Tag Archives: Transgender

Sexual + Gender Minorities

E.U. News | LGBTI

European Parliament adds LGBTI rights to European relations policy
  • The European Neighbourhood Policy, which organizes relations between the European Union and its non-EU neighbors on the continent, now includes the LGBTI community in its promotion of minority rights.
  • Rights advocates lauded the move for giving a mandate for EU representatives to promote protections and inclusive policies in non-EU European countries.

“In a world where some countries make homophobia an active part of their domestic policy, I’m pleased to see Europe using the full clout of its economic power to counter these attitudes.”

Read the full story at PinkNews.

(Image Credit: Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images, via PinkNews)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Kenya News | LGBT

Anti-gay demonstration takes place in Nairobi ahead of Obama visit
  • Dozens gathered in the Kenyan capital to protest LGBT rights and advocacy and warn President Obama against attempts to speak out on the issue in Kenya following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.
  • MP Irungu Kangata spoke outside of the Kenyan Parliament at the rally billed as pro-family.
  • Rights activists have called on the U.S. president to show solidarity with their struggles in the country, setting the stage for conflict regardless of the president’s actions.

“We are telling Mr Obama when he comes to Kenya this month and he tries to bring the abortion agenda, the gay agenda, we shall tell him to shut up and go home.”

Read the full story at Reuters.

(Image Credit: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Sexual + Gender Minorities

South Korea Perspectives | Black Lesbian

Video

Charly | South Korea

Charly provides a glimpse of Pride in South Korea, documenting singing, dancing, and anti-gay demonstrations at the event back in 2014.

Follow Charly and find similar first-person accounts from around YouTube through Outlas’s collection First Person: Black in East Asia.

Individuals associated with curated content are not affiliated with Outlas, and their inclusion is not an official endorsement of any opinions expressed but is rather a part of a representation of diverse perspectives on global multicultural life.

Ideology + Affiliation, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Iran News | LGBT & Allies

Iranian actor apologies after summoning by authorities following LGBT-supportive tweet
  • Bahram Radan tweeted in support of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of nationwide same-sex marriage, leading to his summoning by Iran’s ministry of culture and Islamic guidance.
  • The reaction to the U.S. ruling highlights the division in Iranian society and the diaspora over LGBT rights, seeing online debate stirred after many added Facebook’s rainbow filter to their profile pictures in solidarity with the decision and many others condemned the action.
  • Iran’s hardline conservative authorities have relaxed some punishments against homosexual acts, but they are still criminalized and treated as manifestations of mental illness.

“They’re afraid that people in Iran are beginning to talk about homosexuality as a sexual minority, not an illness, and they don’t want that to be normalised.”

Read the full story at the Guardian.

(Image Credit: Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua Press/Corbis, via The Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Turkey News | LGBT

Istanbul Pride attendees dispersed by police with water cannon and rubber bullets as governor calls off event
  • Plans to march along Istanbul’s Istikal Avenue near Taksim Square quickly evaporated as police swarmed the marchers preparing for the Sunday evening parade, leading to several detentions.
  • The governor denied permission for the event citing Ramadan, despite the parade having taken place in the past.
  • The event has grown from 30 participants in 2003 to around 50,000 in 2013, considered to be the largest of its kind in the Muslim world.

“These people do not hurl stones and they never would. They do not throw petrol bombs. They just ask for a legal recognition. … This summarizes what has been happening in Turkey. Any request for rights is met like this.”

Read the full stories at Hurriyet News Daily and Reuters.

(Image Credit: Kemal Aslan/Reuters)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Canada News | LGBT

Toronto-based Rainbow Railroad facilitates rescue of persecuted individuals from LGBT-unfriendly countries
  • Founded in 2006, the charity focuses on identifying endangered individuals and raising the money necessary to cover the logistics of moving them to safer countries.
  • Despite managing 30-50 cases at any given time, the organization was volunteer-based until 2013, when a grant from TD Bank allowed for the signing on of one full-time employee.
  • With the grant expiring at the end of the year, Rainbow Railroad is raising funds to ensure that it will be able to maintain its current level of work.

Read the full story at the Toronto Star.

(Image Credit: Rainbow Railroad, via the Toronto Star)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.K. News | LGBT

Hundreds of thousands take part in what may be the largest London Pride yet
  • Organizers estimate 30,000 attended the parade, which was centered on the theme “Pride Heroes” and included a tribute to famed British mathematician Alan Turing.
  • The approximately 950,000 who have participated in London Pride events throughout the week have helped shatter the event’s participation record, set last year at 750,000.
  • Saturday’s parade included participants from the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), whose inclusion had been a source of controversy as the party’s political positions put it at odds with many in the LGBT community.

“Given the huge impact Turing had on our industry and on the lives of the public who rely so heavily on technology, he was an obvious choice for our Pride Hero. We’re honoured to be walking with his family and proud to be taking part in London Pride.”

Read the full story at the Independent.

(Image Credit: via the Independent)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Dominican Republic News | LGBT

Dominican Republic organization works with government and community to promote tourism and economic empowerment for LGBT community
  • The Center for Integrated Training and Research (COIN) has roots in the three-decade fight against AIDS in the Caribbean.
  • The organization now focuses on economic empowerment , through which it has worked with government and travel industry officials and offered community workshops through its program ProActividad.
  • Out U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James “Wally” Brewster and his husband have worked to support the country’s LGBT community despite opposition in the conservative, Catholic-predominant country.
“We are all looking for the same thing: To eliminate negative things in order for us to build something positive.”
Read the full story at the Washington Blade.
(Image Credit: Michael K. Lavers/Washington Blade)
Sexual + Gender Minorities

Nepal News | LGBTQ

Nepal’s LGBT community faces unique challenges atop already precarious social conditions after earthquakes
  • The Blue Diamond Society has been a leading organization for the support of Nepal’s sexual and gender minority community, and their tents have provided a place of refuge for individuals alienated from families and communities in the aftermath of the country’s devastating earthquakes.
  • Some in the community face challenging situations during the rebuilding period, such as lack of health services and facilities for third-gender-identifying individuals.
  • The Red Cross has designated staff devoted to providing support to society’s most vulnerable, and it has worked closely with the Blue Diamond Society to provide services and raise awareness about the community among volunteers.

“What Nepal is going through is beyond imagination. But we, the LGBTIQ people of Nepal, pledge with all Nepalese, that we will rebuild our lives, our families, our societies and our nation.”

Read the full story at Gay News Network.

(Image Credit: Paula Bronstein/Gay News Network)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.S. News | Transgender

U.S. government orders companies insuring federal employees to include transition-related coverage for transgender individuals
  • The Office of Personnel Management issued the carrier letter ahead of the fall decision timeline it had initially outlined.
  • The office lifted the ban on transition-services coverage a year ago, but mandatory coverage was not yet required.
  • The expanded coverage will go in effect at the beginning of 2016.

“With today’s announcement, transgender federal employees can now access health care that is so fundamental to their well-being and, in the long-term, will make transgender employees happier and more productive workers.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed.

Sexual + Gender Minorities
Everyday discrimination and persecution blight on progress for Britain’s rural LGBT individuals
  • Permeation and permanence of bullying and other acts of intimidation in daily life leads to fear and alienation for LGBT people in rural areas, according to a hate crime researcher.
  • This fear leads to the under-reporting of hate crimes, with discrepancies between police reports and surveys of hate incidents indicating as many as 35,000 cases going unreported.
  • Lack of community, fear of being outed, communities’ intolerance of difference, and age all contribute to individuals’ vulnerability in rural areas, leading to social disengagement.

“We are a country with proud traditions of tolerance and respect but we must not let important progress in areas such as same-sex marriage mask the acute and continuing challenges that still remain. Researchers in today’s report were told of victims’ fear of not being taken seriously, how they were scared of being ‘outed’ and suspicion and distrust of the authorities. We must all redouble our efforts, and work together to give LGBT communities a stronger voice and put an end to the hatred that is a blight on modern society.”

Read the full story at the Guardian.

(Image Credit: Jose Jacome/EPA, via the Guardian)

Sexual + Gender Minorities
Malaysian court fines nine and sentences two trans women to jail for “cross-dressing”
  • The group of women were arrested in Kelantan, one of the 13 of Malaysia’s 14 states that criminalizes cross-dressing.
  • The lawyer representing the group has filed an appeal, and the two jailed have been released on bail.

“Laws against ‘a male person posing as a woman’ not only deny transgender women in Malaysia our fundamental rights as citizens of the country, they also contribute to a hostile environment. … These laws lead people to perceive us as criminals and subject us to humiliation, hate crimes, and other forms of violence.”

Read the full story at PinkNews.

Sexual + Gender Minorities
Thousands celebrate LGBT Pride in Latvia despite fears of attacks
  • Held for the first time in Latvian capital Riga, EuroPride saw an estimated 5,000 attendees in the former Soviet nation.
  • Police arrested three for minor offenses, but no major incidents marred the celebration.
  • The event’s success was markedly different from the Pride march in Riga a decade ago, which saw violent attacks from protesters.

“It’s a very significant thing for Latvia, a former Soviet state, to be hosting EuroPride for the first time. In future we hope to see more long-term commitment to equal rights but we’re pleased the police have been working very closely with the organisers to ensure everything goes off smoothly.”

Read the full story at PinkNews.

(Image Credit: via PinkNews)

Sexual + Gender Minorities
Twenty arrested in Morocco, accused of homosexuality, and two more sentenced to four months in prison
  • According to the Aswat Collective, an LGBT rights group, the twenty–mostly gay men and transwomen–were arrested in the resort town of Agadir and will be charged with “incitement to corruption.”
  • Despite its relatively progressive stance on homosexuality compared to its other Middle East and North African neighbors, Morocco has been cracking down on the LGBT community in recent months.
  • The arrests occur as two men have been sentenced to four months in prison for having engaged in public displays of affection in Rabat, the Moroccan capital. (via Le Figaro)

“The Moroccan authorities reaffirm their position through this campaign of oppression and arrests targeting homosexuals, while the country is having an intense debate relative to the decriminalization of homosexuality.”

More on this story at NewNowNext.

(Image Credit: via NewNowNext)

Sexual + Gender Minorities
South Korean court rules LGBT march can proceed as planned following the police’s injunction against the event
  • Police had earlier denied the necessary permits to the Korean Queer Cultural Festival as a result of permit applications filed by conservative Christian activists to block the event.
  • Last year’s march saw conservative activists disrupting the parade through route blockage and protesting.
  • Organizers expect around 20,000 to participate in the march.

“This court’s decision in relation to the police’s unjust notice prohibiting assembly is important. … Within a democratic country, built on civil society, the guarantee that society can use their voice has a deep meaning.”

More on this story at BuzzFeed.

(Image Credit: Simon Williams-Im via Flickr, via BuzzFeed)