International

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‘Alan Turing law’: Thousands of Gay Men to be Pardoned

  Gay and bisexual men convicted of now-abolished sexual offences in England and Wales are to receive posthumous pardons, the government has announced. Thousands of living men convicted over consensual same-sex relationships will also be eligible for the pardon. Lib Dem peer Lord Sharkey, who proposed the amendment to the Policing and Crimes Bill, said it was “momentous”. It follows the pardoning of World War Two code-breaker Alan Turing for gross indecency in 2013. Under the amendment – dubbed “Turing law” – deceased people who were convicted of sexual acts that are no longer deemed criminal will receive an automatic […]

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Trudeau says Canada Will Explore Gender-neutral ID Cards as He Joins Gay Pride

Canada is exploring the use of gender-neutral options on identity cards, Justin Trudeau told a television station on Sunday as he became the first Canadian prime minister to march in a gay pride parade. Trudeau, who participated in the downtown Toronto parade along with other politicians, did not give details, saying only the government was exploring the “best way” and studying other jurisdictions. “That’s part of the great arc of history sweeping towards justice,” he told CP24. Last week, the Canadian province of Ontario said it would allow the use of a third gender indicator, X, for driver’s licenses, which […]

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Activists Accuse Israel of ‘Pinkwashing’ to Attract Tourists While Neglecting LGBT Groups

The Israeli Government has been accused of ‘pinkwashing’ to attract tourists, while neglecting LGBT groups. Tel Aviv held its pride parade last week and spent $2.86m on advertising to attract tourists from around Europe to attend the event. LGBT campaigners criticised this move stating that the sum was 10 times the annual amount spent on LGBT associations. Imri Kalman, co-chair of Aguda, Israel’s largest campaign organisation for LGBT rights said: “Spending 1.5 million shekels to paint a rainbow on a plane full of tourists, that’s ridiculous. “We finally understood the hypocrisy of this Government and this Prime Minister, who boasts in […]

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Despite Threats And Attacks, Tunisian Activists Are Still Fighting For Greater LGBT Rights

Abdelbraki Mezin asked me over coffee last week if homophobia was dead in the United States. “I mean, you’ve had marriage equality for almost a year, surely that’s enough time,” the Tunisian human rights defender said. His partner, Bouhdid Belhedi, laughed, adding, “Yes, much like winning the Nobel Peace Prize solved all of Tunisia’s human rights issues.” Mezin and Belhedi are LGBT rights defenders in Tunisia. As members of Tunisia’s first organization working openly for LGBT rights, they have suffered attacks, death threats, and lost family relationships. Criminalizing Sexuality Homosexuality is illegal in Tunisia, punishable by up to three years […]

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Germany Anti-gay Law: Plan to Rehabilitate Convicted Men

  Germany is set to annul the convictions of gay men under a law criminalising homosexuality that was applied zealously in post-war Germany. Justice Minister Heiko Maas is to overturn the convictions and create a “right to compensation”. About 50,000 men were convicted between 1946 and 1969, under a 19th-Century law that the Nazis had sharpened. Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1969, but the legislation was not taken off the books entirely until 1994. “We will never be able to eliminate completely these outrages by the state, but we want to rehabilitate the victims,” Mr Maas said in a statement. “The […]

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Mob Trash University in Hunt for ‘Gay’ Man

  A mob in Senegal have “burned” and “ransacked” buildings at a university in search of a gay student. The crowd formed last Tuesday at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, after one student accused another of hitting on him in the showers.  Amateur footage showed the group going around various buildings of the institution, shouting “you homosexual” and telling the victim of their attacks to show his face to the camera. When the man was able to escape, the group turned violent burning and trashing various buildings. A security guard at the university said hoards of young men gathered […]

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Hungary Slammed After Blocking Europe-wide Agreement on LGBT Rights

  A number of MEPs have condemned Hungary’s decision to block a Europe-wide agreement on LGBT rights. The Dutch government, which currently holds the EU Presidency, had tabled a draft agreement at the Council of the European Union this week, which called on the European Commission to tackle homophobic and transphobic discrimination, promote measures to advance LGBTI equality, and step up efforts to collect data on the treatment of LGBTI citizens.  The agreement has been welcomed by the majority of member countries – with conservative countries including Latvia, Lithuania and Poland dropping their initial reservations. However, the agreement was vetoed […]

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Gay Adoption Comes to Portugal As Parliament Overturns Presidential Veto

Portugal legalized same-sex marriage in 2010, but a right-leaning Parliament who prevented couples from adopting made the country an outsider in the marriage equality movement. The 2015 elections ushered in what’s called the Left Bloc majority in the Portuguese Assembly and the Bloc made the adoption bill one of their first priorities since being sworn in. Together with members of the ruling coalition, the gay adoption bill was passed in December of 2015, but the out-going president vetoed it in late January. 116 votes in favor were needed for a successful overturn of the veto and the undeterred members of […]

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Gay Weddings To Begin in Greenland on April 1st

Following unanimous approval in both the Greenlandic and Danish Parliaments, the same-sex marriage and adoption bill was given the ceremonial Royal Assent on Wednesday. The island’s new Civil Code will become gender-neutral and couples will begin marrying the day the law comes into force on April 1st. Greenland’s Bishop had been looking forward to couples being allowed to marry in the local Church since the bill was first proposed in 2014. The bill repeals the registered partnership law adopted from Denmark in 1996 and expands full adoption rights to all couples. Previously, only stepchild adoption was allowed since 2009. The […]

Italians Protest to Urge Govt to Grant Gay Civil Unions

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated Saturday in nearly 100 cities across Italy to urge the government to permit gay and lesbian couples to have civil unions and legally recognized families. Mirco Pierro, 39, rallied in front of the Pantheon in Rome with his partner and twin infants, saying he wanted “to defend the rights of our children, not just our rights.” Pierro and his partner were married in Los Angeles but their union is not recognized in Italy and only one of them has parental rights. “They are here. They exist, they are part of our families, and it […]

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