Emma Powys Maurice

A total of 304 human rights defenders in 31 countries were killed in 2019 as space for those defending LGBT+ rights “remains extremely constrained”, a new report has revealed. The report by Front Line Defenders (FLD) detailed attacks on activists as they worked to defend the environment, free speech, LGBT+ rights and indigenous lands. Two thirds of the murders took place in Latin America, with Colombia emerging as the most dangerous country after 103 were killed in the past year. The Philippines was the second deadliest country with 43 killings, followed by Honduras, Brazil and Mexico. Eighty-five per cent of those killed had previously been threatened, either as […]

A coalition of centre-left parties in Poland has responded to the growing LGBT+ backlash in the country by appointing an openly gay candidate to stand in the next presidential election. The strongly conservative Catholic country has seen a huge surge in homophobia after the ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) based its winning 2019 parliamentary election campaign on a platform of LGBT+ abuse. The problem has grown so severe that more than 80 Polish municipal or local governments have now proclaimed themselves to be ‘LGBT-free zones’, a move strongly condemned by the European Parliament. An alliance formed of three left-wing parties is now aiming to combat […]

International teachers in some Indonesian schools are being subjected to intrusive ‘psychological exams’ aimed at uncovering their sexual orientation and attitude towards LGBT+ rights. Questions seen by the New York Times include “Agree or disagree: ‘I would feel uncomfortable knowing my daughter’s or son’s teacher was homosexual,’” and “True or false: ‘The gender composition of an orgy would be irrelevant to my decision to participate.’” Some questions were reserved specifically for men, such as: “I wouldn’t want to die without having experimented sexually with both men and women,” and “I can be sexually attracted to anyone in the right circumstances.” Homosexuality is […]

Several actors, DJs, models and Instagram influencers have come under fire for promoting a music festival in Saudi Arabia, a country with a horrific human rights record. Electronic festival MDL Beast took place on 21-23 December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, with a lineup that included DJs David Guetta, Dish Dash, Tiesto and Steve Aoki. While the model Emily Ratajkowski reportedly rejected the festival out of concern for human rights, the actors Armie Hammer and Ed Westwick both attended, as did supermodels Jazelle, Joan Smalls, Amy Jackson and Alessandro Ambrosio. The Conde Nast publication Glamour UK also included a sponsored campaign from the festival. They are now […]

A senior Thai legislator has been forced to apologise after two gay men kissed at a press conference in parliament on Wednesday. The conference was held by the Future Forward party to highlight Thailand’s marriage laws, with LGBT coordinator Ekkawat Pimsawan ceremoniously submitting a proposal calling for a legal change to allow same-sex marriage. TV footage of the conference shows an MP standing next to the two men, James Panumas and Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree, and applauding as they embraced. The simple kiss was so extraordinary that it sparked widespread accusations of “improper” behaviour in parliament. Senator Somchai Sawengkarn reportedly wrote on Facebook that he […]