LGBTI activists delivered a letter to Macanese government headquarters yesterday demanding domestic violence laws include gay couples. One of the arguments for dropping gay couples from domestic violence laws was that their inclusion would be inconsistent with the penal code. Read More
Israel gay teens are eight times more likely to attempt suicide
Israel's gay teens are attempting suicide at an alarming rate, but the group Israel Gay Youth has said they are being ignored. They say LGBTI teens attempt suicide at a rate of 20%, compared with 2.5% for teens overall. Read More
New Mental Health Campaign Trains Gay Men To Become “Lifeguards”
The National LGBTI Health Alliance has recently launched a campaign aimed at fostering a community conversation and giving gay men the confidence, knowledge and skills to become “lifeguards” in their social networks to support themselves, partners and friends. Research shows that gay men often see their friends struggling with anxiety and depression but lack the confidence or skills to reach out to them to help.
Executive director Rebecca Reynolds said: “This project will provide a whole new level of support to gay male identified individuals and communities by encouraging them to be confident to know how and when to help their mates experiencing anxiety and depression and how and when to encourage their mates to seek help and support.” Read More
Young LGBT People in Kenya Fight the Odds & Make Life Better for Peers
A lot of work remains to be done before LGBTs in Kisumu and in the rest of Kenya are fully accepted. Yet, with relatively few means, a young organisation like Men Against AIDS Youth Group (MAAYGO) has created a safe environment where LGBTs can talk openly about their sexuality and safe sex and where they can just simply be themselves for a moment without having to worry about what others might think of them.
'At some point, my friends were dying one after another', says Kennedy, one of the founding members. 'No one dared to admit they were suffering from HIV/AIDS. They all pretended it was malaria or tuberculosis. As a result of this shame and denial, the disease spread only further.' Read More
Giant pink condom erected in Sydney for HIV awareness
The 157 year old 60 ft tall obelisk in Sydney's Hyde Park has been sheathed in the pink condom-shaped cover as is part of the Aids Council of New South Wales (Acon) "I'm ON" campaign to encourage safe sex among gay men.
Some have criticised the decision to erect the giant condom in a park where children are playing, but the stunt has yet to experience the kind of backlash recorded over the giant inflatable "sex toy" sculpture in Paris, which was meant to depict a Christmas tree. Read More
The New Bathhouse Vending Machines That Offer Free At-Home HIV Tests
In an effort to combat increases in HIV infections, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has teamed up with FLEX Spas, a national chain of bathhouses, to install vending machines in their Los Angeles location that will dispense Ora-Quick In-Home HIV Tests.
“The new HIV self-test kit vending machines available at sex clubs in Los Angeles are a true breakthrough in access to HIV testing,” said Dr. Jeffrey D. Klausner, of UCLA, stating that the vending machines represent the successful partnership among researchers, community organizations and businesses. Read More
19 calamities where gays get the blame, besides Ebola
With the the Liberian Council of Churches blaming gays for the Ebola epidemic — with no rational reason, as usual — it’s a good time for a recap of other calamities that LGBTI people have been blamed for.
More than a dozen natural disasters are on the list, each one interpreted as God’s violent response to the existence of LGBTI people or the growing acceptance of same-sex marriage. Also on the list are various murders and massacres, somehow attributed to gays who weren’t on the scene, along with some surprising accusations, such as gays’ alleged responsibility for the existence of autism and the size of Spain’s national debt. Read More
Activist Chalwe Charles Mwansa on LGBT activism in Zambia
While lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in some sections of the world have progressed in recent years, equality remains elusive in other parts of the world, such as Zambia. The paramount issue on the table, with regard to LGBT rights, is how we create an African-centered dialogue that tackles the social and political issues that currently drives homophobia across the continent. Read More
The State of LGBT Equality in Africa
Challenge to Ugandan anti-gay law seeks regional impact
Activists in Uganda are continuing their legal battle against the country’s now-defunct Anti-Homosexuality Law, hoping that the Tanzania-based East African Court of Justice will issue a ruling that will make clear such anti-gay laws are unacceptable throughout East Africa.
The challenge is being pursued by the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF), which provides legal assistance to LGBTI defendants in Uganda, under the umbrella of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CSCHRCL), a coalition of 50 organizations opposed to the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Read More
Thousands of Brazilians March in Gay Rights Parade
Thousands of Brazilians took part Sunday in Rio de Janeiro's 19th Gay pride parade, speaking out against homophobia in a country that has seen years of violence targeting the gay community.
Brazil recorded 312 murders of people in the gay community in 2013. The country averages about 300 murders motivated by sexual orientation a year. Read More
LGBT Iraqis face ‘imminent risk of death’ under Islamic State
A new report just released from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and MADRE, a global women’s advocacy organization, notes the Sunni militant group has imposed a strict interpretation of Shariah law. The report documents widespread violence and death sentences carried out by ISIS for crimes of homosexual acts and warns that anyone believed to be LGBT is at "imminent risk of death."
“What makes today’s situation lethally dangerous to LGBT Iraqis is less likely to be a profound shift in Iraqi society’s values towards gender norms, but the breakdown of law and order and a rise of the law of strongmen — within the family, tribe, militia and complicit state security forces,” reads the report. “Those who translate societal hostility towards LGBT compatriots into violence, today do so with near total impunity.” Read More