Iraq: 'Being gay isn't as sexy as ISIS': one young man's fight for rights

"Being gay isn't as sexy as ISIS. So no-one pays us any attention."--These are the words of Amir Ashour, a 25-year-old Iraqi and founder of IraQueer.

Amir left behind his home and family a year ago and is currently living in Sweden. There, he hopes to register and expand his charity, as it is illegal to do so in Iraq. He has received multiple threats from both officials and his friends because of who he is and the work he does.

One of the main threats to the queer community in Iraq, Amir explains, is the armed militias in Baghdad and other cities: “The main one that has been practising all the killing campaigns in Iraq actually announced a partnership with our government a few months ago, under the name of ‘fighting ISIS’. The last campaign we documented was in January this year, while in July 2014, [the militia] killed 35 gay people and sex workers in one day. Not even one report was made about that."

And, Amir adds, that’s just the numbers they’re aware of. “How many more people have just disappeared? Especially with what’s happening with ISIS and people being displaced.. We can’t keep track. And the government is making it impossible for civil society organisations to run safe houses. If an organisation wants to do that, then they are charged with running brothels and prostitution.”

“Even if homosexuality is against religion and Islam is the main force of law in Iraq, killing is illegal. That is not something people can debate and argue.”  Read more via Huffington Post

Tokyo to Taipei, a growing acceptance for LGBT people

When it come to homosexuality, the Confucian cultures of East Asia can be quite conservative, though they don't share the religious or moral objections of Judeo-Christian-Islamic countries. But across a region becoming steadily more urban and cosmopolitan, LGBT communities are experiencing a changes in attitudes and a greater legal recognition that echoes the trend in the West towards much greater acceptance of equality. 

Last weekend some 80,000 people from around East Asia converged on Taipei for the Oct. 31 Taiwan Pride parade, the biggest such event in the region. It was followed by a record 10,000 marchers in the Hong Kong Pride Parade. In Japan, that same November evening saw the broadcast of “Transit Girls,” the first TV drama here about a lesbian couple.

To be sure, for many LGBTs in a region imbued with the Confucian ideals of filial respect and saving face, the toughest battles remain within families. Still, the overall shift seems clear across this diverse region, and is partly due to the influence of the West, including the legalization of same-sex marriage in the US and Ireland. Local media portrayed these changes as a progressive trend that the rest of the world will inevitably follow.  Read more via Christian Science Monitor

Ukraine: Stop harassing us over oppressed minorities --- we're too busy fighting Russia

Though it's not commonly known, Ukraine's LGBT community played a significant role in the Maidan revolution which toppled the unpopular government of Viktor Yanukovych some two years ago. Careful not to upset or alienate conservative nationalist elements at the Maidan, LGBT protesters made a tactical decision not to promote their cause openly. According to EU Observer, the LGBT community refrained from brandishing its own slogans and banners lest it provoke homophobic violence. The Observer remarks that "during the revolution, the LGBT community behaved courageously, but also pragmatically: it didn't champion the rights of the gay minority in order not to split Maidan into liberal and illiberal factions."

In the wake of Maidan, however, many within the LGBT community feel betrayed by the very revolution which they helped to spearhead. In Ukraine, all the current talk is about repelling Vladimir Putin and Russian-backed separatists, rather than adhering to liberal-minded values. It's a rather ironic coda to the Maidan, which was initially driven forward by pro-Western and progressive aspirations. Judging from recent events, however, it would appear that Maidan's liberal credo was rather superficial and merely skin deep.

Recently, many conservative Ukrainians seem to be falling back on a common refrain: don't resort to criticism of our country's internal politics, for such "divisive" tactics will only serve to embolden Vladimir Putin. Though these claims rely on a dubious and false equivalency, such arguments seem to be gaining some traction, as my own experience may attest. What is more, political elites have desperately sought to outmaneuver the LGBT community by playing the nationalist card. Read more via Huffington Post

UNESCO: How can we go ‘From Insult to Inclusion’ for all learners?

The majority of LGBTI youth in Asia-Pacific say they have been subjected to some form of violence or bullying in school. This can take many forms – physical, verbal, psychological or sexual abuse or social exclusion both online and off. The end result remains the same: millions of young learners throughout the Asia-Pacific region are being denied their right to an education.  The impacts can be lifelong and devastating in terms of economic and employment prospects, as well as on a personal level: Asia-Pacific studies show that up to one in three LGBTI learners report depression; up to seven in 10 report harming themselves and nearly five in 10 have attempted suicide.

“From Insult to Inclusion”, the first review of its kind to comprehensively examine these challenges in Asia-Pacific, looks at the broader legal and educational contexts in countries throughout the region related to bullying on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and features the voices of young learners themselves and their personal stories of abuse and exclusion. Concrete steps that education sector planners, teachers, school leaders and communities throughout the region can take to address this situation are also presented.   Read more via UNESCO 

US: STIs are skyrocketing among gay and bi men. Is an HIV-prevention pill to blame?

The CDC announced some deeply disconcerting news: Sexually transmitted infection rates have skyrocketed over the last year, particularly among gay and bisexual men. Syphilis transmission rates are especially alarming: The CDC reports a 15.1% increase in new infections nationwide since 2013, with a stunning 83% of male cases affecting men who have sex with men.

What’s going on here? One obvious explanation could be the rise of PrEP (or Truvada), a daily pill, which, all available data indicate, fully protects against HIV infection. Early studies of PrEP showed no evidence that those who took the drug would stop using condoms. But recent surveys suggest that at least some PrEP users do indeed use condoms less regularly once they’re on the pill. Most notably, a fairly small-scale study in San Francisco found a 30% instance in STIs among PrEP users after six months—which rose to a 50% after one year.* Just as troublingly, 41% of subjects admitted to using condoms less frequently while on PrEP.

The San Francisco study was too small to prove that PrEP is closely correlated to decreased condom use. But combined with the new CDC report, its findings should set off alarm bells. Is San Francisco our first preview of a dangerous new PrEP culture, where many gay and bisexual men ignore the risks of STIs once a critical mass of men are on PrEP? That would be the worst-case scenario, and there’s no reason to assume it’s true. But the possibility is worth considering—and, if feasible, forestalling.  Read more via Slate

New Marsha P Johnson biopic praised as ‘real Stonewall story’

A new trailer for the film has been compared to Roland Emmerich’s recent version of the riots.
A trailer has been released for a new biopic focusing on trans activist Marsha P Johnson.
Starring trans actress and Oscar hopeful Mya Taylor in the lead role, the short film charts the lead up to the Stonewall rising and has been praised for its depiction of trans women of colour, leading many to compare it to recent flop Stonewall. 

The Roland Emmerich film is based on the 1969 Stonewall riots, which are often considered the birthplace of the gay rights movement. Prior to release, the film came under fire amid claims of whitewashing and trans-erasure, after the first trailer suggested it would be centred on a white middle-class gay hero. Though Emmerich and the film’s star Jeremy Irvine both defended it, it has been panned by critics and audiences alike. Read more via PinkNews

US: 'The Danish Girl,' about a transgender pioneer

“The Danish Girl,” Tom Hooper’s new film, is a story of individual struggle that is also a portrait of a marriage. In this respect and others it resembles “The King’s Speech,” Mr. Hooper’s earlier historical drama, a multiple Oscar winner a few years ago. In that case, the union of George VI and Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, was the foundation on which the tale of George’s elocutionary striving was built. Here, the marriage is bohemian rather than aristocratic, but the stakes, while personal, are every bit as profound and consequential as the matters of state that drove the monarch to the microphone.

When we first encounter Gerda and Einar Wegener, played by Alicia Vikander and Eddie Redmayne, they seem perfectly matched. Both are painters, living amid the soft colors and sea air of Copenhagen in 1926. Gerda is a portraitist, while Einar’s landscapes — drawn from his childhood memories of the fjords and marshlands of Vejle, a town on the Jutland peninsula — have brought him a measure of fame. Like many couples who share a profession, they provide each other with support as well as a bit of competition. Their best friend, Ulla (Amber Heard), a dancer, marvels at their mutual devotion, which combines the easy, egalitarian warmth of friendship with the heat of sexual attraction.  Read more via NYTimes

US: Academy to consider trans actresses in their proper gender category

If you missed Tangerine when it first appeared over the summer, now’s a good time to catch up: The film—director Sean Baker’s sensitive, honest, and often funny look at the lives of a pair of transgender prostitutes over the course of a particularly eventful L.A. Christmas Eve—is sure to be the subject of much discussion this Oscar campaign season. With the support of producers Mark and Jay Duplass and distributor Magnolia Pictures, Tangerine’s trans stars are being advanced as candidates for the best actress and best supporting actress awards. This is a big deal—according to Variety, “It’s the first time a movie distributor has ever backed an awards season push for a transgender actress in Hollywood history.”

That the Duplass brothers and Magnolia are throwing their weight behind a nomination is itself an encouraging—and welcome, considering the performances in question—development. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez (up for the best actress category) and Mya Taylor (best supporting actress) are both new to feature filmmaking, and yet their acting in Tangerine (in front of an iPhone 5s, no less) is deeply compelling, organically modulating from girlfriend comedy to stark portrait of life on the margins with style and verve. But more important, while cis-playing-trans performances have been nominated for the Academy Award before, this push marks the first time actual trans actresses will be seriously considered. Read more via Slate

Gay rugby documentary “Scrum”

MARK Bingham, a rugby fanatic and openly gay man, was on United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 when terrorists hijacked the plane. Mark, along with other passengers, managed to crash tackle the terrorists in an effort to regain control of the plane. Despite their efforts, the flight went down in the fields of Pennsylvania. No one survived.

In Mark’s memory, the Bingham Cup, an international gay rugby world cup was founded. Not only did the Sydney Convicts host the cup in 2014, they are defending champions. But since moving up a grade in their competition, the Convicts A team has been beaten fair and square in just about every match. Nobody likes to lose, least of all the Convicts. Read more via Star Observer

Australia: This Is What Happens At A Formal For LGBT Teens

Traditionally, school formal night itself pales in comparison to the weeks of anticipation.

Thoughts of table configurations, outfits, fake IDs, and, of course, dates cloud the collective psyche of the average graduating class. But for kids who are gay, bisexual, and transgender, such everyday worries easily magnify as they wonder where they fit in this particularly “straight” mainstay of the high school experience. Consider the transgender girl who has long dreamed of the opportunity to wear a ball gown, but fears ridicule by her peers. Or the out guy who wants to bring his boyfriend from another school, but is met by a hostile administration. For this girl, this guy, and many, many others, the formal can be a minefield of awkward situations and social exclusion.

Enter Minus18. A group for LGBTI young people based in Victoria, Minus18 has run several successful formals for queer young people and their friends in Melbourne over recent years. The group has tapped into a market with clear demand – numbers at their last Melbourne formal swelled to about 500. Read more via Buzzfeed

In Its Honesty and Beauty, Carol Is a Revolutionary Piece of Filmmaking

When Patricia Highsmith’s novel about a love affair between a suburban socialite and a younger shopgirl was published in 1952, it was revolutionary in its depiction of healthy, overt female desire and for its hopeful ending. (Spoiler alert: Neither of the women ended up relegated to a mental institution or in a loveless marriage with a man she loathed or dead.) While lurid lesbian pulp with gruesome endings proliferated at the time, Highsmith’s The Price of Salt (also titled Carol and written under the pseudonym Claire Morgan) elevated love between women to the realm of the possible, offering a kind of representation, surely, that very few queer women of the time would have previously known.  Read more via the Advocate

Protecting human rights defenders: UNDP/OHCHR Global LGBTI Inclusion Index

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), UNDP, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights are conducting a survey to include civil society voices to help guide how LGBTI people will be measured in international development. 

While the final text of the SDGs does not mention SOGI, UN agencies consider these populations as being intrinsic to the general population and deserving of the protections afforded in international human rights law. Therefore, UNDP together with OHCHR are developing a Global LGBTI Inclusion Index that will show how well governments are delivering on these goals to LGBTI populations. Read more via ILGA and add your voice