Against oppressive odds, LGBT communities struggle for acceptance and visibility in Indonesia, where morality comes at the expense of enlightenment.
Japan: City of Nara targets LGBT economy
The city of Nara, Japan’s ancient capital, will target LGBT tourists from Japan and abroad. Plans include earmarking ¥2.08 million in the budget for the next fiscal year to inform hoteliers and innkeepers and other businesses about LGBT culture and how to make same-sex couples feel welcome, the city said.
In addition, Nara has said it will join the Florida-based International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. It will be the first Japanese municipality to become a member. The budgeted funds will be used for seminars for area businesses interested in attracting more LGBT customers, and the city will seek advice from the association on specific tips for improving service, especially for LGBT couples from overseas.
Kyoto has recently made more efforts to cater to LGBT couples, with both the Hotel Granvia and Kyoto’s Shunkoin Temple now offering same-sex wedding ceremonies. Read more via Japan Times
Indonesia: Muslim school for trans women shut down
Indonesia's Defence Minister threatens 'warfare' against gay community
Indonesia's gay community has come under attack, with the country's Defence Minister labelling the community a "threat" and likening fighting it to "a kind of modern warfare". Ministers and religious leaders have denounced homosexuality, blocked lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) websites and emboldened hardliners launching anti-gay raids.
When a minister criticised counselling services for gay students at a university last month, it triggered a heated media debate and was the start of what activists say has been a sustained assault on gay rights. Read more via ABC
Italy: Senate passes watered-down bill recognising same-sex civil unions
Italy has taken a step towards joining every other major country in western Europe with the passage of a landmark civil unions bill in the senate that will give legal recognition to same-sex couples for the first time in Italian history.
The bill overcame staunch opposition from the Roman Catholic church and last-minute political manoeuvring by opponents of the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, that nearly derailed the legislation.
While it was the first significant win for gay rights following years of failed attempts, Thursday’s developments were nevertheless greeted as a hollow victory by many LGBT activists because the bill was watered down days before its passage. Read more via the Guardian
Australia: Safe Schools Coalition: what is the Christian Right afraid of?
At the instigation of conservative Liberal senator Cory Bernardi, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has requested an investigation into the Safe Schools Coalition. In doing so, Turnbull has given voice to, and legitimised, discredited and prejudiced views that inclusive sexuality education will turn kids gay.
Safe Schools is a world-leading, evidence-based program to make schools safe environments for same-sex-attracted, intersex and gender-diverse students, staff and families.
Sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and intersex status are protected grounds in international human rights legislation on education. They are also protected in Australian national legislation. Australia’s work opposing homophobia and transphobia in schools is internationally celebrated, and featured in UNESCO best-practice documentation. This begs the question: on what grounds should we be investigating this program?
Croatia: European Court issues fine for violating human rights of same-sex couples
The European Court of Human Rights, ECHR, fined Croatia for discriminating against same-sex couples by not granting residence permits to couples in which one partner comes from abroad. The case was brought by Bosnian national Danka Pajic who claimed the Croatian authorities breach her right to a family and a private life by not granting her a residence permit in 2011 on the basis of her union with her female Croatian partner.
The court ruled that Pajic was entitled to the same treatment as other foreigners have in marriages or non-marital partnerships and issued a 10,000 euro fine and another 5,690 euro in court fees, which Croatia must also pay Pajic. Read more via Balkan Insight
Israel: Knesset scraps bills for LGBT community
A day after marking its first ever LGBT rights day, the Knesset shot down six bills aimed at improving the gay community's status. Several opposition members joined the coalition in voting against the bills.
Two coalition MKs purporting to advance gay rights lent a hand to thwarting the bills. MK Amir Ohana (Likud), the first openly gay right-wing lawmaker, left the plenum without voting, while MK Sharren Haskel (Likud), head of the LGBT Knesset caucus, voted against the bills. The bills, proposed by opposition members only, addressed a variety of gay issues and needs.
Ohana said he has fought prejudices against gay people all his life and intends to continue doing so in the future. Nonetheless, he refrained from supporting the bills for gay rights "because the result wouldn't have been any different. None of the proposals fell because it was one vote short." Read More via Haaretz
Australia: Man bashed in Waterloo 'for being queer', one of two suspected gay bashings in Sydney
Detectives are investigating two suspected gay bashings in inner Sydney, prompting a warning from police less than a fortnight before the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardis Gras Parade. The NSW Police spokesman on Sexuality and Gender Diversity, Superintendent Tony Crandell, said the occurrence of two "bias-related assaults" over one weekend was uncommon, and was of concern to police.
One of the victims, Dylan Souster, 22, said he was punched in the face by a man who called him "a queer" outside his apartment block in Waterloo in the early hours of Sunday morning. That man had initially been trying to help him, after he was earlier knocked unconscious by a group of young people and woke up in Waterloo Oval. Read more via Sydney Morning Herald
US: Top North Carolina officials threaten to negate Charlotte LGBT rights law
The Charlotte City Council passed an LGBT nondiscrimination bill in a 7 to 4 vote — leading top NC Republicans to threaten state legislation that would negate the city ordinance. Gov. Pat McCrory had told city officials in an email one day before the vote that state lawmakers may take “immediate” action to block Charlotte’s new policy.
The state’s Speaker of the House, Tim Moore, followed up Tuesday morning to announce he would work with fellow Republicans to explore a “legislative intervention to correct [Charlotte’s] radical course.” Both leading Republicans argued the bill would present safety risks by allowing transgender people into restrooms that correspond with their gender identity. Read more via Buzzfeed
Your rights in jeopardy, global assault on freedoms, warns Amnesty International
International protection of human rights is in danger of unravelling as short-term national self-interest and draconian security crackdowns have led to a wholesale assault on basic freedoms and rights, warned Amnesty International as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world.
“Your rights are in jeopardy: they are being treated with utter contempt by many governments around the world,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International. “Millions of people are suffering enormously at the hands of states and armed groups, while governments are shamelessly painting the protection of human rights as a threat to security, law and order or national ‘values.'"
Amnesty International is warning of an insidious and creeping trend undermining human rights which has come from governments deliberately attacking, underfunding or neglecting institutions that have been set up to help protect our rights. The report breaks down analysis by country and covers rights of all people, including focus on LGBTI, indigenous peoples, women and girls, and refugees. Read more from Amnesty International
Indonesia: LGBT Movement More Dangerous than Nuclear Warfare
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Defense Minister, Ryamizard Ryacudu, has labelled the emergence of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) movement in Indonesia as a form of a proxy war to subtly undermine the sovereignty of a state - without the need to deploy a military force.
"I wrote about the subject 15 years ago - this is a kind of a modern warfare," said Ryacudu at the Ministry of Defense's Building on Tuesday, February 23, 2016. "It's the cheapest kind of war there is."
According to Ryacudu, the LGBT agenda is a latent threat to Indonesia's sovereignty, as it forces Indonesia to deal with states who support the LGBT agenda under the guise of human rights observance. Ryacudu continued that the state needs to be more cautious in reacting to the demands of LGBT communities for equality before the law.
"It's dangerous as we can't see who our foes are, but out of the blue everyone is brainwashed - now the (LGBT) community is demanding more freedom, it really is a threat," said the former Chief-of-Staff for the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI-AD). Read more via tempo