US: List of schools allowed to discriminate against LGBT students will be published online

Religious schools that receive federal money yet obtain federal exemptions to discriminate against LGBT students and employees will have their waivers posted online for public view, under a decision by the Department of Education. Announced in a letter to lawmakers, the decision comes one month after eight U.S. senators requested more transparency into the practice of granting school waivers from Title IX of the Education Act.

The 1972 law bans publicly funded schools from engaging in sex-based discrimination — which the Obama administration has applied to protect LGBT students — but Congress also provided an exemption for religious schools.

The assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department, Catherine Lhamon, told the senators on Wednesday that her office is planning to post the waiver requests and the government’s reply letters “on our website with a basic search tool so that applicants, students, parents, and others can be better informed about which educational institutions have sought and/or received a religious exemption.”

Led by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the lawmakers said in December, “We are concerned these waivers allow for discrimination under the guise of religious freedom.” They continued: “At a very minimum, we believe that parents, students, and taxpayers have a right to know when institutions of higher education — as recipients of tax dollars — seek and receive exemptions under Title IX as well as the justification of those exemptions.”  Read more via Buzzfeed 

Iceland primary school introduces gender-neutral toilets

An Icelandic elementary school has removed gender signs from its bathrooms in an effort to become “gender neutral”. The principal thinks that other schools should do the same: “One simply has to be conscious about the fact that we are not all the same and everybody has the right to be as they are,” says Sigurbjörg Róbertsdóttir, principal of Reykjanesbær’s elementary school, Akurskóli, where school officials have had gender signs removed from the school’s restrooms.

And removing gender signs from restroom isn’t the only change the school has brought about this year. It has also changed one of the instructions regarding swimming lessons, in a memo that is sent home to parents. Instead of the typical phrasing of “girls should wear swimsuits and boys should wear swimtrunks”, it simply states that children should wear appropriate swim-attire, without categorizing which gender should wear what.

The procedure itself wasn’t explained specifically to the children. However the school asked Samtökin ’78, the national queer organization, to come and do a lecture on prejudice.  Read more via Gay Iceland 

Hong Kong: Majority now support anti-discrimination laws for LGBT people

A study commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission found that more than half of Hongkongers surveyed are in favour of legislation against sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status discrimination, indicating a visible shift in public opinion over the past decade.

More than half – 55.7% – of the 1,005 surveyed agreed with enacting legislation – almost double the 28.7 percent who agreed in 2005. The shift was even more defined among young people – 91.8 percent considered legislation necessary, and nearly half – 48.9 percent – with religious views concurred. The findings of the Study on Legislation against Discrimination on the Grounds of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status were released on Monday.

The study also revealed the prevalence of discrimination against LGBTI in Hong Kong. In the study’s focus groups, LGBTI respondents feel that discrimination frequently takes place in areas of employment, education, provision of services, disposal and management of premises, as well as government functions. They also feel that they have little or no means of redress. They therefore saw legal protection from discrimination as the necessary first step in the protection of basic human rights and dignity. Read more via Hong Kong Free Press 

Germany: LGBT groups plan shelters for gay refugees amid attacks

The Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD) says several incidents of discrimination and physical assaults against gay refugees have been reported in the past year. "Berlin officials identified 95 cases in the German capital alone between August and December 2015, mainly in refugee homes," Markus Ulrich from the LSVD told NBC News.

Now LGBT communities in Berlin, Nuremberg and other major cities are now planning to set up special shelters exclusively for gay and lesbian refugees. "We have been alerted to a growing number of insults and violent acts against queer refugees, including cases of rape," Marcel de Groot, manager of Berlin's gay counselling centre, Schwulenberatung, said.

The support organization estimates that "between 5 and 10 percent of the 70,000 refugees that arrived in Berlin last year were gay, lesbian or transsexual," he added. Schwulenberatung has had to find emergency accommodation for up to 70 people, mostly gay men, in private Berlin homes because "they had strong fears in the refugee shelters or became victims of attacks," de Groot said.

Social workers and volunteers believe that the estimated number of unreported cases could be even higher. "Many homosexual refugees do not trust police," said de Groot, because authorities in their home counties "often persecute them for their sexual orientation." Read more via NBC

Austria: Government issues cartoons, behavior guides to ‘explain’ gay people to refugees

The Austrian government is issuing a cartoon guide to refugees to explain Western views of homosexuality and consent. The country’s interior ministry started drawing up the leaflets following mass sexual assaults in Cologne, Germany, over the New Year.

Amid allegations that some of the men involved in the attacks were refugees, the country has drawn up the leaflets to introduce ‘Western values’ to those fleeing the Syrian conflict. A cartoon graphic from the leaflets features two men kissing and two women kissing with a big green tick. A picture of a man groping a woman has a red cross through it.  Read more via PinkNews 

India: Transgender people say fight will not stop till Sec 36A repealed

Shreeja (name changed), a transgender person who begs on the city streets, has been bullied and dragged by the cops to police stations, often for cases not related to her. Hers is not an isolated case. The police have been accused of committing at least 40 atrocities against transgenders, under the cover of Section 36A of the Karnataka Police Act, alleges the transgender community.

Section 36A is aimed at controlling the ‘objectionable activities’ of ‘eunuchs’. But activists have condemned this section, saying it is a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. Akkai Padmashali and other activists met Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs T.B. Jayachandra recently, and he assured them that the government would remove the Section.

Akkai told Deccan Chronicle, “The government is quiet on the issue. We have met several leaders, but it has been of no use. Our fight will not end till Section 36A is fully repealed. I have trust in the present government, and hope that it will remove the offending section.” Read more via Deccan Chronicle 

India: How has the sexual landscape changed?

In the world's largest democracy, homosexual activity is still a crime punishable by life imprisonment. A few weeks ago, the Indian Parliament saw MPs of both major parties scurrying for the exits to evade a debate on this anachronistic ban, introduced by the British Raj in the 19th century.

The occasion was a failed attempt by a maverick backbencher to introduce a private member's bill legalising homosexuality. Indian politicians are in no hurry to debate a reform that would annoy religious extremists. And yet India, always a land of contradictions, allows Gay Pride marches in most major cities, has vibrant gay pressure groups and publications and officially accepts people who are transgender.

When I grew up in India's most cosmopolitan city, Bombay, in the 1960s, the very mention of homosexuality was taboo, and absolutely no one was “out”. Last month, I made a personal journey home for a BBC Radio 4 documentary, to explore how dramatically India's sexual landscape has changed in recent years. Read more via Independent

Africa: “Seeds of hope” for gay rights in Africa, says special US envoy

Southern Africa is moving towards greater acceptance of sexual and gender minorities though there is still a long way to go, the US first special envoy for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people said. Randy Berry, an openly gay senior diplomat, was speaking at the end of a 10-day visit to Malawi, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.

“I believe in all of these countries, there are seeds of hope,” Berry said, speaking from South Africa.  “With government representatives, I found them to be sensitive to the issues, wanting to engage very clearly... After these consultations, I am quite hopeful.”

Berry said he was encouraged by governments’ willingness to discuss the issue and to give LGBT groups space to operate. “The fact that we can actually have a rational, coherent, quiet conversation is really important,” he said. “The problem we face in a global sense is one of ignorance and non exposure.”

Many Africans, particularly religious leaders, argue that decriminalising homosexuality would be akin to promoting it and that it goes against their traditions and culture. Being gay “is not a learned behaviour. It is not somehow produced by external forces. This is how people are born,” Berry said. Read more via EWN 

How African LGBT activists are risking their lives to bring tolerance to their homes

When Ugandan LGBT activist Clare Byarugaba woke up and turned on her phone on February 28, 2014, she was greeted by the same ominous message over and over: "Have you seen the newspaper?" A few days before, the president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, had signed into law a bill that punished certain sexual acts between two people of the same gender with life in prison and threatened incarceration for those who provided services and support to the LGBT community. In response, a popular tabloid newspaper ran Byarugaba's name and photo on its front page that day with the headline "Top Ugandan Gays Speak Out: How We Became Homos."

"All I could think of was, Oh, my God, my mom!" recalls Byarugaba, whose voice catches as she describes her mother's response: She threatened to hand her daughter over to the police. Byarugaba left town, fearing for her life after receiving death threats on her phone and via social media. She had seen what happened to out gays and lesbians in her country. In 2011 Uganda's most visible LGBT activist, David Kato, was bludgeoned to death with a hammer shortly after another tabloid splashed his photo on its front page under a banner that read, "Hang Them."

As the co-coordinator of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law, an LGBT advocacy group, Byarugaba worried that something similar might happen to her. Speaking out and organizing against her government's anti-LGBT rhetoric had made her vulnerable. Read more via Essence

UK: What I learned on my rocky road to coming out as gay to my Sikh family

I was born into a traditional, conservative Sikh family, where neither of my parents spoke English very well. My home was troubled. I discovered my sexuality at the age of 11 and at first I did not know what it was. I was afraid everyday due to the arguing and thought I would be disowned.

I almost ran away from home. The arguments, the pain, the guilt and shame were overwhelming. I lived abroad for many years, working for human rights organizations. In the end, my coming out to my parents over text message was the easiest coming out story imaginable. They were relieved their son was talking to them properly, he loved them and was only away due to his own shame and guilt. They said they would provide for me and love me no matter what. Such a shock to me!

The crux of my work is to empower, inspire and educate South Asian LGBTIs to be able to have an easier coming out process whilst living the life they always dreamed of. I do this through the principles of the law of attraction. Love and forgiveness are key ingredients along with gratitude and prayer.  Read more via Gay Star News

US: A fresh gay face is shaking things up in evangelical land

When Matthew Vines burst onto the evangelical scene in 2012, he could have become another one-hit wonder of viral videos. A YouTube video of the 21-year-old outlining a scriptural defense of monogamous, Christ-centered same-sex relationships showed up on LGBT blogs and Facebook timelines all over.

Since then, he has established The Reformation Project, an organization aimed to change Christians minds on same-sex relationships, and he's published God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships. Three years later, Vines is an emerging voice in Christian conversations on the intersections of faith, gender, and sexuality.

When I met Vines in the beginning of this venture with The Reformation Project, he was eager, albeit a bit naïve. He wanted to change the world equipped only with theology that affirmed same-sex relationships: “In 10-15 years, I want to change 2 billion Christians' minds on same-sex relationships,” I once heard him say. While his goals haven’t changed, the timeline has — and so have his methods. Read more via the Advocate 

Pope Francis sends mixed signals on civil unions for gay couples

Last weekend, tens of thousands of Italians took to at least 100 piazzas up and down the country to demonstrate their support for a measure currently before the Italian parliament, and backed by the governing center-left majority, to provide civil unions for same-sex couples along with full adoption rights.

On Saturday, another wave of demonstrators flooded Rome’s Circus Maximus to oppose that measure, in a rally known as Family Day. It was originally set for the square outside St. John Lateran, for centuries the seat of the papacy, but organizers say they were forced to relocate due to the high number of people planning to take part.

This is Italy, so from the beginning of the ferment, one question above all has loomed over the debate: “Where does Pope Francis stand?” Early on, it seemed plausible Francis might just sit this one out.   Read more via The Crux