Pakistan: Enabling dissent, defying silence – In memory of Sabeen Mahmud: Yaminay Chaudhri and Mariam Sabri

Unidentified gunmen have killed Pakistani women's activist Sabeen Mahmud in a targeted shooting that also left her mother in intensive care. Two friends in Pakistan respond to the tragic assassination of Sabeen Mahmud, director of ‘The Second Floor’ (T2F) – a space that hosted many wonderful conversations and brave events for marginalized communities, including women and LGBTI groups.

Sabeen was shot 4 times as she was going home after an event dedicated to a public discussion of disappearances and human rights violation in Balochistan. Read More

France: Possible ease ban on gay men giving blood after ECJ ruling

France could loosen its ban on gay men giving blood after the European court of justice ruled in favour of adopting less restrictive measures than excluding all gay men who have ever had sex.

France’s ban on gay men giving blood has been criticised by rights groups as discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Any potential male blood donor in France who admits ever having had sex with a man is automatically and permanently banned from giving blood. The ban came into force in 1983 because it was deemed that gay men were more likely than other groups to have HIV.

The ECJ has ruled that EU governments may be justified in banning gay men from donating blood but only under strict conditions. The court found that France’s law was “liable to discriminate against male homosexuals on the basis of sexual orientation”, which is against EU policy. Read More

South African Court declares religion no excuse to discriminate

In a groundbreaking settlement the Equality Court in Cape Town has agreed that owners of a guesthouse cannot use their religious beliefs to turn away gay customers.

Neil Coulson and his husband Jonathan Sedgwick were denied accommodation in November 2013 by the House of Bread because their sexual orientation was in conflict with the owners’ Christian views. The men, who are Christians themselves, wanted to be in the area to be near their son who was going to attend a school camp. They were humiliatingly told that the venue was “not gay friendly.”

This week the case was finally settled in the Equality Court, with the owners apologising for their actions and promising to not discriminate against LGBT people in future, failing which they will be in contempt of court. Triangle Project, the Cape Town based LGBT rights group, applauded the settlement for “protecting LGBTI rights from religious discrimination.”  Read More

Kenya: Court rules that Kenyan government can’t block gay rights groups

The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, has fought a long-running legal battle after being blocked from registering as an NGO – leaving them without a number of legal protections. The NGLHRC has had its application to register as an NGO blocked five times since 2012 – with a Non-Governmental Organizations Coordination Board finding that the name of the organisation was “unacceptable” as the Kenyan Penal Code criminalises “gay and lesbian liaisons”.

However, the High Court set a ground-breaking precedent in a ruling today, which found that the groups should be permitted – and that popular morality and religion should not be basis for limiting rights in Kenya. The panel of three judges found that blocking such groups violated Article 36 of the country’s Constitution, which provides Freedom of Association.

Eric Gitari of NGLHRC said: “This judgement from the constitutional court is ground breaking; it marks a historic momentum towards the inclusion of sexual and gender minorities into the Kenyan democratic space." Read more via Buzzfeed

UK: ‘Gay cure’ group complains that psychiatrists don’t believe homosexuality can be cured

The Core Issues Trust – who held a ‘Transformation Potential’ conference this week discussing conversion therapy–  has lodged a complaint with the General Medical Council against the Royal College of Psychiatrists who believe that homosexuality is biological in nature and fixed at birth. The anti-gay group say this is “discrimination” for people “who experience homosexual feelings but wish to reduce them."

One of the complainants, former GP Dr Peter May, said: “There is good evidence that sexual orientation can change. Yet the largest UK providers of psychotherapy and counselling, including the UK Council for Psychotherapy and the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, have all made ethical policy statements, banning any therapy which seeks to facilitate such a change.”

President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Professor Sir Simon Wessely, said: “The Royal College of Psychiatrists notes that homosexuality is not a psychiatric disorder.  We consider that the provision of any intervention to ‘treat’ normal sexuality is unethical.”  Read More

India: Rajya Sabha passes Bill to promote transgender rights

After 45 years, the Rajya Sabha unanimously passed a private member's Bill which aims to protect the rights of transgender persons and end discrimination against them through a national commission and special courts while seeking reservation in education and jobs.

The Bill moved by DMK member Tiruchi Siva provides for setting up of welfare boards at the Central and state levels, separate courts, two per cent reservation in government jobs and prohibits discrimination in employment besides pensions and unemployment allowances for transgender persons.  Though statistics say there are around 4.5 lakh (450,000) such persons in India, NGOs working in the segment claim the numbers to be around 20-25 lakh (2-2.5 million), who face discrimination, said Siva.

The Supreme Court in its landmark judgment on April 15, 2014, while granting legal recognition to transgenders, had held that equality and non-discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression was increasing and gaining acceptance in international law, and should be applied in India as well. Read More 

US: Intersex surgeries spark move away from drastic treatment

Efforts are underway to change the way intersex children are treated: "The way that we took care of things in the past ... where there was a fair amount of secrecy, where there was surgery done in the infant state, and potentially irreversible surgery, is probably not the best way to go about things," said Dr. Earl Cheng, who runs the sex development disorders program at Chicago's Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, one of several nationwide.

It's a fitful evolution and a sign of the times, perhaps the natural next step in the gender-blurring evolution. Intersex conditions are often confused with gender identity issues, but they're different. Gender orientation refers to whether someone identifies as male, female, or something else; intersex involves reproductive anatomy. Some affected children have typical male or female chromosomes, but genetic glitches and hormonal problems that begin in the womb, cause genitals to resemble those of the opposite sex. Others have a male-female blend of sex chromosomes and reproductive organs.

Prevalence estimates vary, from more than 1 in 1,000 newborns, including conditions that involve mildly atypical genitals, to about 1 in 5,000 for more obvious cases. Experts say there's no evidence numbers are increasing, although rising awareness has led more families to seek treatment at specialty centers. Read More

Australia: Unexpected challenges for LGBs in outer metropolitan areas

Lesbian, gay and bisexual Australians living on the outskirts of major cities experience similar levels of discrimination and social isolation to those living in rural and remote areas. This surprise-finding is from the first nationwide survey comparing the experiences of LGB communities in a range of metropolitan and rural locations.

The survey found those in rural-remote and outer metropolitan areas experienced similar levels of 'minority stress' such as internalised homophobia, concealment of sexuality from friends and concern regarding disclosure of their sexuality. Compounding this disadvantage, LGBs in rural areas and outer city areas also reported reduced social support relative to their urban peers, including less involvement in an LGB community. 

The findings reinforce those of past research, indicating that LGBs living in rural and remote Australia experience a greater likelihood of risk factors linked to adverse mental health outcomes including substance abuse and suicide.Those in outer metropolitan areas also reported increased social isolation, something not seen among the rural sample. Read More 

US: Lack of competent providers leaves many LGBTs uninsured & untreated

A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health indicates that LGBT people are twice as likely to be uninsured and even more likely to forgo and delay medical care, compared to straight people. Few such hospitals reported having ways to identify doctors knowledgeable about LGBT health, and only a few hospitals offered comprehensive LGBT-competency training to their staffs.

“As medical organizations we really should be making a better effort to identify providers that can provide competent healthcare,” said Dr. Allison Diamant, the study’s senior author from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. LGBT people suffer from the same conditions as other people do, but their outcomes tend to be worse, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“When organizations are seen as leaders for LGBT people, people will go there for care,” he said. “What people need to be thinking about is not only training people, but showing they’re welcoming of LGBT people.” Read More

India: Helpline flooded with gay sex issues and HIV scare

In an effort to offer some support to the LGBT community, a 24x7 helpline called the Sahaay Helpline was set up to answer queries on health and psychological issues. In 9 months the line received more than 100,000 calls from 39,800 callers.

According to the data, almost 70% of the callers did not report HIV testing in the year. When asked, 50.82% of callers said they did not get tested out of “fear”. In India, men who have sex with men often face physical violence and harassment from police and the society. Many such men do not disclose their sexual preferences, especially if they are married to women and have families. Nearly three-fourths of the callers identified themselves as belonging to this category. 

Several callers faced psychosocial problems like “self-identity crisis”, crisis in family relationships, violence and abuse, substance abuse, addiction, discrimination in workplace or educational institutions. Read More 

Kenya: MAAYGO brings HIV counseling openly and in secret

Men Against AIDS Youth Group founder Victor Shaaban speaks bravely alongside transwoman and member Lily Simon about the challenges of working in Kenya. Both are openly HIV positive and, through MAAYGO, look for new ways to reach out to stigmatized populations by holding open sessions as well as providing HIV testing at night. See more from Staying Alive Foundation