International

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Nicaragua LGBTQ Activist Tortured after Arrest

A well-known LGBTQ activist in Nicaragua who was arrested last September says he was tortured while in custody. Ulises Rivas on Monday said members of Nicaragua’s National Police on Sept. 1, 2019, arrived at his niece’s volleyball game in Comalapa, a town in the country’s Chontales department that is roughly 75 miles east of the Nicaraguan capital of Managua, and arrested him because “they had an arrest warrant.”  A source with whom the Washington Blade spoke after Rivas’ arrest said he had been accused of robbing a woman. Rivas sent the Blade a screenshot of a message posted to a pro-government Facebook […]

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Poland Opposition Parties Hit Back at Anti-gay Sentiment by Appointing Gay Candidate for President

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 […]

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Pakistan Extends Free Healthcare to Trans People

Pakistan has extended free healthcare to transgender citizens for the first time, in a move that will help lessen discrimination against trans people. All trans people in Pakistan will now be eligible for free medical treatment, including transition-related care. The government is giving trans people a special health card that will give them access to an existing government health insurance scheme, which was introduced in 2015 to provide health cards for those earning less than $2 a day, although trans people will not face that financial test. Prime minister Imran Khan said that his government was “taking responsibility” for trans people, […]

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Belize’s Appeal Courts just Unanimously Ruled that Gay Sex is Legal

A battle against an outdated colonial law has finally come to an end, after the court of appeals in Belize unanimously upheld a 2016 ruling that a ban on gay sex is unconditional. Section 53 of the country’s criminal code, which dubbed same-sex desire as “against the order of nature”, was found to go against five sections of the constitution. Belize, a small Anglophone Caribbean nation tucked into the eastern flank of Guatemala and Mexico, has been a battleground for LGBT rights for more than a decade. It’s been a battle that started in 2010 and ended in 2019, rounding off […]

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Chile Transgender Rights Law Takes Effect

Friday was historic moment for transgender rights in Chile because the country’s Gender Identity Law came into force.  Trans people who are at least 18 and single can now change their name and legal gender with a simple procedure in the country’s Civil Registry. Teenagers who are between 14-18 can do so in court, but the new law does not include trans children and adolescents who are under 14. “Today alone we have 136 people who will complete their procedure throughout Chile,” Justice and Human Rights Minister Hernán Larraín told local media. “There was an invisible reality here; people who […]

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UN Official: Past Decade has Seen Human Rights ‘Backlash’

 The past decade has seen a backlash against human rights on every front, especially the rights of women and the LGBT communities, according to a top U.N. human rights official. Andrew Gilmour, the outgoing assistant secretary-general for human rights, said the regression of the past 10 years hasn’t equaled the advances that began in the late 1970s — but it is serious, widespread and regrettable. He pointed to “populist authoritarian nationalists” in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, who he said are taking aim at the most vulnerable groups of society, including Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims, Roma, and Mexican immigrants, […]

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Canada’s Government Asked Citizens whether They’re ‘Comfortable’ with LGBT People

Canada’s federal government posed a rather simple question to its residents: are they comfortable with LGBT+ people? In a preliminary assessment to better understand the challenges faced by the country’s queer community, a wing of the government surveyed Canadians and found an overwhelming amount are, indeed, comfortable. Phew. ‘We obviously have more work to do’, LGBT+ activists say.  The survey, conducted in the summertime, asked Canadian citizens whether they would be comfortable if their neighbour, manager or doctor was LGBT+, Global News reported. Around 91.8 per cent said that would be comfortable if a next-door neighbour were gay, lesbian or bisexual, and […]

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International Teachers in Indonesia Given ‘Psychological Exams’ to Uncover Sexual Orientation

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 […]

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Trans Activist who Campaigned against Transphobia Murdered in Canada

A trans woman and activist who tirelessly worked to battle transphobia was allegedly murdered last weekend in Canada and a suspect has been arrested. Julie Berman, 51, based in Toronto, had for years exerted energy in raising awareness of the rocketing rates of anti-trans violence across the city. She lit candles and delivered potent and inspirational speeches at Transgender Day of Remembrance vigils, loved ones and colleagues said. But according to authorities, she was killed in a downtown boarding home near the corner of Brunswick Avenue and Harbord Street, a residential neighbourhood with fish and chips eateries and university accommodation. Toronto Police […]

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The UK Told Malaysian Man he Wasn’t ‘Gay Enough’ to Stay in the UK. Now, he’s been Given Asylum in Time for Christmas

A 67-year-old man who the Home Office said wasn’t “gay enough” to stay in the UK has received an early Christmas present – asylum status from the government. Yew Fook Sam, known as Sam, lives in Kirkby, Liverpool, and has lived in fear of being deported to Malaysia, where homosexuality is illegal, for the past three years. When he heard about being granted asylum, Sam told the Liverpool Echo: “I am so happy. I was crying and screaming with joy when I got the phone call from my lawyer. This will be my best Christmas ever!” Home Office officials had previously said that they […]

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