Analysis of the HRC: Denying the rights of LGBTI persons

via ARC International: The highlight of the 29th Session of the Human Rights Council from the point of view of the rights of LGBTI persons was the release of the report of the High Commissioner on human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 

The increasing mainstreaming of the rights of LGBTI persons was reflected in the fact that LGBTI issues found mention in the reports of many Special Rapporteurs including the Special Rapporteurs on the right to health, and the protection of human rights during counter terrorism, as well as in state and civil society responses to the same.

Even as the rights of LGBTI persons are possibly more mainstreamed than ever before, the opposition to granting these rights remains as strident as ever. Apart from openly homophobic statements by states opposed, the opposition is also crafting other strategies. Part of the new strategy is to couch their opposition in more subtle terms. An example in this Council is how the resolution to protect the family became a theatre for shadow boxing wherein the code for supporting the resolution was seen as an opposition to the so-called ‘LGBTI agenda’. 

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Australia: Fact or fiction? A mother and father are better than same-sex parents

Riding the momentum of the Irish referendum and US supreme court ruling legalising same-sex marriage, there are expectations Australian legislators will change the Marriage Act. A cross-party bill to legalise same-sex marriage is expected to be introduced in the Federal Parliament. But passage of the bill is not guaranteed, and many MPs are against the change.

An argument often used against legalising same-sex marriage by groups like the Australian Christian Lobby, and even a group of 40 religious leaders from multiple faiths, is that gay marriage will have a negative impact on children's wellbeing. Opponents of same-sex marriage, including groups like Family Voice Australia claim that studies show a man and a woman are best placed to raise children.

ABC Fact Check took a look at the research on the effects of gender on parenting and found most studies from the US and from Australia saw no difference between families headed by homosexual or heterosexual couples.  Read More

Uganda: Ban gay couples from adopting children in EAC countries

Uganda’s state minister for East African Affairs, Shem Bageine wants foreigners from countries practicing same sex marriage barred from adopting children from East African Community (EAC) group. Bageine was addressing members of the East African legislative Assembly who are sitting in the Ugandan Parliament. 

The East African Community group is comprised of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. See more here.

Thailand: Declares itself closed for surrogacy as a gay couple struggles to get their American daughter home

Following contentious cases involving suspected abuse of surrogate mothers and the children they carry, Thailand has enacted a new law that prohibits foreigners from seeking surrogates in the country. 

A child born in Thailand by surrogate last year was left behind after he was born with Down’s syndrome. It’s still unclear whether that was because the couple refused to take him following the diagnosis or if the surrogate mother refused to let him go, but in the fallout the Thai government decided to ban the country’s “womb-for-hire” industry where they saw many risks for Thai surrogate mothers and children.

As the new rules takes effect this week, a couple is in the midst of a battle to bring the daughter they had through a Thai surrogate home. American Bud Lake and his Spanish husband, Manuel Santos, say their daughter has been granted American citizenship but can’t leave Thailand without a passport and permission from the Thai government. Read More 

US: Three more black trans woman slain in US

According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), Kandis Capri, 35, was one of 16 transgender people to be murdered in the US this year. 

Earlier this year, the NCAVP released a report that said LGBT homicides rose by 11% in 2014. In 2015, with the recently reported deaths in Michigan, Texas and North Carolina of Amber Monroe, Shade Schuler and Elisha Walker – whose body was discovered on Friday – murders of transgender women have hit historic levels.
 

This week, a petition was launched asking the White House to open an investigation into the deaths. After the death of Kandis Capri, pressure will only grow. Read More

Serbia: We asked experts what you can do when you're under attack because you're gay

For those who closely follow the media in recent months in Belgrade there has been a growing epidemic of violence towards LGBT people.  We do not know the exact number of these cases of attacks and beatings in Belgrade and in Serbia. People may be embarrassed to report the crimes, they may feel ashamed, and they may be afraid of repercussions from the attackers. The reasons are myriad.

But what can a person who was attacked or suffered some form of violence because of their gender identity or sexuality do in order to protect and resumed a normal life? Lawyer Milena Vasic from the organization Yucom - Lawyers Committee for Human Rights from the Institute for Criminological and Sociological Research answered common questions and concerns people face after suffering assault. 

Questions addressed included: Should I report the attack to the police? Will the police treat me fairly? How to I obtain a lawyer? What if my abuser is a family member? How should I respond if I am verbally attacked in public?  Read More

Portugal: Finally, a 'gay couple holding hands in public' video that won't ruin your day

In the past two weeks, viral videos from Ukraine, Russia, and Israel have shown us how dangerous it can be for gay men to holds hands in public. But a new version of the same "social experiment" offers some hope for humanity.

"There was no hate, threat, punches — not even a single verbal abuse," Lorenzo reported in the video. Some people stared, but he and Pedro felt that these weren't "negative stares," but rather evidence of surprise or curiosity. Before shooting the video, Lorenzo and Pedro rarely held hands in public.

Maybe they were a "bit frightened," they explained. Seeing how people of Lisbon reacted to them change that. "We felt respected and free," he said. "We felt what any straight or gay couple should feel: comfortable." Read More 

Jerusalem: Gay couple abused while holding hands

A social experiment where a gay couple holds hands in public has been recreated in Jerusalem. Similar to videos created in Ukraine and Russia, the video shows the men enduring vile abuse. As they walk down the street, dozens of people look, and others make homophobic comments. The video comes 2 weeks after 6 people were stabbed at a Pride parade in the city, which left one 16-year-old dead. Read More

Ukraine: Gay couple violently attacked for holding hands in public

A shocking video shows the reaction of a group of neo-Nazis to a gay couple holding hands in public. The video shows Zoryan Kis and Tymur Levchuk holding hands in the Ukrainian capital, in order to gauge the response from the public.

ChebuRussia TV of YouTube previously conducted a social experiment to see what would happen when two men holding hands walked through the streets of Moscow, Russia. For both videos, footage was captured by a third member walking in front of them with a camera hidden in his bag. The first part of the experiment in Ukraine shows no extreme reactions other than some funny looks, and one group of women actually just want to have their photo taken with the couple. 

The couple are later attacked with pepper spray and beaten. Despite the violent attack, the couple say in the video that they see the overall lack of reaction as a “step forward”. Read More
 

Lebanon: Why my own father would have let IS kill me

The group that calls itself Islamic State (IS or Isis) has a special punishment for gay people - it kills them by throwing them off high buildings. Taim, a 24-year-old medical student, tells the story of how he only escaped this fate by fleeing from Iraq to Lebanon: 

If I'd stayed, Isis would have come for me and killed me the way they've killed others. If Isis didn't get me, members of my family would have done it. A few days after I left, I learned that my uncle - my father's brother - had taken an oath to cleanse the family honour.  Read More 

Iraq: Huge crowd gathers to watch ISIS throw gay man off building

Yet another huge crowd has gathered to watch ISIS execute a man accused of being gay – some even brought their children. The man was thrown from a high building after being “found guilty” by a man posing as a judge, wearing a mask.

This is the latest in a spate of killings by ISIS, of men accused of homosexuality. Last week, another video, shot in Palmyra, showed two Syrian men be thrown off a building before being stoned to death. The terrorist group, which operates predominantly across Syria and Iraq, is notorious for filming videos in which captives are brutally slaughtered. It has also taken to executing men it claims are gay, by throwing them off of tall buildings and pelting them with rocks in IS-produced videos.

Members of the terrorist group, which has published a number of graphic videos featuring the murder of supposed gay men, holds power across parts of Iraq, Syria and Libya. Read More

Mexico: Ban on same-gender couples adoption unconstitutional

 A Mexican law prohibiting civil unions that bans both heterosexual or homosexual couples from adopting minors was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) on the basis that the union is recognized as a family model by the Constitution.

The decision comes after a series of reforms were approved in order to ban same-gender couples from adopting in the southern Mexican state of Campeche. Nine out of ten lawmakers were against these reforms and declared the law unconstitutional for discriminating against same-gender couples. Read More