International

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‘Welcome to Chechnya’ Documents Russian Region’s Anti-gay Purge

You can do anything with a face on screen these days, whether it’s shaving decades off with a digital scalpel or deepfaking it into unrecognizable oblivion. Usually this wizardry has the air of a stunt, a transformation pulled off merely because it’s possible. Never, however, have such effects proven as chillingly essential as they are in “Welcome to Chechnya,” a vital, pulse-quickening new documentary from journalist-turned-filmmaker David France that urgently lifts the lid on one of the most horrifying humanitarian crises of present times: the state-sanctioned purge of LGBTQ people in the eponymous southern Russian republic. Closely charting multiple missions to extract […]

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Gays in Hungary Facing Increased Government Hostility, Rights Group Says

Hungary’s gay community is facing increased government “attacks” and fears that its hard-won rights, and an improvement in public acceptance of them, may be at risk, a rights group said. The European Union has long criticized Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s right-wing government over its record on the rule of law and civil liberties, including its attitude toward minorities, including LGBTQ people. The Hatter (“Background”) group said various legislative moves, a lack of police vigilance and sometimes hostile rhetoric from the ruling Fidesz party threatened to undo the progress seen since the fall of communism three decades ago. Related NBC OUT […]

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Israel Kowtows to Russia’s Demands and Bans LGBT People from Adopting Russian Kids

Israel and Russia have signed a deal banning LGBT+ people from adopting Russian children, after a decade of negotiations. The agreement, signed on January 22, stipulates that same-sex couples cannot adopt children from Russia. Ze’ev Elkin, Jerusalem affairs minister, met with a senior Russian delegation Wednesday ahead of president Vladimir Putin’s scheduled Thusday visit to attend the Fifth World Holocaust Forum. The senior Russian delegation included Russia’s foreign minister, economics minister and education minister, according to the Jerusalem Post. Israel and Russia finalised two agreements at the meeting, one on same-sex adoption and the other regarding cooperation between the two countries’ foreign ministries. […]

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Trans Man becomes First Person in Kosovo to Legally Change Name, Gender on Passport

A trans man in Kosovo has become the first named person in the country to update his name and gender marker on his ID documents. Blert Morina won a two-year court battle to exercise his right to change the name and gender marker on his documents, requests that had previously been denied. In December, the Basic Court of Prishtina affirmed his right to change the name and sex marker on his documents – only the second time a court in the country had legally backed someone’s right to do so. The first person remained anonymous, according to Kosovo Two Point Zero. Morina, […]

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Bolsonaro Government Charges US Out Journalist Glenn Greenwald with Cybercrimes

“This is despicable, dangerous, and a crime against journalism.” Journalist Glenn Greenwald was reportedly charged with cybercrimes by Brazilian authorities Tuesday in connection to his reporting on corruption in the country, a move by the right-wing government of President Jair Bolsonaro that was quickly and forcefully condemned by progressives and journalists around the world. “This is beyond disturbing,” said Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Prosecutors claimed that Greenwald—who has lived in Brazil with his husband, David Miranda, for many years—was at the center of a “criminal conspiracy” to hack cellphones of government officials.00:0000:45 According to the New York […]

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Worldwide Attitudes Towards Lesbians Are more Positive than Gay Men, Study Finds

Around the world, attitudes towards lesbians are more positive that they are towards gay men, according to new research. The study was published in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science and looked at attitudes towards gay men and lesbian women in 23 countries, “representing both Western and non-Western societies”. The authors of the study analysed Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States. The researchers found that in every one of the 23 countries, lesbians were viewed less negatively than gay men. […]

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More than 300 Human Rights Activists were Killed in 2019, with 100 in Colombia

A total of 304 human rights defenders in 31 countries were killed in 2019 as space for those defending LGBT+ rights “remains extremely constrained”, a new report has revealed. The report by Front Line Defenders (FLD) detailed attacks on activists as they worked to defend the environment, free speech, LGBT+ rights and indigenous lands. Two thirds of the murders took place in Latin America, with Colombia emerging as the most dangerous country after 103 were killed in the past year. The Philippines was the second deadliest country with 43 killings, followed by Honduras, Brazil and Mexico. Eighty-five per cent of those killed had previously been threatened, either as […]

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Bali Guesthouses Investigated for ‘Catering to Gays’ and ‘Tainting’ Island’s Reputation

At least four villas in Bali, Indonesia, are being investigated for “marketing themselves specifically for the gay community”, amid increasing anti-LGBT+ sentiment on the island. Although the island of Bali has historically been seen as one of the most tolerant places in country, in general discrimination and violence against LGBT+ people is on the rise in Indonesia. Gay sex is currently legal in most regions of the country, including Bali, but there are no discrimination protections for LGBT+ people and same-sex relationships are not recognised. In 2018, an Indonesian province where LGBT+ people face rife persecutionannounced that it wanted to […]

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Gay Refugees in Kenya Report Repeated Attacks from Locals

For years, Ugandan refugee Mbazira Moses has been typing out emails to dozens of international humanitarian organizations and United Nations officials with a message: LGBTQ refugees at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya need your help. The Kakuma camp and nearby Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement, both operated by the U.N. Refugee Agency, or UNHCR, are together home to nearly 200,000 refugees from dozens of countries. Many, if not most, have fled overland from Kenya’s conflict-stricken neighbors: Uganda, South Sudan and Somalia. But according to Moses and experts on refugees and migration, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer refugees in Kakuma — many […]

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Judge Orders U.S. to Return Gay Asylum-seeker Deported to Chad

A federal judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to return a gay asylum-seeker who was deported to Chad, ruling that the government had not properly considered his asylum claim based on his status as a gay man before deporting him. Oumar Yaide arrived in the U.S. in 2009 and requested political asylum because he was a member of “a disfavored group,” a Chadian ethnic group called the Gorane. His asylum application was denied in 2014, and in December 2018 a judge denied his final appeal. In October, however, two months after officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, […]

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