A brutal mob attack has left one young man in critical condition, with a punctured lung and constant brain swelling. The incident took place on Saturday, October 24, 2015 after two cars reportedly stopped in the vicinity of the Canadian Embassy where several men emerged from the vehicles, armed with knives. The suspects then began to chase and attack other men who were thought to be the homeless gay youth that were known to be living in the area. Two individuals who were not a part of the group were also badly injured and have since hospitalized.
While the homeless youth living in the area contest that that the brutal attack was not provoked, they also pointed out that public harassment and attacks have increased since the Sunday Gleaner published an article on October 4, 2015 with the headline “Homeless Cross-Dressers Living Among The Dead”.
One of the young men who was hospitalized has been identified as Asheen Walford, of a Papine address, who is a well known volunteer that works closely with the homeless population in Kingston and St. Andrew. The other victim, who has not been identified, was reportedly admitted to hospital in critical condition and is currently in a comma, battling for his life with a punctured lung and constant brain swelling. Read more via NADA
Indonesia: Gay sex made punishable by public caning
Human rights activists have called for the immediate repeal of new laws passed in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province that make gay sex punishable by 100 lashes of the cane, calling it "an enormous step backwards". Aceh is the only part of the majority-Muslim nation that is allowed to implement Islamic sharia law and already carries out public canings for gambling, drinking alcohol and fraternising with the opposite sex outside of marriage.
The law explicitly outlaws anal sex between men and "the rubbing of body parts between women for stimulation", making homosexuality technically illegal for the first time in Aceh. The bylaw will also be the first in Aceh to be applied to non-Muslims, both Indonesians and foreigners.
Amnesty International, which has called for an end to caning in Aceh, asked that the bylaw be repealed immediately. "The criminalisation of individuals based on their sexual orientation is a huge blow for equality in Indonesia," the group's Asia-Pacific director Richard Bennett said.
The province of Aceh, in Indonesia's west, has been slowly implementing sharia law since gaining a degree of autonomy from Jakarta in 2001 in a deal struck to quell a decades-long separatist movement in the province. Read More via Australian Broadcast Co.
Canada: Two more communities mourn trans deaths by suicide
September 26, I made a memorial sign containing the names and photos of the 16 trans people reported to have died by suicide so far in 2015; and I took the sign with me to the Second Annual Journey to Hope Walk for Suicide Awareness and Prevention. Della Fergusen, organizer of the event, invited me to join her on stage during the opening ceremonies to read all of their names aloud to the gathered crowd. It was a sobering experience that will stick with me for the rest of my life, as I recall how close I too have come to my own death over the years.
Less than 48-hours later I learned of not one, but two more reported suicides of trans people occurring on September 28, 2015. In Toronto, Ontario, Canada, friends and peers of 29-year-old Ryley Courchene have taken to social media to talk about her passing and comfort one another through their grief. There has yet to be any significant coverage of her passing through online news sites or in any Canadian publications.
Also on the 28th, 16-year-old trans activist, youth leader, and accomplished writer, Skylar Lee, Wisconsin, scheduled a Tumblr blog post to go live which contained his suicide note. In it, he discussed his longtime struggles with depression and mental health issues, and requested of mourners: “Don’t turn my name into a hashtag”. Read More via Planet Transgender
Argentina: Iconic trans activist stabbed to death in BA
Trans activist Diana Sacayán — who in 2012 received from President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner a DNI card with her female identity — was found dead with multiple stab wounds yesterday in her apartment in the City neighbourhood of Flores.
Sources from the Attorney General’s Office confirmed that the high-ranking member of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) was murdered. The same source confirmed that Sacayán’s body was found in a pool of blood with her hands and feet tied with rope.
The building superintendent noticed that the door to her flat on the 13th floor was open. When he entered, he witnesses traces of violence everywhere. Investigators said that the apartment’s door was broken from the inside, meaning that Sacayán likely knew the perpetrator and allowed the murderer to come inside and locked the door, but he was not able to find the key to open the door. Read More via Buenos Aires Herald
Morocco takes action against anti-gay attack
Morocco has arrested three people suspected of beating up a man presumed to be homosexual and attempting to blackmail his family with a video. "A suspect was arrested for assaulting a young man, who was undressed, for his assumed homosexuality, and another two were arrested for trying to blackmail the victim's family with a video," Casablanca police said.
Online newspapers posted footage showing individuals beating a young man wearing women's underwear, before undressing him completely while threatening to kill him. From the video, police managed to identify the 17 year old victim. Read More via Your Middle East
Jamaica: Cops save gay man from angry mob
An openly gay man was rescued by police after an angry mob cornered him inside a bank parking lot in Half Way Tree.
Loop News arrived on the scene just in time to see police keeping the crowd at bay. The man said that he was walking with three friends when the mob descended on them and they ran in different directions. He ran into a popular bank's parking lot where a policeman arrived quickly and called for backup.
"I am gay and they wanted to beat me because I am gay. But I am comfortable with who I am," added the man.
Members of the crowd were unsympathetic towards the man. "Ah lucky him lucky, you saved his life," a man told the cop who arrived first on the scene. Ironically, some members of the crowd praised the policeman for his efforts. Read More via Loop Jamaica
Belgrade: Lesbians cruelly attacked in Café
After a book-reading public event, Dragoslava Barzut, a lesbian writer and feminist activist went the nearest café with three other lesbian friends from the lesbian football team. They were relaxed & singing in the small cafe with live music, filled with around 40 people altogether. After midnight men came in and started to beat them, screaming and cursing ‘Lesbians Lesbians!’.
Barzut noted a ‘thin and small’ waitress helped the women escape by intervening in the attack and locking the women in a bathroom until the police arrived.
Representatives from the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights said they will file the case as a hate crime. Read More via Labris
UK: Figures reveal a 'shocking' rise in homophobic hate crimes
The number of homophobic attacks reported to police leapt by nearly a quarter last year, Home Office figures have revealed.
Forces in England and Wales recorded 5,597 hate crimes against gays and lesbians in 2014-15, a rise of 22 per cent on the previous 12 months. The spike in violence and abuse based on victims’ sexual orientation emerged in statistics revealing a continued rise in offences which are classified as “hate crimes”.
Although some of the increase could be explained by victims being more willing to come forward, David Cameron described the latest figures as unacceptable and said more needed to be done to fight hate crime. Read More via the Independent
‘Hand them over so we can stone them to death’: LGBTI people’s ongoing African battle
Kenya: Pervasive homophobic violence in coastal region
Mobs in Kenya’s coastal region have repeatedly attacked people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, says a new report. In at least six incidents between 2008 and 2015, mobs in the coastal counties of Mombasa, Kwale, and Kilifi have attacked or threatened LGBT people or health workers serving the LGBT community, without sufficient response from authorities.
The 70-page report, “The Issue is Violence: Attacks on LGBT People on Kenya’s Coast,” is based on research conducted in 2014 and 2015 by Human Rights Watch and PEMA Kenya, a community organization in Mombasa that provides support to gender and sexual minorities on human rights, health, HIV/AIDS, and economic well-being.
Unchecked violence on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity not only constitutes a serious human rights abuse, it also jeopardizes Kenya’s efforts to address an HIV epidemic that is highly concentrated among vulnerable populations. In three of the mob attacks, violence or threats from residents and local religious leaders caused health providers serving MSM to temporarily or permanently close their doors or shut down workshops. Read More via Human Rights Watch
Two gay men who fled ISIS just made UN history
Refugee Subhi Nahas never could have predicted that so soon after being granted refugee protection he would become one of the first people in history to address the U.N. Security Council on LGBT persecution. The historic meeting, an informal session known as an “Arria,” was prompted by attacks by ISIS and other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq against LGBT individuals.
The meeting, organized by the U.S. and Chilean delegations, was held behind closed doors to protect the privacy of an anonymous Iraqi gay man who used the pseudonym “Adnan” and delivered testimony via telephone. It was attended by 13 of the 15 member nations of the powerful chamber, with only Chad and Angola refusing to participate. Four countries with troubling LGBT rights records of their own — China, Russia, Nigeria, and Malaysia — declined to speak, but remained present for the entire meeting.
“This is the first time in history that the council has held a meeting on the victimization of LGBT persons,” U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said. “It is the first time we are saying, in a single voice, that it is wrong to target people because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. It is a historic step. And it is, as we all know, long overdue.” Read More via Buzzfeed
Israel: 11 police disciplined over Jerusalem Pride attack security failures
Israel’s Police Force is taking strong disciplinary action against a group of officers who were tasked with ensuring a safe 2015 Jerusalem Pride march after intelligence failings allowed religious extremist Yishai Schlissel into the parade area despite his only being released for a similar attack a month before.
Schlissel stabbed three marchers in the 2005 Jerusalem Pride march and was released in early July this year. On 30 July, just weeks after being set free, he carried out a stabbing attack on this year’s parade which wounded six and ultimately resulted in the death of 16-year-old victim Shira Banki.
Reacting to the announcement, the Banki family released a public statement earlier today. ‘The report won’t bring Shira back to her family,’ they say. ‘However, the family hopes that to the degree that deficiencies were found, they will be corrected and the conclusions drawn applied in the most thorough possible fashion to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.’ Read More via Gay Star News