World
Out in the World: LGBTQ+ news from Europe & Asia
LGBTQ+ news stories from around the globe including Russia, Poland, Greece, United Kingdom, Iraq and Japan
RUSSIA
MOSCOW, Russia – The Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media agency, abbreviated as Roskomnadzor, has launched an investigation into the language learning app Duolingo for allegedly spreading “LGBTQ propaganda.”
The popular learning app teaches over 40 languages to more than 60 million users worldwide.
Russian media news outlet Novaya Gazeta reported that a complaint, filed by a group Radetel, based in Novosibirsk in central Russia, and claims on its social media and website that it is on a mission to protect “public morality, culture, and traditional values,” accused the learning app of violations of Article 5 the Russian “on the protection of children from information harmful to their health and development” law which specifies the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations as detrimental to children’s health and development.”
Russian state media outlet TASS reported that Roskomnadzor confirmed that the agancy would be investigating Duolingo for potential “distribution of information that promotes LGBTQ.”
For its part as defined on its website, Duolingo states: “Duolingo believes deeply in diversity and representation. This made it a no-brainer to include all types of characters of different ages, ethnic backgrounds, and sexual orientations.”
The app’s statement goes on reading:
“The second reason is our learners. Something really unique about Duolingo is the extremely vast and diverse audience for our content: language learners of all ages, from all around the world. Yes, that’s a lot of people. And with such a broad base of learners, we have a responsibility to reflect and relate to the experiences of all kinds of people, LGBTQIA+ folks included.
Of course, characters are also much more compelling when they’re relatable, not only because of their dreams and their flaws but also who they love. So when we create Stories, which are written first in English and then adapted to other languages, we aim to make our content entertaining and relatable for learners worldwide. This is a fun and oftentimes difficult challenge. We’re proud to have our characters, especially our LGBTQ characters, help us do that.”
Radetel, which referred to members of the LGBTQ community as “sodomites” in its complaint to Roskomnadzor, said that “outraged” parents had brought Duolingo’s LGBTQ “propaganda” to its attention, adding that they had said they didn’t know how to explain the sentences to their primary school-age children “without traumatizing them,” Novaya Gazeta reported.
BERLIN, Germany (Human Rights Watch) – Russian courts have issued the first known extremism convictions arising from the 2023 Supreme Court ruling designating the “international LGBT movement” as extremist, Human Rights Watch said today. The Supreme Court ruling, which was handed down on November 30 but became public only in mid-January 2024, indicates that many more convictions may follow.
The Supreme Court ruling also declared the rainbow flag a forbidden symbol of the “LGBT movement.” Displaying the flag is the basis for administrative penalties in at least three cases that courts have tried in recent weeks. In late January, a court in Nizhny Novgorod sentenced a woman to five days detention for wearing rainbow-colored earrings after an individual accosted her and her friend in a cafe. Also in late January, a judge in Volgograd region handed down a fine over a rainbow flag published on a social media page. In early February, a court in Saratov fined a woman for posting a rainbow flag on social media.
“The Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates to allow arbitrary prosecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, along with anyone who defends their rights or expresses solidarity with them,” said Tanya Lokshina, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “For years, Russian authorities tried to erase LGBT visibility, and now they have criminalized it.”
At least three groups supporting LGBT rights have shut down their operations for fear of prosecution. Other consequences of the ruling have included a series of police raids of gay clubs, incidents of self-censorship, and an uptick in requests for legal advice from remaining LGBT support groups, which have now turned to working clandestinely.
The Supreme Court ruling and prosecutions flowing from it are discriminatory, violate a wide range of rights, and should be overturned, Human Rights Watch said.
Under Russian criminal law, a person found guilty of displaying extremist group symbols faces up to 15 days in detention for the first offense and up to four years in prison for a repeat offense. Participating in or financing an extremist organization is punishable by up to 12 years in prison. The authorities may include individuals suspected of involvement with an extremist organization in the countrywide “list of extremists” and freeze their bank accounts. People deemed to be involved with an extremist organization are barred from running for public office. Draft legislation further expanding the notion of “justifying extremism” has passed first reading in Russia’s parliament.
The Supreme Court’s perverse decision to accept the “international public LGBT movement” as a fictional defendant in this case was compounded by their denial of all requests by LGBT activists to participate, followed by the claim that “the defendant party failed to appear.” The court also refused to consider numerous appeals lodged by LGBT rights activists, saying that only the parties to the case had the right to appeal the ruling. By using the twisted legal fiction that there was an identifiable defendant called the “international LGBT movement” to contest the case, the Supreme Court denied all Russian LGBT persons and their allies directly impacted by the decision any due process rights, including by refusing to disclose the text of the judgment or reasons for the decision.
The text of the ruling, which was later seen by a regional media outlet in the course of a court case and published in January, states that the rainbow flag is the movement’s symbol. Because Russian law enforcement practice treats even old social media posts that are still available online as grounds for prosecution, thousands of people, and most likely more,who have posted the rainbow flag over the years face the risk of prosecution. The ruling states that 281 “active participants” in the movement have been personally identified, but it does not clarify how or by whom.
The Supreme Court ruling is the most recent example of authorities’ long record of misusing Russia’s broad and vague anti-extremism legislation to prosecute peaceful critics and members of certain religious groups, Human Rights Watch said. Hundreds of people have been wrongfully prosecuted under criminal extremism legislation, according to the SOVA Research Center and the list of political prisoners released by prominent human rights group Memorial.
Since a court banned three organizations affiliated with political opposition leader Aleksey Navalny as “extremist” in 2021, Navalny and five of his supporters have been sentenced to prison on a range of extremism charges for legitimate activism, while dozens more have received fines and short-term jail sentences. Six members of Vesna, a democratic youth movement, have been in pretrial custody since June 2023 on various spurious charges, including extremism. Hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been jailed since the organization was banned as “extremist” in 2017.
Editor’s Note: On Friday, Feb. 16, it was announced that opposition leader Aleksey Navalny had died in a Russian Penal Camp.
The Russian Federal Prison Service said early Friday that Navalny felt unwell after a walk and lost consciousness. An ambulance arrived, and its crew tried to rehabilitate him but was unsuccessful, it added.
Navalny was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism, and in December was moved from a different prison to the highest-security level facility in the country near the Arctic Circle. The “special regime” penal colony prison in the town of Kharp, which is about 1,200 miles northeast of Moscow, is in a remote area known for its severe winters.
Navalny has been imprisoned since January 2021, when he returned to Russia after recovering from a poisoning that he blamed on Putin, who has denied trying to kill Navalny with a nerve agent.
The Supreme Court ruling has drawn strong criticism internationally. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights deplored the ruling, stating that “the law must never be used to perpetuate inequality and discrimination,” and saying that Russia should repeal laws that discriminate against LGBT people.
Five UN human rights experts reminded Russian authorities that under international human rights law, peaceful advocacy and expression of sexual orientation and gender identity can neither be considered “extremist” nor legitimate grounds for administrative and criminal prosecution.
“The ruling has no basis in reality; it is filled with conspiracy theories, false and unsubstantiated claims, and hateful stereotypes; and it seeks to impose ‘traditional values’ ideology through repressive criminal law,” Lokshina said. “The only way to remedy this travesty of justice is to vacate the recent convictions and reverse the absurd ‘extremism’ designation.”
POLAND
By Rob Salerno | WARSAW, Poland – A newscaster on Poland’s public television service delivered an apology for his and the network’s previous vicious and dehumanizing coverage of LGBT+ people and issues, after Poland’s new government replaced the far-right editorial board of the broadcaster.
News host Wojciech Szelag acknowledged that TVP had frequently demonized LGBT people and delivered his apology ahead of a segment in which he interviewed two queer activists.
“For many years in Poland, shameful words have been directed at numerous individuals simply because they chose to determine for themselves who they are and whom they love,” Szelag said. “LGBT+ people are not an ideology, but people, specific names, faces, relatives, and friends. All these people should hear the word sorry from this place today. This is where I apologize.”
Poland’s new center-left government took office in December, ending eight years of government by the extremely right-wing Law and Justice Party that strongly opposed LGBT rights. The new government under Prime Minister Donald Tusk has moved to reshape institutions that the previous government had filled with party cronies, which caused controversy when the government fired the TVP management. TVP had long been accused of having become a mouthpiece for the Law and Justice Party.
Some liberals accused the government of repeating the mistakes of the right, but the government insists it is simply trying to restore editorial balance.
Bart Staszewski, one of the LGBT activists that was interviewed on the program said the apology was evidence that Poland is moving in the right direction.
“Today, first time in Polish TV, after 8 years of right-wing government, the LGBT+ activists appeared in live broadcast. I was seating there and heard journalist shaking voice. He made an apology after years of portraying LGBT-people a threat to Polish nation in the same studio. I was moved.. Apology an important part of reconciliation. This is Poland I want to fight for… Thank you,” Staszewski wrote on X.
Straszewski later posted an image of an old broadcast in which Szelag said “LGBT ideology destroys family,” as evidence of how far the network had come.
PM Tusk has made several promises to the LGBT community as part of his election platform and coalition government agreement. He’s promised to institute a hate speech law, legalize same-sex civil unions, and legalize abortion – all issues that were strongly rejected by the previous government.
It’s not clear at present when or if these proposals will become law, as the Law and Justice Party still holds the presidency with its veto power, at least until elections expected next May.
GREECE
(Photo Credit: Office of the Prime Minister/Greek government)
By Rob Salerno | ATHENS, Greece – The Greek Parliament voted late Thursday night to pass the government’s bill to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption rights, becoming the first Eastern Orthodox Christian country with equal marriage. The bill will take effect once it is officially published.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that he planned to legalize same-sex marriage last summer, after winning a second term with a commanding majority in parliamentary elections. The announcement came as something of a surprise given his party’s conservative orientation, but it comes as Greece has taken steps in recent years to promote LGBTI inclusion, including banning conversion therapy and banning unnecessary surgeries on intersex children.
“The vote has passed: as of tonight, Greece is proud to become the 16th EU country to legislate marriage equality. This is a milestone for human rights, reflecting today’s Greece – a progressive, and democratic country, passionately committed to European values,” Mitsotakis posted on X immediately after the vote.
Greece had legalized same-sex civil unions in 2014, but these did not offer couples equal rights compared to marriage. Same-sex couples were not allowed to adopt, and only biological parents were recognized if the couple had children. That changes now.
The bill allows couples who were in civil unions to convert those into marriages within one year, and says the government will recognize same-sex marriages performed abroad retroactive to the date of the marriage. The option to have a civil union will continue for both straight and gay couples.
Some saw Mitsotakis’ turn as a way to neutralize a potential wedge issue after the largest opposition party SYRIZA elected openly gay businessman Stefanos Kasselakis as its leader last September. Kasselakis married his American husband in New York last year, because same-sex marriage wasn’t legal in Greece.
The bill, which moved swiftly through parliament after being introduced at the end of January, was not without controversy in the country of 10 million. The influential Greek Orthodox Church came out strongly against it, as did several former prime ministers. Polling was inconsistent on the issue but tended to show a slight majority in favor of equal marriage.
Ahead of a the vote, several hundred people protested against same-sex marriage outside Parliament in Athens.
The Prime Minister’s New Democracy Party was heavily divided on same-sex marriage, and the bill needed the support of left-wing opposition parties SYRIZA and PASOK to pass. Far-right parties and the Communist Party were also opposed. In the end, the bill sailed through on a 176-76 vote, with 2 abstentions and 46 MPs absent.
While the bill makes same-sex couples and families equal to married heterosexual couples in most respects, it does not allow same-sex couples to access surrogacy, even though infertile heterosexual couples are allowed. Some campaigners have said they believe the restriction will not stand up to a court challenge.
It’s also part of a growing trend in Europe. Of the original 15 members of the European Union, only Italy has not legalized same-sex marriage, and of the 37 countries with same-sex marriage globally, 21 are in Europe.
Two more European countries are debating same-sex marriage bills – Liechtenstein, which is expected to pass the bill next month, and Czechia, where same-sex marriage remains a contentious political issue.
UNITED KINGDOM
HARROW, UK – 19-year-old Summer Betts-Ramsey appeared before a magistrate at Willesden Magistrates Court on Tuesday, Feb. 13, charged with attempted murder and possession of an deadly weapon in public after she allegedly stabbed an 18-year-old trans woman at who was with friends headed to the Harrow Leisure Centre for a roller-skating party.
Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Nicola Hannant, who is leading the investigation, said:
“This was a shocking and violent attack and we continue to support the victim and her family as she recovers from her injuries. At this stage, we are treating this as a transphobic hate crime and we know this will cause significant concern.
“Since the incident occurred, we have been working tirelessly to identify those responsible and are making good progress with our investigation.
“We have already arrested four people however we continue to appeal for anyone who may have been in the area or who believes they have further information to come forward and speak to us. We have increased police patrols and would encourage people to approach these officers with any information or concerns.”
According to Detective Inspector Hannant, the victim was subjected to transphobic slurs before being stabbed 14 times. She was rushed to hospital for treatment and subsequently discharged.
The attack comes just over a year after a pair of 15-year-olds stabbed trans teen Brianna Ghey, 16, to death in a park near her home in Birchwood, Warrington, U.K. The teens now 16, Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, were both handed life sentences earlier this month.
Anyone with information should call 101 with reference 6306/10Feb or alternatively, contact independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
The Metropolitan Police have dedicated LGBTQ+ points of contact across London who can offer advice and support. Their contact details can be found here: (Link)
IRAQ
AL DIWANIYAH, Iraq – An unnamed security official with the Al-Qadisiyah Governorate, told Iraqi media outlet Shafaq News that a transgender blogger was killed after being repeatedly stabbed in the center of the city of Al Diwaniyah, the capital city of Iraq’s Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, located 189 kilometers southeast of the country’s capital city of Baghdad.
The police official told Shafaq News: “Simsim, was 28 years old was killed by unknown assailants with several sharp knife stabs near the mural roundabout in the center of Diwaniyah city.” The official went on to note “the killers escaped to an unidentified location, and the forensic team took the body to complete the legal formalities.”
Iraq has witnessed a series of assassinations of transgender individuals Shafaq News noted. One of the most prominent cases was the murder of NOOR BM, a popular TikTok figure who was shot dead by an unknown gunman in Baghdad in September 2023.
Last August, Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission has ordered media outlets and social media companies that operate in the country to refer to homosexuality as “sexual deviance.”
Homosexuality is legal in Iraq, but violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity remains commonplace in the country.
JAPAN
OKAYAMA, Japan – In a landmark ruling last week, the Okayama Family Court’s Tsuyama Branch recognized a transgender man’s petition to legally change his gender without having first undergone sterilization.
Japanese media outlet The Mainichi reported that the plaintiff, 50-year-old Tacaquito Usui, a farmer from a rural area of the prefecture of Okayama, legally change his gender without having first undergoing sterilization, after the Supreme Court’s presiding judge Yukihiko Imasaki ruled the requirement unconstitutional this past October.
But while the Supreme Court did issue a ruling on sterilization surgery, the high court is re-evaluating the requirement that a person’s genitals must conform in appearance with those of the gender they identify with.
The Okayama court judged that the man fulfilled the appearance criterion, the same conclusion it reached in his first petition, due to factors including his having undergone hormone therapy.
The Mainichi reported Usui, operates a farm in the village of Shinjo, where he lives with his 46-year-old partner and her son, aged 13. With Usui’s gender now legally recognized, the pair will be able to fulfill their long-held wish to marry.
“I want to thank my family. I feel a new life is beginning,” Usui said in a press conference after the decision.
Usui was assigned as female at birth and has said that he felt uncomfortable being treated as such from a young age. After becoming an adult, he was diagnosed with gender identity disorder. Usui told reporters the latest outcome “left me feeling society has changed” and that he is “moved by the progress that has been made.”
Additional reporting by Rob Salerno, The BBC, PinkNewsUK, Human Rights Watch, Novaya Gazeta, Agence France-Presse, The Mainichi, Shafaq News, and Euronews 24.
Africa
Burkina Faso moves to criminalize homosexuality
Justice Minister Edasso Bayala made announcement on July 10
Burkina Faso has become the latest African country to move to criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations.
Justice Minister Edasso Bayala on July 10 after a Cabinet meeting said same-sex sexual acts and similar practices would now be prohibited and seen as a violation of the law.
Unlike other countries where lawmakers have to introduce and pass bills, this scenario will likely not be the case in Burkina Faso because the country is currently under military role. Captain Ibrahim Traorè in 2022 led a coup that removed President Roch Kaboré and Prime Minister Lassina Zerbo.
Although some have signaled there still needs to be a parliamentary vote, there will be “legal” ramifications for those who are found to be LGBTQ or advocating for the community.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations or identifying as LGBTQ were regarded as legal in Burkina Faso before the July 10 announcement. Same-sex marriages were — and remain — illegal.
Members of the Transitional Legislative Assembly last September met to discuss regional issues that included the prohibition of and penalization of homosexuality and restricting the creation of groups that advocate on behalf of sexual minorities. The TLA incorporated the suggestions into a report and submitted it to Burkina Faso’s leadership.
Some of the country’s LGBTQ groups and human rights organizations have called upon the current leadership to respect and acknowledge other genders.
“We are all equal in dignity and rights,” said the National Consultive Commission on Human Rights, which is known by acronym CNDH (Commission Nationale des Droits Humains in French), in a statement. “CNDH is fighting against all forms of discrimination based on race gender, religion or social origin.”
“In Burkina Faso, thousands of people suffer from prejudice and injustice every day,” added CNDH. “We must take action. Discrimination weakens our society and divides our communities. Every individual deserves to live without fear of being judged or excluded.”
The organization further stressed “every action counts. Every voice matters.”
“Together we can change mindsets,” it said. “We must educate, raise awareness and encourage respect for diversity.”
CNDH President Gonta Alida Henriette said the government’s decision “would be the greatest violation of human rights in Burkina Faso and would condemn hundreds of thousands of LGBT+ people in Burkina Faso.” Alice Nkom, an African human rights activist, echoed this sentiment.
“Why politicize a privacy matter among consenting adults while making it a crucial topic for Africa? I answer you: Stop spying on your neighbor for the wrong reasons,” said Nkom. “Mind your own life and, if you care about your neighbor, worry about their health, if water is coming out of the tap, if there is electricity in the house, or food to feed their children.”
“Why are they prioritizing the issue of saying no to homosexuality in Africa instead of no wars or armed conflict in Africa, no poverty in Africa, no hunger in Africa, no misery in Africa?,” asked Nkom. “We should stop being distracted by topics that take away nothing and add nothing to our lives.”
Other activists say the proposal would expose the LGBTQ community and its allies to imprisonment and other punishments. They say the repercussions would go beyond legal implications; making human rights and sexual minority activists more vulnerable to criminal action, persecution, and arbitrary arrests.
Africa
Cameroon president’s daughter comes out
Brenda Biya acknowledges relationship with Brazilian model
The daughter of Cameroonian President Paul Biya has come out as a lesbian.
Brenda Biya, 26, on June 30 posted to her Instagram page a picture of her kissing Brazilian model Layyons Valença.
“I’m crazy about you and I want the world to know,” said Brenda Biya.
Her father has been Cameroon’s president since 1982.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in the Central African country that borders Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and Chad. The State Department’s 2023 human rights report notes harassment, discrimination, violence, and arbitrary arrests of LGBTQ people are commonplace in the country.
Brenda Biya is a musician who does not live in Cameroon.
The BBC reported she told Le Parisien, a French newspaper, in an exclusive interview published on Tuesday that she and Valença have been together for eight months. The women have also traveled to Cameroon together three times, but Brenda Biya did not tell her family they were in a relationship.
Brenda Biya said she did not tell her family that she planned to come out, and they were upset when she did. Brenda Biya told Le Parisien that her mother, Cameroonian first lady Chantale Biya, asked her to delete her Instagram post.
The Washington Blade on Thursday did not see the picture of Brenda Biya and Valença on her Instagram account.
“Coming out is an opportunity to send a strong message,” Brenda Biya told Le Parisien.
Brenda Biya described Cameroon’s criminalization law as “unfair, and I hope that my story will change it.”
Activists applauded Brenda Biya for coming out. The BBC reported the DDHP Movement, which supports Cameroon’s anti-LGBTQ laws, filed a complaint against her with the country’s public prosecutor.
Caribbean
Dutch Supreme Court rules Aruba, Curaçao must allow same-sex couples to marry
Ruling likely also applicable to St. Maarten
The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday ruled Aruba and Curaçao must extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.
The Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba in 2022 ruled in favor of marriage equality in two cases that Fundacion Orguyo Aruba and Human Rights Caribbean in Curaçao filed.
The governments of the two islands appealed the ruling.
The Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba has jurisdiction over Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten —three constituent countries within the Netherlands — and Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba — which are special municipalities within the kingdom.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry and adopt children in Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba since 2012.
Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten must recognize same-sex marriages from the Netherlands, Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba. Aruba’s registered partnership law took effect in 2021.
“Today, we celebrate a historic victory for the dignity and rights of LGBT individuals in Curaçao and Aruba,” said Human Rights Caribbean President Janice Tjon Sien Kie on Friday in a statement.
Aruban Sen. Miguel Mansur, who is gay, on Friday described the ruling to the Washington Blade as “an amazing victory which applies to Aruba, Curaçao, and by implication St. Maarten.”
“Aruba progresses into a society with less discrimination, more tolerance, and acceptance,” he said.
Melissa Gumbs, a lesbian St. Maarten MP, told the Blade the ruling “could very well have some bearing on our situation here.”
“I’m definitely looking into it,” she said. “We’re researching it to see what is the possibility, and also in touch with our friends in Aruba who are, of course, overjoyed with this ruling.”
Cuba, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Martin, St. Barts, Martinique, and Guadeloupe, are the other jurisdictions in the Caribbean in which same-sex couples can legally marry.
Mansur said the first same-sex marriages in Aruba will happen “very soon.”
“There are two couples ready to wed,” he told the Blade.
Caribbean
Black transgender woman from Chicago disappears in the Bahamas
Taylor Casey last seen on June 19 on Paradise Island
A Black transgender woman from Chicago disappeared last month while attending a yoga retreat in the Bahamas.
A flyer the Royal Bahamas Police Force has distributed says Taylor Casey, 42, was last seen on June 19 on Paradise Island, which is adjacent to Nassau, the country’s capital.
Casey’s family in a press release said employees at the Sivanandra Ashram Yoga Retreat she was attending reported her missing on June 20 “when she failed to attend that day’s classes.”
Casey’s mother, Colette Seymore, traveled to Paradise Island after her daughter disappeared.
The press release, which advocates in Chicago released ahead of a press conference on Thursday, notes “a search of the area and conversations with the Bahamian authorities left Ms. Colette Seymore with more questions than answers.”
Thursday is Casey’s 42nd birthday.
Seymore is among those who spoke at Thursday’s press conference.
“My child has been missing for almost three weeks,” said Seymore in the press release. “My family, friends, and I are distraught! I am pleading with everyone to call your elected officials and demand the FBI lead this investigation and bring her home safe and sound.”
The Windy City Times described Casey as “a fixture of Chicago’s transgender community and a beloved youth advocate.” Casey has also practiced yoga for 15 years, and went to the retreat “as part of a long-term goal to deepen her yoga practice.”
“She was excited to be participating in the yoga teacher training program and looking forward to sharing her experience with others when she returned,” noted a second press advisory her family released this week.
The Nassau Guardian, a Bahamian newspaper, on June 27 reported authorities found Casey’s cell phone in the ocean, but her other belongings were still in her room at the retreat.
A spokesperson for Taylor’s family told the Washington Blade they have reached out to the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas for assistance. Eyewitness News Bahamas, a Bahamian newscast, on June 28 reported the Federal Bureau of Investigation is working with Bahamian authorities to investigate Taylor’s disappearance.
The Bahamas Organization of LGBTI Affairs has also offered its support to Taylor’s family and assistance to authorities.
“There is still hope,” Alexus D’Marco, the group’s executive director, told Eyewitness News Bahamas. “They’re just looking for that piece of hope and to have some closure to finding their loved one.”
D’Marco also called for Bahamian authorities to do more to investigate missing persons’ cases in the country.
“A human being is missing, and that is the whole thing about this,” she told Eyewitness News Bahamas. “Regardless of her gender identity, being identified as a trans person, she’s still a human being and she’s still a visitor to our shores.”
Africa
Ugandan activists again appeal ruling that upheld Anti-Homosexuality Act
Country’s Constitutional Court in April refused to ‘nullify’ law
A group of LGBTQ activists in Uganda on Thursday once again appealed a ruling that upheld the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.
President Yoweri Museveni in May 2023 signed the law, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.”
The U.S. subsequently 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.” Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha and Jacqueline Kasha Nabagesara are among the activists who appealed the ruling to the country’s Court of Appeal on April 16.
A picture that Mugisha posted to his X account on Thursday notes he, along with Nabagesara, are two of the 22 activists who filed the latest appeal with the Supreme Court, which is the country’s highest court.
“Today, we have filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Uganda to overturn the Constitutional Court decision that upheld the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Law,” said Mugisha.
Today, we have filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Uganda to overturn the Constitutional Court decision that upheld the Uganda Anti Homosexuality Law.🇺🇬🏳️🌈. pic.twitter.com/ToNraV5iQ3
— Dr. Frank Mugisha (@frankmugisha) July 11, 2024
Africa
LGBTQ Kenyans join protests against controversial tax bill
More than 40 people killed after protesters stormed parliament on June 25
Queer Kenyans have braved the risks of homophobic attacks and joined young people in the nationwide protests against the government’s proposed tax hikes on bread and other essentials.
The protests, which started mid-last month before the National Assembly on June 25 passed the country’s controversial Finance Bill 2024, have been led by the country’s Gen Z and millennial populations.
The nationwide protests, which culminated with angry mobs storming parliament when the bill passed, have also drawn LGBTQ Kenyans who have marched with Pride flags alongside other protesters with the national flag. The queer protesters, however, stopped carrying the rainbow flags out of fear of anti-LGBTQ attacks after other protesters warned the presence of the Pride flag threatened to spur a serious backlash from parents, clerics, and government loyalists who oppose the championing of homosexuality, which Kenyan laws criminalize.
President William Ruto, who defiantly pushed for the enactment of the bill to raise more revenues to implement projects, bowed to pressure from the protesters and the international community and declined to assent to the proposed law. This decision followed the ugly scenes on June 25 after riot police responded to the peaceful protesters with force that left more than 40 people dead and more than 300 others injured from live bullets, massive looting, and destruction of property.
GALCK, which is a coalition of 16 LGBTQ rights groups, while supporting the anti-tax protests and the participation of their members stated that the Finance Bill “disproportionately burdens Kenyans and threatens our most vulnerable communities including the LGBTQ+ individuals.”
“For LGBTQ+ Kenyans who often face additional healthcare challenges, these taxes pose a significant barrier,” GALCK said in a statement.
The group reiterated that introducing taxes on digital content creation on which the majority of Kenya’s unemployed youths rely as a source of income would have also severely impacted the LGBTQ organizations and activists who depend on online platforms for advocacy and awareness campaigns.
“This stifles crucial efforts to address systemic inequalities faced by the LGBTQ+ community,” GALCK noted.
GALCK also stated the government’s proposed tax hikes on transaction costs for bank and mobile money transfers through the Finance Bill would have impacted LGBTQ people in need of emergency support and smooth flow of funds within the queer community.
Regarding the government’s proposal that would have allowed the country’s tax collector, the Kenya Revenue Authority, to freely access crucial information from people regardless of the existing data protection laws, GALCK noted the move would have amounted to a serious privacy violation to the LGBTQ organizations, activists, and donors.
“This bill is not just about the proposed tax hikes, it is about basic rights and the future of Kenya,” GALCK affirmed. “As GALCK, we will continue protesting and raising awareness until our voices are heard. Together, we can build a safe and sustainable country for all of us.”
Although GALCK has expressed its condolences to the families of protesters killed during the nationwide protests, it has thus far not reported any queer person killed or injured, even as a memorial concert in honor of the more than 40 victims was held last Sunday at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
The Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination (INEND), an LGBTQ+ rights group, has also been instrumental in ensuring both the queer and non-LGBTQ protesters stay safe and healthy during and after protests by sharing informative tips.
INEND, for instance, informed the protesters on the need to bathe to get rid of teargas and other chemical compounds that riot police threw at them, residual dust, and sweat for healthy skin. The group also advised protesters to drink a lot of water to (re)hydrate their bodies, get enough rest after the protest, seek immediate medical care when injured, and receive psychological support.
“Once rested, movements (protesters) should regroup in a day or two to discuss follow-up steps for arrested members, successes or setbacks of the protest, opportunities created for movement-building and the next strategies involving media appearances, following up with institutions, social media campaigns, another protest, and suchlike activities,” INEND stated.
The nationwide protest movement, which is organic, has mostly been mobilized by social media influencers and human rights activists but with no de facto leaders. It is, therefore, difficult for authorities to deal with it and they have resorted to arbitrary arrests and abductions.
Africa
Transgender woman kidnapped, sexually assaulted in Zimbabwe
Sunflower Sibanda released on July 3, found refuge at LGBTQ group’s offices
A transgender woman in Zimbabwe who was kidnapped late last month has been found alive.
Chayelle Cathro, a missing persons investigator, said Sunflower Sibanda was last seen at the Eclipse nightclub in Harare, the country’s capital, with an unknown assailant on June 28.
Sibanda, who lives in Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city that is roughly 288 miles from Harare, reserved an Airbnb in the capital’s Avonlea neighborhood before she went to the club.
“Sunflower was last spotted at Eclipse club in the inner city by multiple confirmed sources,” said Cathro. “She left the club with an unidentified man who was allegedly taking her to her reserved Airbnb in Avonlea. However, the Airbnb hosts confirmed that she never checked in.”
Cathro said two of Sibanda’s friends began to search for her on June 29 “when she did not make an appearance at an event she was meant to attend.” They looked for her at the Airbnb and then went to the police station and the nightclub “where guards confirmed that there was no unusual activity the previous night.”
They ended their search at Parirenyatwa Hospital, “where they checked the emergency room, resuscitation, and specialist services.”
Sibanda on July 3 was dumped in a remote area along Bulawayo Road in the Harare suburb of Norton. She then walked 29 miles to GALZ (an Association of LGBTI People in Zimbabwe)’s offices where her family in a press release said she spent the night.
“She never checked in as she was abducted, taken advantage of, and left in a remote area after a night out with friends,” said her family. “She was abducted by someone claiming he would take her to the Airbnb when she was inebriated. He did not take her home but instead robbed and sexually assaulted her.”
“Sunflower is currently receiving support and assistance during this difficult time from loved ones, and has already received medical support,” added her family. “We shall respect her privacy and journey towards healing at the same time while wishing her the best moving forward. It has been a very difficult time for everyone but we are all relieved to have her back home.”
Samuel Matsikure, a Zimbabwean human rights activist, said it was a huge relief that Sibanda had been found.
“As a citizen and someone I have learned to love I am humbled by the response from the country and worldwide,” said Matsikure
Sibanda’s friend, who asked to remain anonymous, echoed Matsikure.
“I am incredibly relieved and grateful to share that Sunflower has been found and is safe. I know many of you have questions about how, where, and with whom she was found, and I understand the concern and curiosity,” said the friend. “However, what’s most important right now is that she is in safe hands.”
“I invite everyone to continue holding space for her as she recovers,” they added. “Rest assured, any necessary information will be shared in due time.”
Section 73 of Zimbabwe’s Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act on sexual crimes and crimes against morality states “any male person who, with the consent of another male person, knowingly performs with that other person anal sexual intercourse, or any act involving physical contact other than anal sexual intercourse that would be regarded by a reasonable person to be an indecent act, shall be guilty of sodomy and liable to a fine, up to a year in prison or both.”
Discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity remains commonplace in Zimbabwe.
A handful of people last month stormed GALZ’s offices and spray painted homophobic graffiti on the walls. The assailants also made anti-gay slurs.
World
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
Labour Party trounced Conservatives in UK elections
UNITED KINGDOM
The UK Labour Party won an overwhelming majority in national elections July 4, ending 14 years of Conservative Party rule that have been characterized by a deteriorating human rights situation for LGBTQ Britons, particularly transgender people.
But the election of Kier Starmer as new prime minister seems to have queer people only cautiously optimistic at best.
While Starmer’s Labour Party manifesto pledged to improve the queer people’s rights and safety by banning conversion therapy, expanding hate crime laws, and simplifying the gender recognition process for trans people, Starmer has also spent a lot of time playing to the widespread anti-trans hysteria in Britain.
He has said that trans people should not be allowed in single-sex spaces and courted noted transphobic author J.K. Rowling.
That prompted a rebuke from Darren Styles, editor of Attitude Magazine, the UK’s leading LGBTQ lifestyle magazine.
Styles had offered Starmer the opportunity to write an open letter to his magazine’s readers ahead of the election, but in an editorial, he writes that he couldn’t publish it without adding his own commentary.
“But between his copy arriving, on 23rd June, and today’s publication the earth moved beneath our feet. Since then, the Labour leader has said that he’d be willing to meet with JK Rowling to discuss sex and gender, and ‘respects’ her views,” Styles wrote.
“Much of … Sir Keir’s missive is positive and indeed impressive, does offer hope of genuine change and will likely reverse, in part, the trend of decline in LGBTQ+ rights in the U.K. But, in our opinion and in light of events, it is equivocal in parts in that it makes no mention of the trans issues that have subsequently come to light,” he wrote.
PinkNews reports that 56 out LGBTQ people were elected to parliament on July 4, including 46 Labour MPs, about 11 percent of Labour’s total caucus. It’s possible they may be able to push Starmer to make progress on LGBT issues.
But the total number of out LGBTQ MPs fell from a pre-election record of 67, after dozens of out Conservative and Scottish National Party MPs lost their seats.
FRANCE
French voters rejected the far-right in a dramatic reversal of expectations in the second round of parliamentary elections Sunday, choosing a deeply divided legislature where the left-wing bloc of parties will control the most seats and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party holding the second-largest number of seats and the balance of power.
In the wake of the results, openly gay Prime Minister Gabriel Attal from Macron’s Renaissance party announced he would tender his resignation Monday morning, however, Macron rejected his resignation, asking him to stay on for stability while a new government is formed. Attal has been prime minister since January 2024.
Macron called the snap election last month after the far-right National Rally party won the most seats in European Parliament elections, seeking a fresh mandate for his government.
Polls had widely predicted the National Rally would come out on top in the parliamentary election, but a flurry of cooperative deals between the left alliance and the Renaissance party after the first-round vote last weekend led to a consolidation of the anti-NR vote.
While LGBTQ issues had not played a great part in the election campaign, the National Rally had in the past campaigned on restricting access to IVF and surrogacy for same-sex couples, and even banning same-sex marriage.
Macron also turned to campaigning against trans rights, accusing the left-wing bloc of wanting to allow trans people to change their legal gender by simple declaration at a townhall, something he called “ludicrous.” Nevertheless, that is already legal in the France of which he is president.
NORWAY
The man who fired a machine gun at an Pride festival in Norway in 2022, killing two people and wounding 21 others in an Islamic State-inspired attack, was found guilty of terrorism and sentenced to 30 years in prison on July 4.
Zaniar Matapour, a 44-year-old Iranian-born Norwegian citizen, fired 10 rounds with a machine gun and eight with a handgun into a crowd in three locations, including outside the London Pub, a popular Oslo gay bar, on June 25, 2022. Civilians assisted police in detaining Matapour at the scene.
Norway’s Police Security Service told media at the time that Matapour had been known to them since at least 2015 and had grown concerned that he had become radicalized into an unspecified Islamist terrorist network. According to the service’s then-acting Chief Roger Berg, he had a “long history of violence and threats” and known mental health issues.
The Oslo District Court found that Matapour had sworn allegiance to ISIS, the terrorist organization that governed a large part of Iraq and Syria between 2014-2019 and which has claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks across the globe.
Matapour has never denied carrying out the attack, but he pled innocent, claiming that he had been provoked to carry out the attack by an agent of Norway’s intelligence service posing as a high-ranking officer of ISIS.
Matapour will be eligible for parole in 20 years, but he can only be released if he is deemed not to be a danger. Four other people are suspected of having been involved in the attack, but they have not been charged.
SLOVAKIA
The Human Rights Institute has filed a criminal complaint against the country’s minister of culture for inciting hatred against immigrants and Jewish people, as well as LGBTQ people.
The nongovernmental organization filed the complaint on July 4, a day after Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová gave an interview to the Topky network, in which she claimed that the low birthrate among white people in Europe was due to LGBTQ people.
“We heterosexuals are creating the future, because we make babies. Europe is dying out, babies are not being born because of the excessive number of LGBTQ+ [people]. And the strange thing is [that it’s happening] with the white race,” Šimkovičová said.
Homophobic hate speech is not a crime in Slovakia, but racist and anti-Semitic hate speech is.
Human Rights Institute Director Peter Weisenbacher drew a connection between Šimkovičová’s statements and the shocking murder of two gay men outside a Bratislava gay bar in 2022.
“It is shocking that it has not even been two years since the terrorist attack on Zámocká, in which two people died, and a member of the government is saying such things. Even the statements of public figures, which cannot be called anything other than spreading hatred, incite homophobia, racism and anti-Semitism,” Weisenbacher said in a statement.
Slovakia’s government has long been hostile to LGBTQ rights, including under current left-leaning populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was elected last year.
Before joining his government, Šimkovičová had worked as a journalist, until she was fired for promoting anti-migrant content on social media. She then became a darling of far-right media, promoting anti-vax, homophobic, and pro-Russian content on social media and hosting the YouTube show TV Slovan.
Her ministry also announced this week that it would cease all funding of LGBTQ-related content. Šimkovičová had called the policy a “return to normalcy” when the idea was announced in January.
INDIA
A year after the India’s Supreme Court dashed the hopes of the country’s queer community by ruling that there is no constitutional right to same-sex marriage, the court is set to reconsider its ruling at a hearing on Wednesday.
In October 2023, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Supriyo v. Union of India that same-sex marriage is for parliament to decide, not the courts. The court also ruled 3-2 against ordering the government to introduce civil unions.
However, the court accepted the government’s offer to set up a committee that would investigate other ways to give same-sex couples more rights around inheritance, medical decisions, and other issues, and the court reiterated that anti-LGBTQ discrimination is not allowed under the constitution.
Since the ruling, two of the five justices retired — one who had voted for same-sex civil unions, and one who wrote the majority opinion against it.
One of the petitioners in the same-sex marriage case filed a petition for a review of the decision, noting that the ruling acknowledges that LGBTQ people face unjust discrimination but fails to order any remedy for the injustice.
“The majority ruling is self-contradictory, facially erroneous and deeply unjust. The majority found that queer Indians endure severe discrimination at the hands of the State, declared that discrimination must be prohibited, and then did not take the logical next step of enjoining the discrimination,” Udit Sood said in his petition.
LGBTQ people have made major progress in legal rights in India in recent years, largely through the courts. In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the colonial-era sodomy law that criminalized LGBTQ people, and the following year, the government passed a law banning discrimination against trans people.
Courts have also asserted that LGBTQ people have the right to autonomy and cohabitation, and that they cannot be subjected to conversion therapy.
If the Supreme Court does rule in favor of same-sex marriage, India would be by far the largest country in the world to legalize it.
Also this week, the Court of Cassation in The Hague, Netherlands, is expected to deliver a long-awaited ruling on same-sex marriage in the Caribbean countries of Aruba and Curaçao on Friday.
Africa
Malawi’s Constitutional Court declines to legalize same-sex relationships
Binational couple brought case in 2023
Human rights organizations in Malawi have criticized the country’s Constitutional Court over its June 28 ruling that declined to legalize same-sex relationships.
Wim Akster, a Dutch national, and Jana Gonani, a local transgender woman, through their lawyers last year approached the Constitutional Court over the legalization of consensual same-sex relations under the penal code, which criminalizes so-called acts of “carnal knowledge against the order of nature and gross indecency” with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison with corporal punishment for both men and women.
The Constitutional Court heard the case and issued its ruling on June 28.
“We echo the concern voiced regarding the recent Malawi Constitutional Court ruling on consensual same-sex sexual conduct,” said U.N. Human Rights Southern Africa. “We urge the government to protect and stand up for the human rights of vulnerable groups, including LGBTQ+ persons, by ensuring domestic laws align with international obligations.”
Khanyo Farise, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for East and Southern Africa, described the ruling as a bitter setback for human rights in Malawi.
“The court’s decision to keep these discriminatory laws on the books is a bitter setback for human rights in Malawi. The ruling manifestly flies in the face of Malawi’s constitution, the African Charter and international human rights law, which all clearly prohibit discrimination,” said Farise. “It also makes Malawi an outlier in Southern Africa, where most countries have decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual conduct.”
Farise added “the court’s refusal to overturn these laws means LGBTI persons in Malawi will continue to face discrimination and persecution simply for who they love.”
“In particular, this ruling translates to continued barriers in access to healthcare and other social services for LGBTI persons,” said Farise. “Amnesty International stands with all LGBTI people in Malawi, who deserve the right to live their lives with dignity and full humanity. We also demand that authorities ensure their safety in the face of threats of violence.”
U.N. Human Rights said the provisions of the Malawian penal code that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations should be repealed.
“The Constitutional Court’s ruling upholding the criminalization of consensual same-sex conduct is deeply disappointing and contrary to the country’s own international human rights obligations,” it said. “The anti-gay law must be repealed and the rights of LGBTQ+ people protected.”
LGBTQ activists in Malawi say the recent surge in demonstrations and actions against the community that traditional and religious leaders have organized have raised serious concerns about the protection of human rights and the principles of equality and nondiscrimination.
“Homophobic sentiments are leading to higher rates of mental health issues, unemployment and homelessness,” said the Nyasa Rainbow Alliance. “It takes no compromise to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.”
“Gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world,” added the group. “They are of all ages, races, and faiths. They are doctors, teachers, farmers, bankers, soldiers, athletes, and whether we know it or we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends, and our neighbors.”
Media reports indicate human rights organizations are considering an appeal of the ruling.
The Namibian High Court last month decriminalized consensual same-sex relations. Mauritius last year declared Article 250 of the country’s penal code that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations as unconstitutional following a four year legal battle that Abdool Ridwan Firaas (Ryan) Ah Seek, president of Arc-en-Ciel, the country’s largest LGBTQ rights group, initiated.
South America
Chilean capital Pride parade participants, activists attacked
Men wearing hoodies disrupted June 29 event in Santiago
A group of hooded men on June 29 attacked LGBTQ activists and others who participated in the Chilean capital’s annual Pride parade.
Witnesses said the men punched and kicked activists and parade participants, threatened them with a skateboard, threw stones and paint at floats and damaged parade infrastructure. The men also broke a truck’s headlight.
The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBTQ rights group known by the acronym Movilh, strongly condemned the acts of violence, calling them deliberate attempts to disrupt a peaceful and safe demonstration.
“Vandalism that seeks to transgress the peaceful trajectory of our demonstrations and that is only useful to the interests of the homo/transphobic sectors,” denounced Movilh.
The attack occurred when the hooded men tried to break through the security fence protecting the participants and the truck that was at the beginning of the parade.
“As we do every year, we fence the truck with our volunteers to prevent anyone from being run over or hurt by the wheels,” said Movilh. “The hooded men approached the fence to break it, hitting our volunteers and people outside of our organization with their feet and fists who, in an act of solidarity, tried to dissuade them.”
The motives behind this attack seem to be related to previous calls on social networks to boycott the event, although the organizers stressed that violent acts are alien to the parade’s inclusive and celebratory purpose.
Movilh spokesperson Javiera Zúñiga told the Washington Blade that “after the attack that we faced during the Pride March, we published in our social networks the few images that were available from that moment.”
“What we are basically asking is that anyone who has seen something and can recognize any of the aggressors write to our email or (contact us) through our social networks so that we can file complaints and do whatever is necessary to find those responsible.”
Zúñiga stated that “not only was there aggression against people, but there was also damage to private property because they broke one of the truck’s headlights.”
“So for these two reasons we are looking for anyone who may have information to contact us,” she said.
The incident has generated widespread condemnation within the LGBTQ community and outside of it. They say it highlights the need to protect human rights and diversity and promote respect for them.
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