably intertwined with the nuances of our physical appearance.”

Read the full Religious News Service story at The Huffington Post.

(Image Credit: Mayyim Hayyim, via The Huffington Post)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Sweden News | Gender Identity

1 Comment
Sweden’s new gender-neutral pronoun makes its way to Facebook
  • “Hen,” the relatively new alternative to “hon” (she) and “han” (he) in Swedish, has been gaining steady momentum in the last decade as an alternative to explicit gender identification in speech and writing.
  • The Facebook inclusion comes as a part of Facebook’s push to include more identification options for those with non-binary gender identities.
  • The word appeared in the Swedish dictionary for the first time earlier in the year as evidence of common usage and official acceptance.

“Facebook is a hub for other social media which use your Facebook profile. The hope is that they will realize that they have to adapt. Facebook is such a central online space and we hope this will have a ripple effect.”

Read the full story at The Local.se.

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.S. News | Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual

Boy Scouts of America ends ban on gay adult leaders
  • The executive board’s vote culminates a 15-year evolution that began with the Supreme Court’s 2000 affirmation of the right of the organization to ban gay individuals from participating as scoutmasters.
  • In 2013, the organization ended its ban on gay youth participation while upholding the exclusion of openly gay adult leadership.
  • The Mormon church responded that it would have to reevaluate its relationship with the organization, although individually chartered groups will still be able to enforce the ban should they so choose.

“We so much closer to getting back to being about what scouting is all about, going on camping trips and teaching how to build fires and tie knots and lash poles together and build stuff … and learning to be a good leader and good friend and good citizen in the midst of all that.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed News.

(Image Credit: Rich Pedroncelli/AP, via BuzzFeed News)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

India News | LGBTQ

Inaugural flashmob draws crowds and attention to LGBTQ issues in New Delhi
  • Led by the queer collective Harmless Hugs, around two dozen youth created a flashmob performance in a major New Delhi commercial district in support of sexual and gender minorities.
  • Spending hours over weekends learning choreography, the group focused on using dance and other messaging to communicate acceptance and support of same-sex love and queer identities.
  • The event followed up on similar annual flashmobs organized in Mumbai.

“Through this dance, I hope the message reaches the government that if loving someone is a crime, then the whole world is a criminal.”

Read the full story at the Hindustan Times.

(Image Credit: Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.S. News | LGBT

Texas Supreme Court rules Houston must repeal LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance or submit to popular referendum
  • The court overruled a state district judge who ruled that opponents of the ordinance’s passage failed to submit enough valid signatures to the city for a repeal referendum.
  • Houston’s mayor and city attorney overrode the city secretary’s sign-off on the petition, declaring many signatures invalid due to improper paperwork.
  • The city is expected to choose to submit the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity as locally protected classes to ballot, which observers expect to draw national attention and money to Houston’s local elections in November.

“You’re going to have money pouring in from all across the country on this issue because it’s extremely important. … We’re going to be looking at mayoral candidates, city council candidates that stand with us on this important issue. The eyes of the country are going to be looking at Houston.”

Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle.

(Image Credit: Cody Duty/Houston Chronicle)