After weeks of negotiation with drag queens and transgender people whose accounts were targeted as using "fake" names, the site now claims it will honor chosen names stating: "The spirit of our policy is that everyone on Facebook uses the authentic name they use in real life." Despite the announcement no changes have been made. Read More
Arrests via Facebook in Iran
Iranian authorities confirmed the arrest of a suspected gay men for setting up romantic dates on Facebook. President of Azerbaijan UF police arrest people with their mobile phone number on Facebook to prevent immoral relations. Read more
Solidarity with Egypt LGBT Protests Initiative
We invite you to participate in the demonstration that will take place on 18 October 2014 in front of every Egyptian embassy around the world (If accessible) to protest against human rights violations committed by the Egyptian government, relying on unlawful and unethical media tools, towards those of differing sexual orientations and gender identities. Read more
Egypt Begins Surveillance Of Facebook, Twitter, And Skype On Unprecedented Scale
Egyptians’ online communications are now being monitored by the sister company of an American cybersecurity firm, giving the Egyptian government an unprecedented ability to comb through data from Skype, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, among others.
See Egypt, the sister company of the U.S.-based Blue Coat, won the contract over the summer, beating out the British Gamma System, and the Israeli-founded Narus System. See Egypt has begun monitoring Egyptians’ online communications, according to several Egyptian government officials who spoke to BuzzFeed News.
“See Egypt has already worked with the government and has strong ties to the State Security Services,” said one official. He asked to remain anonymous, to protect his position within the government. “They were a natural choice and their system is already winning praise.” Read More
Grindr urges LGBT community to hide their identities as Egypt persecutes nation's gay community
Grindr has warned users to hide their identities on social media following the arrests of scores of gay men and fears Egyptian police are using the social network to seek out members of the country’s LGBT community.
“Egypt is arresting LGBT people and police may be posing as LGBT on social media to entrap you,” Grindr warned users in an on screen message. Read more
Pro-gay ‘open mosque’ burnt by arsonists
A Cape Town mosque which preached acceptance of gay people has been damaged in an arson attack. The controversial Open Mosque opened its doors last month, causing outrage among hard-line Islamists, as it allows women to lead prayers, does not segregate based on gender, and accepts gay people.
However, the mosque, whose founder Taj Hargey said he hoped to counter radicalism by being more inclusive, was damaged in an arson attack last night. Dr Hargey told AFP that the attack – which caused substantial damage to the building – was caught on CCTV on the eve of the Muslim holy festival of Eid. Read More
South Africa’s First Gay-Friendly Mosque To Be Closed
South Africa’s first gay-friendly mosque could be shut down barely a week after it opened its doors to the public, a Cape Town local official has announced, saying that the Open Mosque had violated municipal by-laws by not having any parking spaces.
The mosque has come under heavy criticism from other Muslim believers who feel allowing gays into a place of worship was not ‘pure’. The mosque, which officially opened its doors last Friday, also allows women to lead prayers something that is uncommon in mosques across Africa.
“We have freedom of religion and expression in this country. No-one has the right to tell anyone what to believe in. This is a gender equal mosque, autonomous and independent and will remain so,” Open Mosque Founder Taj Hargey told BBC. Read More
Brazil schoolboys wear skirts to support trans classmate
A group of boys at São Cristóvão do Colégio Pedro II high school in Rio de Janeiro wore skirts to class after a transgender student was fined for breaking the school's dress code. Seventeen-year-old Maria Munez, born Mario Munez, recently came out as transgender by wearing a skirt to school but was fined for not wearing trousers. Read More
Denmark: X in Passports and New Trans Law Works
First Bahamas Gay Pride Event Cut Short After Death Threats
Members of the LGBT community abandoned the first pride event in the English-speaking Caribbean "out of fear" of repercussions after death threats were posted on Facebook. Read More
Nearly 300 Latin American, Caribbean LGBT advocates attend Peru meeting
The Gay and Lesbian Victory Institute co-organized what it described as the “first-ever gathering of LGBT political leaders” from the region alongside Promsex and Caribe Afirmativo, LGBT advocacy groups from Peru and Colombia respectively. Gay and Lesbian Victory Institute President Chuck Wolfe said:
“The LGBT community is global, and there is a growing need for out people around the world to become engaged as public leaders in their own communities.” Read More
High Commissioner al Hussein delivers his inaugural address to the UN Human Rights Council.
He prefaced his written remarks with statement, during which he said: "There is no justification ever, for the degrading, the debasing, or the exploitation of other human beings – on whatever basis: nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age or caste."
After the High Commissioner's remarks, Allied Rainbow Communities International delivered their first UN statement since achieving ECOSOC accreditation, and highlighted the importance of addressing sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and intersex issues. Read the pdf statement here.