International

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Singapore repeals gay sex ban but limits prospect of legalizing same-sex marriage

Singapore’s parliament on Tuesday decriminalized sex between men, but, in a blow to the LGBTQ community, also amended the constitution to prevent court challenges that in other countries have led to the legalization of same-sex marriage. The moves come as other parts of Asia, including Taiwan, Thailand and India are recognizing more rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer community. Activists cheered the repeal, but said the amendment to the constitution is disappointing because it means citizens will not be able to mount legal challenges to issues like the definition of marriage, family, and related policies since these will […]

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Taliban lashes and flogs Afghans in crowded football stadiums for ‘adultery and gay sex’

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The Taliban have flogged a group of people in a crowded football stadium for “moral crimes” including gay sex. Twelve people, including three women, were lashed in front of thousands of onlookers in the eastern Logar province, a Taliban official has informed theBBC.  According to the source they were punished for “sins” including “adultery, robbery, and gay sex”. The people flogged received between 21 and 39 lashes each, with the maximum a person can receive being 39, another Taliban official shared. It comes a week after the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, announced the group would be “implementing sharia law” in full force […]

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Russian embassy in Canada sparks furious row after stating ‘family is a man and a woman’

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The Russian embassy in Canada has sparked outrage after tweeting a photo of the pride flag with a red symbol prohibiting it and writing: “family is a man and a woman and children”. Posted on Friday (25 November), following Russia adopting a “gay propaganda” law prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality the day before, the tweet has been condemned by many who have demanded response and action from the Canadian government. “It is all about family. Family is a man and a woman and children,” the tweet states. In response to backlash the embassy has released a statement: “Canada and a range of other States-supporters of […]

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Russia: Expanded ‘Gay Propaganda’ Ban Progresses Toward Law

Russia’s State Duma unanimously supported new draft legislation to further restrict freedom of expression regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, Human Rights Watch said today. The proposals prohibit sharing positive and even neutral information about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, and publicly displaying non-heterosexual orientations, with hefty fines for noncompliance. The legislation is now pending approval by the parliament’s upper chamber and the president. The original “gay propaganda” ban, introduced in 2013, purported to protect children from “propaganda,” broadly defined to mean any positive or neutral depiction or discussion of non-heterosexual relations. The draft legislation, while maintaining aggravated penalties when […]

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Christian conservatives campaign against lesbian polar bears in “Peppa Pig”

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The anti-LGBTQ One Million Moms (OMM) is circulating a petition against the beloved British children’s show Peppa Pig after it aired an episode featuring a young polar bear child with two polar bear moms. The petition tells families to “Beware! Peppa Pig is now boldly glorifying gay marriage.” It states that OMM is “concerned with the normalization of a sinful lifestyle choice during a children’s show.” Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you. “This type of sexuality should never be included in a cartoon designed for children, much less praised. It is especially distressing since […]

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Netanyahu Downplays Plans To Roll Back LGBTQ Rights

Haaretz reports: Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu said in private talks on Friday that “There will be no harm to pride parades nor to the status-quo on LGBTQ rights,” following statements made by lawmakers from the Religious Zionism slate that they intend to work to cancel pride parades around the country. Sources in Likud said Thursday the party intends to cancel measures by the outgoing government promoting LGBTQ rights, although it remains unclear what reforms could be targeted. No decision has been made on which decisions could be walked back, but a reversal of the health ministry’s order banning “conversion” therapy, removing […]

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Gay Men File Appeal in Trumped-Up Chechnya Conviction

 Two men, whom police tortured in Chechnya, are appealing their conviction on false, politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should withdraw the charges against the two men, Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isayev, who are brothers, void the conviction, immediately free them, and hold to account those responsible for torturing them. On October 25, a regional appeal court in Pyatigorsk will hear their appeal against sentences of eight and six years in prison, respectively, for allegedly providing food to a member of an illegal armed group. “The injustice against Magamadov and Isayev could not be more stark, and […]

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Brazil’s fake news crisis is lethal for LGBT+ community

The Brazilian presidential election has fueled a misinformation emergency that has tipped the LGBT+ community into a boiling pot of fake news. This is part of a broader global problem and we need a global plan to stop it. Since the beginning of this year’s election race, incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro deliberately galvanized Christian voters by framing the election as “a fight between good and evil,” repeating the scare tactics about the LGBT+ community he used in 2018. Bolsonaro’s tactics have also dragged his opponent, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva into an outright contest of who is the true Christian among them. Caught […]

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Five centuries on, Milan still echoes with the genius of queer icon Leonardo da Vinci

Since his death more than 500 years ago, multihyphenate genius Leonardo da Vinci and his spectacular works have inspired respect and wonder in generation after generation the world over. An icon of the Renaissance, an inventor so ahead of his time that it’s taken centuries for many of his ideas to come to fruition, and the painter of some of the most stirring and famous works of art on the planet, Leonardo has also become a hero for LGBTQ people, who’ve long seen in his works and biography a host of beguiling clues to his queerness.  Yet non-Italians are often […]

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Ireland is making transgender people a protected class in hate crimes law

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Irish lawmakers are set to make transgender people a protected class in the country, making it easier for anyone who targets them to be charged with a hate crime. The Irish Cabinet has approved a bill that says anyone who is convicted of purposefully inciting hatred or violence against a person due to their gender identity or expression could face up to five years in prison, reported The Irish Times. The updates to Irish hate crimes law – which also included making disabled people a protected class – were reportedly made based on international best practices. To protect freedom of speech, the […]

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