Ella Braidwood

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Arsonists Target Lithuania’s Only LGBT Rights Group in ‘Vicious Homophobic Attack’

Arsonists attacked the Lithuanian Gay League's office in capital Vilnius. (lgl.lt/Instagram)

Arsonists attacked the Lithuanian Gay League’s office in capital Vilnius. (lgl.lt/Instagram)

The office of the Lithuanian Gay League (LGL) – the country’s only non-governmental organization representing LGBT+ people – has reportedly been targeted in an arson attack.

The incident allegedly took place in Pylimo in the Old Town of Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, at about 4am on Friday morning.

The front door and door blinds of the organization’s office were set on fire, according to LGL.LGL said that a passing taxi driver stopped to put the fire out.

The group described the incident as a “vicious homophobic attack,” adding: “LGL believe that the incident was motivated by hate towards the local LGBT community and organization which represents their interests.”

“This incident clearly indicates that hate crimes on the ground of sexual orientation and gender identity remain an important issue in Lithuania,” said LGL’s executive director Vladimir Simonko in a statement released to PinkNews.

“It is dissapointing [sic] to see that such horrific crimes still take place in 2018 in the heart of our beautiful capital Vilnius.

“We would like to kindly thank the taxi driver who took the initiative to extinguish the fire and saved our offices from more major damages. We hope that the true motives of the incident will be duly clarified.”

PinkNews has contacted Vilnius’ police department for comment.

Founded in 1993, the LGL works for the progression of LGBT+ rights for people in the country.

Lithuania has a generally poor record on LGBT+ rights.

Although homosexuality was decriminalized in 1993, civil partnerships and equal marriage remain illegal in the country, and there are widespread socially negative attitudes towards sexuality and gender.

Lithuanian Gay League released photos of the damage on social media. (LGL/Facebook)

Same-sex adoption is also effectively illegal in the couple as, generally, parents must be married in order to adopt a child.

Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation was made illegal in 2005.

It is also difficult to legally change gender in Lithuania, which is normally only permitted following a court ruling and after surgery.

However, a European Court of Human Rights decision in April 2017 has meant that two trans men in Lithuania were allowed by the country’s courts to legally change their gender prior to having surgery.

The country’s LGBT+ groups are calling on the government to scrap the requirement for trans people to have gender reassignment surgery before they can change their gender on official documents.

Lithuania’s government has also taken some steps to show support for LGBT+ people in the country.

In May 2017, the country’s parliament marked International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia by lighting up Vilnius’City Hall in rainbow colors and hosting an exhbition with LGBT+ artists.

The first gay pride parade in the country took place in Vilnius in 2010.

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Anti-LGBT Group Asks Supreme Court to Review Ruling that Would Allow Trans Discrimination in the Workplace

An anti-LGBT+ Christian legal advocacy group has asked the US Supreme Court to review a ruling that bans employers from discriminating against transgender people on religious grounds.

Alliance Defending Freedom filed a petition to the court last week, which means that the Supreme Court, if it decides to go ahead and hear the case, now has the option to rule whether the country’s civil law right prohibiting sex discrimination in the workplace also includes discrimination based on gender identity.

It follows a landmark ruling from the US Court of Appeals in March, which was praised by LGBT+ rights campaigners, that stated that religious grounds cannot be used to discriminate against transgender people at work.

This Court of Appeals ruling was issued after a transgender employee from Detroit was fired by her employer because she is transgender.

Aimee Stephens was fired from her job at a funeral home after coming out as trans to her boss.

She took her case all the way to the Court of Appeals with the support of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC], after a district court dismissed her legal challenge, claiming that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act gave the funeral home an exemption from the federal law – Title VII – of the Civil Rights Act, which covers sex discrimination in the workplace.

However, the Court of Appeals overruled this district court decision, saying that sex discrimination includes discrimination against trans people – and that there is no exemption under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

“Discrimination against employees, either because of their failure to conform to sex stereotypes or their transgender and transitioning status, is illegal under Title VII,” Circuit Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote for the Court of Appeals.

(Mark Makela/Getty Images)

“Discrimination against employees, either because of their failure to conform to sex stereotypes or their transgender and transitioning status, is illegal under Title VII,” Circuit Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote for the court.

“The unrefuted facts show that the Funeral Home fired Stephens because she refused to abide by her employer’s stereotypical conception of her sex.”

A representative from the ACLU, who argued the case for Stephens, said at the time that it was “an exciting and important victory for transgender people and allied communities across the country.”

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Trump Administration is ‘Likely to Have Devastating Consequences’ for LGBT Healthcare, Says Report

US president Donald Trump’s administration is “likely to have devastating consequences” for LGBT+ healthcare in the country, according to a damning new report by non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch.

The latest research published on Monday (July 23) concludes that LGBT+ people face “significant barriers” accessing healthcare, which it states is worsening as the Trump government rolls back anti-discrimination protections and introduces religious exemption laws.

“Many LGBT people already face difficulties obtaining accessible, inclusive health care,” the 34-page report reads.“The Trump administration’s proposed rollback of antidiscrimination protections and expansion of religious exemptions are likely to have devastating consequences, exacerbating health disparities for a population that already experiences high rates of healthcare discrimination.”

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The report – called “You Don’t Want Second Best’: Anti-LGBT Discrimination in US Health Care” – particularly highlights the plight of transgender people living in America.

 

In May 2017, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) indicated that it would reverse regulations introduced by former president Barack Obama’s administration that prohibit the discrimination of trans people in federally funded healthcare programes.

The department submitted a draft of this proposed rollback of protections in April 2018.

The HSS has also suggested a number of other possible rules that could allow providers to refuse key services to LGBT+ people and women on moral or religious grounds.

The publication continues: “Many LGBT people have difficulty finding providers who are knowledgeable about their needs, encounter discrimination from insurers or providers, or delay or forego care because of concerns about how they will be treated.

“In the absence of federal legislation prohibiting healthcare discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, LGBT people are often left with little recourse when discrimination occurs.”

In February last year, the Trump government officially revoked guidance – introduced under Obama – protecting transgender students in public schools.

And, in May, the Trump administration reversed rules allowing transgender prisoners to use facilities – including bathrooms and cell blocks – that match their gender identity.

The Trump administration has also repeatedly attempted to ban transgender people from serving in the military. However, a federal judge blocked this proposed rule in June. 

The report recommends that laws should be put in place to prevent the discrimination against LGBT+ people in healthcare, and that religious exemption laws need to be repealed.

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The Human Rights Watch report claims LGBT+ people face “significant barriers” accessing healthcare in the US.(Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)

It states: “Lawmakers at the federal, state, and local levels should enact laws and regulations that expressly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in health care, and should repeal or revise sweeping religious exemption laws that allow insurers and providers to deny healthcare services to LGBT people and women seeking reproductive care.”

The research was carried out between August 2017 and July 2018, including 81 interviews related to healthcare discrimination.

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Bulgaria Recognizes Rights of Married Lesbian Couple in Historic First

A Bulgarian court has backed the right of a same-sex married couple to reside in the country for the first time in a landmark ruling.

The Sofia City Administrative Court ruled that the French-Australian couple should be allowed to live in Bulgaria together, reports Australian TV network SBS.

Cristina Palma, from Australia, married her partner Mariama Diallo in France in 2016, having met in Sydney 15 years ago.

The couple moved to Bulgaria together shortly afterwards. However, Palma’s application to continue her residency in the country was rejected in 2017.Palma then started a lawsuit over the refusal of her residency, which she won on June 29, when the Sofia court ruled in her favour.

It’s believed to be the first time Bulgaria – a country where gay marriage and same-sex adoption remains illegal – has recognised the rights of a same-sex married couple in a case like this.

In January 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that all EU nations have to recognise the rights of same-sex spouses, even if the government has not legalised equal marriage.

The historic case has been lauded by LGBT+ rights campaigners in the country.

Sofia Pride, which was held last month, posted on Facebook: “In a historic decision published on 29 June 2018, the Sofia City Administrative Court ruled in favour of a same-sex couple – Cristina and Mariama – who fought for their right to reside as a married couple in Bulgaria!

“This ruling is of paramount importance for us as a community because it gives hope to all same-sex couples, regardless of their citizenship, that their families will be recognized in Bulgaria!”

Palma, meanwhile, posted on Twitter: “We are part of making History in the #LGBT movement in Bulgaria.”

In June, the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the second main political party in Bulgaria, refused an invitation to Sofia Pride – saying she opposes same-sex marriage and adoption.

In an open letter addressed to the organisers of Sofia Pride opposition leader Korneliya Ninova turned down the invite to attend the event in the nation’s capital on June 8.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party is the main opposition party in the country, and is considered more liberal than the right-wing GERB, which stands for Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, which is currently in power.

The BSP has the biggest membership base of all political parties in Bulgaria, with 105,000 members as of 2016.

“Thank you for your invitation towards me and all members of our team to get involved on Sofia Pride 2018,” Ninova wrote in an open letter to the chair of the Sofia Pride organisational committee.

“As far as your message towards me, accept my respect for LGBT people, but I also trust you will respect differences of opinion. Mine is the same as the 75 percent of Bulgarians, which you refer to in your letter.

“I am against same-sex marriages and the ability of same-sex people to adopt children. Of course, this is a personal position, which does not bind anyone else.”

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Phoenix Permanently Paints Road Crossings with Pride Colors

Phoenix has painted two crossings with Pride colours in a tribute to its LGBT+ residents. (ILoveGayPhoenix/Twitter)

Phoenix has painted two crossings with Pride colours in a tribute to its LGBT+ residents. (ILoveGayPhoenix/Twitter)

Phoenix has permanently painted two zebra crossings with Pride colours, embracing the city’s LGBT+ community.

The city’s council unanimously voted to give two crossings a rainbow makeover, reports The Arizona Republic.

The two crossings are in Seventh and Glenrosa avenues, and Central Avenue at Portland Street.

Three local LGBT+ organisations — Phoenix Pride Community Foundation, Aunt Rita’s Foundation, and one-n-ten – asked the council to install the Pride-themed crosswalks in a permanent demonstration of support for the Arizona capital’s queer community.“The time is right to move this proposal forward to bring rainbow crosswalks … so that our city can continue to embrace and thrive in our diversity and our inclusion and in welcoming all people who wish to visit, live in, work in, build a business in or simply enjoy the city of Phoenix,”  Phoenix Pride Executive Director Michael Fornelli said in April, according to The Arizona Republic. 

The LGBT+ organisations paid for crossings to be painted over, and will also fund the long-term maintenance.

Other cities in the US have installed rainbow-coloured crossings, including San Antonio, San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Cities across the world, too, have also painted their crossings with the Pride colours in a show of support for LGBT+ people.

Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo recently announced rainbow crossings in the French capital – vandalized twice in one week with homophobic graffiti – would be made permanent.

The Pride-themed crossings were installed for Paris Pride, also known as Marche des Fiertés, at the end of June.

However, the rainbow additions were targeted by vandals twice in one week – on June 25 and June 28 – who covered them with paint and scrawled homophobic messages, including “LGBT get out of France” and “LGBT dictatorship.”

The vandalism was promptly cleaned up and widely condemned, including by mayor Hidalgo.

Now, Hidalgo has said the Pride-painted crossings will be made a permanent feature of the French capital.

“Paris is a safe haven that embraces the republican values ​​of freedom, equality and fraternity,” she wrote on Twitter.

“For they fall forever in its walls, crosswalks rainbow sky created for #MarcheFesFiertés will be permanent!”

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Marriage Equality Has Improved Gay Men’s Health, New Study Suggests

A new study has suggested that the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the US has improved the health of gay men.

The latest research – by professors at Vanderbilt University – found that equal marriage had led to increased health insurance coverage and better access to health care for men living in same-sex households.

The study revealed that gay marriage “increased the probability” of a man in a same-sex household having health insurance by 4 percent.

These men, it found, since equal marriage became law in the US, were 4 percent more likely to have a “usual source” of healthcare, and 7 percent more likely to have had a health check-up in the past year.The new research, distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research, did not ask respondents about their sexual orientation – but instead researchers calculated an estimate for number the number of gay or bisexual men and women living in same-sex households with one other adult.

They found that one in ten women and four in 10 men in these same-sex households were not likely to be heterosexual.

The academics then looked at the changes in health insurance and and healthcare for these people, following the legalisation of equal marriage in the US in June 2015.

Still, the results did not find that the impact of gay marriage was notable for women. Researchers pointed to deficiencies in their statistics as an explanation for this.

They said that women were more likely than men to have children from previous relationships – making them more likely to travel to another state where same-sex marriage was legal, before it became law in all the US states.

The researchers said their data did not record this prior residences or the location of same-sex marriages.

However, researchers pointed to previous studies that concluded that the legalisation of equal marriage had had a positive impact on the health of lesbian and bisexual women.

For both men and women in same-sex households, the new study revealed that gay marriage did not affect the rates of substance use and preventative health care.

The findings support the the results from previous research into the impact of equal marriage on gay couples.

In 2012, another study in Massachusetts, focusing on gay and bisexual men in same-sex marriages, revealed that same-sex marriage decreased their need to visit the doctor, and resulted in lower health-care costs.

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Paris Mayor Makes Rainbow Crossings ‘Permanent’ After They Were Vandalized Twice in One Week

Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo has said that rainbow crossings in the city – vandalised twice in one week with homophobic graffiti – will be made permanent.

The Pride-themed crossings were installed for Paris Pride, Marche des Fiertés, at the end of June.

However, the rainbow additions were targeted by vandals twice in one week – on June 25 and June 28 – who covered them with paint and scrawled homophobic messages, including “LGBT get out of France” and “LGBT dictatorship.”

The vandalism was promptly cleaned up and widely condemned, including by mayor Hidalgo.“Paris is a safe haven that embraces the republican values ​​of freedom, equality and fraternity,” she wrote on Twitter.

“For they fall forever in its walls, crosswalks rainbow sky created for #MarcheFesFiertés will be permanent!”

(Anne_Hidalgo/Twitter)

The unidentified vandals also wrote “Hidalgo dégage” on one of the crossings, which translates to “Hidalgo get out,” in a direct message to the mayor.

One Paris resident had posted photos of the vandalised crossings to Twitter, adding: “These homophobic tags are a reflection of all the discrimination and violence faced by LGBTQIs everywhere in France and in the world, we will fight them relentlessly.”

Mayor Hidalgo had earlier responded to the vandalism, tweeting: “Last night the rainbow crosswalk in Marais has been vandalized again. This act of homophobia won’t go unpunished.

“The Prosecutor of the Republic will be seized. The municipal agents will clean up this morning.”

She also posted a video to Twitter of graffiti being removed from a rainbow crossing using a jet-wash.

Hidalgo added: “Thanks to the agents of the City of Paris, already on the ground to once again clean the rainbow pedestrian crossings of the Marais.”

The second time the crossings were vandalised. (Christine Rougemont / Facebook)

Many prominent LGBT people and allies also condemned the repeated vandalism.

Following the first incident, openly gay Deputy Mayor Bruno Julliard said: “The homophobic degradation of our city’s rainbow decorations is unacceptable.

“This new manifestation of hideous hatred will only strengthen our determination to fight against discrimination without fail.”

Out politician Jean-Luc Romero added: “Anti-LGBTQI hatred struck at the heart of Paris. Our answer is Saturday, when hundreds of thousands of people will parade for the Pride Walk!”

Mayor Hidalgo has stated that more rainbow crossings will be added around Paris following the crimes.

This move has been welcomed by many in Paris’ LGBT community, with one person writing: “After this vandalism, I expect Hidalgo to repaint all pedestrian crossings in Paris the colours of the rainbow.”

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California Official Faces Backlash After Calling for ‘Straight Pride Month’

The vice mayor of Dixon, California, is facing calls to step down after he proclaimed July as “Straight Pride American Month.”

Ted Hickman declared July as a month to celebrate heterosexuals in a bizarre article on his personal blog, which was also published in local paper Independent Voice.

His piece prompted recall efforts – a procedure when elected officials can be removed from office following a vote – with the creation of a “Recall Ted Hickman” Facebook page, which currently has more than 700 ‘likes’.

Hickman has faced calls to step down in response to his article (QuentenVoyce/Twitter)

Hickman wrote in his article: “Now before anyone gets their pantyhose in a knot, this is not really legallyanti anything; instead it’s pro-family; and proud to be a straight American, and me expressing a private opinion… So there!”

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The Californian official added: “Now hundreds of millions of the rest of us can celebrate our month, peaking on July 4, as healthy, heterosexual, fairly monogamous, keep our kinky stuff to ourselves, Americans… We do it with our parades in every state and county in this country with families celebrating together.”

He also described Pride month as “LGBTQF-WTF month,” adding that it was an event that saw “tens of thousands of folks dancing and prancing all over American celebrating the fact they are different than most of the rest of us and showing their “pride” in being so.”

Campaigners are planning a protest at Dixon City Council’s next meeting on July 10, calling for Hickman to stand down.

The Facebook group ‘Recall Ted Hickman’ is urging mayor of Dixon Thom Bogue to respond to Hickman’s article with a statement.

Campaigners are calling for Ted Hickman to step down following his article (Recall Ted Hickman, Vice Mayor of Dixon, CA/Facebook)

Later in his article, Hickman said: “We honor our country and our veterans who have made all of this possible (including for the tinker bells) and we can do it with actual real pride, not some put on show just to help our inferior complex “show we are different” type of crap. We ARE different from them…We work, have families, (and babies we make) enjoy and love the company (and marriage) of the opposite sex and don’t flaunt our differences dressing up like faries and prancing by the thousands in a parade in nearby San Francisco to be televised all over the world.”

The vice mayor defended his article in an interview with The Sacramento Bee, telling the local paper: “It was tongue-in-cheek and had nothing to do with my elected position [and that] thin-skinned people took offense.”

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Closeted Men ‘Underestimate the HIV Risk’ From Having Gay Sex, Say Researchers

A new study has found that closeted men who have gay sex may be underestimating the risk of catching HIV.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh found that public health messages should be used to target men who aren’t open about having gay sex because this group has been “neglected.”

The study revealed that men who weren’t open about their sexuality – and who had sex with other closeted men – were more likely to contract HIV from each other, instead of from out gay or bisexual men.

The researchers believe these men are less likely to take on board prevention messages, decreasing their awareness of their risk of HIV.

The study involved looking at archived anonymous data to examine the ways HIV is transmitted.

Scientists looks at the genetic coding of virus samples taken from more than 60,000 HIV-positive individuals in Britain.

The researchers created networks linking the infections, in order to see how the virus was transferred from person to person.

The same group of scientists also discussed – in earlier work – that 6 percent of HIV-positive men who said they were straight when they were diagnosed had caught the virus by having sex with other men.

The new research concluded that not openly gay or bisexual men tended to have fewer sexual parters, and generally choose to have sex with one another. They said this behaviour meant some of them could be underestimating their HIV risk.

Andrew Leigh Brown of the School of Biological Sciences at the university, who led the study, told The Times: “Nondisclosed men who have sex with men are more likely to be infected by each other than by openly gay men and less likely to be aware of their risk.

“The finding shows that public health messages should be targeted specifically at this neglected group. It also shows that large-scale studies of health data can be carried out without risk to individual privacy.”

Terrence Higgins Trust recently launched a new programme to make HIV self-testing kits free to all gay and bisexual men, as well as trans women.

PinkNews tried out the  HIV self-testing kit live on Facebook with Terrence Higgins Trust’s Liam Beattie at PinkNews’ London office.

Last month, new research suggested gay and bisexual men who engage in chemsex are more likely to be newly diagnosed with HIV, hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted infections than those who do not.

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Trans Woman Dies in US Custody, with Migrant Groups Accusing Authorities of ‘Murder’

Roxana Hernández. (familiatqlm/Twitter)

Roxana Hernández. (familiatqlm/Twitter)

A trans woman has died in US custody, with migrant groups blaming the death on the “medical negligence” on the part of American authorities – and accusing them of “institutional murder.”

Roxana Hernández, 33, died in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

She had been seeking asylum at the San Ysidro port of entry on the US border earlier this month, when she was detained in ICE custody on 13 May.

Hernández, known simply as Roxy, had travelled to the American border as part of a ‘refugee caravan’ – a group of more than 1,300 people – organised by immigration support group Pueblo Sin Fronteras.

In a statement announcing Hernández’s death, ICE said that she had been admitted to hospital on 17 May with symptoms of pneumonia, dehydration and complications associated with HIV.

The US body said that medical staff identified the “preliminary cause of death” as cardiac arrest.

The statement also said that Hernández had entered the US illegally three times since 2005 – but was arrested and removed on her last attempt to stay in the country in 2014.

But a statement released by Pueblo Sin Fronteras, alongside other migrant groups Al Otro Lado and Diversidad Sin Fronteras, disputed ICE’s version of events and described the death as “institutional murder.”

“Roxy died due to medical negligence by US immigration authorities. In other words, she was murdered, much like Claudia Gómez González was murdered by a Border Patrol agent’s bullet less than a week ago,” it reads.

“Roxy died in the country she had sought to start a new life in, she died for being a transgender woman, a migrant who was treated neither with respect nor with dignity.”

The groups added that, in ICE custody, Hernández suffered from “cold, lack of adequate food or medical care, with the lights on 24 hours a day, under lock & key.”

“During her first week in the United States Roxy’s body and spirit quickly deteriorated,” their statement says.

Nino Starr was murdered in the US earlier this month. (Nino Starr/Facebook)

Hernández had been fleeing violence and discrimination she faced because of being transgender in her home country of Honduras.

She told Buzzfeed News last month about an attack in Honduras when a group of gang members shouted at her “we don’t want you in this neighborhood, you fucking faggot,” before gang-raping her.

Earlier this month, a transgender person was shot and killed in Georgia.

Nino Fortson was shot multiple times following an argument in Atlanta, Georgia during the early hours of May 13.

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