A brutal mob attack has left one young man in critical condition, with a punctured lung and constant brain swelling. The incident took place on Saturday, October 24, 2015 after two cars reportedly stopped in the vicinity of the Canadian Embassy where several men emerged from the vehicles, armed with knives. The suspects then began to chase and attack other men who were thought to be the homeless gay youth that were known to be living in the area. Two individuals who were not a part of the group were also badly injured and have since hospitalized.
While the homeless youth living in the area contest that that the brutal attack was not provoked, they also pointed out that public harassment and attacks have increased since the Sunday Gleaner published an article on October 4, 2015 with the headline “Homeless Cross-Dressers Living Among The Dead”.
One of the young men who was hospitalized has been identified as Asheen Walford, of a Papine address, who is a well known volunteer that works closely with the homeless population in Kingston and St. Andrew. The other victim, who has not been identified, was reportedly admitted to hospital in critical condition and is currently in a comma, battling for his life with a punctured lung and constant brain swelling. Read more via NADA
Indonesia: Gay sex made punishable by public caning
Human rights activists have called for the immediate repeal of new laws passed in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province that make gay sex punishable by 100 lashes of the cane, calling it "an enormous step backwards". Aceh is the only part of the majority-Muslim nation that is allowed to implement Islamic sharia law and already carries out public canings for gambling, drinking alcohol and fraternising with the opposite sex outside of marriage.
The law explicitly outlaws anal sex between men and "the rubbing of body parts between women for stimulation", making homosexuality technically illegal for the first time in Aceh. The bylaw will also be the first in Aceh to be applied to non-Muslims, both Indonesians and foreigners.
Amnesty International, which has called for an end to caning in Aceh, asked that the bylaw be repealed immediately. "The criminalisation of individuals based on their sexual orientation is a huge blow for equality in Indonesia," the group's Asia-Pacific director Richard Bennett said.
The province of Aceh, in Indonesia's west, has been slowly implementing sharia law since gaining a degree of autonomy from Jakarta in 2001 in a deal struck to quell a decades-long separatist movement in the province. Read More via Australian Broadcast Co.
Nepal: Third-Gender Passports May Be the Future of Trans Travel
The arrival of a transgender activist from Nepal in Taiwan for the 2015 International Lesbian and Gay Association’s Asia conference may seem unremarkable. But it was in fact quite special: The activist, Bhumika Shrestha, is the first Nepali citizen to travel abroad carrying a passport marked O for “other” instead of M for “male” or F for “female.”
This is a groundbreaking and long-overdue achievement for global travel because it demonstrates that self-identification can and should be the sole factor in obtaining gendered documents.
Nepal’s legal recognition of a third category began with a 2007 Supreme Court case in which the judge ordered the government to create a legal category for people who identify as neither male nor female. Crucially, the judgment dictated that the ability to get documents bearing a third gender should be based on “self-feeling.” That is to say: no tests, expert opinions, or other potentially humiliating adjudication should play a role in the process.
But that concept had at the time only recently been enshrined in the Yogyakarta Principles, the first international guidelines on sexual orientation, gender identity, and human rights standards. And carrying out the court decision proved knottier than the court’s declaration. Read More via the Advocate
Australia: Trans* military officer Cate McGregor named 2016 Queensland Australian of the year
Members of the LGBTI community must first get their internal selves right to achieve happiness and success according to the 2016 Queensland Australian of the Year.
Group Captain Catherine (Cate) McGregor is the world’s highest-ranked trans* military officer and was named Queenslander of the Year by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at a ceremony in Brisbane on Friday night.
McGregor, 59, won the award for her work as a diversity champion and national leader in trans* issues, which “as a result Australians have gained a greater understanding and acceptance of the transgender community”, according to the National Australia Day Council.
Formerly known as Malcolm, McGregor transitioned in 2012 and has been a public spokesperson for trans* issues ever since. She credits her career success in the Australian Defence Force not with hard work and ambition but as a desperate attempt to fit in “as a man” and would trade in her success to have transitioned at the age of 20.
UK: Anti-Apartheid anthem is actually about gay rights, singer reveals
British musician Labi Siffre has revealed that he wrote famous Anti-Apartheid anthem ‘Something Inside So Strong’ about his experiences as a gay man. The singer rose to fame in the 1970s, and is known for penning ‘(Something Inside) So Strong’ while apartheid was in effect in South Africa.
The song was adopted by the anti-apartheid movement as a rallying anthem, for its lyrics including: “The farther you take my rights away the faster I will run/ You can deny me, you can decide to turn your face away.”
However, the singer revealed to the Radio 4’s Today Show that the song was actually inspired by his experiences as a gay men. He was asked: “That particular song is seen very much as an Anti-Apartheid anthem – is that the way we should see it?”
Siffre, 70, responded: “As soon as I’d written the first two lines, ‘the higher you build your barriers the taller I become’, I realised with a shock that I was writing about my life as a homosexual.
“From knowing I was gay when I was four, long before I’d even heard the words homophobia and homosexuality, and then went through the societal abuse of being told that as a black man and as a homosexual, I was a wicked evil disgusting pervert. Read more
Lesbian Bride Of Frankenstein
“I’m just not that into male monsters.”
For Photographer Kevin Truong, Telling Stories of Gay Life is Global
For 33 year-old photographer Kevin Truong, what began as an art school project has become a global series. The Gay Men Project documents the life and culture of gay men across the globe—with more than 700 subjects to date covering six continents.
Through his work, Truong has tapped into the global diversity of the gay male experience, giving men a platform to tell and share their stories with the world. He has gained international acclaim through his vivid photography and intimate interviews, garnering the attention of political figures and even royalty. Read more
Swede draws 'tactile' sex book for blind people
An image of woman wearing a strap on and a picture of five people having sex with each other are among the scenes depicted in a Swedish book designed to offer stimulation for blind and visually impaired people.
The publication includes both braille text and tactile illustrations of sexual encounters, which readers can trace with their fingertips. Created by Swedish artist Nina Linde, 33, it features pictures of gay and lesbian sex acts as well as those between men and women.
"The book is about sexual stimulation, I don’t think 'porn' is the right word. And sexual stimulation is for everyone," she told The Local. The artist said she had come up with the idea for the publication after visiting the Braille Library in Stockholm.
"I discovered that there is no porn or dirty stuff at all for the visually impaired. Everyone needs some sexual stimulation." Read more
UN: President of Zimbabwe tells United Nations “We are not gays”
Robert Mugabe, the 91-year-old leader of Zimbabwe, deviated slightly from his prepared remarks during his address to the United Nations General Assembly, to do something that he does frequently: slur against homosexuality. "We are not gays," he shouted. And it's worse than it sounds.
Mugabe made the comment in the course of a point about "double standards," which is usually dictator code for "I'm tired of Western countries calling out my human rights abuses," and about "new rights," which is usually code for "I long for the days when discrimination against certain groups was considered acceptable." Read More via Vox
UN: Saudi Arabia insists UN keeps LGBT rights out of its development goals
Saudi Arabia is insisting the UN removes gay rights from the organisation’s Global Goals/Sustainable Development Goals, saying it is “counter to Islamic law”. The protest comes from the Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel Al-Jubeir, who told the UN General Assembly that “mentioning sex in the text, to us, means exactly male and female. Mentioning family means consisting of a married man and woman,” AP reported.
He stated Saudi Arabia has the right not to follow any agenda that runs “counter to Islamic law”. Though the SDGs set a series of “ambitious targets” for UN member states, related to poverty, equality and ending climate change, overt references to LGBT equality were removed from the final agreement. Read More via Independent
United Nations entities call on States to act urgently to end violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex adults, adolescents and children.
In an unprecedented joint initiative, 12 UN agencies issued a powerful joint call to action on ending violence and discrimination against LGBTI adults, adolescents and children.
“This is the first time that so many members of the UN family have joined forces in defence of the basic rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people,” said the UN Human Rights Office’s Chief of Global Issues, Charles Radcliffe. Read more via the UN
excerpt: All people have an equal right to live free from violence, persecution, discrimination and stigma. International human rights law establishes legal obligations on States to ensure that every person, without distinction, can enjoy these rights. While welcoming increasing efforts in many countries to protect the rights of LGBTI people, we remain seriously concerned that around the world, millions of LGBTI individuals, those perceived as LGBTI and their families face widespread human rights violations. This is cause for alarm – and action. Read the full statement