Israel: Orthodox parties skip swearing in of first openly gay parliamentarian

Members of both Ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties in the Israeli Knesset (or parliament) decided not to show up to the swearing-in of the country’s first openly gay lawmaker. Amir Ohana, who was sworn in before his partner and two children, represents the centre-right Likud party.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also the head of the Likud party, welcomed the new MK. "The first impression is the most important, and we were all deeply impressed with your speech. I'm happy to receive you to our ranks. You carry with you an exceptional responsibility - the welcome you received brings together this fractured house. It's a great responsibility and a great opportunity," the prime minister said.
 
"Amir is the first representative of the LGBT community who was elected in open primaries while who he is was completely out in the open, and he was elected by thousands of voters in the Likud primaries," Netanyahu noted.  Read more via Ynet News 

Catholic: Pope Francis explains ‘who am i to judge?’ quip

Pope Francis has reiterated his relatively tolerant stance towards LGBT people, offering new details about a 2013 incident where he responded to a question about gay priests by saying “who am I to judge?”

In a new book, Pope Francis is quoted talking to an Italian journalist about the famous quip, which triggered a firestorm of media coverage and speculation over whether the pontiff would alter the Catholic Church’s firm opposition to same-sex relationships. The book cites Francis as he clarifies his theological justification for taking a more tolerant stance towards LGBT people.

“On that occasion I said this: If a person is gay and seeks out the Lord and is willing, who am I to judge that person?” the pope says in the new book, The Name of God is Mercy. “I was paraphrasing by heart the Catechism of the Catholic Church where it says that these people should be treated with delicacy and not be marginalized.”

“I prefer that homosexuals come to confession, that they stay close to the Lord, and that we pray all together,” Francis also says, in a possible reference to the Church’s historical stance that same-sex relationships are sinful. “You can advise them to pray, show goodwill, show them the way, and accompany them along it.” Read more via Think Progress 

Romania: Priests push for gay marriage ban

The days following Christmas have been a good opportunity for Orthodox priests across Romania to encourage parishioners to back a campaign for a change to the constitution outlawing same-sex marriage. Dozens of people attending the cathedral in Timisoara, in western Romania, queued to sign the initiative, after their Bishop, or Metropolitan, encouraged them to do so during the Christmas mass. Priests in the Iasi region, while blessing people’s houses for the Epiphany Day used the occasion to ask them to back amendments to the fundamental law, according to media reports. 

Clergy want to gather at least 500,000 signatures in order to organise a referendum proposing that the constitution describe marriage as a consensual relationship between a man and a woman alone. Currently, the constitutional article use only the words “between spouses” when referring to the marriage partners.

Church leader Patriarch Daniel said that Orthodox believers “must support the Church’s effort to protect the natural, traditional and universal family, and resist some new family models that consider the natural woman-man union only one model among others”. More than 85% of Romania’s population of 19.5 million belong to the Orthodox Church. Read more via Balkan Insight

Anglican: Archbishop Welby says sorry to LGBTI community for hurt and pain caused by Episcopal suspension

The archbishop of Canterbury has apologised for the “hurt and pain” the Anglican church has inflicted on LGBT people as he attempted to defend the  decision to sanction the liberal US church  for allowing same-sex marriage. Justin Welby’s remarks came at the end of a week-long summit of the world’s Anglican leaders, in which he sought to soothe divisions caused by the decision on Thursday to uphold a “traditional doctrine” of marriage as “between a man and a woman in faithful, lifelong union”.

Dozens of gay rights activists, many of them refugees from African countries, descended on Canterbury Cathedral to chant “Shame on you” where the 38 primates of the Anglican communion had been meeting to resolve deep divisions over gay rights. 

The US Episcopal church has been banned from representation on key bodies and barred from voting on issues relating to doctrine or strategy for three years. However, it will remain a member of the Anglican communion. Liberal Anglicans responded to the de facto sanctions and the reaffirmation of traditional biblical teaching on marriage with anger and dismay. At the other end of the spectrum, hardline conservative Anglicans said the statement was a step in the right direction but did not go far enough in forcing US liberals to repent.  

 Read more via the Guardian
 

Canada: World's first chair in transgender studies

At The University of Victoria in Victoria, B.C. Prof. Aaron Devor, an internationally recognized sex- and-gender expert, will work with researchers, community activists and students to advance study into a broad range of topics that affect the lives of transgender individuals.

The professor has been appointed to what's believed to be the world's only chair in transgender studies hopes the research will clear away the myths and improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in society. Read more via CTV News

Jamaica: Homosexual acts are illegal, guidance counsellors cannot break law

The Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) says it cannot call for guidance counsellors to be better trained to deal with gay students as buggery remains illegal. Norman Allen, who heads the union that represents guidance counsellors, made the comment in reaction to reports that several of the approximately 800 guidance counsellors in schools are refusing to help students identified as gay or lesbian.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday,  Opposition Spokesperson on Education Senator Kamina Johnson Smith wrote: “I am really surprised at the reasoning here....To be clear – while buggery is unlawful, the state of homosexuality is not, nor is the state of being confused.” Read more via Jamaica Gleaner

New Zealand: Grammar School tacitly acknowledges homophobia

Tacitly acknowledging that it has a culture of homophobia amongst students and possibly some staff, Auckland Grammar School has responded in an up-beat manner to allegations of on-going homophobia at the prestigious and high-achieving school.

Its brief response, which does not deny the allegations or address any of the specifics of multiple claims which are being voiced, comes after a number of gay pupils and ex-pupils posted criticisms the school's culture abuse and homophobic slurs.

Headmaster Tim O'Connor has acknowledged it is "the school’s core responsibility and an on-going exercise to promote attitudes and behaviour in its students that reflect the School’s values. This includes teaching young men sensitivity towards and acceptance of the rights of others in our diverse society." Read more via Gay NZ

US: Groundbreaking school for LGBT students to open

A first-of-its-kind private school in Georgia aimed at attracting LGBT youth and teachers is being established in Atlanta for students who feel bullied or not accepted in traditional schools. Pride School Atlanta is a k-12 institution designed to be an alternative for LGBT students, though the school is open to any student who believes they’re not getting the support they need for “being different.”

It is part of a small but growing group of schools popping up nationally geared toward educating LGBT youth, who feel disenfranchised from public education. Pride School would be the first of its kind in the Southeast and, according to advocates, a significant development for the LGBT movement.

Nearly 9 in 10 LGBT students report experiencing harassment within the last school year, and three in 10 report missing a class because they felt unsafe, according to rights group Georgia Equality. The group was among other advocates who lobbied state lawmakers to create legislation to reduce bullying in schools.

“I think right now what a lot of (LGBT) students face is separate but equal education in the public schools,” he said. “Because if you can’t go to the bathroom all day and you can’t use the locker room and you’re bullied in the classroom and the teachers aren’t standing up for you, you don’t have a full seat at the table.” Read more via AP 

US: The most discriminatory laws you have never heard of

No Promo Homo laws are the most discriminatory laws you have never heard of. Hidden in education laws, they restrict the promotion of homosexuality in public school classrooms by prohibiting the teaching of homosexuality or requiring its condemnation. They exist in eight states: Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.

For example Utah requires their board of education to prohibit instruction in the "advocacy of homosexuality." A more egregious Texas law requires teaching that homosexuality is "not an acceptable lifestyle and is a criminal offense." Appallingly, Texas cites the very penal law found unconstitutional in the landmark 2003 Lawrence v. Texas case.

It is clear that legislatures in some states disagree and resist homosexual rights even 10 years after the decision in Lawrence. These states have kept their discriminatory agenda on the books by burying these laws in education bills, taking advantage of their broad discretion in the area of education. These laws are not outdated; indeed they have only been around since the 1980s. Read more via the Jurist

Iranian Government evades the UN questions on LGBTI children

For the first time, the Committee on the Rights of the Child questioned the Iranian government about the human rights of LGBTI children. The committee completed two sessions of review on the situation of children in Iran in Geneva last week. The Iranian delegates evaded many questions during the two day sessions by delay, denial and even at times mischaracterization of Iranian law.

Clarence Nelson, one of the committee experts, raised the issue of LGBTI children in Iran citing that children had to undergo coercive measures to “correct” and “cure” their “problem”. These practices include but are not limited to unnecessary hormone therapies, electroshocks and even life-threatening sexual reassignment surgeries. Since on the first line of questioning the Iranian delegates remained silent on this issue, he raised the question again asking the delegation to comment on reports of violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex children but no response was forthcoming.

In the Islamic Republic of Iran’s written reply to the Committee, the Iranian government had not even distinguished between an intersex child and a bisexual child. This action of Islamic Republic’s government shows a deep lack of scientific knowledge or perhaps adequate consideration and investigation on the part of the state. In their reply, the Islamic Republic had also explicitly mentioned that homosexuality is considered a form of illness and thus the state sanctioned treatment of “gender identity disorder” mandates sex reassignment surgeries.  Read more via 6rang 

UNHCR leads in LGBTI refugee, asylum seeker protection

The UN Refugee Agency is leading the way in delivering protection to LGBTI persons in forced displacement with the rolling out of a new training programme for UNHCR staff and other protection and humanitarian workers, the most comprehensive training package of its kind globally.

LGBTI persons fleeing persecution face a complex array of challenges and threats at all stages of displacement, including discrimination, prejudice, violence, difficulty accessing humanitarian services, and barriers to articulating their protection needs during asylum procedures and other interactions with protection and humanitarian actors.

The programme was developed jointly with the International Organization for Migration, IOM, and funded by the United States Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM). It covers relevant terminology, international law, communication, operational protection, conducting interviews, durable solutions, health, and refugee status determination, all with a focus on practical guidance for UNHCR and partner organizations when assisting LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers.  Read more via Trust.org

UK: Cuts to sexual health services will lead to STI 'explosion', warn experts

Cuts to sexual health services will lead to more abortions, unplanned pregnancies and an “explosion” in sexually transmitted infections, medical experts warn. Their warning comes as Labour claims that local councils in England will spend as much as £40m less than planned this year on services such as testing and treating infections such as herpes and syphilis as a result of George Osborne’s decision to cut £200m from the public health budget.

Doctors have criticised the chancellor’s move as short-sighted and bound to increase demand for NHS care at a time when dating apps and “chemsex” are thought to be behind rising STI rates.

Some councils have already started to reduce their budget for testing people suspected to have contracted an infection such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea by as much as 36% as a result.

Diagnoses of gonorrhoea in England have gone from 16,843 in 2010 to 34,958 in 2014 – a rise of 107% – while those for syphilis are up by 63% from 2,647 to 4,317 over the same period. Those for anogenital herpes are also up, though by a much smaller amount – 7% – from 29,698 in 2010 to 31,777 in 2014, answers to parliamentary questions tabled by Labour show. Read more via the Guardian