Bruce Jenner, the Olympic gold medalist and member of the Kardashian family, ended months of speculation when he announced during a television special that he identified as a woman and was transitioning to female.
The announcement made him among the highest-profile people to publicly come out as transgender. For the purpose of the interview, Mr. Jenner said he preferred the pronoun “he,” and Ms. Sawyer called him Bruce. He said that he had been undergoing hormone therapy for a year and a half but had not made up his mind about reassignment surgery. He declined to provide the name he might use during or after his transition, citing privacy concerns.
According to Nielsen Social, a total of 8.1 million people in the US saw one or more of the 972,000 tweets sent about the 2-hour special, “Bruce Jenner – The Interview” The tweets were sent by 403,000 people and viewed 139 million times, making Jenner’s official declaration that he is a transgender individual who identifies as a woman the top worldwide trend on Friday. See more of Jenner's interview here
Taiwan: Gamania becomes first company to recognize gay marriage
Computer game developer Gamania has become the first listed company in Taiwan to recognize same-sex marriage by extending marital leave to gay employees. Gamania said it realized that gender equality was a global trend, with tech companies such as Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Intel, HP and eBay throwing their support behind gay marriage in the US. It added that it was important create an happy work-life environment for staff. Read More
US: IBM has 'strong opposition' to Louisiana religious freedom bill
IBM voiced its "strong opposition" to Louisiana's religious freedom bill (HB 707) backed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, a week after the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau also asked that the bill be dropped over fears that it would tarnish the state's open and accepting image.
"We are deeply concerned by reports that you intend to support this legislation. IBM has made significant investments in Louisiana including most recently a technology services delivery center in Baton Rouge, creating new jobs for Louisiana workers," wrote James Driesse, IBM senior state executive. "A bill that legally protects discrimination based on same-sex marriage status will create a hostile environment for our current and prospective employees, and is antithetical to our company’s values."
IBM's prominent, 800-job facility in downtown Baton Rouge is being built only few blocks away from where the legislation will be debated. The company is expected to bring 400 jobs to Monroe in the northern part of the state. Read More
China: Google, IBM, Ford and McKinsey attend first LGBT job fair
The event was organized by WorkForLGBT and Shanghai LGBT Professionals as part of its second, annual LGBT Corporate Diversity & Inclusion Conference. Both the conference and job fair – held in conjunction with Kanzhun.com – took place at the Langham Xintiandi Shanghai.
Around 200 HR leaders and LGBT employees attended the conference, and around 400 LGBT Chinese job-seekers attended the job fair, which featured 17 Fortune 500 companies.
WorkForLGBT founder, Steven Paul Bielinski, said that LGBT job seekers were keen to meet with representatives of companies that had comprehensive diversity and inclusion policies: "Talented LGBT employees from all across China traveled to Shanghai to be part of this groundbreaking job fair. Inclusive employers with programs, policies, and a corporate culture where LGBT employees can bring their authentic selves to work are their first choice." Read More
Russia: Meet the badass mom who’s taking on the gay propaganda law
Elena Musolina grew up thinking homosexuality was an affliction of alcoholics and drug addicts. Now she marches alongside her son at LGBT rights protests and goes head-to-head with Russia’s most vocal anti-LGBT politician.
When Musolina joined Coming Out’s support group for parents of LGBT kids in 2011, she didn’t expect it would become political. But that changed when the “gay propaganda” ban made her feel like her son was a second-class citizen. Musolina, a petite 68-year-old, comes to LGBT rights demonstrations in St. Petersburg with other mothers in Coming Out’s parents club, which she now helps lead.
The group is now under threat after Coming Out was branded a “foreign agent” under a 2012 law that requires NGOs receiving foreign funding and engaging in what the government broadly deems “political activity” to register as such. Read More
US: At LGBT Orthodox conference, rabbis & therapists trade notes
In light of several recent Religious Freedom laws here in the United States and public spotlights on controversial conversion therapies, faith and sexuality have once again been cast as opposing forces. A groundbreaking conference sought to reconcile the two, convening religious leaders, mental health professionals and educators to discuss best practices for serving members of the Orthodox Jewish LGBT community.
The event attempted to bridge the gap between the unique struggles that LGBT people face in religiously observant communities and the latest research on psychological treatment by bringing together two professions not often in conversation with one another.
“Having therapists and rabbis in the room together talking about this topic is so necessary,” said Jeremy Novich, a clinical psychologist who attended both in a professional capacity and on a personal level, as a self-identified gay Orthodox Jew. “How can we ensure that LGBTQ people in the Orthodox community are safe, how can we ensure that LGBTQ people in the Orthodox community aren’t suffering… that’s a question that’s posed to the rabbis, to the parents, & schools.” Read More
Nepal: Gay activists rally to help those struggling to stay alive after earthquake
In times of terror, Nepalese LGBTI activists and others around the world are rallying to help people stay alive. Saturday's massive earthquake has killed at least 7,000 people and injured 6,500.
The US, UK, Australia, China, India, Israel, Japan and Pakistan have all provided aid to the country. But Nepal says they need more, with shortages of water, food, electricity and medicine.
Sunil Babu Pant, the country's first gay politician, is leading the charge to help the LGBTI community. Often in times of crisis, LGBTI people can be especially vulnerable. In previous disaster situations, gay men were denied food aid in Haiti after the 2008 earthquake and trans people were denied entry to IDP camps after the floods in Pakistan because they didn't possess proper government ID that matched their appearance. Trans women have already had difficulty in Nepal accessing toilets. Read More
US: The gayest generation? Research finds more millennials identify as LGBT
Millennials are either the gayest generation, or the most honest. A research report by the Public Religion Research Institute states that 7% of millennials identify themselves as either gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, a percentage that is more than twice the share of older Americans who identifies as something other than heterosexual.
The results were tucked into a massive report that examined millennials’ attitudes toward everything from sex education to the idea that marriage is an outdated institution. As a whole, the survey shows a cohort that has fewer non-negotiable stances than previous generations. “The survey paints a picture of a generation that is less likely to apply black-and-white rules,” PRRI CEO Dr. Robert Jones says.
Reports on the LGBT population size have varied wildly ever since Alfred Kinsey's research in 1948 suggesting that 10% of men are gay. Kinsey’s research wound up being called into question years later, but the disparity between percentage of millennials that identify as LGBT and the percentage of older cohorts suggest changes in society may be making people feel comfortable to come out. Read More
Japan: Gay wedding ceremonies seen gaining wider acceptance
Wedding facilities openly embracing gay couples are increasing, according to Nijiiro Diversity, a nonprofit organization in Osaka that advises companies about how to deal with sexual minority issues.
Among such facilities are Aoyama Geihinkan in Tokyo and Kafuu Resort Fuchaku Condo Hotel in Okinawa. The latter, which started wedding services for same-sex couples last September, has a website dedicated to the service.
Meanwhile, Shibuya Ward in Tokyo made headlines by approving a draft ordinance recognizing same-sex partnerships. It is aiming to reduce the discrimination often faced by homosexual couples, and is the first municipality in the country to take such a move.
“I hope weddings of same-sex couples will raise awareness that sexual minorities are not people who exist only on TV or in foreign countries but people who may be around you,” said Maki Muraki, who heads Nijiiro Diversity. Read More
India: Panjab University to introduce 'third gender' category
Panjab University (PU) will soon introduce a column for transgenders (TG) under 'gender' category in all its application forms, academic testimonials and other relevant documents that are processed or issued by the university.
According to a notification issued by the PU registrar, the PU vice-chancellor has approved certain measures to remove discrimination against the transgender community, to be implemented with immediate effect. In addition, PU will also create transgender-friendly infrastructure like washrooms, restrooms, etc, in its campuses. PU will hold sanitization programmes and awareness workshops for students, teachers and non-teaching staff to bring members of the TG community in the mainstream of life. Read More
Sweden: Official dictionary adds gender-neutral pronoun
“Hen” will be added to “han” (he) and “hon” (she) as one of 13,000 new words in the latest edition of the Swedish Academy’s SAOL. The pronoun is used to refer to a person without revealing their gender – either because it is unknown, because the person is transgender, or the speaker or writer deems the gender to be superfluous information.
The word “hen” was coined in the 1960s when the ubiquitous use of “han” (he) became politically incorrect, and was aimed at simplifying the language and avoiding the clumsy “han/hon” (s/he) construction. It resurfaced around 2000, when the country’s small transgender community latched on to it, and its use has taken off in the past few years.
It can now be found in official texts, court rulings, media texts and books, and has begun to lose some of its feminist-activist connotation. Read More