News
Trump immigration policy sparks fear in El Salvador
LGBTI Salvadorans continue to flee violence
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San Salvador, El Salvador, from the slope of Volcán de San Salvador on July 15, 2018. Rampant violence is among the factors that prompt LGBTI Salvadorans to flee the country and migrate to the U.S. and other countries. (Los Angeles Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Advertisements about receiving remittances from the U.S. are commonplace throughout the city that is located three hours east of the Salvadoran capital of San Salvador on the Gulf of Fonseca. Pacheco said fear over President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy is increasingly palpable among La Unión’s more than 30,000 residents.
“Everyone has delayed their plans to travel (to the U.S.) because they are afraid of being detained,” he told the Los Angeles Blade.
El Salvador has one of the world’s highest per capita murder rates because of violence that is frequently associated with MS-13, 18th Street and other street gangs. Pacheco and other advocates with whom the Blade spoke this month said this violence is among the main reasons that prompt LGBTI Salvadorans to leave the country.
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Ever Pacheco, director of Colectivo LGBTI Estrellas del Golfo, an LGBTI advocacy group in La Unión, El Salvador, and his colleague Valeria at their offices on July 14, 2018. (Los Angeles Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
‘People aren’t going to the U.S. because it’s cold’
Pacheco said six transgender people from La Unión have migrated to the U.S. in recent years “because of the situation in the country with the gangs.” He told the Blade that discrimination and a lack of economic opportunities because of their gender identity also factored into their decisions to leave El Salvador.
Karla Guevara, president of Colectivo Alejandría, a San Salvador-based advocacy group, pointed out to the Blade last year that 18 trans women were known to have been killed in El Salvador in 2015. Francela Méndez, a Colectivo Alejandría board member, on May 31, 2015, became one of these statistics when she was murdered at a friend’s home in Sonsonate Department, which is about an hour west of San Salvador.
Three trans women were killed in February 2017 in San Luis Talpa, a city that is near El Salvador’s main international airport. Karla Avelar, a prominent activist who the Blade interviewed in San Salvador last September, asked for asylum in Ireland after she and her mother received threats.
“People are not going to the U.S. because it’s cold,” said Andrea Ayala, executive director of Espacio de Mujeres Lesbianas por la Diversidad, an advocacy group known by the acronym ESMULES, as she spoke with the Blade at a San Salvador coffee shop on July 13. “People are not going (to the U.S.) because it’s so beautiful.”
“People migrate because they will die and because they are hungry and because they are in need,” she added.
William Hernández, chief executive officer of Asociación Entre Amigos LGBTI de El Salvador, another Salvadoran advocacy group, echoed Ayala.
Hernández told the Blade on July 13 during an interview at a San Salvador hotel that is less than a mile from the U.S. Embassy that the violence in El Salvador is “worse” now than it was during the country’s civil war from 1979-1992.
He said some gangs target trans people and “obviously gay men.” Hernández also told the Blade the only time residents of one neighborhood that is controlled by two rival gangs can cross the street “without suffering the consequences for the act of crossing the street” is when they need to take public transportation.
“This is the reality in general,” he said.
Salvadoran government urged to forcefully criticize Trump
The Trump administration’s decision earlier this year to end the Temporary Protected Status program for the up to 200,000 Salvadorans who have received temporary residency permits that allow them to stay in the U.S. sparked widespread outrage among immigrant rights advocates.
Ayala and Ámbar Alfaro of ASPIDH Arcoiris Trans, a San Salvador-based trans advocacy group, are among those who criticized the White House’s decision. Pacheco’s mother is a TPS recipient who has lived in Houston for 15 years.
“The impact that it has had has been very clear,” Pacheco told the Blade, referring to the end of TPS for Salvadorans.
The Salvadoran government in January condemned Trump after he reportedly described El Salvador as a “shithole” country. Ayala and Hernández both accused President Salvador Sánchez Cerén of not doing enough to challenge the White House over its immigration policy, which includes the continued separation of migrant children from their families.
“It (the Salvadoran government) has a close relationship with the Trump administration, at the very least, for money,” said Pacheco.
The U.S. Agency for International Aid on its website notes El Salvador received $74,831,935 in U.S. foreign aid in fiscal year 2016. Remittances, which primarily come from Salvadorans who live in the U.S., accounts for nearly a fifth of El Salvador’s GDP.
Hernández said there is a “lack of leadership” from Sánchez Cerén on a host of issues that include health care, LGBTI rights and abortion. Hernández also noted U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador Jean Manes has been “very serious” in criticizing the government’s efforts to reduce gang violence and fight corruption.
“The United States government cannot tell us what to do, but it’s also what are we going to do,” said Hernández. “The honorable ambassador has a very rigid position, but also one of a lot of cooperation.”
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A store in La Unión, El Salvador, allows customers to receive remittances from the U.S. Salvadoran government figures indicate remittances account for nearly a fifth of the country’s total economy. (Los Angeles Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Group provides information, assistance to LGBTI migrants
Asociación Entre Amigos LGBTI de El Salvador has created an online initiative that seeks to provide information to migrants about where they can seek assistance as they travel from El Salvador to the U.S.-Mexico border. Hernández nevertheless told the Blade that neither he nor his organization encourages LGBTI Salvadorans to leave the country without documents.
“We encourage people not to migrate illegally or undocumented,” he said. “But we know that many times they leave the country with only minutes to spare. So, what we are doing is getting the word out about the safest way to go and how they can receive support along the way.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen earlier this month met with the foreign ministers of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico in Guatemala City. She announced the creation of an office within her agency that will advise their governments about the reunification of migrant children who have been separated from their parents.
The Trump administration on June 19 withdrew the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein the day before condemned the separation of young migrant children from their parents along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Ayala told the Blade the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council was an attempt to deflect attention away from its immigration policy. She also spoke directly to Americans who continue to support it.
“I invite them to reflect with respect to the pain that this figure is inflicting on not only people from his country,” Ayala told the Blade.
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ESMULES Executive Director Andrea Ayala in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Sept. 25, 2017. (Los Angeles Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Salvadoran immigrants who fled the war formed MS-13 in Los Angeles in the 1980s. Gang members who have been deported to El Salvador over the last two decades have been linked to murders and other acts of violence in the country.
“(The war) left El Salvador in ruins with military dictators, with an untold number of disappeared people,” Ayala told the Blade. “We survived 12 years of armed conflict that was, in part, supported by the United States.”
She added Trump continues to use migrants as scapegoats.
“Hate is a very strong word,” said Ayala. “This hatred is the distinction of what is different.”
Ernesto Valle in San Salvador, El Salvador, contributed to this article.
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The American flag flies over the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador, El Salvador, on July 13, 2018. President Trump earlier this year reportedly described El Salvador as a “shithole country.” (Los Angeles Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Politics
Looking ahead to the Democratic National Convention
Victory, Task Force, HRC, GLAAD, A4TE, and others will be in Chicago
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The Washington Blade will be reporting live from Chicago at the Democratic National Convention next week.
With 81 percent of delegates responding, this year has seen a record number — 17 percent — who identify as LGBTQ, up from 11.5 percent in 2020, convention officials told the Blade. They will be joined by LGBTQ lawmakers, including the chair and most co-chairs of the Congressional Equality Caucus, and representatives from several major LGBTQ advocacy organizations.
This year’s DNC will be the last in which Annise Parker will participate as president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and LGBTQ+ Victory Institute. Under the leadership of the former Houston mayor, the political action campaign and training organization for LGBTQ elected leaders have become powerhouses.
The Human Rights Campaign will also be on the ground with President Kelley Robinson leading events throughout the week. Less than a week after Vice President Kamala Harris’s emergence as the presumptive Democratic 2024 nominee, HRC raised more than $300,000 during an Out for Harris LGBTQ+ Unity Call.
For the first time in more than 40 years, the National LGBTQ+ Task Force Action Fund endorsed a presidential candidate, Harris, following President Joe Biden’s announcement on July 21 that he would step off the presidential ticket. Task Force President Kierra Johnson will be in Chicago alongside senior staff for the organization.
GLAAD will be at the DNC to help inform media about LGBTQ issues and amplify queer and trans voices, while Advocates 4 Trans Equality (f.k.a. the National Center for Transgender Equality and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund) will have a presence at the convention, too.
Events for next week will include:
- Sunday Aug. 18 | 6 p.m. CT: HRC and Victory Fund will host a delegate meet-up and mixer/bar crawl at various LGBTQ establishments in Chicago
- Location: LGBTQ venues including Sidetrack, Roscoe’s, Progress, Lark, Kit Kat, and Hydrate
- Monday Aug. 19 | 3 p.m. CT: HRC will host a “DNC LGBTQ+ Kickoff — The Power of Equality Votes,” which will feature top leaders and strategists from the LGBTQ movement and the Democratic Party, along with influencers and others
- Location: McCormick Place
- Tuesday, Aug. 20 | 10 a.m. CT: GLAAD will host a “Media Institute Culture Briefing” to review the organization’s 2024 Accelerating Acceptance report
- Location: The Drake Hotel
- Tuesday Aug. 20 | 4 p.m. CT: The Victory Fund will host a “Victory at the DNC” event, which is expected to draw delegates and executive officers
- Location: The Wit
- Tuesday Aug. 20 | 9 p.m. CT: HRC and Planned Parenthood Action Fund will host a “We Show Up — We Decide” party (by invitation only)
- Location: downtown Chicago
- Wednesday Aug. 21 | 11:45 a.m. CT: The Task Force will address a meeting of the LGBTQ+ Caucus
- Location: McCormick Place
- Thursday Aug. 21: HRC will host 50+ watch parties across the country. Harris is expected to take the stage at the United Center between 6 and 10 p.m. CT
- All week: HRC will host a “Creator Studio and Activation Center” where attendees can learn how best to make an impact in the 2024 elections and mobilize volunteers
- Location: McCormick Center
Register for HRC events at HRC.im/DNC.
The Vatican
Ugandan LGBTQ activist meets with Pope Francis
Pontiff met with Clare Byarugaba at the Vatican
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Pope Francis on Tuesday met with a Ugandan LGBTQ activist at the Vatican.
Clare Byarugaba of Chapter Four Uganda posted to her X account a picture of her sitting next to Francis. A video that she shared shows Juan Carlos Cruz — a gay Chilean man who is a survivor of clergy sex abuse and a member of a commission that advises Francis on protecting children from pedophile priests — introducing her to the pontiff.
Cruz is also a member of the GLAAD board of directors.
Byarugaba, who also founded PFLAG Uganda, said she was “honored to meet” Francis. She added she briefed him on “the ruinous impact of Uganda’s two in a decade anti-LGBTIQ rights laws,” including the Anti-Homosexuality Act that President Yoweri Museveni signed in 2023, and “the gross human rights violations therein.”
“He reiterated discrimination is a sin and violence against LGBTIQ communities is unacceptable,” said Byarugaba.
The Washington Blade has reached out to Byarugaba for additional comment.
Francis during a Jan. 24, 2023, interview with the Associated Press said homosexuality is not a crime and laws that criminalize it are “unjust.” Francis a few days later reiterated these comments during a press conference on board his plane after it left South Sudan, a country that borders Uganda.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in South Sudan.
“The criminalization of homosexuality is a problem that cannot be ignored,” Francis told reporters. “Criminalizing people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice.”
Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, among other things, contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.”
The U.S. after Museveni signed the law imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials and removed the country from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. The World Bank Group also announced the suspension of new loans to Uganda.
The Ugandan Constitutional Court on April 3 refused to “nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act in its totality.”
More than a dozen activists appealed the ruling to the country’s Court of Appeal. They filed a second appeal with the Supreme Court on July 11.
Angola, Botswana, Mauritius, and Seychelles are among the countries that have decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations over the last decade.
The Namibian government last month appealed a ruling that struck down the country’s apartheid-era sodomy laws. Burkina Faso’s military government on July 10 announced it plans to recriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations in the nation.
Congress
EXCLUSIVE: Gottheimer, Craig introduce bill to address LGBTQ elder abuse
Legislation will be introduced this week
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U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.) will introduce a bill this week addressing the “rising elder abuse of LGBTQI+ individuals,” according legislation the Washington Blade previewed.
The Elder Pride Protection Act of 2024 would establish a task force through the Justice Department, with staff selected by the attorney general from the Elder Justice Initiative and the Division of Civil Rights.
They would be tasked with studying “the increased incidence of elder abuse” targeting LGBTQ individuals, developing best practices for a national approach and for state and local authorities to address these crimes, creating and distributing educational materials to raise awareness, and coordinating “the response of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.”
The legislation establishes that the task force would be responsible for issuance of a progress report on its work to the U.S. House and U.S. Senate Judiciary Committees.
Importantly, elder abuse as defined under the bill ranges from the use of physical force to cause harm to forced or unwanted sexual interaction, emotional or psychological abuse, the failure to meet basic needs, and financial crimes.
“I’m incredibly excited to introduce my new legislation, the Elder Pride Protection Act, that I’m leading with Congresswoman Angie Craig of Minnesota,” Gottheimer said. “No one should ever be mistreated on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, especially our vulnerable elderly populations.”
The congressman added, “This legislation is a critical step in coordinating our response to this runaway abuse at the federal level.”
“LGBTQ+ seniors paved the way for so many of the rights we have today, and they’re a vital part of our communities in Minnesota,” said Craig, who is the first lesbian mother elected to Congress and serves as a co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus.
“I’m working to pass the Elder Pride Protection Act to help empower LGBTQ+ seniors and combat any abuse they might face,” she said.
Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ rights group noted that “for too long, elder abuse of our older LGBTQ adults has gone un- or under- reported,” adding that, “The establishment of this task force will help bridge the gap experienced by our LGBTQ elders.”
“The work of this task force, particularly the creation of uniform procedures and communication between state and federal agencies, will be formative in combating the abuse and neglect of LGBTQ elders and is critical in creating true lived equality for all Americans,” Garden State Equality said.
“SAGE is proud to support the Elder Pride Protection Act of 2024,” said Aaron Tax, managing director of government affairs and policy advocacy for SAGE, a national advocacy and services organization for LGBTQ elders.
“LGBTQ+ elders deserve to age without fear of elder abuse,” Tax said. “We applaud Rep. Gottheimer for championing the establishment of this important task force, which we hope will improve the lives of LGBTQ+ older people.”
David Stacy, vice president for government affairs for the Human Rights Campaign, said, “By establishing the ELDER Task Force, this country has the chance to affirm its commitment to addressing and preventing the abuse that this community faces all too often.”
“Congress should pass this bill and send a message that they are dedicated to ensuring every elder can live free from fear and harm,” Stacy said.
Hawai'i
Kim Coco Iwanoto elected as Hawaii’s first openly trans state lawmaker
Longtime activist defeated House Speaker Scott Saiki in Democratic primary
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In a stunning upset, transgender human rights activist Kim Coco Iwanoto knocked out one of Hawaii’s most powerful politicians, state House Speaker Scott Saiki, in the Democratic primary election on Saturday.
Because there is no Republican in the race, Iwanoto has been elected to represent House District 25, making her Hawaii’s first openly trans state legislator.
This was Iwanoto’s third attempt to win the urban Honolulu district, after close finishes against Saiki in 2020 and 2022, when she lost by less than 200 votes each time. In Saturday’s primary, she won with a margin of 254 votes, according to the latest results posted by the secretary of state — a margin of more than 5 percent.
Iwanoto says she was motivated to challenge Saiki for the seat due to a lack of transparency in Hawaiian politics, and out of concern that everyday issues were being ignored by Democratic Party leadership.
She says a key motivating issue for her was the state’s minimum wage. Although the wage is currently scheduled to rise to $18 per hour in 2028, following a bill passed in 2022, she says Saiki refused to consider a bill to raise the wage from $10.10 per hour in 2020.
“[Saiki] met with the Chamber of Commerce before the session and he held a press conference stating the legislature will not be taking up the issue of raising the minimum wage. I asked my friends who are representatives, did he ask you guys how you felt about not raising the minimum wage from a poverty wage to a living wage? And they said no,” Iwamoto tells the Los Angeles Blade.
“That made me very angry. He should’ve met with people who are living paycheck to paycheck to learn how their lives are impacted.”
Iwamoto says Hawaiians are tired of politicians siding with moneyed interests over their constituents.
“Pay to play politics is rampant, and it’s blatant and obvious,” Iwamoto says. “It’s an open festering wound on the face of democracy in Hawaii. Through the fact of just sheer people-powered campaigning, I was able to get above Saiki’s vote.”
Iwamoto describes herself a fourth generation American of Japanese descent. Her great-grandparents worked on the sugarcane plantations of Kauai. She studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and earned a BA in creative writing at San Francisco State University and a law degree at the University of New Mexico.
Her experiences as a foster parent and raising her 11-year-old daughter led her to run for the state board of education in 2006. That run also made history, as she became the first openly trans person to win statewide office in the U.S.
“Back in 2006, it was international news when Hawaii elected me to that statewide position. I got requests for interviews around the world. That election did trigger a lot of people of trans experience to see that they could run for office, where their gender identity and experience is just one aspect of who they are,” she says.
“More importantly, I think the lesson here is listen to the voters. It’s what the voters are concerned about. In my case, it was consumer protections for condo owners, safer streets for pedestrians and bicyclists, resources for homeless people who are sleeping in our sidewalks.”
Hawaii has long been held as one of the most progressive states when it comes to legislation to protect the LGBTQ community, a fact that Iwamoto appreciates.
“My opponent was there for 30 years, and he was an ally to the LGBT community,” she says. “What he ignored was the overrepresentation of the LGBT people within the homeless community, within the working community.”
“We are part of every marginalized experience. Whether it’s minimum wage earners, the homeless population, LGBT are overrepresented in youth homelessness, and that persists in cycles.”
Africa
Popular gay crossdresser murdered in Nigeria
Area Mama’s body found in Abuja, the country’s capital, on Aug. 8
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Police in Nigeria have confirmed the death of popular gay crossdresser in the country’s capital.
Authorities on Aug. 8 found Area Mama’s body along the Katampe-Mabushi Expressway in Abuja.
Several LGBTQ activists have labeled the 33-year-old’s death as a brutal homophobic murder; his body was found naked with bruises on his face. His appearance on “Living in Abuja with Deka George,” a YouTube podcast, earlier this year has also been linked to his death.
Area Mama during the podcast said he knew he was gay since he was 10. He also disclosed he was a male sex worker whose clients often included high profile people.
He also said his clients sometimes only discovered he was not a woman when they were about to become intimate, noting some did not mind while others walked away. Speculation has grown over one of Area Mama’s clients who could not come to terms with his sexuality after discovering he was man led to his murder.
“Area Mama didn’t harm anyone and no human deserves to be gruesomely murdered for living their truth,” said Rinu Oduala, a human rights activist. “The lifestyle of another person is not an invitation for harassment, discrimination, or murder.”
Intersex Nigeria said it was appalled by Area Mama’s death, and called upon law enforcement officials to expedite their investigations into his murder.
“It is essential that justice is served, not only for the victim and their loved ones but also to restore a sense of security and trust within our communities,” said Intersex Nigeria. “The failure to secure justice in this case would send a dangerous signal that violence and discrimination against marginalized groups is acceptable, thereby making our society unsafe for everyone.”
“Hate should have no place in our society, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done,” added Intersex Nigeria.
The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERs Nigeria) said Area Mama’s murder shows the vulnerability of marginalized groups in Nigeria.
“This tragic loss is a stark reminder of the ongoing threats to the safety of vulnerable groups in Nigeria,” said TIERs Nigeria.
Sadiq Lawal, an LGBTQ rights activist, also condemned Area Mama’s murder.
“Nobody has the right to take a human life, no one has the right to physically abuse anyone or kill them because they disagree with their lifestyle or sexuality,” said Lawal.
Iyanda Ayinde, another LGBTQ and human rights activist, added Nigeria’s LGBTQ community has always been at risk, noting attacks are becoming commonplace.
“Area Mama was brutally murdered, which is terrible. It demonstrates the depth of hatred for those who choose to live differently,” said Ayinde. “The LGBTQ+ community in Nigeria is always in danger. Online, they face threats, harassment, attacks, and bullying. This has to stop.”
“The attacks are getting too common, and it isn’t good,” added Ayinde. “The culprits must be located, and the police must act. Nobody ought to die because they are who they are.”
Authorities on Aug. 4 released Bobrisky, a popular Nigerian transgender woman, from prison after serving a 6-month sentence for flaunting Naira notes, an offense many believe was linked to her gender identity.
Forms of consensual same-sex sexual relations remain illegal throughout Nigeria, and are punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The punishment can be death in states with Sharia law.
World
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Canada
Three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna cancelled after attack plot uncovered
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BULGARIA
Parliament rushed through passage of a Russia-style “LGBT propaganda” law Aug. 7 in a marathon session that was marked by speeches that queer activists have denounced as bordering on hate speech, and that sparked protests around the capital.
The vaguely worded law bans “propaganda, popularization and encouragement, directly or indirectly, of ideas and views connected to nontraditional sexual orientation or to gender-identifying different from the biological,” in Bulgarian schools. The law does not prescribe any specific punishment for infractions.
The bill was introduced by the Revival Party, which maintains strong ties to Russia’s government, but passed with surprising support from the pro-European Union center-right GERB party. Altogether, 159 MPs voted for the bill, while only 57 voted against it, mostly from the reformist We Continue the Change Party.
Bulgaria is currently without an elected government, as June national elections yielded a hung parliament. Fresh elections are scheduled for Oct. 20 — Bulgaria’s fifth election in three years. Parties are likely using the threat of “LGBT propaganda” to shore up votes.
Nevertheless, the passage of the law sparked protests from queer, women, and human rights groups around the capital, Sofia, calling on President Rumen Radev to veto the law.
“This is the first step in making non-traditional sexual orientation a crime. I consider this absolutely unacceptable and out of the spirit of what we strive to be as a country and society,” Ivan Ivanov, a protestor at the Aug. 7 rally, told Euronews.
Anti-LGBTQ “propaganda” laws have been spreading since Russia passed its law in 2013. Hungary and Lithuania have laws restricting LGBTQ speech in schools or around children, but Bulgaria is the first EU country to pass such a law since the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Lithuania’s law breached the European Convention in January 2023.
Other countries considering such laws right now are Georgia and Kazakhstan. Several African states have also recently passed or are considering laws criminalizing promotion of LGBTQ rights, including Uganda, Ghana, Namibia, and Liberia. Increasingly, similar laws are also being passed in Republican-led U.S. states.
AUSTRIA
Local organizers Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour cancelled three dates in Vienna after authorities arrested two suspected extremists on charges that they planned to attack a concert.
Swift had been scheduled to play at the Ernst Happel Stadium on Aug. 9, 10, and 11.
Authorities said they had arrested a 19-year-old main suspect in Ternitz, about 50 miles south of Vienna, and a second 17-year-old suspect in the capital.
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, says the 19-year-old had been radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State, and that they had found material related to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda at the home of the 17-year-old.
Haijawi-Pirchner says that the suspect was employed by a company providing services at the concerts and was planning to use knives or self-made explosives to “kill as many people as possible” at the concert.
Initially, promoters said the concerts would go ahead with extra security provided by the national police, but the dates were quickly cancelled hours later.
Promoters Barracuda Music said all tickets would be automatically refunded within 10 business days.
The concert dates had been sold out for months, with an estimated 170,000 people expected to attend.
This isn’t the first time an Islamic extremist has allegedly targeted a pop concert. In 2017, an extremist suicide-bombed an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killing 22 people and wounding more than 100.
CANADA
The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from alt-right figure Jordan Peterson of the decision by the College of Psychologists of Ontario requiring him to undergo social media training or risk losing his license to practice.
Peterson, who rose to international prominence for his strident opposition to a transgender rights bill passed by the Canadian government in 2017, has become a darling of the alt-right movement for his writings and social media posts advancing frequently misogynistic and transphobic views on women, masculinity, and gender identity, as well as general antipathy to other left-wing issues.
In 2022, the College of Psychologists found that his posts may be “degrading” and call into question his ability as a psychologist and bring the profession disrepute. It ordered he undergo social media training.
Peterson sought judicial review, but he lost at lower courts. The Supreme Court did not give reasons why it dismissed the appeal. Peterson was ordered to pay costs.
Initially, Peterson said he would continue to fight the order, somehow, but days later his lawyer had told CBC that Peterson would attend the training.
The case has divided rights groups in Canada, with the LGBTQ advocacy group Egale intervening on behalf of the College of Psychologists of Ontario, while the Canadian Civil Liberties Union intervened on behalf of Peterson, arguing that professional associations shouldn’t regulate speech unrelated to the profession.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who has also courted the alt-right and far right in Canada, also posted in support of Peterson.
“Another government bureaucracy threatens to ban a Canadian from practicing his profession because he expressed political opinions the state doesn’t like,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The College of Psychologists of Ontario is not a government bureaucracy. It is a professional association.
BELGIUM
Former Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo spoke out against transphobia in an open letter after the current deputy prime minister raised alarms this week by recommending a transphobic book on his social media channels.
Deputy Prime Minister David Clarinval of the center-right Reformist Movement was accused of transphobia after he posted on X praise of the book “Transmania: Investigation into the Excesses of Transgender Ideology” by Marguerite Stern and Dora Moutot.
The book, originally published in France, is full of conjectures and conspiracy theories asserting that trans people aren’t real and that they are associated with pedophilia. It has become a symbol of the far right in France since it was published in April 2023.
Clarinval defended his post to the Brussels Times.
“This book gives a broader view of the transgender issue,” he said.
Di Rupo, who was Belgium’s first openly gay prime minister and now serves as a member of the European Parliament, wrote an open letter calling for conservatives and liberals to agree to protect all people’s rights in the wake of the controversy.
“In this reactionary climate, it is essential to emphasize that the freedoms granted to transgender people in no way diminish the freedoms of other citizens. The extension of rights and freedoms to some never diminishes those of others,” Di Rupo writes.
“Finally, it is important to remember that the freedoms we enjoy today are the fruit of fierce struggles, countless political battles and incalculable human tragedies. They are indeed heroic struggles, often marked by great suffering and sacrifice, that have shaped the free world in which we live in the West. Whether it is the fights for civil rights in the United States, for gender equality, for the rights of LGBTQIA+ people or for freedom of expression, they have all been driven by the same unwavering will: That of defending the dignity, freedom and respect of the human being in all its complexity.”
Asia
Bangladesh political turmoil has forced LGBTQ people into hiding
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned, fled the country on Monday
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/08/LGBTQ_activists_in_anti-government_protests_in_Bangladesh_insert_courtesy_Saraban_Tahura.jpg)
The political turmoil in Bangladesh that led to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and subsequent decision to flee the country on Monday has left the LGBTQ community under unprecedented threat.
The Washington Blade this week heard harrowing accounts of targeted violence and intimidation that has forced many LGBTQ Bangladeshis to go into hiding. Factions seeking to exploit the power vacuum in the wake of Hasina’s resignation have made this situation worse.
Tushar Kanti Baidya, program director of Inclusive Bangladesh, a local NGO and transgender-led LGBTQ youth organization, said a more sinister development has overshadowed the ongoing protests against Hasina’s job quota policies.
He noted the recent rise of right-wing political parties, which have spearheaded anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ movements, poses an even greater threat to the community. Badiya fears the lives of local trans activists are now in grave danger as these groups move to align themselves with the newly formed interim government. This alliance, he says, not only encourages those who wish to silence them but also creates an environment where hate and violence could escalate unchecked.
“The quota that has been reserved for disability and transgender people are only for those who are physically disabled and intersex people,” said Baidya. “In Bangladesh, by the common people, transgender refers to intersex people. Some of the (leaders) of the protesters deny the existence of transformation from male to female or vice versa and (continue their) opposition to include transgenders into the quota but intersex people.”
Baidya said trans activists had initially raised the issue of their inclusion in the job quota system nearly two years ago, well before the current crisis emerged. The trans and LGBTQ communities, however, chose not to participate in the quota demand. Baidya said fear drove this decision, noting anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans rhetoric from some quota reform movement leaders grew more intense.
While some trans people have supported the broader student movement that demanded Hasina’s resignation, they have been cautious about specifically advocating for the quota reserved for them because they were wary of the potential backlash. Baidya emphasized this reluctance reflects the severe risks and hostility the community faces in this fraught political climate.
Baidya told the Blade that despite Hasina’s government’s problematic human rights record and her autocratic regime, it is noteworthy that LGBTQ and other minority groups felt relatively safe when she was in office and were able to conduct their advocacy work with minimal government interference. The trans community, in particular, saw significant benefits that included increased social support, greater acceptance in mainstream jobs, and even successful bids for local government positions.
Baidya pointed out Inclusive Bangladesh Executive Director Sanjiboni Sudha, and Saraban Tahura, the group’s project coordinator, are among those who anti-trans activists publicly targeted, publishing their photos and sharing their personal information.
This targeted harassment, according to Baidya, underscores the dangerous shift in the current political environment, where the progress made under the previous government is now at risk.
“Currently, we are processing some of our staff’s asylum process and also trying to facilitate to relocate them into a safe place or out of the country and also sending advisories and security suggestions to the community members,” Baidya told the Blade
US State Department spokesperson condemns ‘all recent acts of violence’
Hasina fled Bangladesh after protesters stormed her official residence on Monday.
She has been in India, where she met with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
The political unrest — and anti-government protests that have taken place across Bangladesh in recent weeks —has left upwards of 300 people dead and many others injured. At least 94 people were killed on Sunday, the deadliest day since the protests began.
Students in Bangladesh began demonstrating against the government, demanding reforms to the civil service quota system. Protests argue loyalists of Hasina’s ruling party, the Awami League, disproportionately benefited from the existing quotas.
“We condemn all recent acts of violence in Bangladesh,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Wednesday during his daily press briefing in Washington. “We support the freedom of peaceful assembly.”
“We condemn violence against those who are exercising their peaceful right to assembly. And we condemn violence on behalf of any protester who has turned their peaceful exercises simply into an excuse for violence,” he added. “We condemn violence in all cases.”
Tahura, a trans activist in Bangladesh, spoke exclusively with the Blade.
She said the situation of the LGBTQ community since Hasina’s resignation is out of control.
Saraban told the Blade she is now safe after she sought refuge in a shelter away from her home. Saraban said the escalating violence and targeted harassment made it imperative for her to find a secure location to avoid the growing threats.
“This is very difficult for us,” said Saraban. “We are facing threats from anti-LGBTQ groups in Bangladesh. They are telling the LGBTQ community that your story ends now. They are telling us that there is no place for LGBTQ people in Bangladesh. They only want to only recognize (the) hijra community. We are not hijra, but transgenders, so our situation is really bad.”
Hijra or kinner on the Indian subcontinent are intersex or eunuch people. The hijra community has a distinctive social structure, traditions, and rituals.
Saraban told the Blade the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and Jamaat-e-Islami (Jamaat) are related and often align with each other.
She said she went into hiding under the previous government. Jamaat, which is anti-LGBTQ, has resurfaced in the wake of Hasina’s resignation and is now threatening Saraban and other LGBTQ activists.
“It is a dangerous situation for the LGBTQ community, mostly, three activists are targeted in our country,” said Saraban. “Other than me, Ho Chi Minh Islam, and Sanjiboni Shudha, are the three most popular transgender activists in Bangladesh.”
“We are in very grave risk,” added Saraban.
Saraban said she and other activists are looking to escape the country for their own safety. She told the Blade that although she does not want to leave Bangladesh, the situation is not safe for her or the community.
Ankush Kumar is a reporter who has covered many stories for Washington and Los Angeles Blades from Iran, India, and Singapore. He recently reported for the Daily Beast. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is on X at @mohitkopinion.
West Hollywood
A subway to WeHo? It might be time to get on board
Metro is holding consultations on extending the K Line
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/08/Metro-K-Line-North-Map.jpg)
Imagine getting from West Hollywood to Hollywood or LAX in minutes without having to fight through the notorious Los Angeles traffic. That’s the future the City of West Hollywood wants as it fights for an extension of the Metro K Line through the heart of the region’s gay nightlife neighborhood.
Metro is holding consultations on a proposed northern extension of the K Line from its current terminus at Expo/Crenshaw station to meet the A Line at Hollywood/Highland station and wants feedback on three proposed route options, but two of them bypass West Hollywood altogether.
The route that the City of West Hollywood prefers, called the San Vicente alignment, veers west to meet the D Line at the future Wilshire and Fairfax station before veering further west with stops at Beverly/Fairfax, Beverly/San Vicente, Santa Monica/San Vicente, and Santa Monica/La Brea before reaching the A Line.
The cheapest and most direct route would go straight up La Brea Avenue to meet the A Line. A third route would run up Fairfax Avenue before turning back to Hollywood/Highland on the A Line but would also miss most of West Hollywood. All three options also consider a possible further extension to the Hollywood Bowl.
For West Hollywood City Planner David Fenn, the route through West Hollywood makes the most sense.
“The San Vicente route would put three times as many jobs and six times as many residents in walking distance of transit,” he says. “The areas that this is going through aren’t the average part of the county. They’re some of the biggest destinations for locals and tourists.”
Some of the destinations the San Vicente route would service directly include the Grove, the Farmer’s Market, Cedars-Sinai, the Pacific Design Center, the Beverly Center, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and West Hollywood’s Rainbow District. Those destinations would help add more than 59,000 daily riders to the K Line, according to Metro’s draft environmental review, compared to just 47,000 new riders on the La Brea alignment.
“Day one would have the highest ridership of any light rail line in the country,” Fenn says. “When you talk to regular people about this project, they tend to just get it. They say, ‘Of course I would take the subway to Pride, to the Bowl.’”
Fenn says the best way for residents to ensure that the San Vicente alignment gets built is to let Metro know they want it.
Metro is holding public information sessions on Aug 10 at 10 a.m. at Susan Miller Dorsey Senior High on Aug 13 at 6 p.m., at Pan Pacific Park Community Center, and a virtual session on Aug.15 at noon over Zoom.
If you can’t attend one of those meetings, residents can also submit comments to Metro directly by Sept. 5 using comment forms provided by the City of West Hollywood.
Metro is planning to decide a preferred route by the end of the year, but it will still be years before you can take a train from LAX to the Abbey. Metro’s current planned construction schedule for the line, using funds from the Measure R and Measure M referendums, won’t see the line complete until 2047.
West Hollywood is trying to speed that process up by getting stakeholders to agree on a route and then lobbying for additional funding from other sources. The city has also proposed creating an “Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District,” which would see the city dedicate any additional property tax revenue created by new developments and property value uplift near the rail line to paying down debt incurred by its construction.
Dedicating its own revenue to the project could help bring other funding sources on board, like the federal government, which could get shovels in the ground sooner. But Metro’s draft EIR says construction of the entire 10-mile line could take 10-11 years, or longer if construction phases are done separately.
Fenn says that’s why it’s important that Metro doesn’t leave West Hollywood off the K Line.
“The way to look at this is we only get one shot at this,” Fenn says. “The scale of these projects, the amount of time it takes, we’re only going to get one rail line through this area in our lifetime.”
“If we don’t spend that premium to get to the places people actually want to go, we’re going to be kicking ourselves about that missed opportunity.”
The K Line opened in October 2022, and currently runs between Expo/Crenshaw on the E Line to Westchester/Veterans, with an extension to connect to LAX and the C Line expected to open in December 2025. The line will also take over the existing southwestern portion of the C Line to Redondo Beach, with a planned southern extension to Torrence expected to open in 2033.
Congress
Garcia and Lee push for insurers to provide doxy PEP for free
Lawmakers note spike in bacterial infections among LGBTQ populations
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/08/Capitol_Building_dome_insert_c_Washington_Blade_by_Michael_Key.jpg)
Democratic U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia and Barbara Lee of California sent a letter on Thursday urging the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to compel health insurers to provide free access to doxy PEP, a drug regimen for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.
The USPSTF is an independent panel of experts in primary care and preventative medicine organized under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services whose primary responsibility is to evaluate the evidence on the safety and efficacy of medical screenings, counseling, and preventative medications.
The lawmakers’ letter explains that in 2019, the USPSTF issued an “A-grade” recommendation for prescribing preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) — a different preventative regimen targeting HIV infections — to “those at increased risk of HIV acquisition.”
As required under the Affordable Care Act, the rating meant health plans were required to offer the drug with no cost-sharing, which “has been enormously beneficial to hundreds of thousands of Americans —particularly members of the LGBTQIA+ community.”
The letter points to disproportionately high rates of bacterial STIs (“chlamydia, gonorrhea, and especially syphilis”) among LGBTQ populations as well as recommendations published last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instructing providers to counsel certain patients about PEP, with the agency writing that the drug intervention requires “a focused effort for equitable implementation.”
For these reasons, Garcia and Lee said, “we respectfully ask for your full and fair consideration of a USPSTF recommendation for doxy PEP to the populations outlined in the guidelines with an ‘A’ rating,” with those populations being “gay and bisexual men, other men who have sex with men, and transgender women, and who have a history of bacterial STIs in the past 12 months.”
“Surging STIs are disproportionately impacting LGBTQ+ individuals,” Garcia, a gay co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said in a press release from his congressional office. “We must ensure that these folks have access to doxy PEP, a critical medication that can save lives and prevent these kinds of infections.”
He added, “By making doxy PEP coverage free by insurers, we can prevent infections and stop the spread of disease for those most vulnerable.”
Lee, a vice chair of the caucus, has a decades-long record of pro-LGBTQ advocacy, particularly in the healthcare space and on issues of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and around the world.
“Widespread use and education about doxy PEP could prevent thousands of bacterial STI cases every year,” she said in the press release. “However, in order to get this treatment to those who need it most, it’s imperative that doxy PEP is covered by insurance plans with no cost to patients.”
“By ensuring doxy PEP is available with grade A rating by the USPSTF, we’re taking a critical step toward promoting health equity and advancing our mission of using informed, evidence-based interventions to support those most in need,” said David Stacy, vice president of government Affairs for the Human Rights Campaign.
David C. Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, said “providing healthcare providers with the guidance and encouragement they need to implement doxy PEP in accordance with the new CDC guidelines will be crucial in helping us use doxy PEP to address our out-of-control STI epidemic.”
South America
Argentine government closes anti-discrimination agency
LGBTQ activists have sharply criticized President Javier Milei’s decision
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/08/Javier_Milei_screen_capture_insert_via_YouTube.jpg)
Argentine President Javier Milei’s government has officially closed the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI).
INADI, created in 1995, was a key player in the promotion and protection of human rights in Argentina, offering support and resources to people affected by discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, race, and other characteristics.
Officials announced INADI’s closure on Tuesday during a press conference. Milei’s government has presented the move as part of a reform to streamline public administration and restructure human rights policies.
“One of President Milei’s ideals is the reduction of the state and the elimination of everything that does not generate a benefit for Argentines,” presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said in February when he announced INADI’s closure. “The decision was made to move forward in the dismantling of different institutes that effectively serve absolutely no purpose or are big boxes of politics or places to generate militant employment and the first of them is going to be INADI.”
The international community, including human rights organizations and LGBTQ activist groups, have expressed strong concern.
INADI has played a crucial role in the implementation of progressive laws in Argentina, such as the Gender Identity Law and marriage equality. Its dissolution raises questions about the continuity of these efforts.
“It is extremely serious, especially because we are in a moment in Argentina, not only because of the local context, but also the global context of a growth, an increase in anti-Semitism, racism, violence, xenophobia, LGBTphobia,” gay Congressman Esteban Paulón told the Washington Blade.
Paulón added Tuesday marked “three months since a triple femicide that occurred in the city of Buenos Aires with three lesbian women who were set on fire by a person who attacked them.”
“INADI was acting in many cases as an auxiliary of justice, with opinions that although they were not binding, they were a great support for the judicial instances,” he said.
Alba Rueda is a transgender woman who was Argentina’s Special Representative on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity under former President Alberto Fernández’s government. Rueda resigned last November ahead of Milei’s inauguration.
Milei’s government earlier this year closed the Women, Gender and Diversity Ministry, under which Rueda worked.
“The closure of Women, Gender and Diversity Ministry, the closure of the special representation on sexual orientation and gender identity, the position of the Foreign Ministry’s position in the OAS (Organization of American States) to reaffirm conversion therapies, and INADI’s closure is one of the situations that comes to institutionally break public policies that protect the most excluded sectors of Argentina,” Rueda told the Blade.
“The closing of INADI is a very, very serious situation,” she added.
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/02/Alba_Rueda_insert_courtesy_Alba_Rueda.jpg)
Activists are calling on the government to clarify how it will guarantee queer rights in the future and whether it will create alternative mechanisms to address discrimination complaints.
Santiaga D’Ambrosio, an LGBTQ activist who is a member of the country’s Socialist Workers’ Party, told the Blade “the closure of INADI is an adjustment that endorses discrimination, not only towards sexual diversity, but also towards so many other oppressed, violated or persecuted sectors, such as workers in struggle, migrants, people with disabilities.”
“INADI, in fact, has played a progressive role in the face of discrimination due to political and union persecution in different workers’ conflicts, against dismissals and for the recognition of union privileges in workplaces,” added D’Ambrosio.
D’Ambrosio, at the same time, said INADI’s closure deepens the economic and social crisis through which the Latin American country is going.
“Behind the closure of an agency, there are layoffs and uncertainty among its workers and their families,” said D’Ambrosio, noting layoffs have also taken place at Aerolíneas Argentinas, the country’s national airlines, and other companies. “Meanwhile, the enormous tax benefits for national and foreign businessmen remain untouched.”
D’Ambrosio added LGBTQ Argentines and other marginalized groups have to “self-organize independently from all governments who don’t really care about our lives.”
“We have to debate in our workplaces and study … how to conquer and strengthen our claims in the streets,” said D’Ambrosio.
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