Ryan Thoreson

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As governments demonize LGBTQ+ rights, children lose the most

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In recent months, LGBTQ+ rights have faced significant setbacks in many countries, with populist and authoritarian governments passing draconian laws curtailing LGBTQ+ rights.  Countries as varied asUganda, Ghana, Iraq, Russia, Hungary, and theUnited States, among others, have sought to limit the fundamental freedoms of expression, association, and assembly of LGBTQ+ individuals. They have done so by suggesting that the mere existence of LGBTQ+ people in the public sphere poses a threat to children, misusing the rhetoric of protecting children to restrict fundamental human rights. This tired and offensive stereotype is damaging to the LGBTQ+ community, who are demonized in the public imagination and deprived of basic human […]

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Philippines Uses Humiliation as COVID Curfew Punishment

The spread of COVID-19 has given Philippines law enforcement broad discretion to enforce public health measures. When discrimination is added to the mix, that unfettered power can be particularly demeaning and dehumanizing for vulnerable groups. On April 5, volunteers in the village of Pandacaqui, in Pampanga province stopped and detained three LGBT people outside after curfew, two of whom explained they were running an errand for their grandmother. A village official accused them of looking for illicit sex and, as punishment, publicly humiliated them by ordering them to kiss, dance, and do push-ups on live video broadcast on social media. They were […]