Sofia Lotto Persio

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Iowa Governor Signs Law Limiting Funds for Trans and Intersex Healthcare

Iowa governor Kim Reynolds signed a law that will limit public funds for trans and intersex healthcare.

Iowa Republicans introduced a last-minute amendment to the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) budget bill on April 26 in an effort to carve a broad exemption into non-discrimination healthcare laws.

The amendment to the law signed by Governor Reynolds on Friday (May 3) stipulate that civil rights measures “shall not require any state or local government unit or tax-supported district to provide for sex reassignment surgery or any other cosmetic, reconstructive, or plastic surgery procedure related to transsexualism, hermaphroditism, gender identity disorder, or body dysmorphic disorder.”

As such, those procedures will no longer be funded under public programs such as Medicaid. The amendment directly undermines a March ruling by Iowa’s Supreme Court, which stated that the state’s Civil Rights Act protects transgender Iowans from discrimination based on gender identity, including in the provision of services via Medicaid.SPONSORED CONTENTOne Vegetable That Destroys You From The InsideSponsored by United Naturals

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“By signing this cruel legislation into law, Gov. Reynolds has told every transgender Iowan that they are second-hand citizens and unwelcome in our state.”

— One Iowa

The law comes into effect the moment the governor signs it. LGBT+ campaigners have condemned the legislation and Governor Reynolds’ decision to sign it.

“It’s deeply disappointing that Gov. Kim Reynolds is caving to the pressure from some radical lawmakers in the Iowa Senate, instead of protecting the rights and dignity of transgender Iowans,” said JoDee Winterhof, senior vice president of policy and political affairs at the Human Rights Campaign.

Winterhof added: “Gov. Reynolds had the option to line-item veto this provision and leave the rest of the funding bill intact, but she did not. This sends a strong message that she is not working for all of her constituents and a craven desire to please Iowa’s most extreme lawmakers. As a native Iowan, Iowa deserves better—and different—leaders.”

U.S. President Donald Trump listens as Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks during a campaign rally at the Mid-America Center on October 9, 2018 in Council Bluffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump listens as Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks during a campaign rally at the Mid-America Center on October 9, 2018 in Council Bluffs. (Scott Olson/Getty)

LGBT+ rights group One Iowa also condemned the governor’s decisions in a statement on Friday.

“We are deeply disappointed that Gov. Reynolds has ignored medical experts, Iowa business leaders, cost analysis data, and the many transgender Iowans and allies who shared their stories with her to sign this bill into law,” the statement read.

It added: “By signing this cruel legislation into law, Gov. Reynolds has told every transgender Iowan that they are second-hand citizens and unwelcome in our state. Make no mistake, this law threatens people’s lives. Today is a shameful day to be an Iowan.”

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GOPer Posts False Accusation Against Dem Hopeful Pete Buttigeig

A post published on the website Medium accusing Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg of sexual assault was fabricated as part of a smear campaign led by two right-wing agitators.

Republican lobbyist Jack Burkman and provocateur Jacob Wohl had been looking for young men willing to accuse Pete Buttigieg of sexual misconduct as part of their plan to stop the candidate’s momentum, The Daily Beast reported.

Buttigieg, an openly gay veteran who serves as the mayor of South Bend in Indiana, was given little chances to win the Democratic nomination when he first announced the creation of an exploratory committee in January. But the 37-year-old’s star has kept rising, landing him among the top polling candidates in the crowded Democratic presidential field.

“It’s important for everyone to know that I was not sexually assaulted and would never falsely accuse anyone.”

— Hunter Kelly

The Medium account that posted the false accusation bore the name of Hunter Kelly, a 21-year-old gay Republican college student who told The Advocate he was flown to Washington, DC, by Burkman and Wohl.

Kelly said he landed just past midnight on Monday (April 29) and stayed the night at Burkman’s place. After waking up in the morning, he discovered Burkman and Wohl published a statement accusing Buttigieg of sexually assaulting him in February via a Medium account named @RealHunterKelly, and spread it on Twitter after creating an account under the same name. Both accounts have since been suspended from their respective platforms.

Hunter Kelly denies sexual assault claims against Pete Buttigieg

Kelly gave statements to both The Daily Beast and The Advocate denying he had any role in concocting the false allegations against Buttigieg, and later published a statement via his Facebook account bearing the headline: “I WAS NOT SEXUALLY ASSAULTED.”

The post reiterated the version of events shared with the two publications. It read: “It’s important for everyone to know that I was not sexually assaulted and would never falsely accuse anyone. To keep it brief for now- I was approached by a political figure to come to DC to discuss political situations from the standpoint of a gay Republican.

“When I arrived they discussed Peter Buttigieg and started talking about how they would be working a campaign against him. I went to bed and woke up to a fake Twitter @RealHunterKelly and an article that I in no way endorsed or wrote.

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“I have since left and am working on a formal statement to give to everyone including the Buttigieg family. Thank you for standing behind me and knowing that I would never accept or allow any of this.”

Speaking to the press on Monday, Buttigieg commented: “I’m sure it’s not the first time somebody is going to make something up about me.”

He added: “It’s not going to throw us. Politics can be ugly sometimes but you have to face that when you’re in presidential politics.”

Wohl’s Twitter account has since been suspended, while his father David Wohl, who prominently displays a picture of him, President Donald Trump, and his son on his Twitter account, has deleted a tweet in which he shared news of the Medium post.

Photo of a tweet in which Jack Burkman stands by the fake sexual assault claims against Pete Buttigieg.
Jack Burkman stands by the fake sexual assault claims against Pete Buttigieg. (@Jack_Burkman/Twitter)

Burkman stood by his version of the story, posting pictures of a statement he said Kelly signed, attesting to his accusations, and a picture of Kelly showing his student ID. “MSM [mainstream media] bullied him & his family into submission,” Burkman claimed in his post.

But Kelly told The Advocate Wohl and Burkman forced him to sign and and take the photo. “I had no say in either. In the photo you can clearly see I had been crying,” he said.

Another young man, who asked for anonymity for fear of reprisal, told The Daily Beast he had been contacted by Wohl and Burkman him last week with a plan to accuse Buttigieg of sexual assault.

The man provided the publication with a recording of the encounter which was not published to protect his identity, but was independently examined by an expert in audio forensics who confirmed Wohl was one of the speakers recorded in the conversation.

Wohl was previously found to have fabricated death threats against himself and to have falsely moved sexual assault allegations against special counsel Robert Mueller.

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Cayman Islands Appeals Court Blocks Same-sex Marriage Legislation

An appeals court in the Cayman Islands has delayed the implementation of same-sex marriage legalisation in the British Overseas Territory.

The Court of Appeal accepted a government request to halt the legalisation of same-sex marriage that Chief Justice Anthony Smellie of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands ruled with immediate effect in a historic ruling on March 29.

The government is appealing the ruling and demanded a stay on same-sex marriage legalisation, which the appeals court granted on Wednesday (April 10), the Cayman Compass reported.

“Chantelle and Vickie aren’t trailblazers. They’re just a couple who are in love and who know they want to spend the rest of their lives together. They don’t want to be in court fighting for their right to marry, a right which opposite-sex couples take for granted.”

— Jonathan Cooper

The March 29 ruling came less than a year after Chantelle Day and her partner Vickie Bodden Bush applied for the right to be married in the Cayman Islands, but had their application rejected due to the fact that they are a same-sex couple.

They initially said that they’d be prepared to accept a civil partnership as long as their relationship could be recognised by law, but since their plea was rejected they were forced to litigate to have their relationship officially recognised.

The couple was due to become the first married same-sex couple in the Cayman Islands this week, but will instead have to wait at least until August, when the Court of Appeal will hear the government’s argument and decide whether the March 29 ruling should stand.

Cayman islands delay in legalising same-sex marriage labelled a ‘disgrace’

Jonathan Cooper, a barrister at Doughty Street law firm, who has advised the couple on their case, called the appeals court’s decision a “disgrace.”

“Chantelle and Vickie are at the heart of this story. The Chief Justice of the Cayman Islands has recognised their constitutional right to marry.

“Chantelle and Vickie aren’t trailblazers. They’re just a couple who are in love and who know they want to spend the rest of their lives together. They don’t want to be in court fighting for their right to marry, a right which opposite-sex couples take for granted.

Chantelle Day, Peter Laverack, and Vickie Bodden Bush stand outside the court in the Cayman Island that legalised same-sex marriage on March 29.
Chantelle Day, Peter Laverack, and Vickie Bodden Bush stand outside the court in the Cayman Island that legalised same-sex marriage on March 29. An appeals court has now blocked the implementation of that ruling to allow a government appeal against it. (Supplied)

“They just want the law to recognise their right to be together. Instead they are treated like pawns in a chess game,” Cooper said in a statement to PinkNews, adding: “They are being demeaned and shamed and it is a disgrace.”

The barrister renewed his call to the Foreign Office and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt to take action in this case to ensure the couple can marry.

“Hunt needs to stand firm and ensure that Chantelle and Vickie’s ordeal is over. They want a Spring wedding. Is it too much for the Foreign Secretary to grant them that?”

In February, a report from the UK Parliament’s foreign affairs committee called on the government to extend equal marriage—which became legal in England and Wales in 2013 and Scotland in 2014—to British Overseas Territories such as the Cayman Islands.

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Puerto Rico to Ban Gay Conversion Therapy for Minors

Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló said he will sign an executive order banning so-called gay conversion therapy on minors.

Rosselló announced the decision on Wednesday (March 20), days after a bill on the subject was blocked in the House of Representatives by his own party, the New Progressive Party.

“As a father, as a scientist and as governor of everyone in Puerto Rico, I firmly believe that the idea that there are people in our society who need treatment due to their gender identity or those who love is not only absurd, but it is harmful to so many children and young people who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect,” the governor said in remarks quoted in local media.

The executive order is expected to be signed in the next few days.

“I strive for Puerto Rico to be a society in which everyone, no matter who they love, can be accepted and live without fear of persecution.”

—  Ricardo Rosselló

Rosselló added: “I strive for Puerto Rico to be a society in which everyone, no matter who they love, can be accepted and live without fear of persecution. This includes the most vulnerable in society, our children, who must be supported and loved. Conversion therapy does not benefit anyone in any way, it only causes unimaginable pain and suffering.”

Carmen Yulín Cruz, mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital and largest city, San Juan, expressed support for the governor’s decision.

She wrote on Twitter: “Conversion therapies are inhumane and seek to deprive human beings of their dignity. Love is love. It is a simple concept. The compatriots of the LGBT+ community love, period. And love always, always wins over hate. ALWAYS.”

People take part in the annual Gay Pride parade in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 3, 2018.
People take part in the annual Gay Pride parade in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 3, 2018. (Ricardo Arduengo/AFP/Getty)

Puerto Ricans are American citizens even if the island is considered an unincorporated organised territory within the US commonwealth rather than a state—they can vote in party primaries but do not elect representatives to Congress or the Senate.

Federal US law applies to Puerto Rico, as the First Circuit Court of Appeals reminded US District Court Judge Juan Pérez-Giménez in April 2016, when the lower court tried to ban the implementation of the Supreme Court ruling legalising same-sex marriage across the nation.

The LGBT+ community in Puerto Rico remains target of prejudice and violence. Earlier this year, the murder of 24-year-old outspoken gay trap artist Kevin Fretshocked the community but, as Paper magazine noted, also highlighted persistent homophobia against LGBT+ people.

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LGBT activist Oscar Cazorla killed in his home in Oaxaca, Mexico

Pioneering LGBT activist Oscar Cazorla was killed in his home in Juchitan, in Oaxaca, Mexico, on Saturday (February 9).

According to the Oaxaca police, who have opened a murder investigation, the 68-year-old died from a blow to the heart inflicted by a sharp object.

Cazorla was well known in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca for advocating for the rights of those identifying as muxes, a third, non-binary gender that has been celebrated in the culture indigenous to the Istmo de Tehuantepec since pre-Hispanic times.

In 1976, the slain LGBT+ activist was one of the founders of the Vela de las Autenticas Intrepidas Buscadores del Peligro—which roughly translates as the Vigil of the Authentic, Fearless, Danger Seekers—an annual celebration that promotes the respect of muxes in Juchitan—a town of 75,000 that is home to an estimated 5,000 muxes, as AFP reported in 2017.

LGBT activist Oscar Cazorla was among the founders of a yearly festival celebrating the muxe community.
LGBT activist Oscar Cazorla founded a festival celebrating the muxe community in 1976. (Miho Hagino/Facebook)

Cazorla’s killing shocked the local community, who are mourning the activist. “The Authentic, Fearless, Danger Seekers are in mourning. You left us with the broken heart. Rest in peace. My brother Oscar Cazorla Lopez,” wrote the group’s president Felina Santiago Valdivieso, on Facebook.

Speaking to CNN Espanol, Santiago Valdivieso called for a thorough investigation into Cazorla’s murder, as no one has been arrested in connection with the death.

“He was a very happy person who welcomed anyone in his home with a smile. We cannot imagine who may have killed him,” they told the broadcaster.

Santiago Valdivieso also denounced an increase in homophobic and transphobic violence in the past four years against their community. “We are involved in a wave of violence affecting large parts of Mexico,” they said.

International institutions condemn the murder of LGBT+ activist Oscar Cazorla

International institutions also condemned Cazorla’s murder. Jan Jarab, the UN Human Rights Office’s representative in Mexico, said in a statement: “We condemn this terrible crime that affects the entire Muxe community and all human rights defenders in Oaxaca.”

Jarab continued: “In recent years, hate crimes and killings of LGBT+ rights defenders have occurred in different parts of the country without being adequately investigated. This pattern of impunity must be overcome and, for that, Oscar’s murder must be clarified, through a diligent investigation that considers all possible hypotheses, including the possibility of a hate crime or retaliation for his human rights defence activities.”

A statement from the European Union, Norway and Switzerland condemned both Cazorla’s death and that of journalist Jesús Eugenio Ramos Rodríguez, who was shot dead in the state of Tabasco on the same day as the LGBT+ activist’s murder.

The statement, issued on Tuesday (February 12), read: “We express our condolences and our deep solidarity with the family and friends of the victims. The deaths of Ramos and Cazorla demonstrate once again the worrisome degree of violence and intimidation faced by many journalists and defenders in Mexico.”

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Teen, 17, Charged with Murder of Transgender Woman in Chicago

A 17-year-old was charged with the murder of Dejanay Stanton (Dejanay Stanton/Facebook)

A 17-year-old was charged with the murder of Dejanay Stanton (Dejanay Stanton/Facebook)

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of 24-year-old transgender woman Dejanay Stanton in Chicago.

The teenager, who was charged as an adult, was identified in local news outlets such as the Chicago Sun Times as Tremon T. Hill.

Speaking at a bail hearing on Sunday (January 13), prosecutors said Hill knew Stanton and the two had been involved in a sexual relationship since July.

Investigators found a text Hill sent Stanton the morning of her death, asking her to meet him in a lot in the 4000 block of South Calumet Avenue, where her body was found later that day.

“This young lady was special and so innocent. One of the sweetest presence I’ve seen and known!”

— Dejanay Stanton’s friend Trisha Holloway

The more than 400 messages exchanged between the two between July and the day of Stanton’s murder also indicated Hill was uneasy with Stanton being a trans woman.

Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Britt Steinberg said that, at one point, Hill asked Stanton to delete photos of him from her phone, which she did, and told her their relationship was making him feel suicidal.

Steinberg also said a police search of Hill’s home found pants with “small red stains” and other clothing matching the outfit he was wearing on the day of the murder, as filmed by surveillance cameras.

Judge Mary C. Marubio ordered Hill to be detained without bail, but the teen is scheduled for a review of his bail on Monday (January 14).

Several friends of Stanton welcomed news of the arrest on social media, hoping that the trial would bring justice to the victim and her family.

The murder of transgender Chicago woman Dejanay Stanton

Stanton’s body was found laying on the ground outside of her car, which was left with its doors open and a bag and mobile phone inside, on August 30 morning. She had a gunshot wound to the head.

Her family and friends held a vigil in her honour and dozens of people left tributes on social media remembering the young woman, who also had a Facebook account under the name De’janay Lanorra.

Murdered Chicago trans woman Dejanay Stanton
The teen accused of murdering transgender woman Dejanay Stanton had a relationship with her, investigators said. (Dejanay Stanton/Facebook)

Friends described her as a sweet, kind and loving person. “This young lady was special and so innocent. One of the sweetest presence I’ve seen and known!” her friend Trisha Holloway wrote.

Stanton’s murder took place on the same day as that of another young trans woman, 18-year-old Vontashia Bell. Their deaths marked the 17th and the 18th known killing of a transgender person in the US in 2018.

Black queer activist LaSaia Honey Wade remembered both women in a touching statement on Facebook.

“My sisters are being killed, Vontashia Bell in Shreveport, LA and Dejanay Stanton here in Chicago tonight we mourn, we cry and we tell the ancestors to now watch over them. My heart is hurting so much,” she wrote.

Commenting on the two killings, LGBT+ rights group Human Rights Campaign said in a statement: “The deaths of Dejanay Stanton and Vontashia Bell underscore the urgent need to address the epidemic of violence against the transgender community across the U.S.”

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Gay Man in Singapore Wins Landmark Child Adoption Case

A gay man has won a legal battle in Singapore to be legally recognised as the parent of a child he fathered through surrogacy abroad.

The Singapore High Court ruled on Monday that the 46-year-old gay man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will be able to adopt the child, reversing a previous decision from a lower court.

The man has been in a relationship with another man for more than a decade—the two have been living together since 2003, according to the South China Morning Post—and used his sperm to conceive the child through surrogacy in the US.

The child was born in the US in November 2013 and the man was able to bring him to Singapore, being his biological father. But the formal adoption case to legally recognise the child as his own, which started in December 2014, was turned down by a judge last year on the grounds that Singapore does not recognise LGBT+ families.

“it’s the first time surrogacy and gay adoption have been canvassed in court.”

— Lawyer Koh Tien Hua

The city state also does not recognise marriage equality and maintains a ban on homosexual acts under the Section 377A law, which was imposed during British colonial rule.

But the three-judge appeal court recognised that the case’s specific circumstances placed the child’s wellbeing over the status quo.

According to the judges, the reasons motivating the lower court’s decision were not “sufficiently powerful to enable us to ignore the statutory imperative to promote the welfare of the child, and, indeed, to regard his welfare as first and paramount,” TheStraits Times reported.

The ruling marks the first time a court effectively recognises a same-sex family unit. One of the man’s attorneys, Koh Tien Hua of Eversheds Harry Elias, believes the ruling provided clarity around issues of surrogacy in Singapore.

“This is a landmark case because it’s the first time surrogacy and gay adoption have been canvassed in court,” he told Channel NewsAsia.

The judges however insisted the ruling is not meant to signal support for policy change in that regard.

“Our decision should not be taken as an endorsement of what the appellant and his partner set out to do,” said Chief Justice Sunderesh Menon in his judgement, quoted by the BBC.

The judge added there was “significant weight” put towards the concern that the ruling would “not violate the public policy against the formation of same-sex family units.”

For the gay man, his partner and their child, the ruling was nonetheless a cause for celebration.

“The fight to raise our family in Singapore has been a long and difficult journey,” he told the South China Morning Post.

He added: “We hope that the adoption will increase the chances of our son to be able to stay in Singapore with his family. His grandparents and us really want Singapore to be the home of our family. Our family will celebrate this significant milestone.”

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Gay Firefighter Sues for Discrimination Over Same-sex Marriage

Retired gay firefighter Scott Phillips-Gartner is suing the city of Norfolk, claiming he was forced out of his job because of his sexual orientation.

Phillips-Gartner alleges he faced discrimination after Battalion Chief Roger Burris found out he was married to a man, according to court documents quoted in the local news outlet Virginian-Pilot.

The 55-year-old man first started working for the city of Norfolk in 1991 as a 911 operator.

He then joined the firefighters the following year and eventually became an assistant fire marshal in 2013.

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Throughout his time in the firefighters, he was also a member of the bomb squad.

He noticed a change in the way he was treated at work after he married his longtime boyfriend in 2014.

According to the lawsuit, Burris began vilifying Phillips-Gartner for his sexuality throughout the following year, once asking him “Where is Mrs. Gartner?”

The gay firefighter reported his superior’s behaviour to Fire Chief Jeffrey F. Wise but, the lawsuit claims, he too began belittling Phillips-Gartner in front of the team.

According to the court documents, Phillips-Gartner then reported the harassment to the then-city auditor John Sanderlin, but still no action was taken.

“This disrupted his whole life.”

— Barry Montgomery

The situation took a turn for the worse in 2017, when Wise stripped Phillips-Gartner of his law enforcement powers.

The reason given at the time was that Phillips-Gartner had “illegally obtained” a service dog.

Wise told Phillips-Gartner in November 2017 he wanted to fire him and the gay firefighter eventually put in for retirement in December that year, albeit reluctantly.

“This disrupted his whole life,” his attorney Barry Montgomery told the Virginian-Pilot.

The city authorities would not comment on personal cases.

Gay firefighter in California said harassment left him feeling suicidal

Phillips-Gartner’s lawsuit is the latest claim of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation facing fire departments in the US this year.

A firefighter from Cal Fire department, which is facing a lawsuit from gay firefighter Dru Snider, tackles Camp Fire.
A Cal Fire firefighter monitors a burning home as the Camp Fire moves through the area on November 9, 2018 in Magalia, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty)

In March, 38-year-old gay firefighter Capt. Dru Snider sued the Cal Fire department, alleging that the harassment and discrimination he experienced at the Owen Valleys camp was so severe he felt suicidal.

Snider first filed a discrimination complaint in December 2015 but the department did not open an investigation into the behaviour of Owen Valley Division Chief John Paul Melendrez until the following year, when other firefighters complained about the chief’s behaviour creating “an unprofessional work environment.”

“When I asked for help, I was shunned,” Snider told The Sacramento Bee.

“When I complained (about) how I was treated in the workplace, I was shunned.”

The Cal Fire investigation into Melendrez’s behaviour concluded he was an “unprofessional” leader, but he was not removed from his role, The Sacramento Bee reported in 2017.

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LGBT Activists Attacked with ‘Acid Substance’ in Russia

Conference founders Anna and Yulia had been raising money for this year's event via crowdfunding. (Supplied)

Conference founders Anna and Yulia had been raising money for this year’s event via crowdfunding. (Supplied)

LGBT+ activists in Russia involved in organising a conference about same-sex families were attacked for the second year in a row.

The fifth annual LGBTQIAPP+ Family Conference was due to take place on November 9-11, despite funding issues that forced organisers to raise money via crowdfunding to guarantee safety at the venue.

Conference organisers managed to secure a location for the event for free, but on the afternoon of November 9 the venue managers informed the organisers the conference had to be cancelled because they had received threats that made it difficult to guarantee participants’ safety.The LGBT+ activists cleared the space and headed to a nearby shop. As they came out of the shop, they were attacked by an unidentified assailant.

Attack on LGBT+ activists similar to that of the previous year

Nadeshda Aronchik, fundraiser and co-organiser of the conference, tells PinkNews that one person ran towards the volunteers and sprayed them with an “acid substance.” The substance hit two people in the eyes, but also affected other people in the group who were also sprayed.

The two LGBT+ activists that were injured received hospital treatment and are currently recuperating well, Aronchik says. They are being kept under constant monitoring as the substance may lead to longterm consequences.

The opening of the 2017 conference where LGBT+ activists were targeted for the second year in a row.
The event founders at the opening of the 4th family conference last year. (Supplied)

While the substance is yet to be identified by police, Aronchik is sure it was not pepper-spray, as it has been reported elsewhere.

“They were sprayed with the same acid substance as me and my colleagues last year,” she says.

Last year, a group of four men attacked conference guests, organisers and volunteers with an unknown substance, forcing the conference’s third day to be cancelled.

A case into the assault—which was considered to be homophobic, a virtually unprecedented step in Russia—was only opened in August, but the attackers were apprehended and are awaiting trial.

“They won’t win because we don’t give up. We know we are in the right here, so we won’t stop fighting.”

— Nadeshda Aronchik

Aronchik believes the person responsible for this year’s attack is related to the far-right group who orchestrated the one last year. Her suspicion is reinforced by messages the conference organisers received after the November 9 attack.

“After the attack, the organisers received threats through calls and SMS saying they should ‘die’ and ‘burn in hell’ and saying, ‘How did you like our present? Last year was only the beginning,’” Aronchik says, adding that they reported the threats to the police.

Authorities’ attitudes to LGBT+ activists were ‘as friendly as Russian police can be’

Aronchik describes the police’s attitude to the LGBT+ activists as “ambiguous.”

“They were as friendly as Russian police can be,” she says. She accompanied the LGBT+ activists targeted in the attack to the police, as she had experience doing so from the previous experience.

Aronchik recalls: “The policeman was semi-friendly—he had some homophobic and misogynistic statements but not as homophobic as I’ve experienced before, so it was kind of fine.

“He asked what happened and every time he mentioned something homophobic I told him he was out of line and should mind his job rather than commenting on what the guys are saying. So all in all I’d say, for the Russian police, it was OK.”

Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the attack in a statement on Tuesday.

“It is totally unacceptable for activists to face threats and attacks simply for holding a conference,” said Graeme Reid, HRW director of the LGBT rights program. “The Russian authorities need to do more to ensure that these threats and attacks stop.”

Conference organisers are not giving up

The LGBTQIAPP+ Family Conference aims to bring together activists, psychologists, therapists, educators and health professionals who would not otherwise have the possibility to receive information as to how to best support the LGBT+ community.

Same-sex parenting is not banned in Russia, but LGBT+ parents face discrimination and the threat of a 2013 law banning the spread of “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations” to minors. If they look for support on parenting or in their relationship, they have “nowhere to turn,” the organisers said.

A picture of Nadeshda Aronchik, one of the conference organisers, who helped the LGBT+ activists report the attack to the police
Nadeshda Aronchik, a conference organiser who was targeted in a similar attack last year, headed to the police station with the LGBT+ activists to report the incident.

This year’s conference could not go ahead as planned. “We managed to provide video seminars on Saturday [November 10] and tried to provide workshops on Sunday. But unfortunately the address got out again and we received direct threats regarding further attacks. Thus we decided to cancel the afternoon sessions for the security of our participants and volunteers,” Aronchik says.

“It was devastating that the work of six months just vanished,” she continued. “But I decided not to give up und we are already planning to make one day of the conference take place in December.”

Aronchik says she and the other conference organisers have vowed to continue doing their work in spite of the threats. “They won’t win because we don’t give up. We know we are in the right here, so we won’t stop fighting,” she says.

The organisers’ biggest issue at the moment is funding, as they can’t afford to rent a venue and they also need to provide security. “We are currently looking for donors or any other help in Moscow and outside,” Aronchik says,

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Far-right Militants Attack Trans Rights Rally in Ukraine

Doctors provide medical care to participants of a transgender rights march after an attack by far-right groups activists in Kiev on November 18, 2018. (Sergei Supinski /AFP/Getty)

Doctors provide medical care to participants of a transgender rights march after an attack by far-right groups activists in Kiev on November 18, 2018. (Sergei Supinski /AFP/Getty)

Far-right militants attacked a rally in support of trans rights held in Ukraine on Sunday (November 18).

Led by the non-governmental organisation Insight, trans rights campaigners gathered in Ukraine capital’s Kiyv to demand an end to transphobia ahead of Transgender Day of Remembrance, observed on November 20.

According to American journalist Christopher Miller, who reported about the rally on Twitter, a group of religious and far-right militants confronted the LGBT+ activists early in the afternoon at a park in the city, forcing them to change the location of the rally.

Holding banners, rainbow and transgender flags, a group of around 40 LGBT+ campaigners relocated in front of the University metro station, to continue their legally-sanctioned rally.

But counter-protesters attacked them with smoke bombs, shouting homophobic slurs.

Trans rights rally participants protest the police's decision to disperse demonstrators.
A woman talks to a policeman as police disperse participants of the march of transgender people to prevent from attack of far-right groups activists in Kiev on November 18, 2018. (Sergei Supinski /AFP/Getty)

“Things got heated. Police made no attempts to move radicals and instead shoved LGBT activists into metro. As they did, they swore and used hateful slurs to describe them” Miller wrote, describing the events on Twitter.

Police officers “deny the charge,” BBC reported.

Far-right Violence at trans rights rally part of growing trend

Among those injured were two women who had to receive medical treatment in the underground station after being pepper-sprayed, AFP reported.

“Today’s events have demonstrated that the level of far-right radical aggression and violence is increasing in Ukraine,” the NGO Insight wrote in a statement on Facebook after the trans rights rally, decrying the authorities’ failure of guaranteeing their safety and support for human rights.

LGBT+ campaigners in Ukraine have previously held various demonstrations, including gay pride celebrations. But as the arrest of 56 far-right protesters seeking to disrupt the annual Kiyv pride earlier this year suggests, homophobia remains widespread.
Far-right groups forced the trans rights rally organisers to move location.
Activists of far-right groups hold placards and flags as they protest against the transgender rights march in Kiev on November 18, 2018. (Sergei Supinski /AFP/Getty)

Ahead of the trans rights rally, Amnesty International Ukraine denounced “a wave of threats” from radical groups directed at participants and organisers of LGBT+ events.

“We hope that law enforcement will fulfil its duty at the highest level and protect the right of citizens to peaceful gatherings,” the Amnesty International statement read.

Canadian journalist Michael Colborne, who was also covering the trans rights march, was punched in the face. “This country has a huge far-right problem. Stop downplaying it,” he wrote in one of his tweets.

Colborne also criticised the authorities for how they handled the far-right militants confronting the LGBT+ campaigners’ peaceful demonstration.

“A pretty poor job, considering this ain’t my first rodeo covering LGBT/far-right in this city. You’ve let a mob of far-right kids boss around a group of less than 100 #трансмарш2018 #transmarchukraine marchers & push them somewhere else. Terrible job, guys. Terrible.”

Far-right militants protest the trans rights rally in Ukraine.
Activists of far-right groups hold placards and flags as they protest against the transgender rights march in Kiev on November 18, 2018. (Sergei Supinski /AFP/Getty)

Canadian ambassador to Ukraine Roman Waschuk posted a tweet in solidarity with the Canadian journalist.

“Criminal and hateful actions by far-right radicals deserve an effective and dissuasive policing response. [The Ukrainian national police] have shown they can do it at past LGBT events; they need to reassert commitment to media protection and human rights for all,” Waschuk wrote.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko also expressed consternation at news of Colborne’s assult.

“As a Ukrainian diplomat and a journalist, I am upset and disappointed by the attack on Michael Colborne. It is not the Kyiv we love and cherish. The perpetrators should be quickly brought to justice!”

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