Albania: Activists ask the Prime Minister to keep his promises

Hundreds of activists participated in the 4th Pride event riding bicycles in the capital city Tirana. They protested the domestic violence which LGBTI people face every day and they demanded that Prime Minister Edi Rama keep his promises to the community.

“We were only 12 people who challenged the discrimination and fear in 2012 and now we are hundreds”, said Kristi Pinderi, activist. He added: “We know we are thousand and we protest today also on behalf of those who cannot be here.  Missing is our Prime Minister Edi Rama and the leader of the opposition Lulzim Basha who know very well they give promises but they always fail to keep them”. Read More 

Turkey: On IDAHOT, LGBTI individuals face countless problems

In Turkey, as in many other regions of the world, prejudice and discrimination not only cause LGBTIs to be excluded from health programs and limit their access to health services but also deprive them of the most basic human rights. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity show themselves in the forms of violence and hate murders. While numerous LGBTIs are massacred in hate murders, many others are forced into making their voices heard through suicide. In the meantime, the government, which refuses to recognize the very reality of LGBTIs, fails to take any legal precautions to protect LGBTIs whom it deprives of basic human rights.

Social Policies, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (SPoD) has began its journey with the goal of drawing attention to the discrimination against LGBTIs and of producing stronger solutions to their problems. SPoD has compiled 24 problems commonly experienced by LGBTIs. Read More

Lebanon: Gays come out to demand equality

As Lebanon's gay community kicks off a new public campaign to counter discrimination and the social taboos against homosexuality, its message is simple: "Being different isn't shameful. What's shameful is fighting diversity."

The group, Proud Lebanon, has roped in celebrities such as actors Christian Chueiri, Zeina Dakash and Fouad Yameen for its campaign. While Lebanon is sometimes dubbed the "gay paradise" of the Arab world, the community still remains vulnerable to exploitation.

Article 534 of the Lebanese penal code says sex "contrary to nature" is a criminal offence that can lead to jail time for the gay community. The campaign is trying to build on a 2013 decision by the country's psychiatric board to remove homosexuality from a list of mental illnesses. Read More 

Cuba: Havana Celebrates Gay Pride

LGBT Cubans marched alongside friends, family members and supporters down the streets of Havana, in the eighth Annual March against Homophobia and Transphobia.

Although over 1,000 participants may not sound as much in comparison to Pride parades celebrated in other parts of the world, the figure is quite large in a country where these kinds of public displays were out of the question until recently.

The National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), directed by the daughter of President Raul Castro, Mariela Castro, has played a major role in this change. Mariela sponsored a religious blessing ceremony for gay couples in a dramatic sign of the changing face of a communist island that had a long history of persecuting homosexuals under her family’s rule. Read More

Council of Europe: Human rights and intersex people.

European society remains largely unaware of the reality of intersex people. However, through the pioneering work of a growing number of intersex groups and individual activists, the human rights community and international organisations are becoming increasingly conscious of this situation and are working to draw on human rights standards to address such concerns. 

This issue paper aims to stimulate the development of a framework of action by suggesting a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, it calls on member states to end medically unnecessary “normalising” treatment of intersex persons when it is enforced or administered without the free and fully informed consent of the person concerned. On the other, it provides possible ways forward in terms of protection against discrimination of intersex people, adequate recognition of their sex on official documents and access to justice. 

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First Lady of Belize, Kim Simplis Barrow statement on Diversity

In her statement, Special Envoy for Children and Women, Kim Simplis Barrow warned against bullying and the loss of basic human rights from the LGBT community. Watch here

On the state of LGBTI Commonwealth citizens

Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma statement:  LGBTI Commonwealth citizens remain victims of stigma and discrimination in many of our communities. Appalling persecution and violence are suffered merely because of innate sexual orientation and gender identity. Such abuse is unacceptable: it robs millions of our fellow citizens of the right to live lives of dignity, undermining their mental and physical health, and sense of well-being. Read More

South Africa: Champions come together to announce strengthened efforts for an AIDS-free generation in Africa

The Champions for an AIDS-Free Generation, a distinguished group of former presidents and influential African leaders, gathered together to announce new efforts to ensure that all children in Africa are born free from HIV and that children living with HIV have access to lifesaving treatment. Since young people continue to be deeply affected by the epidemic, the Champions also announced that they will add adolescents and HIV to their portfolio of work. 

As the Champions reaffirmed their commitment to an AIDS-free generation, they were joined by partners that include UNAIDS, PEPFAR, and private sector representatives.

“The Champions have been steadfast in calling for improved HIV prevention and treatment options, and there has been progress,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé. “Now, with their ranks strengthened, the Champions will be even stronger advocates to fast-track the AIDS response in Africa to ensure that every baby is born free from HIV and that their mothers stay healthy.”  Read More

At UN, tennis legend says human rights and sports ‘a perfect fit’

Tennis legend and equality activist Billie Jean King has had a stellar career in sports, identifying the boundaries that divide people and tearing them down. She was the first woman athlete to win over $100k in prize money & the first professional athlete to be “outed” as gay. She remains a steadfast supporter of issues at the heart of the UN – fair play, tolerance and building “a world where we are all united; no borders.”

Despite the hurdles that she encountered on and off the court, the idea of social inclusion has always formed the core of Ms. King’s personal and professional philosophy – a philosophy that brings sports and human rights issues together in an effort to harmonize understanding. The more we get to know each other, she says, the better chance the world has for peace.

In an interview ahead of the commemoration of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, Ms. King, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights icon, told the UN News Centre that human rights and sports are, in fact, “a perfect fit” for each other.  Read More

Jamaica Op-ed: Confront Anti-Gay Bigots

When Barack Obama referenced Angeline Jackson  in his remarks to young leaders during his visit to Jamaica, it was more than a statement about the bravery of an individual and the right of people, whatever their sexual orientation, to enjoy their fundamental human rights in a free and democratic society.

It was a declaration, too, of the nature of leadership: that, at its best, it is conditioned by neither opportunism nor narrow expedience.

We hope that Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller heard and was inspired to lead her administration in a frontal legislative defence of this country's gay and lesbian community to love who they wish, without fear of discrimination, official, or otherwise. In other words, it is not enough for the prime minister to designate a member of the Cabinet - as the Americans may have been advised she has done - to trove for complaints about government agencies that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and then use moral suasion in an effort to reverse such bigotry. Nor should such an initiative be secret, as it appears to be.  Read More 

Op-ed: How do you change the deeply held beliefs of a nation? Here’s one strategy.

The transformation over the last 20 years in how Americans view gay people is the result of one of the most successful social justice movements of modern time.
How did we build this broad social consensus that it is wrong to discriminate against gay people and unfair to exclude same-sex couples from the freedom to marry? The chief engine of this extraordinary change has been the wider discussion, greater visibility and increased awareness of shared values, understanding and empathy generated by the freedom to marry movement.

After some losses and blows to our efforts, we decided to overhaul the messaging in 2010. Working with partner organizations and movement supporters, we combined polling data research with the lessons learned through experience to figure out what messages and messengers could help build the majority we were seeking.

Research showed us that we had to shift our emphasis from abstract talk of rights and benefits to more personal connections tied to values. We had to touch the heart as well as the mind. Rather than focusing on, for example, how exclusion from marriage can mean denial of health coverage, Social Security or other critical legal protection, we talked more about the love and commitment that are at the heart of the desire to marry for gay and non-gay couples alike. We needed to highlight our connectedness. Read More 

Latin America: Study finds many against gay marriage

A study called "Religion in Latin America" etermined that most of the religious population does not approve of same-sex marriage. The work was conducted by the polling Pew Research. The research aims clarify the positions of Latin American religiosity and Hispanics in the United States.

The survey captured the differences in perception between Catholic and Protestants on the continent as well as the breakdown by country.

Hispanics are less conservative than Latin Americans in terms of attitude and sexual and social behavior, with 46% support for equal marriage and only 34% opposed. Read More