Ethiopia: LGBT activist banned by facebook under real name policy

An Ethiopian LGBT activist and leader who runs multiple Facebook groups for gay Ethiopians has had his account blocked by Facebook for not using his real name. The activist, who goes by the pseudonym HappyAddis, used the social network to create and administrate some of the most popular groups for gay Ethiopians, including Zega Matters, which has more than 1,000 members.

The East African country considers homosexuality a crime and those convicted of same-sex relations can face 15 years in prison. For that reason, many LGBT citizens use an alias to interact with others online in order to avoid punishment from the authorities and anti-gay violence.

A Facebook representative, who could not speak about HappyAddis’s situation since the company does not comment on specific accounts, said that users who require anonymity can either use a secret Facebook group or a different platform that allows anonymity.

But HappyAddis says neither of those options would work in his situation. Secret groups still require users’ real names, a non-starter for those who fear physical violence if their identity is revealed. Using a real name is “like outing yourself." “People will go and attack you. Even other gay people, you don’t trust them. How can you find out whether they’re real gay people using a real account?”  Read More

Vietnam: Navigating the streets of Ho Chi Minh City

I’ve always been rather skeptical of those who claim to be on Grindr to ‘network’ or ‘look for a room’. Like – really? But having now used Grindr to find a tour guide in Vietnam, I’ve been forced to review my cynicism.
I was in Ho Chi Minh City – formerly known as Saigon, and now often abbreviated to HCMC – with one of my best friends from London. All the organized tours seemed rather expensive. There’s also that feeling of being on a tourist hamster wheel when being shown around a city by an official guide.

My friend suggested I ask the cute Vietnamese guy I’d been flirting with on Grindr if he would be interested in being our guide for the day. A few of the familiar bleeping purrs of Grindr later and the deal was done. Read More

India: Online dating fuels new danger for gays

Sonal Giani, a Mumbai-based gay activist, said the Internet gave many men a false sense of security. “Online spaces are deemed to be oh-so-safe” compared with the limited options otherwise, since connections are made in private, Ms. Giani said. “But we’ve been seeing gangs operating online.”

Since India’s Supreme Court recriminalized gay sex more than a year ago, homosexuals have increasingly become targets of robbery and extortion, gay men and activists say. The trend has been fueled by the rise of Internet dating, which has become an easy way for urban, middle-class gay men to meet, but also exposed them to online predators. “It’s more and more frequent,” said one 26-year-old engineer who lives in Mumbai. He said he was robbed in January after inviting a man he met on PlanetRomeo to his apartment.

After they had sex, the visitor threatened to tell the engineer’s neighbors he was gay unless he handed over 10,000 rupees, about $157. The engineer didn’t notify police. “If I file a complaint because a man I had sex with robbed me, I’m denouncing myself under Section 377,” he said. “It’s a lose-lose situation.” Read More

US: Scientific opinion poll finds small business owners don't support LGBT discrimination based on religious beliefs

A poll released today shows that small business owners believe they should not be able to refuse goods or services to LGBT individuals or to deny services related to a same-sex wedding based on an owner’s religious beliefs. Following the intense national debate surrounding Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the results show that small business owners oppose overly broad religious exemptions that could allow for anti-LGBT discrimination.

The poll found that two-thirds of small business owners say businesses should not be able to deny goods or services to someone who is LGBT based on the owner’s religious beliefs. When asked about wedding-related services, 55% say they do not believe a business owner should be allowed to deny services to a same-sex couple based on religious beliefs. In fact, 59% of small business owners who responded to the poll oppose laws allowing individuals, associations, or businesses to legally refuse service to anyone based on religious beliefs.

The survey responses crossed ideological and religious divides, with a plurality of small business owners—47%—who identified as Republican, 33% as Democrat, and 19% as independent. Survey participants reported varied faith traditions, as well, with 27% who regularly attend religious services. Read More

China: Homosexuality in China, government workplaces unwelcoming

Even though Chinese public sentiment has become increasingly accepting of homosexuality, gay government employees find that their sexual orientation remains taboo in the workplace: “It’s impossible for me to disclose my sexual orientation at the office,” Cheng He, a 25-year-old employee at a government-affiliated research center in Beijing, said. “I don’t think it’s necessary, but my colleagues would not accept me being gay anyway.”

A survey from 2014 by the Shanghai-based human rights NGO WorkForLGBT found that in a survey of 8,000 people, only 2 percent of those who worked at state-owned enterprises disclosed their sexual orientation to their employers or co-workers. But at foreign companies, 9 percent of employees polled had revealed their sexuality to their bosses.

Cheng said for the most part government officials are expected to have a spouse (gay marriage is not legally recognized in China) and children to show that they are “normal” and are stable enough to handle their responsibilities. Being discreet about sexual orientation and remaining single is no refuge, he said, since if you’re over 30 and unattached, bosses and colleagues will often try to set up dates.  Read More

Italy: Most gay-friendly Italian companies revealed

Telecom Italia has been named ‘Best Company’ in the GLBT Diversity Index 2015 – an annual survey of businesses compiled by Italian LGBT workplace diversity and inclusion group. Telecom Italia, which has over 66,000 employees, earned the honor through its introduction of a number of initiatives to promote LGBTI inclusion. These have included extending healthcare insurance and other benefits to all cohabiting couples irrespective of gender.

The company runs awareness-raising workshops for all staff around LGBT issues and has also taken part in a Government-backed scheme, Project DJ (Diversity on the Job), to help find employment for people who have been discriminated against.

The Index’s two other award winners were Microsoft Italia (for ‘Best Improvement’) and Zeta Service (for Best SME).  Read More 

US: Researchers and iPhone launch landmark study of LGBTQ health

Researchers are preparing the largest national study of LGBTQ health ever. The Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality, or PRIDE, Study is the first study of this kind to better understand the health of LGBTQ adults in the United States. It’s a longitudinal cohort study that uses an iPhone app to connect with and track sexual & gender minority adults over time to understand factors related to health & disease in this population.  

The PRIDE Study app is based on ResearchKit, an open-source software framework developed by Apple, which helps researchers gather data more frequently and accurately from participants using mobile devices. For example, other researchers have created apps to measure dexterity and gait in Parkinson’s disease patients and blood glucose levels in diabetes patients. The PRIDE Study is the first to use this platform to study a population rather than a specific disease. Read More

For LGBT millennials, online dating apps are a blessing and a curse

In today’s app-happy world, finding love is as easy as the swipe of a finger. For a generation raised in front of LED screens, it’s only logical that technology now plays such a huge part in the adult love lives of millennials (and plenty of non-millennials as well). Conditioned to socialize online as young adults, these 18 to 34 year olds are now taking the same approach to finding partners.

Unlike their straight counterparts, LGBT millennials don’t always have the same opportunities for the traditional courtship behaviors the Times is so intent on eulogizing. Indeed, for LGBT singles in conservative families or communities, online dating may be the only safe way to meet potential suitors. Anxieties are amplified in countries where homosexuality is still illegal. Recently, creators of gay dating app Scruff created an alert for the 100 some countries where it’s dangerous to be openly LGBT. In these areas, LGBT visitors and longtime inhabitants end up using the app to find dates or sexual encounters. 

Furthermore, while some dating apps have developed something of a negative reputation for their emphasis on no strings attached sexual encounters, it’s not quite so black and white. Forced online, even those in favor of long-term relationship may change their minds after more traditional routes become inaccessible or uncomfortable. Read More

Apple launches new App Store section showcasing LGBT content to commemorate 1969 Stonewall riots

In the featured  App Store section, Apple is highlighting apps, movies, music, TV, podcasts, and books that represent the LGBT community. Selections include Milk, a 2008 drama based during the 1970s push for gay liberation, the HBO film The Normal Heart, the drama Brokeback Mountain, music from artists like Adam Lambert, Sam Smith, and Neon Trees, and various other TV shows, podcasts, books, music, movies, magazines, and apps. Read More

My name is only real enough to work at Facebook, not to use on the site

I always knew this day would come. The day that Facebook decided my name was not real enough and summarily cut me off from my friends, family and peers and left me with the stark choice between using my legal name or using a name people would know me by. With spectacular timing, it happened while I was at trans pride and on the day the Supreme Court made same sex marriage legal in the US.

This is a story that’s been told many times before. It is a story I’ve seen repeated time and time again as my friends have disappeared off the site, often never to return. This time there’s a twist: I used to work there. In fact, I’m the trans woman who initiated the custom gender feature. And the name I go by on Facebook? That’s the name that was on my work badge.  Read More 

Women, LGBT least safe on Facebook, despite 'real name' policy

Despite Facebook's insistence that its "real names" policy keeps its users safe, a new report reveals that Facebook is the least safe place for women online. And things are turning more explosive, as stories emerge that Facebook has been changing its users' names without their consent -- and the company isn't allowing them to remove their real names from their accounts. Meanwhile, a furious LGBT coalition has rallied around the safety threats posed to its communities by the policy. 

Facebook's ongoing war on pseudonyms became well-documented in 2011 when a blogger risking her life to report on crime in Honduras was suspended by the company, under its rule requiring everyone to use their real name on the social network. The Safety Net Project (at the National Network to End Domestic Violence, NNEDV) recently released a report based on results from victim service providers called A Glimpse From the Field: How Abusers Are Misusing Technology.

The report found that nearly all (99%) the responding programs reported that Facebook is the most misused social media platform by abusers. Facebook is a key place for offenders to access information about victims or harass them by direct messaging or via their friends and family. Read More

Argentina: LGBT tourism conference proves Argentina is doing it right

Argentina is once again dominating tourism within Latin America, not only because of its wide range of things to see and do throughout the entire country, but because they have cornered the market within LGBT tourism within the region. Clustered within a conservative continent, Argentina has always been many steps ahead when it comes to anything and everything related to the LGBT consumer, as well as their LGBT residents. 

The country's economic status is in current disarray, but with the incoming tourism influx from neighboring countries as well as from North America and the rest of the world, Argentina is continuing to cash in on the LGBT segment within tourism. But what they are not doing is just blindly marketing to LGBT travelers and raking in the cash, instead, they have strategically put in place, in collaboration with their Ministry of Tourism and private public relations firm, ways to attract the LGBT market while still genuinely taking into consideration every element necessary that comes with that specific travel market. Read More