It's rare that we get excited about a UN document. We're excited.
The Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) of UNAIDS recently approved a new five-year strategy for 2016 to 2021. For all the UN bodies, these strategy documents serve to guide the organization. Usually, they are jargon-filled, top-down documents that look good but have little meaning for the people that the agencies are supposed to serve.
UNAIDS has shown itself to be exceptional. Its new Strategy, "On the Fast-Track to end AIDS" is a remarkable document that not only people living with HIV and those working on it, but that anyone involved in health and development should definitely read.
It is the first time we have seen a comprehensive human rights-based approach (HRBA) be genuinely at the core of a strategic plan of a UN agency. Almost every page of the document refers to our rights, and links them to the specific steps that UNAIDS will undertake in the next few years. It is a excellent example of how to use the Human Rights (HR) framework to build a program on. Read more via IMAXI
Read the strategy at UNAIDS
Is your fav vacation spot Paradise or Persecution for LGBT people?
Can you tell heaven from hell? It's not all palm trees and blue seas for local LGBT people. Take the quiz yourself and help improve the lives of LGBT people.
The quality of the local nightlife, museums and beaches matters more to people thinking of a holiday abroad than whether their hotel waiter is likely to be sentenced to death or imprisoned for being gay.
That’s a finding from an opinion poll by an international HIV charity ahead of the launch of an online quiz, ‘Paradise or Persecution’ , which aims to raise awareness of the more than 75 countries in the world that criminalise people on the grounds of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
But a HIV charity thinks people would probably think twice about holidaying in a country that criminalises Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) communities, if they knew the scale of the problem. More
India: Meet Prithika Yashini, set to be India's first transgender Sub-Inspector
K Prithika Yashini is set to become the first transgender police officer in India after winning a prolonged court battle to gain eligibility to be recruited to the sub-inspector (SI) post. The 25-year-old, born and brought up as Pradeep Kumar, had undergone gender reassignment surgery. She applied for the SI post in February, but was rejected on the ground that the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB) doesn't have a third gender category.
Unwilling to give up, she moved the Madras High Court, which allowed her in various stages of the selection process, including the written examination, physical endurance test and viva-voice through interim orders. However, she had to approach the court again as the state police recruitment board rejected her citing various reasons.
The First Bench directed the board to recruit Prithika as SI and include transgenders as a "third category" in future recruitment processes. "The social impact of such recruitment cannot be lost sight of, as this would give strength to the case of transgenders. We are thus of the view that the petitioner is entitled to be recruited as SI with the hope that she would carry out the duties with dedication and commitment to advance the cause of other transgenders," The Hindu quoted the Bench as saying. Read more via International Business Times
Zambia: Trans woman convicted, faces 15 years to life
A trans woman in Mongu, western Zambia, was found guilty last week of permitting a man to have carnal knowledge of her “against the order of nature.” In Zambia, that is a crime punishable by a prison sentence of 15 years to life under Section 155 (c) of the Zambian Penal Code.
Hatch Bril, 27, pleaded innocent to the sodomy charge, which was filed after taxi driver Abraham Chilemu, 19, complained to police about Bril, saying that she had deceived him into sex. Bril said that Chilemu had forced her to have sex with him, but the magistrate rejected that account.
Bril’s clothing was entered into evidence — bracelets, makeup, a bra, leggings, and hair extensions. On the basis of those and photos of Bril taken by Chilemu, the magistrate concluded that Chilemu was deceived by Bril into believing that Bril was a woman. Bril was forced to undergo an anal examination — a procedure that LGBTI activists categorize as a form of torture and criticize as an unreliable indicator of whether anal intercourse took place.
Chilemu apparently was a willing participant in the encounter, but does not face criminal charges. Read more via 76crimes
Italy: Hundreds of married same-sex couples ‘stripped of legal recognition’ by court ruling
An Italian court has ordered cities to stop recognising the existing overseas marriages of same-sex couples. Italy has poor provisions for LGBT people party due to the strong influence of the Catholic Church, with no country-wide recognition of same-sex couples at present.
Over the past year a number of Mayors and city officials – including the Mayor of Rome – have officially recognised the weddings of gay and lesbian couples overseas, despite threats from the government not to do so.
However, they will now be compelled to stop doing so, and to strip existing same-sex spouses of their legal rights, after Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano took the issue to the Council of State, Italy’s highest administrative court. Read more via Pink News
Channel Islands: Plans for same-sex marriage to be introduced in Guernsey
Landmark plans to introduce equal marriage in Guernsey have been announced. It comes following a consultation which saw around 80% of the respondents say they supported the introduction of equal marriage locally.
Despite this support from the public, the Guernsey arm of the Catholic Church has voiced its concerns. The proposals also ask for Policy Council to monitor the progress of Union Civile internationally, whilst not actually asking for it to be introduced. The proposals will be debated at December's States meeting. Read more via ITV
Northern Ireland assembly fails to approve same-sex marriage
Israel: NGO petitions High Court to allow same-sex marriage
Israeli NGO The Aguda, also referred to as The National LGBT Task Force, petitioned the High Court of Justice on Sunday to allow same-sex marriage in Israel. In their petition, The Aguda claimed that the discrimination against the gay community in the field of marriage is unconstitutional and that if the rabbinical court should choose not to recognize same-sex marriages, those marriages should still be recognized by civil law.
The lawyers representing The Aguda, Ohad Rosen and and Hagai Kalai, argued that in accordance with previous court rulings, if the rabbinical court chooses not to recognize a marriage, the High Court has the authority to approve a marriage in the civil courts.
Oded Fried, executive director of The National LGBT Task Force: "The reality we live in is absurd; on the one hand, the rabbinical courts do not recognize same-sex marriages, and on the other hand, are reluctant to give up the exclusive jurisdiction to recognize them." Read more via Jerusalem Post
Australia: Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop lends support to same-sex marriage
Deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop has effectively endorsed same-sex marriage, in her strongest comments to date about the landmark social reform. In an interview with the Ten Network's The Project, Ms Bishop, who has until now been guarded about her personal view on same-sex marriage, said she supported the government's plan to put the proposal to a plebiscite.
But the popular Foreign Affairs Minister, who only hinted at support for the reform during months of debate earlier this year, finally signalled her personal view. "I think the Australian people should have their say. I have absolutely no concerns about it myself, but I know there a lot of people who are deeply concerned about the issue," she said. Read more via The Sydney Morning Herald
Chile issues first civil marriage licenses to same-sex couples
Chile’s Civil Registry made an exception last month to its ongoing strike to perform the country’s first civil union ceremonies for same-sex couples. After 12 years of debate in the Chilean Parliament, President Michelle Bachelet signed the Civil Union Agreement into law in April, granting cohabitation rights to homosexual and heterosexual couples.
In a country with a historically Catholic majority and socially conservative culture, many Chileans have protested the government’s increasingly liberal social agenda. Activists count the law as a victory in the move toward legalizing same-sex marriage. A survey in September showed 60% of Chileans support same-sex couples’ right to marry, up from 50% last year. Supporters see civil unions as a step toward a more modern and tolerant society.
High-profile evangelical pastor Javier Soto has vocally opposed homosexual advances in society, including the recent release of a book called Nicolás Has Two Dads. Soto’s opposition provoked the leader of the Homosexual Integration and Liberation Movement (Movimiento de Integración y Liberación Homosexual), Rolando Jiménez, to urge evangelical Christians “not to allow themselves to be deceived by these pastors who offend and hurt people just for being different than the majority.” Read more via World Mag
Colombia elects first openly gay, right-wing mayor
For the first time, Colombian voters have elected a mayor who campaigned as openly gay — proving the Latin American nation is ready to embrace candidates who are honest about themselves.
Although the South American nation has long welcomed LGBT candidates, Julián Antonio Bedoya, the mayor-elect of Toro, in the western coastal state of Valle de Cauca, is the first mayor to win election after campaigning as an out gay man. This year's election included 72 LGBT candidates nationwide, including Ramón Rojas, a trans politician who was elected for his third consecutive term for the Council of Chaparral in Tolima.
"The challenge is immense for Julián — he should be a very good mayor and represent the LGBTI community," says Angelo Araujo, LGBT leader in the state."This must be done with the best possible administration. There's no point in having an openly gay candidate who has problems of corruption, and leaves things unfinished in their municipality. " Read more via the Advocate
China: Male rape now a crime after law revision
The sexual assault of men, which was not previously listed as an offense under Chinese law, is now a crime after an amendment to the Criminal Law took effect. The amendment, adopted by the top legislature in August, stipulates that indecent assault on others, men or women, now carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison. In the former law, the clause "others" was "women."
In addition, the revised law repealed the crime of sex with underage prostitutes and reclassified it as rape. Under the previous law, people who have sex with prostitutes less than 14 years old face a maximum of 15 years in prison, while those convicted of raping a child may face the death sentence. Read more via Shanghai Daily