Cameroon: Outing ends in homelessness

The story of Aris, 26, will resonate in the minds of all those who have suffered violent setbacks after their homosexuality was suddenly revealed to their family.

Makékéné, is a village on the line dividing the Central region of Cameroon, and the Western region. It is there, in March 2015 that Aris, launched an SOS to his friends back in Yaoundé, the country’s political capital, to tell them the drama that transformed his life a few weeks earlier.

Aris, unwittingly, was outed by his younger brother, with whom he lived.  And for this student, smoothly promoted to a bright future, everything in his life collapsed for one reason … he is gay. Read More

Russia: Court authorizes closure of LGBT teen support group's website

A court in St. Petersburg has authorized the government to block the social-network page of an online support group for LGBT teenagers in Russia.

A lawyer for Deti-404 (Children-404), Maria Kozlovskaya said that the group had been preparing for a court hearing on the issue on April 6.

But when the activists arrived in court on April 6, she said, they were told that a decision had already been made on March 25 to include the group's page on the social network VKontakte on a list of banned websites.  Read More

Turkey: University student attacked while bystanders watch

Kafkas University student and LGBTI activist Birkan Perincek has been the victim of a homophobic attack by a group of 4-5 people.

Perincek said that he did not report the assault to the police because of past experiences with discrimination by the police based on his sexual orientation. He recounted that, in the past year, when his computer was stolen, instead of finding the offender, the police had directed him questions such as “Who have you slept with from the organization?”  Read More 

US: Transgender teen who fought bullying online commits suicide

Taylor Alesena, a transgender teen that candidly documented her struggles with loneliness and bullying at a San Diego-area high school on YouTube, died April 2nd in an apparent suicide. The 16-year-old Fallbrook High student took her own life during spring break, the school district confirmed.

Max Disposti, the executive director of the area's LGBTQ Resource Center, said that Alesena was frequently cyber-bullied and called names by her peers, even as her YouTube channel became an inspiration to others facing a similar ordeal. "[Alesena] felt unsafe, she felt beat up every day she needed to go to school," Disposti said. Alesena's suicide comes one month after another transgender teen named Sage who frequented the LGBTQ Resource Center killed himself.  Read More

UK: Murder detectives appeal for information over death of transgender escort found beaten and strangled in flat

Murder squad detectives are appealing for people who knew a “high class” transgender escort to come forward after she was found beaten and strangled in west London. Vanessa Santillan, 33, was found dead inside a £400,000 first-floor flat in Fulham. 

Ms Santillan, a glamour model and escort who is originally from Mexico, has a personal website which describes herself as “one in a million” and states: “I’m a Ts girl visiting from MIAMI FL.” It is understood she has spent the last few years as a high-end call girl and made regular trips to London.   Read More 

Pakistan: Transgender person gang-raped, two killed

Armed men in northwest Pakistan abducted and gang-raped a transgender person after killing two others in a pre-dawn incident, police said. The incident took place in the Yar Hussain neighbourhood of Swabi district, where the group was returning home after performing a music and dance show at a wedding party.

Sajjad Khan, district police chief of Swabi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the men were waiting for them in a field and tried to abduct all of them but they refused.

“The attackers opened fire after the refusal. One transgender and one drummer died on the spot while another was wounded,” Khan said. The armed men then abducted one transgender who was released hours later after being raped by four persons, Khan said.  Read More

US: Obama calls for end to ‘conversion’ therapies for gay and trans youth

President Obama is calling for an end to such therapies aimed at “repairing” gay, lesbian and transgender youth. His decision on the issue is the latest example of his continuing embrace of gay rights. His official statement was posted alongside a WhiteHouse.gov petition begun in honor of Ms. Alcorn, the trans teen whose suicide note mentioned undergoing conversion therapy. The petition has received more than 120,000 signatures in three months.

Mr. Obama condemned the practice, sometimes called “conversion” or “reparative” therapy, which is supported by some socially conservative organizations and religious doctors. Read More 

UK: This is what happens when you undergo gay conversion therapy

Journalist Patrick Strudwick's undercover investigation into gay conversion therapy in the UK eventually led to the British Medical Association condemning the practice. In his new essay, he describes his terrifying experience, how the therapy made him doubt himself, and why he's an advocate against conversion therapy:

There was a single, terrible moment, while investigating conversion therapy, that changed me. I did not know that it would alter also the course of the conversion therapy movement in Britain, a movement hinged on a chilling idea: that gay people can be cured.

It was a few weeks into my investigation in the summer of 2009. I was in my living room, pacing, on the phone to one of the two people attempting to make me heterosexual. The therapist’s name was Lesley Pilkington, and this was our second session. The first had been in her plush, suburban home, near Amersham, northwest of London. A recording device was taped to my stomach, under my shirt, as she asked me if I had been sexually abused. She was trying to find out what childhood trauma had “triggered” my homosexuality, because those who consider being gay a sickness believe it is formed by trauma. I said no. Read More

South Korea: Government slammed for hosting 'conversion therapy' seminars

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has written to South Korean officials to express concern over two recent 'conversion therapy' seminars hosted in government buildings.

The letter dated 3 April said the failure of high-level government officials and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) to denounce 'gay cures' and the groups promoting these practices contravened the country's international commitments to human rights.

'Two recent convenings by anti-LGBT hate organizations in South Korean government buildings that convey the troubling impression of the government’s tacit endorsement of so-called “conversion therapy” and tolerance for discrimination against LGBT Koreans,' the letter reads. Read More

US: Most Americans side with gays in religious freedom disputes

A majority of Americans believe businesses should not be allowed to refuse services based on their religious beliefs in the wake of controversies in Indiana and Arkansas over gay rights and religious freedom, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. It also found that 52% of Americans support allowing same-sex couples to marry, far more than the 32% who oppose it.

The survey results suggest a split over the issue between Americans and some of the politicians who represent them. Read more 

US: LGBT battle far from over as religious freedom bills multiply

The swift and overwhelming backlash that helped modify the religious freedom bills – spurred in particular by tech and business leaders – revealed a new front in the broader US culture wars over LGBT rights. Even as marriage equality emerges a winner in the national battle, other hard-won LGBT rights are being attacked under the guise of religious liberty.

Measures resembling those in Indiana and Arkansas have multiplied across the country – and the majority have garnered less attention. Twelve states besides Arkansas and Indiana have proposed religious freedom laws over the past year. The bills failed to pass in five states, but are still pending in seven.  Read More

US: Nationwide boycott leads to "Religious Freedom" bill amendment

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a revised religious freedom bill that had been approved by lawmakers earlier after language was added that says the law cannot be used to discriminate. Critics of Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act called the law discriminatory, allowing businesses to refuse service to LGBT people.

Some state governments had banned the use of taxpayer money to fund city employees’ travel to Indiana, while some celebrities canceled upcoming appearances in the state. Read More