Ukraine: Gay couple violently attacked for holding hands in public

A shocking video shows the reaction of a group of neo-Nazis to a gay couple holding hands in public. The video shows Zoryan Kis and Tymur Levchuk holding hands in the Ukrainian capital, in order to gauge the response from the public.

ChebuRussia TV of YouTube previously conducted a social experiment to see what would happen when two men holding hands walked through the streets of Moscow, Russia. For both videos, footage was captured by a third member walking in front of them with a camera hidden in his bag. The first part of the experiment in Ukraine shows no extreme reactions other than some funny looks, and one group of women actually just want to have their photo taken with the couple. 

The couple are later attacked with pepper spray and beaten. Despite the violent attack, the couple say in the video that they see the overall lack of reaction as a “step forward”. Read More
 

Lebanon: Why my own father would have let IS kill me

The group that calls itself Islamic State (IS or Isis) has a special punishment for gay people - it kills them by throwing them off high buildings. Taim, a 24-year-old medical student, tells the story of how he only escaped this fate by fleeing from Iraq to Lebanon: 

If I'd stayed, Isis would have come for me and killed me the way they've killed others. If Isis didn't get me, members of my family would have done it. A few days after I left, I learned that my uncle - my father's brother - had taken an oath to cleanse the family honour.  Read More 

Iraq: Huge crowd gathers to watch ISIS throw gay man off building

Yet another huge crowd has gathered to watch ISIS execute a man accused of being gay – some even brought their children. The man was thrown from a high building after being “found guilty” by a man posing as a judge, wearing a mask.

This is the latest in a spate of killings by ISIS, of men accused of homosexuality. Last week, another video, shot in Palmyra, showed two Syrian men be thrown off a building before being stoned to death. The terrorist group, which operates predominantly across Syria and Iraq, is notorious for filming videos in which captives are brutally slaughtered. It has also taken to executing men it claims are gay, by throwing them off of tall buildings and pelting them with rocks in IS-produced videos.

Members of the terrorist group, which has published a number of graphic videos featuring the murder of supposed gay men, holds power across parts of Iraq, Syria and Libya. Read More

Sierra Leone: To be gay and African should not be a crime

George Reginald Freeman: In my home country of Sierra Leone, homosexuality is punishable by a minimum of 10 years in jail. My first punishment was when I was 12 and came out. I confided in my uncle. Instead of the acceptance, he beat me up and called me names: “shob am na kaka hole,” which loosely translates to “ass-fucker.” His screaming and yelling brought neighbors out of their homes. They yelled at me while my uncle went to get the police, who arrested me.

Sierra Leone is my homeland, yet I lived in constant fear of the police and officials who arrested and detained me numerous times because I am gay. Yet there are longstanding traditions of homosexuality in African history. The Mende tribe in Sierra Leone has the “sande bwake,” which means male cross-dresser. The word “mabole” means a woman who plays the role of a man and at times dresses like men, while eschewing “women’s” activities.

Even the masquerades allow cross-dressing during festivals and cultural performances. Most women who are not able to give birth are allowed to marry their fellow women for child-bearing. These women are not considered the wife to a husband, but the wife to a wife. Homosexuality is not “un-African.” We are the cradle of human life, and nothing human is alien to us. Read More

Namibia: Deputy Finance Minister’s anti-gay rant

Namibia’s Finance deputy minister, Natangue Ithete, launched a scathing verbal attack on homosexuality this week, declaring to Ministry of Finance staff that African culture does not entertain gays. Ithete accused foreigners coming into Namibia under false pretences and selling the idea to local cultures that homosexuality is acceptable. Ithete’s remarks have an international flair to it, following only days after Kenyan President Kenyatta said gay rights were a non-issue. 

“You are either a man or a woman. Don’t come from outside and tell us this is acceptable. They must keep their gay activities in their countries. We will not entertain any of this gayness [sic],” Ithete told staff during a visit to the ministry’s western region. Ithete’s attack on homosexuals followed as he urged customs and excise staff to welcome foreigners “with a true Namibian welcome”.  Foreigners will always be treated well in Namibia on condition they respect Namibia’s cultural orientations and not encourage or entertain anything he labelled as “un-Namibian”, said Ithete.

Despite the segmented homophobic remarks, Ithete welcomed foreigners to Namibia and acknowledged the importance of foreign involvement in the country like investment and assistance in areas the country lacks. “We have our president to respect. The president of Angola is not above any other president in Africa. When you are the president of your country, direct your people in your country and don’t influence us here. Sorry, this is how it’s going to be,” he pressed.  Read More 

Russia: 41% of public say authorities should persecute gays to ‘exterminate the phenomenon’

Homophobia in Russia has significantly worsened in the last decade, according to a new survey by state-run pollster. The proportion of respondents who consider LGBTI people dangerous and said they should be ‘isolated from society’ grew from 12% in 2004 to 20%.

Some 22% said they didn’t care about other people’s sexual orientation – compared with 24% in 2004. Nearly half of all respondents (41%) said the authorities should persecute people with ‘untraditional sexual preferences’ in order to ‘exterminate the phenomenon,’ while only 12% agreed that the government should protect LGBTI people from discrimination.

‘It’s interesting that we are swimming against the current, strengthening, despite global trends, intolerance toward homosexual relationships. This indicator might serve as a parameter of national identification,’ said Alexei Firsov, the communications director. Read More

Russia: Top Russian official says antigay politicians pose direct threat to national security

Vice-chairman of the Federation Council constitutional legislation committee, senator Konstantin Dobrynin proposes implementing “don’t ask – don’t tell” principle towards LGBT people in Russia and calls to “immediately reduce the intensity of aggression” towards them as they do not pose a direct threat to national security, unlike antigay politicians, as Dobrynin commented the latest MP Milonov’s initiative to ban Facebook in Russia due to rainbow avatars dedicated to celebrating LGBT marriage equality in the USA.

“For Russia, it is important not to turn away from the realities of time and not to fall into the barbarian antigay fight, but to try and find some legal form that will ensure the the public balance on this subject between the conservative part of society and all the rest,” said the senator. “For a period of time the optimal formula, which in our country would be the case and work without causing aggression, could be the “don’t ask – don’t tell” formula”.

“But we need to take away from the political field and from our lives those pseudo-politicians who openly profiteer in the antigay fighting and engage in the legislative spam, the sooner we do it – the better ” concluded Dobrynin.  “Because they are the ones, unlike gays, who pose a direct and clear threat to the Russia’s security and it’s them who the state needs to confront”.  Read More

Nigeria: Gay, bisexual men report more fear in healthcare after law

Gay and bisexual men in Nigeria are reporting increased reluctance to access healthcare. While consensual sexual relationships between men were already illegal in Nigeria, the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, signed into law in January 2014, prohibited participation in organizations supporting gay people or attempts at any kind of civil same-sex relationship.

There were reports of arrests and torture following the enactment of the law, according to a paper published in The Lancet HIV. Since the law took effect, men who have sex with men may fear that the benefits of medical care don't outweigh the risks. The study suggests "that they think the (benefit) of HIV prevention care isn't worth remaining in a system that could potentially out them," she said.

Schwartz and her colleagues analyzed data from 707 gay and bisexual men in Nigeria who were receiving HIV prevention and treatment services from a community-based clinic in 2013 and 2014. Read More

Germany: Green Youth Munich leader, involuntary hero of CSD-Parade

As board member of political youth group 'Grüne Jugend München,' Marcel Rohrlack, 18, speaks out for LGBT rights and marriage equality, but also minimum wage, housing, and environmental issues. After attending Munich's annual pride event--Christopher Street Parade--Rohrlack and a friend were attacked and beaten by a group a five men. Documenting his injuries on Facebook, Rohrlack urged an end to violence. Read More 

Russia: Video shows what it’s like for two men to walk around Moscow holding hands

A video of two men experiencing verbal and physical abuse as they hold hands on the streets of Moscow is going viral, with more than 1 million views since it was posted to YouTube Sunday. Passersby shout expletives and anti-LGBT slurs at the men as they walk around the city. In one shot, the pair are pushed by an aggressive man. No one comes to help them.

Filmed in the style of this viral video documenting one woman’s experience of street harassment while walking through New York, the footage has clearly been edited but captures numerous insults. The two men in the video say they are not gay but staged a “social experiment” to spark discussion of LGBT rights in Russia.

“We thought that it’s strange, that in USA if two guys have a walk holding hands, it would be not a big deal. So we wanted to see the same situation in Russia.” The men, who post footage of their “pranks” and “social experiments” under the name ChebuRussiaTV online, said they were surprised by the aggressive public reactions they received while filming. Read More 

France: Swimmer suffers broken nose in anti-gay attack

World champion swimmer Mélanie Hénique, 23, and two female friends were attacked by four men as they left a restaurant in Amiens, northern France. The men hurled insults and hit the women, after which the ladies sought emergency healthcare. 

Hénique said she ‘fully accepts’ her homosexuality but preferred to keep her private life private. However, she felt it was her duty to make public the facts, ‘if only to help all those who dare not complain. It happens too often...I have been insulted, but have never been hit,’ she continued, without wanting to specify the ‘violent’ homophobic slurs.

Hénique had to postpone training after the attack and was a forced to withdraw from the French Open over the weekend. She won bronze in the 50m butterfly at the world championships in 2011 and has been selected to compete again at the 2014 world championships in Kazan, Russia in August. Read More 

Turkey: UN rights office urges authorities to tackle anti-LGBT violence and discrimination

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed deep concern over attacks and incitement to violence against LGBT people in Turkey, a UN spokesperson said today.

After listing recent disturbances, he said the Office is “further concerned about allegations that in the [Ördek case], police officers trivialized the attack, used discriminatory language, tried to dissuade the victim from filing a complaint, and did not provide protection from additional threats by the alleged perpetrators.”

“We call on the Turkish authorities to take active measures to combat homophobic and transphobic violence and discrimination, to uphold the rights of LGBT people to peacefully assemble and express themselves and to ensure that LGBT victims of crimes are treated with respect and dignity and have access to protection mechanisms and effective remedy,” Mr. Colville said. Read More