South Africa: Young sexual minorities face increased HIV risk at university

In South Africa, young men who have sex with men are increasingly exploring their sexuality at university, without always understanding the HIV and other health risks they are taking. Yet there are few programmes and awareness campaigns address that focus on young men who have sex with men to address these issues.

A study across 14 higher education institutions involving sexual minorities, found risky sexual behaviour is increasing the risk of HIV transmission among these population groups. The study found that young gay and bisexual students are coming out of the closet, particularly in tertiary education institutions where they are more likely to meet their counterparts. But it is important to understand that not all men who have sex with men identify as gay. The study found that some men who identify as heterosexual engage in unprotected sex with other men, as well as having unprotected sex with female partners.

Based on its findings the study calls for more programmes at education institutions, and greater involvement of male students who have sex with men in such programmes, to help reduce the risk of HIV transmission. At the University of Western Cape a programme for men who have sex with men, as well as people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI) is improving the lives of many students.   Read more via Key Correspondents

Russia: LGBT youth left isolated, victimised by "gay propaganda" law

Russian activists say the anti-gay propaganda law has fuelled anti-gay abuse, discrimination and violence, spawned a "chilling effect", and victimised young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and deterred them from coming out and seeking support.

Punishable by jail in the Soviet Union, homosexuality was decriminalised in 1993 yet much of the LGBT community remains underground and prejudice runs deep. The law has only been enforced in a handful of cases, and Elena Klimova, the founder of one of Russia's only online communities for LGBT youths, Deti-404, where users share stories of attacks and humiliation, was the latest person to be convicted in July and was fined 50,000 roubles (£540).

Tanya Cooper, Russia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the gay propaganda law was part of a wider crackdown on civil society and anybody who challenged traditional Russian values. Read More via Reuters 

New Zealand: Whangarei youth stand against bullying

A Whangarei anti-bullying project has launched a series of videos made by local youth, including one which looks at homophobic bullying. The films were produced by the Tu Toa Whangarei anti-bullying project, which is linked to the Whangarei Youth Space.

TurnAround takes a situation where a young man is bullied for possibly being gay, and turns it on its head, showing the power of standing up for yourself and others. See more at Gay NZ 

Japan: Bullying rampant for gay, bisexual male teens

More than 40% of gay and bisexual male teenagers say they have experienced bullying, apparently because of their sexual orientation, a survey revealed. 20% of them turned to truancy or self-inflicted injuries as a way of coping.

The survey was conducted online by a research team led by Yasuharu Hidaka, a professor of social medicine at Takarazuka University's nursing school. Valid answers were given by around 20,000 gay and bisexual males nationwide between the ages of 11 and 71.

The survey found that those who had "never learned about homosexuality in elementary, junior or senior high school" totaled 41%, marking a significant drop from the 63% recorded in the previous poll by Hidaka in 2005. However, those who learned that being a sexual minority was "abnormal" or who received negative information about sexual minorities had increased to 30% from the 23% recorded in 2005. Read More via The Asahi Shimbun

Thailand: University introduces mandatory class on transgender issues

As the academic school year gets into full swing in Thailand, Thammasat, one of the country’s most prestigious and progressive universities is making a Social Life Skills class mandatory for its incoming freshman. This new course aims to ensure students have the skills to lead a successful life and covers a wide range of subjects, including music, art, sports and a three hour session on sex, where part of the focus is on gender identity.

Kritipat Chotidhanitsakul (Jimmy) has been invited to sensitize students about transgender issues and by the end of the school year is expected to have lectured to 8,000 students. This is the first time Thammasat has made such a topic mandatory for new students.

Jimmy, a transgender man and the President of the Transmen Alliance of Thailand, is glad to be a guest lecturer: “I am very happy to be teaching so many students. I hope they will mature into adults who understand transgender issues and set a new trend for society.”   Read More via Asian Correspondent  

US: Locker room access for transgender teen divides Missouri town

Missouri transgender teen Lila Perry says she began to feel like a girl when she was 13 and started appearing as one in school this year when classes began in August. The 17-year-old wears skirts, makeup and a long wig styled with bobby pins. She even started using the girls' locker room to change for gym class, despite the school's offer of a single-occupancy restroom.

"I am a girl. I am not going to be pushed away to another bathroom," she told CNN affiliate KPLR. In less than two weeks, however, it became clear she was not welcome in the locker room. Classmates whispered about her in hallways, complained to faculty and told their parents, who brought it up at the school board meeting on August 27.

A group of students organized a walkout with their parents' support. The protest made national headlines, casting a large spotlight on this small town of 2,900 people about 30 miles south of St. Louis with "more wild mice than people," as one resident described Hillsboro.

In response, Perry and her supporters organized a rally Friday at Hillsboro Park where she addressed the controversy. She thanked her classmates for bringing attention to her story and giving her a platform "to be a part of helping and inspiring other trans and gender nonconforming young people."   Read More via CNN

Uganda: Homosexuality in schools - what experts have to say

A few weeks ago, the country was awash with news about one of the most prominent boys only schools sending all their students home due to the ‘rampant homosexuality activities’ in the learning facility.

Standing in the heart of Mbarara town, Ntare School has over the years been known to expel students that have been suspected of engaging in same sex relationships and the latest incident is said to have been triggered after the students’ fraternity attempted to lynch students who were suspected of being gay.

This is a scenario that is very common in most Ugandan schools especially same sex institutions; however, it raises a few questions. Is expulsion the way to go, what happens to the students after they are expelled – on not only an academic level but also psychological and social levels.

Asked what they think is a better approach for schools, the experts concurrently agree that while it is not the schools place to nurture or even encourage homosexuality, they should find more subtle ways of dealing with the problem. Embarrassing these still maturing children only causes more harm than good. Read More via Kuchu TImes 

Seven ways the gay community is failing our youth on HIV

At a passing glance, it would seem as if gay men in America were on top of their game. After all, gay characters are more visible in the media than ever, public opposition to homosexuality has drifted into minority status, and same-sex marriage isn’t just a geographical privilege, but a national right.

But while the mainstream status of the young gay man has drastically improved, the status of his sexual health isn’t looking so good. A new research analysis reported that young people ages 13 to 24 now account for a quarter of new HIV infections, with only 7% of youth in the study reaching undetectable viral levels after diagnosis. This number, which is far below the national undetectable average of 30%, gives insight as to why HIV infection is up 132.5% among young gay men in the same age range over the past decade.

This stain on the gay rights report card demonstrates a glaring omission in our advocacy work. While we have been teaching young gay men the importance of business, family, and law, sexual health has been all but omitted from the curriculum. In honor of the 7%, here are seven ways we are failing young gay men.  Read More via the Advocate

This terrifying new Windows 10 feature could ‘out’ kids to their parents

Computers running Windows 10 could be automatically telling parents that their teens are visiting LGBT support websites. The new operating system, which was rolled out last month as a free upgrade, has raised concern over the new ‘activity reports‘ feature.

The feature is enabled by default for users who have set up registered ‘family’ accounts, sending weekly breakdowns of browsing history to the parents – even if the kids browse anonymously or try to clear it. Once active, the feature emails the parents a weekly summary of all the child’s internet usage, including the details of websites visited.

The tool also specifically flags up search terms and blocked content that children tried to access – meaning that teens experimenting with their sexuality could have their sexual fantasies emailed directly to their parents. Read More via PinkNews 

US: Duke students reject award-winning book over gay themes

"Fun Home" may have won several awards for author MacArthur "Genius" Award winner Alison Bechdel, but some Duke University freshmen were not impressed. The 2006 graphic novel, an autobiographical work about Bechdel coming to terms with her homosexuality as her funeral-director father remains closeted, was selected as a summer reading book for the Duke Class of 2019. But some students declined to read it because of its sexual themes and use of nudity.

"I feel as if I would have to compromise my personal Christian moral beliefs to read it," incoming freshman Brian Grasso wrote on Facebook. "The nature of 'Fun Home' means that content that I might have consented to read in print now violates my conscience due to its pornographic nature," freshman Jeffrey Wubbenhorst added in an email to the publication.

"Like many universities and community, Duke has had a summer reading for many years to give incoming students a shared intellectual experience with other members of the class," said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations: "'Fun Home' was ultimately chosen because it is a unique and moving book that transcends genres and explores issues that students are likely to confront." Read More via CNN 

US: The next LGBT battle is sex ed

Recognizing the dearth of sexual health information for LGBT students, two prominent organizations are pushing for schools to evolve with the times. Planned Parenthood Federation of American and the Human Rights Campaign are lobbying schools to include more sex ed for young LGBT or questioning students. Most curriculums have scant sex education to begin with, and even less for those students who fall outside of heterosexual or cisgender descriptions.

Massachusetts has the best record when it comes to LGBT-inclusive sex ed, contrasting greatly with numerous Southern and Western states, where any discussion of homosexuality is banned in schools; Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah all fall into that category.

The need for information for LGBT students is great. HIV rates are rising among gay and bi male youth, while lesbian and bisexual girls have unintended pregnancy rates twice that of their straight peers (that can partially be explained by lesbian and bi youth being pressured to conform to societal norms by having straight sex). Transgender students also need accommodation; forcing a child who identifies as one sex to hear lessons intended for the other can be psychologically damaging.  Read More via the Advocate 

South Africa: Call for gay sex education in schools

High schools should teach pupils about homosexual sex. That’s the view of the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce’s (Sweat) psycho-social manager, Dr Gordon Isaacs .

Isaacs told the Cape Argus that far too little is being done to educate schoolchildren about other forms of sex that are prevalent in society, aside from the traditional “when a boy loves a girl” narrative that is taught across the country.

“It is a critical area that should not be ignored. It is linked to relationships, intimacy, desire and certainly linked to HIV,” Isaacs said. South Africa was the first African country and the fifth in the world to legalise gay marriage in 2006. But nearly 10 years later, the national sex education curriculum still shies away from teaching pupils about homosexual intimacy.  Read More via Independent Online