In December 2013, India’s Supreme Court overthrew a 2009 ruling by the Delhi High Court that had decriminalised gay sex, effectively making homosexual sex illegal. On November 30, New Delhi saw the largest demonstration of gay pride since said ruling, and since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India. Below are some of the parade’s most poignant images. See more
India's Gay And Lesbian Community Demands End To Discrimination
Nearly a thousand gay rights activists marched through central New Delhi on Sunday to demand an end to discrimination against gays in India's deeply conservative society. Many at the parade said the recent Supreme Court decision criminalizing gay sex was a denial of their human rights. Read More
Pastor Calls for LGBT Holocaust to Eradicate AIDS by Christmas
In the U.S., even the most right-wing of religious fundamentalists, even if they believe Scripture condemns LGBT people as deserving of death, usually pull their punches (or stones) and stop short of actually calling for the execution of anyone based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
But one Baptist minister in Arizona has not only called for an LGBT holocaust but put forth the claim that such a mass killing would wipe out AIDS by Christmas. Read More
Latvian Ruling Party Official Laimdota Straujuma Resigns After Praising Nazi Extermination Of Gays
In a Twitter discussion with party colleagues that included former Welfare Minister Ilze Viņķele, the subject wandered onto the possibility of same-sex partnerships being introduced in Latvia. Challenged on the point, Laimdota Straujuma said she approved of homosexuals having to leave the country as a result of opposition to homosexuality in society at large.
"Thank god - at one time, the Germans shot them. It improves fertility," Priede said in a tweet that was subsequently deleted and replaced with a call for "Christian values." Priede was immediately warned by Viņķele and others that her comments were inappropriate and might amount to a incitement to hate crimes. Read More
Rights and repercussions: The paradox of LGBT life in Georgia
Former Russian republic makes progress on paper as discrimination continues. “It is becoming a dangerous trend in Georgia to condone and leave unpunished the acts of violence against religious and sexual minorities if they are perpetrated by the Orthodox religious clergy or their followers.
It is simply unacceptable for the authorities to continue to allow attacks in the name of religion or on the basis of anyone’s real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia program director at Amnesty International, in the aftermath of the chaos. Read More
Pope Francis Speaks Up on Synod Process: ‘It Isn’t Over’
Pope Francis held an in-flight press conference on his way back to Rome in which he opened up about the debate surrounding last month’s Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family. When asked about the synod’s controversial phrasing regarding persons with homosexual orientation:
“The synod is a path; it is a journey, firstly. Secondly, the synod is not a parliament. It’s a protected space in which the Holy Spirit may speak,” the Holy Father told journalists. Read More
Finnish Parliament approves same-sex marriage
Finding Tru Love?
A spike in relationships that bridge the viral divide may be an unintended side effect of the use of Truvada for HIV prevention. Alex Garner, the founding editor of Positive Frontiers, notes that all these new approaches to safer sex have affected how negative and positive men relate to each other because they reduce a key emotional obstacle to love: fear.
Garner says the key to reducing stigma and increasing wellness is for both positive and negative men to talk openly about their health issues with each other. By having this dialogue, they may also rekindle that spark of commonality, in ways that can improve not just physical and but also mental health. Read More
Meeting the needs of neglected key populations in Pakistan
Men who have sex with men and transgender people make up an alarming proportion of new HIV infections in Asia. In Pakistan, these key populations have traditionally been neglected in national HIV responses. Documenting the efforts of ongoing HIV and human rights work in Pakistan are two new films: 'Neglected No Longer: The Men who have Sex with Men and Transgender Community in Pakistan' and 'In from the Margins: Overcoming Barriers to Accessing HIV Services in Pakistan'. Read more and watch the films
4 Russian Journalists, Activist Seek Asylum in West, Citing Anti-LGBT Abuse
Three journalists and an LGBT activist have fled Russia in recent days, seeking asylum in Germany and the U.S. on the basis of alleged homophobic abuse, a series of recent news reports revealed. Lauding the move, St. Petersburg lawmaker Vitaly Milonov told reporters that now it is the best time for Russia's gays to leave their country.
"It is clear that St. Petersburg 'homos' felt that they were needed [by the West]. This is the right time to leave Russia, in a state of political humiliation. This situation even gives these people the possibility to claim social benefits [in the West]," said Milonov, who is well known for his anti-gay sentiments. Read More
Buggery Law Affects HIV/AIDS Fight
A concept paper prepared for the Ministry of Health said Jamaica's buggery law "negatively impacts policy implementation" in the fight against HIV/AIDS as it "makes it difficult for reporting and treatment and prevention programmes for the MSM (men who have sex with men) population".
Jamaica's buggery law, which is contained in the Offences Against the Person Act, prohibits anal sex between men, in public or in private. It is punishable by 10 years in prison with hard labour. Read More
Polish Gay Rights Activist Becomes Poland's First Openly Gay Mayor
Robert Biedron already made history once in Poland by becoming the first openly gay lawmaker in parliament in 2011. On Monday, he became the country's first openly gay mayor.
His successes are a marker of how quickly this deeply conservative and Catholic country has changed in the decade since it joined the European Union. Back then, in 2004, gay rights marches were still being banned and homosexuality was treated as a huge taboo. Since then a growing acceptance of gays and lesbians has arrived hand-in-hand with a flourishing economy. Read More