Emma Powys Maurice

Coronavirus lockdowns in the Middle East are trapping LGBT+ people with abusive families, advocacy groups have warned. Coronavirus is hitting the Middle East hard, and as the death toll passes 1,000 in Iran alone, governments in Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq and Algeria have all implemented emergency restrictions. While it’s hoped these measures will be effective in slowing the spread of the virus, they’re disastrous for many LGBT+ people who are being forced to remain in unsafe home environments. The Thomson Reuters Foundation heard that many LGBT+ advocacy groups in the region are now having to step up […]

A third of Poland has declared itself to be an official “LGBT-free” zone as local municipalities sign a pledge adopting resolutions against “LGBT propaganda”. Nearly 100 Polish municipal or local governments have now proclaimed themselves to be “free from LGBTI ideology”. Local authorities in these areas pledge to refrain from acts that encourage tolerance and must avoid providing financial assistance to NGOs working to promote equal rights. An “Atlas of Hate” map created by activists reveals the extent of Poland that has signed up to this pledge – and it covers an area greater than the size of Hungary. The area has […]

A Polish court has dismissed a lawsuit against the organisers of an anti-LGBT+ campaign that linked homosexuality with paedophilia, ruling that it was “informative and educational”. The campaign was run by ultra-conservative NGO Fundacja Pro, which drove around Poland in vans with loudspeakers and banners bearing the slogan: “Paedophilia is 20 times more common in homosexuals. They want to teach your children. Stop them!” The group also publicises various claims regarding the alleged prevalence of child abuse among LGBT+ people, based on controversial and contested research by American scholars Mark Regnerus and Paul Cameron. Last year lawyer Bartłomiej Ciążyński filed […]

National newspaper The Australianhas sparked fury with an article that draws comparisons between the coronavirus and the “contagion” of transgender people. The newspaper is well known for its its “appalling” coverage of transgender issues, which includes articles such as “They’re castrating children”, “Transgender project ‘out of balance’” and “Corrupting kids’ thinking”. The latest article evoked strong comparisons with disease with the headline: “Health chiefs can’t ignore ‘global epidemic’ of transgender teens.” Published on Monday, it begins: “With the coronavirus dominating the news, Queensland’s health authorities have been urged to confront an under-reported global contagion involving troubled teenage girls declaring they are ‘born in the […]

As scientists report tentative success in treating coronavirus patients with HIV drugs, health officials fear that misinformation about the virus could spark a run on medications. Last month clinical trials in Wuhan, China, began treating coronavirus patients using a combination of two anti-HIV drugs, lopinavir and ritonavir, which are sold under the brand name Kaletra by AbbVie. The treatment showed promising results, and on Sunday doctors in Thailand confirmed that one patient who was given a mixture of flu drugs and the lopinavir-ritonavir combination had “vastly improved”. But the global panic over the virus has been accompanied by a wave of misinformation […]

Ten men have been jailed in Mauritania after a video emerged of a gay couple appearing to take part in a traditional wedding ceremony. Homosexuality is illegal in the North African country of Mauritania and punishable by death under Sharia law, although there are no known cases of executions in the past decade. The arrest of the ten men marks a rare enforcement of the Islamic law, and if convicted they could face the death penalty by stoning. They were detained by police after a video of the ceremony surfaced on social media. It soon began circulating in local news and […]