"Would you attend a guy wedding?"
WHO: Discrimination to blame for HIV Rates, poor healthcare for trans people
A WHO study on transgender people and HIV notes that inadequate health care for the trans population sits squarely on those who oppose the expression of authentic gender identity. The report sums up the situation in dire terms: “Transgender people are often socially, economically, politically and legally marginalized.” The result is that transgender women have "shocking rates" of HIV, study coauthor JoAnne Keatley said. "There was a recent meta-analysis demonstrating that a transgender woman was 49 times as likely to be living with HIV [than the general population] in 15 countries in which data was looked at and analyzed."
But it’s hard to collect reliable data, as only those 15 countries offered laboratory-proven data on HIV prevalence among transgender people. Not one country in Eastern Europe or Africa could provide information to the WHO team by the time researchers needed it. The available information, though, did show a health crisis, and Keatley, who works with the Center for Excellence for Transgender Health at the University of California, and is herself trans, said discrimination is to blame.
“What is driving the epidemic is really the refusal — I would say — of governments to pass legislation that allows [transgender people] to function in society, and allows them to participate in the workplace,” she said. Still, Keatley said she sees some progress. Read More
ISIL attacks on sexual minorities on UN meeting agenda
The UN Security Council will hold a meeting to discuss Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attacks on sexual minorities in what will be the first ever council meeting focused on gay rights.
The United States ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power told reporters that the informal meeting will highlight "ISIL and its systematic targeting of LGBT persons who find themselves in ISIL-controlled territory."
The US and Chile will host the meeting which will be open to all member-states interested in the plight of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people persecuted by the armed group: "This will be a historic meeting. It will be the first Security Council meeting on LGBT rights," Power said. Read More
Czech Republic: Pride Business Forum says openness pays off
Businesses do better when employees come out of the closet, especially at the CEO or senior management level. That was one of the key messages of the fifth Pride Business Forum, one of the main side events to Prague Pride week. The event featured business leaders from Central and Eastern Europe discussing leadership, LGBTI diversity and inclusion, and business opportunities for those companies that create an inclusive environment.
Among the highlights was a discussion between the BBC’s economic anchor, Evan Davis, with Lord John Browne, author of The Glass Closet and former head of energy giant BP.
Pavlina Kalousova from Business Society led a panel of business leaders on ‘How diversity fits into the business agenda’. One of the organizing partners of the Forum is the Netherlands-based Workplace Pride. Its Executive Director, David Pollard, said, ‘This event, which includes Czech as well as international companies, is another excellent example of how working closely with the LGBT community in the workplace just makes good business sense for employers, both in the public and private sectors.’ Read More
Netherlands: Dutch activists call for Caribbean Netherlands to adopt gay rights
As a rainbow-coloured flotilla paraded through Amsterdam's canals for the city's annual Gay Pride festival on Saturday, one float carried a sobering reminder that gay rights do not extend to all in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Although the Netherlands itself became the first country to legalize gay marriage in 2001, the three Caribbean members of the larger Kingdom - Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten - have yet to follow suit, reflecting cultural taboos in the mostly Catholic island nations.
That leaves the Kingdom, famed for its tolerant stance on marijuana and euthanasia, apparently less progressive on gay rights than Ireland, where voters approved gay marriage in a referendum in May, and the United States, where the Supreme Court upheld a constitutional right to gay marriage in June.
"We want to have the same legislation throughout our kingdom. That would empower all gay and transgender organizations in addressing the question of social acceptance", said Ramona Pikeur, director of Caribbean gay rights organization Dushi & Proud.The Dutch government says it is seeking dialogue, rather than confrontation, with the island nations to promote gay rights and acceptance of gay marriage. Read More
Vietnam: Hundreds brave persistent rain at LGBT rally in Vietnam
In a country dominated by two-wheelers, Vietnam’s gay pride parade was fittingly on bicycle and motorbike. Organisers counted about 400 people at the start of the bike rally. Though the turnout was smaller than the 600 in the previous year, it was encouraging, they said, given the rainy weather.
"I have a lot of friends from LGBT so I’m here to support them," said Linh, a social sciences student at the Vietnam National University. The crowd grew as more joined the after-party in downtown Hanoi. A notable guest was US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius, the first gay American Ambassador to be appointed in Asia who said: “This is a country with traditional values and very big focus on family, but there is also a great openness to people who may not fit exactly that traditional mould and there is a great sense of fairness in Vietnam.”
Viet Pride organiser Nguyen Thanh Tam noted, “For a long time LGBT was a very invisible community, but now I think we’re having more and more space in Vietnamese society.” Read More
Hong Kong: One territory, two attitudes on equality
Even in Asia, where the level of LGBT acceptance can vary and change with alarming regularity, Hong Kong is a contradictory beast. In 1991, the territory finally ditched British anti-buggery laws that still dog former colonies like Singapore and Malaysia. Today, Asia’s “world city” embraces its queer celebrities and supports a sizable calendar of LGBT events.
Privately many Hong Kongers face enormous pressure to conform. It’s a common dilemma in Northeast Asia, one that in Hong Kong skews the queer bar scene heavily toward ex-pats and visitors. Despite the 1991 reform, an equal age of consent was not established until 2006, and anti-discrimination laws remain a matter of interpretation rather than being absolute. In this deeply traditional society, less than a third of the population supports the legalization of same-sex marriage. In 2012, property developer Cecil Chao offered 500 million Hong Kong dollars ($75 million Canadian) to any man who could woo his lesbian daughter into marriage, and while mere financial mortals may not be throwing around that kind of offer, the underlying attitude is a common one.
Yet three quarters of Hong Kongers also say they support equal rights for same-sex couples, and most are very accepting of LGBT media personalities. While same-sex unions are still not recognized, transgender citizens were finally granted the right to marry an opposite-sex partner in 2013. It seems that in the land of “one country, two systems,” it’s a case of “one territory, two attitudes” on equality. Read More
Uganda: The Gay Pride festival defied local law and taboo
Members of the Ugandan LGBT community celebrated their annual Pride Uganda festival this weekend, defying strict laws criminalizing homosexuality with up to 14 years in jail. Crowds of Ugandans traveled to the shores of Lake Victoria to walk in the festival’s gay pride parade, which was held at a secluded botanical garden 30 miles outside the nation’s capital of Kampala.
Gay rights activists and allies marched, chanted and danced in the small parade, many waving rainbow flags and wearing colorful masks to conceal their identities. The celebration was part of the five-day Pride Uganda festival, which provided a rare occasion for members of the LGBT community to gather together openly. Many LGBT Ugandans are forced to keep their identities secret, as same-sex relationships are punishable by up to 14 years in prison in the country.
Not everyone was celebrating. The youngest of 20 brothers and sisters, Badru, a man from Kampala, was thrown out of his home because his family discovered he was gay. Homeless, unemployed and born HIV positive, Badru said he has nothing to celebrate about at Pride Uganda: “Today is rights day but I don’t know what I should be celebrating about when I have so many difficulties,” he said. “Pride is meaningless to me.”
Still, many LGBT Ugandans expressed their desire to live as authentically as possible, despite the almost daily threats of homophobic-based violence. Read More
Jamaica: First public gay pride event a symbol of change, 'It felt liberating'
Early August is a special time for Jamaicans. The Emancipendence holidays celebrate both the end of slavery in 1838 and the country’s break away from British colonial rule in 1962. But this year has seen a very different kind of symbolic even, one that for LGBT campaigners in the country marks an equally important moment in the future development of this young nation.
It started not with a proclamation or a flag being hoisted up and down a pole but with a flash mob, an art day and a chance for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jamaicans to show things are changing for the better. PRIDE JA was the first public gay pride celebration in the English-speaking Caribbean, after a similar event had to be canceled due to security concerns in the Bahamas last year.
For those involved in the week’s activities – organised by JFLAG, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays – it was a chance to be proud and visible. “It felt liberating”, said Nicki who attended the arts performance. “It was safe with no fear. In public, if you express yourself in a particular way or use certain mannerisms you have to be on your guard but this really felt like it was ours.” Read More
Israel: Thousands rally in Israel to protest attack during Pride march
Across Israel, thousands of people took to the streets to protest a week of violence. Yishai Schlissel, an Orthodox Jew who was previously convicted of stabbing three people at a Jerusalem pride parade in 2005, was recently released from prison after serving 10 years for the previous attack. After his release, Schlissel returned to his hometown where he began distributing handwritten pamphlets 'all Jews faithful to God' to risk 'beatings and imprisonment' for the sake of preventing the parade. At this month's parade he stabbed 6 people, killing a teenage girl.
Thousands attended a previously scheduled rally in Tel Aviv's Meir Park meant to commemorate an attack six years ago on a LGBT youth community center that left two dead and wounded 15 others. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and former Israeli president Shimon Peres attended the rally.
"I cannot believe we have reached such an abyss," Peres said in his speech. "I took before this stage six years ago, mere days after the murders at Barnoar. I am finding it difficult to believe that we are standing on that same stage, once again before the same phenomenon. We have gathered this evening for a war of independence – Israel's independence from insanity and insane people. This is not a disagreement between right and left. This is a profound clash between those with a conscience and those who lack a conscience." Read More
US: A Diplomatic Approach to the Mexican LGBT Community in the USA
In the past few years, the Mexican diplomatic and consular network in the United States, following its long tradition of innovation and dynamism, has began actively engaging with an important segment of its immigrant diaspora: the LGBT community.
There are approximately 11 million people of Mexican origin living in the U.S., creating a unique environment that is permeated by distinct historical, cultural, economic, social and political realities. Consequently, Mexican consulates have gone beyond the traditional services and practices, evolving into dynamic centers that provide wide-ranging services, programs and activities. Those programs engage a wide and specialized network of partners to address issues ranging from immigration, criminal and civil rights, to labor rights, and now represent key allies to maximize our ability to reach out to LGBT communities.
In September of 2014 the webinar “An overview of HRC and Understanding Ways to Better Protect LGBT Immigrant Families and Individuals” was presented to consular staff with specific material to take into account the particular characteristics of Mexican consulates. The presentation addressed what it means to be LGBT, statistics about LGBT immigrants, their ethnicities, immigration and civil status, and the benefits that were available to same sex-couples at the time. Read More
Uganda: Facing the mediterranean
For the last five decades, Kenya and Uganda have had an unofficial pact of providing a passageway for each other’s escapees. This started with the 1971 Idi Amin overthrow of Milton Obote, which saw a mass exodus of Ugandans into Kenya and elsewhere in the world. The other mass exodus happened in 1986. The second Milton Obote government was overthrown by Brigadier Bazilio Olara-Okello and General Tito Okello. Following the post–coup chaos, the Yoweri Museveni–led National Resistance Army (NRA) seized power.
The story is different in 2015. There is no military takeover in Uganda and Kampala has not fallen. Yet today there are growing numbers of Ugandan refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya. The shift in circumstance is that these particular Ugandans, mainly in their 20s, say they are running away from home because of their sexuality and whom they choose to love.
According to official UNHCR documents, the present crisis began in 2014 when a handful of Ugandan escapees showed up at UNHCR in Nairobi and at Kakuma refugee camp in Northern Kenya. They were all seeking asylum, citing the passage of the 2014 Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda as one of their reasons for fearing for their safety. Read More