Officer Mikayla Connell became the first out transgender person to graduate from the San Francisco Police Academy. "There aren't that many transgender police officers, either female-to-male or male-to-female," explained Connell. "And the more we have, I think the better connection the department is going to have to the transgender community." Read More
Jamaican LGBT rights start in a storm drain
"Any kind of injustice bothers me--bothers me deeply,” Yvonne McCalla Sobers said. A small woman with light gray hair, she is a dynamic force. As an LGBT activist in Jamaica, a battlefield country with the sixth highest homicide rate in the world, she faces violent intolerance rooted in national homophobia. Watch now
Report finds most young Iranians are sexually active and many are gay
The research department of the Iranian Parliament has found that four out of five young adults in the Islamic republic are sexually active and 17% with people of the same sex despite the country imposing the death penalty for homosexual acts. Read More
Iran’s Judiciary Chief Sadeq Amoli Larijani categorically dismissed the allegations by some western advocates of Human Rights that Iran executes people for being homosexuals. Meanwhile several human rights groups are reporting: Four prisoners were hanged in public this August. According to the official website of the Iranian judiciary two of the men had been accused of sodomy and "illegal sex between people of the same sex practices." Read More (french) Read More (english)
The LGBT, feminist, and student voices behind Uruguay's radical reforms
From legalizing abortion to transsexual rights, marginalized groups in Uruguay have united to become a formidable force for change. While President José "Pepe" Mujica and his Broad Front coalition have been making international headlines for sweeping reforms, less well known is that 3,000 civil society activists have been the driving force behind the country's makeover. "Just 10 years ago, these laws would have been unthinkable," Michelle Suárez, a member of the LGBT group Ovejas Negras, or Black Sheep Read More
Being LGBT in Asia: “Cure the problem not the people”
Landmark report on LGBT rights in Cambodia presents facts, experiences, and recommendations. According to the report’s author, Vicente Salas, “Cambodia is a neutral country for LGBT persons: neither punitive nor positively affirming”. While LGBT behaviour is not criminalized in Cambodia, as it is elsewhere, Cambodian laws and policies are also silent about LGBT persons and rights Read More
Gays in Singapore: The pink and the pulp
Like many places, Singapore remains deeply divided on questions of homosexuality. A government survey last year found that a scant majority (53%) “accept gay lifestyles”, with younger Singaporeans generally more tolerant than older ones. Not everyone is so open-minded. Read More
Heat Crime: LGBTQ politics for a changing climate
Climate change is a queer issue. The effects of climate change have a direct and unique impact on the lives of the LGBTQ The details of an individual's sexual orientation seem at first to be as far removed from the concentration of atmospheric CO2 as the butterfly's wings from the hurricane. But butterflies can cause hurricanes, and understanding this connection is mandatory for those of us in the hurricane's path.community and must not be ignored. Op-ed for Huffington Post. Read More
Pressure on South Africa to host talks to end gay persecution
Rights groups across the continent now accuse South Africa of stalling on the crucial meeting to follow up on a United Nations report titled Discriminatory Laws and Practices and Acts of Violence Against Individuals Based on Their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. "It is essential for policymakers and gatekeepers to have a dialogue with civil society on this issue," says Tendai Thondhlana, spokesperson for African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (Amsher), based in Johannesburg. "In some countries, governments say violence against sexual minorities doesn't exist. It is up to us to show them the evidence." Read More