Twitter's New Threat Reporting Tool Is a Useless Punt

Twitter, a service that admits it sucks at dealing with trolls, just announced a new tool for reporting harassment to the police. It looks like a good step at first glance—if you ignore the fact that it's a responsibility dodging, spineless fix that's highly unlikely to help anyone being harassed or threatened Twitter. This is a PR stunt, not a solution.

There is middle ground to be explored between castrating Twitter's capabilities as a free speech machine and introducing measures that actually counter abuse. Twitter could, for instance, employ proactive abuse moderators. These moderators could cooperate with appropriate law enforcement agencies and help people getting threatened make contact with police, not by giving them a copy of their complaint but by actually setting up contact. These abuse moderators could keep tabs on IP addresses known to spawn more than one abusive account.  Read More 

Facebook moves to curb terror, hate speech with update to its ‘community standards’

Nudity, hate speech, self-harm, dangerous organisations, bullying and harassment, sexual violence and exploitation, criminal activity, violence and graphic content are among the areas covered by the updated guidelines.

The move comes with Facebook and other social media struggling with defining acceptable content and freedom of expression, and with these networks increasingly linked to radical extremism and violence, including the posting and sharing of video and photographs of violent hate crimes. Read More

Op-ed: The 14 ways Uganda can break free from homophobia forever

LGBTI people in Uganda live with the threat of even more draconian legislation hanging over them. But there is hope.

Under a proposed new law, which is yet to be debated in parliament, even someone sending a text message mentioning homosexuality could be criminalized. Landlords would be punished for renting homes or offices to gay people – effectively making all gay people homeless. But it is not only the haters who can strategize.

Frank Mugisha, director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), shares his ideas for changing a nation almost synonymous with homophobia. Read More

Op-ed: The role of private sector in getting legal and social equity to LGBT Kenyans

Kuria Foundation For Social Enterprise: Now the human rights community and sexual minority groups in particular have done a great job “claiming” rights through numerous ways. These include, writing policy briefs, holding community engagement and education forums, and many other policy advocacy engagements. Others have gone to court seeking legal redress and constitutional interpretations on equality and non-discrimination. These initiatives are great and should continue.

But we may have forgotten the role of private sector in getting legal and social equity. In seeking to address the state, we may have failed to interrogate enough, whether the private sector can provide the ‘goods’ we seek. Can the profit motive ensure that we get to equality and non-discrimination? Read More

Europe: Mixed Prospects for LGBT Rights in Central and Eastern Europe

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups in Central and Eastern Europe, which still faced mixed prospects as they fight for rights and acceptance, are now taking some heart from the “failure” of a referendum in Slovakia, a member of the European Union. The reasons behind the relative societal intolerance towards LGBT groups in Central and Eastern Europe vary from entrenched conservative attitudes rooted in countries’ isolation under communism, to local political aims and the influence of the Catholic Church.  Read More

Online activists spur change in Middle East, China, world

Online LGBT activism and community-building are the focus of Quorum's eighth discussion of international LGBTI issues. Moderated by Andre Banks (All Out), media activists Xiaogang Wei of China and Suzan of Egypt reflect on their experiences in working to connect LGBTQ folks through each of their online platforms.  

Xiaogang Wei explained the progress of the Chinese LGBT movement: “Things are changing,” he said. “We are building this language. We are building this identify. People know how to use the right language to fight back.”

Suzan focused on how LGBT Westerners can support and understand their Middle Eastern counterparts, instead of acting as though they have the wisdom and the right to tell queer activists in the Middle East how to think and act. Read More or watch the discussion here 

US: Rabbis of Largest Jewish Movement Pick First Lesbian Leader

Rabbi Denise Eger became the first out lesbian rabbi to serve as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the rabbinical arm of the Reform movement, the largest Jewish movement in America with 1.5 million adherents. With 2,000 members, CCAR is the largest rabbinic organization in North America. Founded in 1889, it’s also the oldest, and serves most liberal of the mainstream denominations. 

But Eger’s sexual orientation is only part of the story. In fact, the new CCAR president may bring a new focus on progressive social justice activism to the Reform movement. In a way, she might be the Jewish Lesbian Pope Francis. Read More

Most American Mainline Protestants Embrace Gay Marriage

With the largest Presbyterian denomination’s official endorsement, American mainline Protestants have solidified their support for gay marriage, leaving the largest mainline denomination — the United Methodist Church — outside the same-sex marriage fold.

Methodists, with more than 7 million members, rejected same-sex marriage at their last nat'l conference. They are likely to revisit the question in 2016, but a growing membership in Africa, where there is little acceptance of homosexuality, makes it unlikely the denomination will accept gay marriage.

Another denomination generally considered mainline, the American Baptist Churches USA, does not allow same-sex marriage, nor do a handful of smaller mainline denominations. But the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ and now the Presbyterian Church (USA) sanctify the marriage of two men or two women. The 3.8 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gives congregations the autonomy to decide for themselves.  Read More

Italy: Pope Francis Dines with Gay and Transgender Inmates in Naples Prison

Pope Francis on Saturday met with 10 gay, transgender and HIV-positive prisoners during a daylong visit to the Italian city of Naples. Andrea Miluzzo, director of LGBT News Italia, told the Washington Blade the inmates were among the 90 prisoners with whom the pontiff had lunch during his visit to an overcrowded prison in the city’s Poggioreale neighborhood.

Members of the local affiliate of Arcigay, an Italian LGBT advocacy group, were among those who were allowed to stand along the streets of Scampia, a poor Neapolitan neighborhood overrun with crime, earlier in the day as Francis passed through in his open-air car known as the pope-mobile. Read More

WATCH: Film Makes Case for Full LGBT Acceptance in Catholic Church

Several LGBT Catholics have come together to release a short film called Owning Our Faith, in which they share their stories and call for full acceptance of LGBT people in the church. Executive producer Michael Tomae says he was inspired to make the film by volunteering at a shelter for homeless youth and finding that many of them had been disowned by their Christian families for being LGBT. He then reached out to LGBT Catholics and allies to film their stories.

The makers of the film are also calling on other LGBT Catholics to make videos of their stories and post them to YouTube. They are hoping their message of acceptance will reach the Catholic hierarchy, right to the top — Pope Francis — as the church prepares for a bishops’ meeting on family issues in October.  Read More
 

Ireland: Catholic bishop compares homosexuality to Down's Syndrome

Speaking in the run-up to the spring meeting of Ireland's Catholic bishops, the Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran has compared homosexuality to Down's Syndrome and has also said rape victims should not have abortions as a way of getting back at the rapist.

Bishop Doran implied that being gay was a disability, when asked whether he believed being born gay could be what God intended: "That would be to suggest that if some people are born with Down's syndrome or Spina Bifida, that that was what God intended either," he said.

Currently the same-sex adoption bill is being discussed by the Irish Parliament. The country is holding an equal marriage referendum in May. Read More