Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by internaldisputes

🏳️‍🌈 UEFA: Rainbow stadium? Rainbow logo better

internaldisputes — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 08:52:38 +0800

QUOTE(internaldisputes @ Jun 24 2021, 08:50 AM)

🇪🇺 Uefa add rainbow to logo as Hungary anti-LGBT row intensifies
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...ow-intensifies/

LAUSANNE: Uefa on Wednesday added the rainbow to their logo as they defended their decision to refuse to allow Munich’s Allianz Arena to be illuminated in the same colours in protest at anti-LGBTQ laws passed in Hungary.

In a statement European football’s governing body said they “are proud to wear the colours of the rainbow”, a symbol for the LGBTQ community, but stood by their decision by saying the city of Munich’s request to illuminate the stadium was “political”.

Germany will play Hungary at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday on the final day of Euro 2020 group matches.

“The request itself was political, linked to the Hungarian football team’s presence in the stadium for this evening’s match with Germany,” Uefa said.

Uefa said that the rainbow was “a symbol that embodies our core values, promoting everything that we believe in – a more just and egalitarian society, tolerant of everyone, regardless of their background, belief or gender”.

And they insisted that their decision to turn down Munich’s request was not political, saying that “the rainbow is not a political symbol, but a sign of our firm commitment to a more diverse and inclusive society”.

Munich’s request to illuminate the stadium in the Bavarian capital came after the Hungarian parliament approved a ban on the “promotion” of homosexuality and gender change to minors, legislation that critics say is even harsher than Russia’s law on “gay propaganda”.

Last year homosexual couples were also effectively banned from adopting children, a measure that led to rare criticism of government policy by a Hungarian sports personality – the national team’s goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.
[right][snapback]101389112[/snapback][/right]

🏳️‍🌈 Transwoman making history at Tokyo 2020

internaldisputes — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 08:46:47 +0800

QUOTE(internaldisputes @ Jun 21 2021, 08:45 AM)

🇳🇿 New Zealander selected as first transgender Olympian
Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sport/...ympics-15057736

WELLINGTON: New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was confirmed as the first openly transgender athlete to compete at the Olympic Games on Monday (Jun 21) when Kiwi officials named her in the squad for Tokyo next month.

New Zealand Olympic Committee chief Kereyn Smith said Hubbard, 43 - who was born male but transitioned to female in her thirties - had met all the qualification criteria for transgender athletes.

"We acknowledge that gender identity in sport is a highly sensitive and complex issue requiring a balance between human rights and fairness on the field of play," Smith said in a statement.

Hubbard, who also competed as a male, became eligible to lift as a woman after showing testosterone levels below the threshold required by the International Olympic Committee.

She will contest the women's +87kg category in Tokyo, an event in which she is currently ranked 16th in the world.

Olympic Weightlifting New Zealand President Richie Patterson said Hubbard has worked hard to come back from as potentially career-ending elbow injury suffered at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

"Laurel has shown grit and perseverance in her return from a significant injury and overcoming the challenges in building back confidence on the competition platform," he said.

Current IOC rules state a trans woman can compete provided her testosterone levels are below 10 nanomoles per litre, a criteria Hubbard meets.

But critics say she has numerous physical advantages from growing up male that make her presence in the competition unfair for female-born athletes.

Hubbard, an intensely private person who avoids the media, did not address the gender issue in remarks released by the NZOC.

But she thanks the community for supporting her return from injury.

"I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders ... your support, your encouragement, and your aroha (love) carried me through the darkness," she said.
[right][snapback]101357007[/snapback][/right]

🏳️‍🌈 Catholic Adoption Agency 1 - LGBT 0

internaldisputes — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 08:54:43 +0800

QUOTE(internaldisputes @ Jun 18 2021, 08:50 AM)

🇺🇸 U.S. Supreme Court backs Catholic group that shunned gay foster parents
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme...ute-2021-06-17/

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court embraced religious rights over LGBT rights on Thursday by ruling in favor of a Catholic Church-affiliated agency that sued after Philadelphia refused to place children for foster care with the organization because it barred same-sex couples from applying to become foster parents.

The 9-0 ruling, written by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, was a victory for Catholic Social Services (CSS), part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and represented the latest instance of the Supreme Court taking an expansive view of religious rights under the U.S. Constitution.

The justices decided that Philadelphia's refusal to use Catholic Social Services for foster care services unless it agreed to certify same-sex couples as foster parents violated the Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of the free exercise of religion.

Catholic Social Services argued that Philadelphia had penalized it for its religious views and for following church teachings on marriage.

In the ruling, Roberts wrote, "CSS seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else."

Conservative and religious advocacy rights groups cheered the decision - and the fact that the court's three liberal members joined the six conservative justices - saying it will have a major impact on future legal disputes involving religious beliefs.

"This is a strong ruling in favor of religious freedom, especially for social services providers," said Lori Windham, a lawyer for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented the agency and three foster parents in the case. "The court recognized that it is not the government's place to exclude religious agencies because of their religious beliefs."

"I am grateful that we can finally rest knowing that the agency that has brought my family together can continue to do the same for other families," said Toni Lynn Simms-Bush, who has served as a foster parent through Catholic Social Services and was one of the plaintiffs.

'SELECTIVE ASSESSMENT'

The justices decided that foster care certification provided by Catholic Social Services did not fall under the city's anti-discrimination ordinance because it is a service not "readily available" to the public.

"It involves a customized and selective assessment that bears little resemblance to staying in a hotel, eating at a restaurant or riding a bus," Roberts wrote.

The Supreme Court declined to take even-broader action in the form of overruling its 1990 precedent that upheld "generally applicable" laws even if they curb religious freedom. Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch said the court should have overruled that precedent.

LGBT and other liberal advocacy groups called the ruling troubling but said they were relieved it did not go further.

"Foster care is a government function, and all governments have a compelling interest in ensuring their contract agencies, including faith-based ones, treat all children and families equally. And today's ruling does mean, at least for now, that different-sex married couples have access to all city agencies, while same-sex couples do not," M. Currey Cook of the Lambda Legal pro-LGBT rights group said.

Catholic Social Services, which has helped provide foster care services for more than a century, had said it would be compelled to close its foster care operations if it was barred from Philadelphia's program.

Philadelphia in 2018 suspended foster care referrals to Catholic Social Services after a newspaper report about the organization's policy against same-sex couples as foster parents, leading the agency to file suit. Catholic Social Services said Philadelphia's action meant that available foster homes were sitting empty amid a foster care crisis in the city of about 1.5 million people.

The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2019 ruled against Catholic Social Services, saying it had not shown that the city had treated it differently because of its religious affiliation. U.S. District Judge Petrese Tucker in 2018 also ruled against the organization.

Eleven of the 50 states currently allow private agencies to refuse to place children with same-sex couples, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a group backing gay rights.

The Supreme Court in recent years has sent mixed messages on the conflict between LGBT and religious rights.

It backed gay rights in a series of landmark rulings including a 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide and a 2020 ruling that a federal law barring workplace discrimination protects gay and transgender employees.

It also bolstered religious rights in several decisions including a 2014 ruling that let owners of businesses raise religious objections against the government.

No same-sex couple ever sought certification as a foster parent from Catholic Social Services. In addition to same-sex couples, it also will not certify unmarried couples as foster parents, but does not object to certifying individual gay people.
[right][snapback]101329020[/snapback][/right]

🏳️‍🌈 Jakim: Research? Ask our permission 1st

internaldisputes — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 11:29:54 +0800

QUOTE(internaldisputes @ Jun 16 2021, 11:25 AM)

🇲🇾 Jakim asks Suhakam to explain third gender legislation research
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...ation-research/

PETALING JAYA: The department of Islamic development Malaysia (Jakim) has asked the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) to explain a research project it was conducting on legislation to recognise a third gender.

This comes after Suhakam posted a research position opening on its social media, to study the feasibility of having legislation to recognise a third gender in Malaysia.

Suhakam said the research project would last for five months tentatively from the date of appointment, with the closing date for applications on June 30.

“Jakim has requested an official explanation from Suhakam on the matter,” the department said in a brief Twitter post today.

FMT is attempting to get Suhakam’s comment.

The commission’s research opening had drawn flak on Facebook, with several netizens describing it as a waste of time and resources.

“No need (for) research on this. This is Malaysia. Not western countries. The answer is absolutely no and no,” said a user named Ahmad Zulnasri Abdul Khalid.

Meanwhile, some netizens hit back at Jakim’s tweet, with one user questioning if the whole nation was required to report to the Islamic department now.
[right][snapback]101309719[/snapback][/right]

🏳️‍🌈 Karma is real

internaldisputes — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 14:06:10 +0800

QUOTE(internaldisputes @ Jun 4 2021, 01:55 PM)

🇺🇸 Moses Lake boaters allegedly harassed another group over gay pride flags. Then their boat burst into flames.
Source: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/m...st-into-flames/

[twt]https://twitter.com/retro_ushi_/status/1399221999742771205[/twt]
When another boat began circling their vessel on Moses Lake on Memorial Day, a group from Washington assumed they were trying to signal support for their gay pride flags.

But then someone on the other boat flipped a middle finger and yelled something about “gays” and “flags,” a passenger on the boat said. So the group started recording in case the situation escalated.

It did — but not how they might have expected.

Moments later, the other boat burst into flames, forcing passengers to jump into the lake — and leaving the victims to become rescuers as they filmed a moment that turned into a viral video this week.

“These people harassed my family because we were flying gay pride flags … by racing around us and shouting gay slurs,” tweeted a passenger named Robbie along with a video that has been viewed more than 620,000 times on Twitter as of early Wednesday. “Then, their boat literally blew up! #KarmaIsReal.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the incident took place on Sunday on Moses Lake, adding that the agency was working to interview the people involved before releasing more information. Police did not identify anyone onboard the two boats.

“We are currently interviewing the boat owners to determine if a crime occurred,” Sheriff Tom Jones told The Washington Post late Tuesday.

Robbie, 32, told The Post in a statement that he, his brother and two other passengers had spent Sunday swimming, listening to music and tubing in the lake about 100 miles west of Spokane. (Robbie declined to provide his last name out of fear of retaliation.)

Around 7 p.m., the group stopped their boat, which carried a rainbow flag from one of Robbie’s first pride events, as well as another gay pride flag belonging to his brother.

That’s when they noticed a small vessel carrying three people speeding toward them. One of the other boat’s passengers, a woman, yelled something unintelligible before flipping her middle finger, Robbie said.

Then, as the boat seemed to speed away, it made a sharp turn and circled around them at least six times.

“At this point I could clearly hear the words ‘gays’ and ‘flags’ being shouted from their boat,” Robbie said.

By then, Robbie’s brother was recording with his phone. When the other boat noticed the group was filming, the driver attempted to hide his face before speeding away, leaving a cloud of smoke behind and waves that rocked Robbie’s boat back and forth.

Moments later, the group heard a loud bang and sputter coming from the other boat, and saw a cloud of black smoke rising. “Holy crap! They blew up!” said Robbie’s brother, who was driving the boat.

Robbie’s brother steered toward the boat, which was consumed in flames.

“Help us! We’re burning!” shouted the woman who had flipped her middle finger at them moments earlier, Robbie said. Robbie and the rest of his group pulled the burning boat’s occupants to safety and then sped away before calling 911.

“The passengers were quite rude, shouting over us, ignoring my [inquiries] about their well being when on the 911 call and smoking a vape pen on our boat without even so much as asking if they could; several passengers of our boat have asthma,” Robbie told The Post.

Eventually, police arrived to extinguish the flames. The rescued boaters left to jump on a friends’ vessel without saying “thank you,” Robbie said.

Grant County Deputy Kyle Foreman told The Spokesman-Review it is not clear why the boat caught fire. The boat was eventually towed back to the shore, Foreman told the paper.

Robbie later tweeted a clip of two pride flags flying over the lake from his boat, writing, “And we’re back at it again! We will not hide our #pride.”
[right][snapback]101186609[/snapback][/right]

🏳️‍🌈 Trolls: How dare ppl get married!

internaldisputes — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 12:52:48 +0800

QUOTE(internaldisputes @ Apr 17 2021, 12:48 PM)

🇮🇩🇹🇭 Indonesian trolls flood Thai gay wedding photos with death threats
Source: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-cu...hai-couples-gay

When Suriya Koedsang uploaded photos of his wedding to Facebook on April 4, the 28-year-old Thai never could have imagined the hate his heartwarming post would soon receive from online trolls in Indonesia.

Within days, the pictures of Koedsang and his husband Bas’ April 3 marriage ceremony began attracting homophobic comments, ranging from rants about how homosexuality is “a sin” according to Islam, to posts listing various Indonesian words for the male reproductive organ.

As of Friday, the post had attracted more than 469,000 comments and been shared some 40,000 times.

Not all the messages were negative, however – the couple’s fellow Thais were quick to jump to their defence, creating something of a cross-cultural face-off in the comments section.

“So weird. They got married in Thailand but Indonesians have a problem with that. Why? Did they [get] married in your country? Why [do] you interfere?” wrote one Thai user named Nattaworada Imsamran, in an example of the messages of support the couple received.

By April 11, however, the negative comments had snowballed into death threats that were not only directed at the couple, but also Koedsang’s “parents, relatives, including the photographer”, he wrote in a follow-up Facebook post.

“I have never replied and only [thought] that they would stop in a few days. However, they are more severe in their comments, threatening, frightening us,” he said.

Indonesian Facebook users sent the couple “video of slaughter to terrify us”, Koedsang wrote, “why? We married in my warm house … [in our] own motherland. What is wrong with Indonesia and Indonesians? Why [do they] need to be that dramatic?”

He went on to say in his post that he “respects all religions” including Islam and that “religion never teaches you to hate others and look down on people.”

“When I studied in [the southern Thai province of] Pattani where most people are Muslim, I had no problems at all, nor even [a] difficult time,” he said.

Lawyer Ronnarong Kaewpetch, head of the Network of Campaigning for Justice in Thailand, came to the couple’s defence in the comments section under Koedsang’s April 11 post.

“Indonesian people, don’t think you guys are there, and I can’t do anything. Any day you enter Thailand, I’ll have police waiting with arrest warrants against you,” he was cited as saying by Coconuts Media.

Koedsang on Tuesday said that he intended to keep the comments open on his public Facebook posts so that he would have “evidence in legal action” - a threat Rachmat Budiman, Indonesia’s ambassador to Thailand, told local news portal Detik he thought was “excessive”.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told Detik that he hopes “there is no bad impact from the incident”, adding that Bangkok had not lodged any official complaint about it. On Wednesday, Koedsang wrote on Facebook that he did not want to be interviewed by the media.

The incident has highlighted what some critics describe as as an “aggressive” culture of internet discourse in Indonesia.

Indonesians were ranked as Southeast Asia’s rudest internet users in tech giant Microsoft’s latest Digital Civility Index, published in February. The survey involved 16,000 respondents in 32 countries, with Indonesia ranking 29th – just ahead of Russia and South Africa. Among Southeast Asian countries, Singapore was found to have the most civil internet users, ranking fourth, while Malaysia came 10th, Thailand 19th and Vietnam 24th.

Microsoft was forced to turn off the comments on its official Instagram account for a few days in the wake of the report’s publication, after Indonesian social media users flocked to it to bash the company.

Other targets of Indonesian online mobs in recent months have included the Badminton World Federation, which limited comments on its Instagram posts after they were targeted by Indonesians angry at the fact that Indonesia’s national badminton team were forced to withdraw from the All England Open Championships because of Covid-19; British actor and comedian Stephen Fry, after he was mistaken for one of the umpires at that competition; and Filipino teen TikToker Reema Martin, who was reportedly bullied into leaving social media by Indonesian women who accused her of seducing their partners.

One group of Indonesian trolls has vowed to carry on their attacks on Koedsang and his husband after claiming some Thai commenters “insulted Islam” by posting religiously charged memes.

Not all Indonesians were as triggered by the couple’s wedding, however. The hashtag #IndonesiaSaySorryForThailand was trending worldwide on Twitter on Wednesday, with many saying that they felt ashamed of the attacks on the Thai couple.

“As an Indonesian and a part of LGBT, I am truly sorry for the mean comments and death threats. It is such a shame. Please forgive us,” said one user named Shara.

“Not my fault, but I feel ashamed. Hope that the relations between the two countries will be even better. Sorry,” wrote another.

Koedsang in his Wednesday Facebook post thanked those Indonesian social media users who had apologised for their compatriots’ hate-filled remarks, as well as his fellow Thais for defending him, adding that both his and his husband’s families had been deeply affected by the needlessly negative comments, which were still flooding in at the time of writing.
[right][snapback]100643659[/snapback][/right]

🏳️‍🌈 IGP to Sajat: 3-year jail only. Why scared?

internaldisputes — Sun, 04 Apr 2021 21:17:53 +0800

🇲🇾 IGP to Nur Sajat: Come out, come out wherever you are
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2021...herever-you-are

LANGKAWI: Controversial cosmetics entrepreneur Nur Sajat, who is on the run from police and religious authorities, should come out of hiding and appear in the Syariah High Court, says Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador.

The Inspector-General of Police said Nur Sajat's apparent decision to flee the country was odd as she was not facing a serious charge in court.

So far, Abdul Hamid said the police had not received any news on the location of the entrepreneur, whose real name is Muhammad Sajjad Kamaruzzaman.

Abdul Hamid said that the police had previously succeeded in locating Nur Sajat but could not apprehend her due to challenges such as the existence of hidden passages to cross the country's borders.

"I hope that she will be responsible, that is her private life, I know. Although she is in hiding, she is still offending others (with her statements and actions). I ask her to come back and go to court.

"She is overseas. When she ran away from the court, we couldn't trace her but we knew roughly where she was.

"We have a technique to locate her, for example if she is in Kedah or Perak, and we tried to stop her at the border.

"But it has to be understood, our borders are not just walls. If they use hidden passages, it is tough for us," he was quoted as saying by Astro Awani on Sunday (April 4).

The Syariah High Court issued an arrest warrant against Nur Sajat, 36, for failing to be in court on Feb 23.

She was charged with dressing as a woman at a religious event in a beauty centre in Shah Alam and bringing Islam into contempt on Feb 23,2018.

She was charged under Section 10(a) of the Syariah Crimes (Selangor) Enactment 1995 which provides for a maximum fine of RM5,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three years or both, if convicted.

Nur Sajat had recently denied being in hiding from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) or any authorities during a video posted on Instagram recently.

🏳️‍🌈 Hypersexual & demonic gay MV going viral

internaldisputes — Sat, 03 Apr 2021 11:07:04 +0800

Another case of mulut kata jangan, tapi tangan gosok bebird?

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6swmTBVI83k

🏳️‍🌈 South Asia: We value our Sajats

internaldisputes — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 10:30:59 +0800

QUOTE(internaldisputes @ Mar 21 2021, 10:29 AM)

🇮🇳 ‘The best cops’: Indian state recruits its first transgender police officers
Source: theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/18/the-best-cops-indian-state-recruits-its-first-transgender-police-officers-chhattisgarh

The 13 new constables have overcome society’s prejudice to win a place at Chhattisgarh’s training academy

The top police officer in Chhattisgarh state, Durgesh Awasthi, has nothing but praise for his new recruits. He suspects, he says, some of them will prove to be “the best cops” the force has ever enlisted.

“They are sensitive, have a high emotional quotient and know not just how the other half lives but what it’s like being on the other side of the law,” said Awasthi.

This month Chhattisgarh became the first Indian state to welcome a cohort of transgender people into its police training college after 13 qualified for the course.

Awasthi had been working with Vidya Rajput, 43, a community leader in the state capital Raipur, to help the force with trans awareness when Rajput decided to push for further progress, remembering her own childhood impression of police officers.

“For me they were godlike figures, the people everyone turned to if they were in any trouble. They were reassuring figures, respected by the public. I wondered why we couldn’t join them and prove that we could be useful citizens too,” she said.

Too old to qualify herself, Rajput mobilised the trans community in Raipur, and 27 took up the challenge.

For the written exam, they studied “like fiends” until 2am for months. Preparing for the physical fitness test was even harder. “Very few of us had any interest in sports. We’re just not keen. The applicants had no sports clothes or trainers,” said Rajput.

The state government stepped in to provide clothing, but the first few weeks at the training ground, where – along with more than 100 other applicants – they were put through their physical paces, were not easy.

“Our bodies didn’t know what had hit them. We had never done any physical exercise. Our joints were swollen and bruised and we had injuries from falling. It was very difficult but Rajput ma’am wouldn’t let us give up,” said new recruit Tanushree Sahu, 25.

The trans recruits had to undergo their training while coping with the stresses of their everyday lives: uncertain income, parental beatings, landlord evictions and harassment. “I was proud of them. You have to realise their lives have been nothing but negativity, isolation and loneliness and suddenly they have to summon up the emotional reserves to make a go of this and they did it,” said Rajput.

When the results were announced and 13 of the 27 trans applicants heard they would be going to the police training academy, there was a sense of euphoria. “I was surprised, but delighted they had made it,” said Awasthi.

Ever since India’s supreme court 2014 ruling, which overturned colonial-era laws used to criminalise LGBTQ+ people and recognised trans people, or “hijras”, as a “third gender enjoying the same constitutional rights and freedoms as other citizens”, many have felt more positive about their place in society.

But progress has been slow, with trans people still facing stigma and harassment, including from police.

Many are still forced to survive on scraps earned from begging, or from dancing at weddings, but some have managed to find mainstream work.

One high-profile recent example is Dr Aqsa Shaikh, a community medicine specialist, who heads the Covid vaccination campaign at Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Delhi.

While there is a smattering of success stories across India, some states are more progressive than others in policies relating to trans people, and Chhattisgarh has emerged as a leader.

The city of Raigarh elected India’s first trans mayor, Madhu Bai Kinnar, in 2015. Another trans woman, Veena Sendre, was chosen as Miss Chhattisgarh 2018. A hospital in Raipur has dedicated times for trans patients, so they can visit without any fear of hostility.

Trans people becoming police constables – from social outcasts to pillars of society – is a journey that has delighted new recruit Sahu. As someone who never used to leave the house without covering her head with a scarf, she feels her life has come full circle.

“I can’t believe that I am going to throw away my scarf for a police uniform,” she said. “It’s something I can’t get my head around.”
[right][snapback]100361586[/snapback][/right]

QUOTE(internaldisputes @ Mar 9 2021, 08:56 AM)

🇧🇩 Bangladesh's first transgender news presenter makes word-perfect debut
Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/b...-debut-14362908

DHAKA: To cheers from colleagues, Bangladesh's first transgender news presenter broke down in tears on Monday, but only after her word-perfect debut was beamed to the nation and the cameras were off.

Bangladesh is home to an estimated 1.5 million transgender people, who face rampant discrimination and violence and are often forced to live by begging, the sex trade or crime.

The experience of Tashnuva Anan Shishir, who delivered the three-minute news bulletin on the private Boishakhi TV, was typical.

Born Kamal Hossain Shishir, she discovered in her early teens she was trapped in a man's body. She says she was sexually assaulted and bullied for years.

"The bullying was so unbearable I attempted suicide four times. My father stopped talking to me for years," said Shishir, now aged 29.

"When I couldn't cope with it any more, I left home ... I couldn't stand the neighbours telling my father about how I should act or walk in a masculine way."

She fled her home in a southern coastal district to live alone in the capital Dhaka, and then in the central city of Narayanganj.

There she underwent hormone therapy, took jobs working for charities and acted in theatres, all the while keeping up her studies.

In January she became the first transgender person to study for a master's in public health at the James P Grant School of Public Health in Dhaka.

MILESTONE

The LGBT community faces widespread discrimination in the South Asian country, with a colonial-era law still in place punishing gay sex with prison, though enforcement is rare.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has since 2013 allowed trans people to be identified as a separate gender and in 2018 they were allowed to register to vote as a third gender.

Shishir's broadcast on Monday coincided with International Women's Day and follows a series of steps by public and private firms to overcome deep-seated prejudices against the community.

Julfikar Ali Manik, a spokesman for Boishakhi TV said the channel was determined to give Shishir a chance to shine despite the risk of backlash from some viewers in the conservative country.

Her debut marked a "historic step," he added.

'BRAVE'

Shishir said she went for auditions with other channels but only Boishakhi was "brave enough to take me in."

Ahead of going live for Monday's broadcast she was terrified, she confided, but managed to get the better of her fears.

"I tried to think of stage dramas I've performed in and follow techniques I've learned there. But I was shaking inside," she said.

Once it was all over her supportive colleagues clapped, cheered and hugged her, and only then did the tears flood out.

"I don't want any members of the (transgender) community to suffer. I don't want them to live a miserable life. I hope they will find work according to their skills," she said.

And Bangladeshis may be seeing a lot more of her on their screens. This year she signed up for two movies, including one where she will play a female football coach.
[right][snapback]100230525[/snapback][/right]

🏳️‍🌈 Japan Officially Enters 21st Century

internaldisputes — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 11:15:08 +0800

🇯🇵 Japanese court rules same-sex couples not being able to marry is 'unconstitutional': Kyodo
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-lg...SKBN2B909X?il=0

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese district court on Wednesday ruled that same-sex couples not being able to marry is “unconstitutional,” Kyodo news agency reported.

The ruling, the first in Japan on the legality of same-sex marriages, is a symbolic victory and had been eagerly awaited in the only G7 nation that doesn’t fully recognise same-sex partnerships, with marriage defined in the constitution as based on “the mutual consent of both sexes.”

🏳️‍🌈 EU: We welcome LGBT people

internaldisputes — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 09:34:12 +0800

QUOTE(internaldisputes @ Mar 11 2021, 09:31 AM)

🇪🇺 EU lawmakers propose declaring Europe an LGBT 'freedom zone'
Source: https://www.rfi.fr/en/international/2021031...bt-freedom-zone

The European Parliament is due to debate a resolution that would symbolically declare the entire 27-member European Union to be a “freedom zone” for LGBT people.

On 10 March, the European Parliament will debate a resolution aimed at declaring the entire 27-member European Union to be a “freedom zone” for LGBT people.

The resolution comes as a reaction to recent developments in Poland, where many local communities have adopted largely symbolic resolutions declaring themselves to be free of what Polish conservative authorities have been calling “LGBT ideology.”

The towns say they are only seeking to defend their traditional Catholic values. But LGBT rights activists say they are discriminatory and make gays and lesbians feel unwelcome. The areas have come to be colloquially known as “LGBT-free zones.”

The anti-gay activities have proven hugely costly to Poland's international image, and to the finances of local communities. The EU and Norway, a non-EU member that funds some development in EU nations, have cut off funds to policies they view as discriminatory.

Rights severely hindered

The EU resolution also stresses that it wants to tackle problems faced by gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, intersex and queer people across the bloc.

The resolution says that fundamental rights of LGBT people were “severely hindered” in Hungary due to a de facto ban on legal gender recognition for trans and intersex people.

It also mentions problems in Latvia, and notes that only two member states, Malta and Germany, have banned “conversion therapy,” a controversial and potentially harmful attempt to change a person's sexual orientation.

The resolution is the work of a cross-party group in the European Parliament, the LGBTI Intergroup, which says it has the support to pass the largely symbolic resolution.

EP member Liesje Schreinemacher MEP, Vice-President of the LGBTI Intergroup, commented ont the groups's website that "this resolution ... shows that from Portugal to Bulgaria, from Cyprus to Finland, the Parliament will stand for the rights of LGBTIQ persons and will not forget that backsliding on these rights is legitimising LGBTIQ-phobia."
[right][snapback]100254624[/snapback][/right]

🏳️‍🌈 JAIS: Kemaluan kami sangat besar

internaldisputes — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 09:28:01 +0800

BREAKING: The Federal Court has decided that JAIS has no power to prosecute anyone charged under Section 28: Sexual intercourse "against the order of nature" as it is in direct contradiction of the Federal Constitution

Full coverage incoming....

[addedon][/addedon]
🇲🇾 Federal Court unanimously declares Selangor Shariah law criminalising ‘unnatural sex’ void, unconstitutional
Source: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/202...g-unnat/1952701

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — The Federal Court's nine-judge panel today unanimously declared that a Selangor state law's provision which made unnatural sex a Shariah offence is invalid and having gone against the Federal Constitution, as such offences falls under Parliament's powers to make law and not under state legislatures' law-making powers.

Reading out a summary of the unanimous judgment, Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the Federal Court granted the order sought by a Malaysian Muslim man who was challenging the constitutionality and validity of Section 28 of the Shariah Criminal Offences (Selangor) Enactment 1995.

Section 28 makes it a Shariah offence for “any person” performing “sexual intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal”, with the punishment being a maximum fine of RM5,000 or a maximum three-year jail term or a maximum whipping of six strokes or any combination.

The order sought by the man and granted by the Federal Court today is for a declaration that Section 28 is invalid on the ground that it makes provision with respect to a matter which the Selangor state legislature has no power to make laws and is therefore null and void.

Other judges on the nine-member panel are President of the Court of Appeal Tan Sri Rohana Yusuf, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, Federal Court judges Datuk Seri Zawawi Salleh, Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Vernon Ong, Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, and Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim.

🏳️‍🌈 Puerto Rico's in an 18-Month Emergency

internaldisputes — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 11:52:50 +0800

🇵🇷 Puerto Rico issues LGBTQ emergency declaration amid violence
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/18/lg...n-demand-action

Human rights defenders in Puerto Rico have welcomed a recent declaration of a state of emergency over gender violence on the island as a step in the right direction, but cautioned that real change can only come after a meaningful shift on the societal level.

Gender activists have for years been calling for the designation, but the year 2020 brought on an increased sense of urgency: the US territory had 60 femicides – a 62 percent increase over the year before, according to the Observatory for Gender Equity, a local watchdog.

On January 24, the island’s governor Pedro Pierluisi issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency for 18 months, in a move that directs resources to government agencies to combat violence directed at women and girls and members of the LGBTQ community.

The order also includes the appointment of a new government representative to oversee the implementation of the measure, and the launching of a phone app to report emergency situations and report aggressive people. It also includes a public awareness campaign about gender violence.

“It’s been too long, this pattern of male chauvinism-related violence, femicides, homophobic and transphobic violence,” Pierluisi said during an interview with ABC News on February 5. “We want to promote diversity, respect each other,” he said.

David Cordero, an investigative journalist for Puerto Rico’s el Nuevo Dia newspaper said much of the problem has to do with insufficient police training and institutionalised misogyny in policing.

Puerto Rico has had a hate crime law in place since 2002, which includes both sexual orientation and gender identity, but Cordero says police have not been applying it correctly.

“Most of these cases are connected to the fact that the police department, from the very beginning, didn’t investigate these cases as hate crimes,” Cordero told Al Jazeera’s The Take podcast, citing examples of police frequently misidentifying trans victims’ genders.

“They [the police] are not applying the right protocols from the very beginning that they arrive at the scene, they are not identifying the person as transgender,” he said.

On February 23, 2020, a shocking murder further highlighted the dangers that transgender people face, and the sense of impunity that attackers have when committing such crimes. It also sparked widespread outrage.

Alexa Negron Luciano, who was transgender and homeless, went to use a women’s toilet in a fast food restaurant in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. A customer called the police, saying that Negron Luciano was peeping in the stalls.

After the police arrived, someone at the restaurant snapped photos of Negron Luciano being questioned by a police officer, and posted them on social media. The post went viral with what activists said had highly offensive homophobic and transphobic comments. That night, she was shot to death reportedly by a group of men who filmed her death as laughter could be heard. Police believe the video was also posted on social media.

Negron Luciano’s case gained public attention after Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny appeared on the US TV talk programme, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon a few days later, dressed in a long skirt and a pink jacket, which he took off to reveal a white shirt that read in Spanish, “They killed Alexa, not a man in a skirt.”

“She did nothing, she just went to the bathroom, she was hunted and then killed,” Pedro Luis Serrano, the founder of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s (Puerto Rico for Everyone), told The Take.

“This [killing] was a trophy to these transphobic horrible people, and then nothing was done in her case.”

Serrano says Negron Luciano’s killing highlighted the deeply seeded misogyny in society, one that could take years to rectify.

“I think it’s horrible, it tells a lot about our society and where we’re at,” Serrano said, adding that much more will need to be done in school curriculums to alter the mindset that permits acts of violence against women and transgender people.

“It takes all of us to change attitudes, perspectives and the education system to be inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity,” he said. “It starts with schools and the upbringing.”

Offering some hope that policing efforts may be shifting, in May police charged two men under the federal hate crimes law for allegedly killing two trans women, Serena Angelique Velazquez and Layla Pelaez in April before setting their car on fire.

In January, Samuel Edmund Damian Valentin, a transgender man whose body was found on a highway outside of the capital San Juan, after being hit by a car, became at least the seventh trans person killed in Puerto Rico in a year. He had been shot several times. Police initially misidentified Damian as a woman.

Ivana Fred Millan, a Puerto Rican transgender activist, said she welcomes the governor’s initiative, which marked a meaningful change in the legal realm. But the challenge now remains to make a significant difference on the ground.

“I hope that this executive order, which is a new initiative by the governor, doesn’t remain on paper,” Millan told The Take, “that what is written can be implemented into work – that would be the most important.”

🏳️‍🌈 EG & Wales: Our census is better than yours

internaldisputes — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 10:26:17 +0800

🇬🇧 Census 2021: England and Wales gender question 'a good first step'
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-55721123

Inclusion of a question on gender for the first time in the UK census has been welcomed as a "good first step" by some in the transgender community.

The voluntary question in the 2021 survey reads: "Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?"

People over 16 can tick yes or no and specify their gender identity.

The Office for National Statistics, which will run the census on 21 March, said the details were clearly needed.

Owen Hurcum, 23, is the mayor-elect of Bangor, and due to take over the position in May.

They said they would fill in the form to say non-binary agender.

"I think it is great that we can finally put our real genders on the census," they said.

"I do see this as a token gesture from the government [but], it's at least a single step in the right direction and I for one look forward to putting my real gender on the census."

Owen said more change was needed: "As nice and as validating as that will feel for us to do, it really is only the tip of the iceberg for what the government can do.

"We need to be able to put genders other than M/F on our passports and they need to improve the access to gender identity clinics as well as moving towards legal gender self ID.

"Moreover, they need to reword the 2010 Equalities Act to unambiguously include non-binary identities as protected characteristics."

They also want younger respondents to be able to answer the question: "People begin to know their gender from way below the age of 16, so the fact this option won't be available and excludes trans and non-binary children is inherently discriminatory and feels a bit like Section 28."

'No legal recognition'

Shash Appan, 24, is a trans activist from Cardiff and said she would fill in the form to say "trans woman".

She also backs the idea of under-16s being able to answer the question.

"I definitely think it should be available to under-16s, because people do transition under that age," she said.

An ONS spokesman said the question was only being asked of people aged 16 and over because "we anticipate gender identity data collected from persons below this age is likely to be of low quality".

He said this was partly due to the likelihood of the information being supplied by a parent or guardian.

He said the "key data need" for gender identity was for information on those aged 16 and over.

Ms Appan welcomed the addition of the question: "It's a good first step forward, definitely and it's much-needed.

"It is very important because at the moment we don't have any kind of definitive stats in any way.

"It is especially important when it comes to things like NHS funding."

'Experiences hidden'

Stonewall, which campaigns for the equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people across Britain, said there was not currently an accurate figure for how big the trans community was because there has been no research done that covers enough people to be statistically significant.

Stonewall Cymru's campaigns, policy and research manager Iestyn Wyn said it was something the organisation campaigned for over many years.

"Previous statistics about LGBT+ people have been little more than estimates and the needs and experiences of our community have been hidden," he said.

"Census data on age, ethnicity and a range of other characteristics have been key to showing inequality and the need for support, and the same will be true for tackling barriers that LGBT+ people face."

The ONS said: "Three years of evidence gathering by the ONS to inform the 2021 census showed that there is a clear need for this information at both a national and local level.

"Without robust data on the size of the LGBT population at a national and local level, decision-makers are operating in a vacuum, unaware of the extent and nature of disadvantage which LGBT people may be experiencing in terms of health, educational outcomes, employment and housing, and unable to design and monitor the effectiveness of policies to address this."

🏳️‍🌈 Straight Women: All we want is a gay bff!

internaldisputes — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 13:17:24 +0800

🌎 Why Do Straight Women Trust Gay Men More Than Other Women?
Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wom...ore-other-women

Straight women and gay men share something in common—both are interested in other men. This commonality may draw straight women and gay men together, but there are other factors that also influence these relationships.

Women appear to trust the opinions of gay men relatively more, trust sales associates more when they are gay men, and in fact, women who have gay male friends are more likely to have higher levels of self-esteem about their bodies. This isn’t merely a Western “Queer Eye for the Straight Gal” phenomenon either. In China, many women now seek out relationships with gay men, confidantes whom they call “gaymi.”

When straight women have friendships with other straight women, they may feel in competition with each other over men, or even fear potential mate-poaching by their friend. When straight women have friendships with straight men, there’s the potential for romantic feelings to develop, or for there to be a misperception of the potential for sexual attraction.

These competition issues appear to influence how much trust women feel for their friends. In a study examining other cultures, such as Samoa and Istmo Zapotec, researcher Scott Semenya previously found that women compete with fa’afafine and muxes (two forms of third gender, where individuals assigned male at birth dress as females and seek male sex partners) for male mates. In these cultures, straight women’s trust in gay males was affected by the degree to which the females may have to compete with them for other men.

However, in the United States, there is less cultural acceptance of both male bisexuality, and of straight men having sex with gay men. (That's not to say it doesn’t happen! It does, but there’s less overt social acceptance.) So, it makes sense that straight women would trust gay men more, in general, compared to other women. New research by Scott Semenya and Paul Vasey, from the University of Lethbridge, helps to unpack the complex dynamics which impact this phenomenon.

The researchers used a few sophisticated research strategies to assess how intrasexual competition can affect women’s feelings of trust for gay men. In a two-part study, Semenya and Vasey accessed a large pool of 1,847 female participants, with different sample sizes from this larger pool across different parts of their study. In the first experiment, the researchers asked the participants to consider the following scenario:

“Imagine that you have recently been invited to a party by your friend. It is the night of the party and your friend becomes ill. However, they suggest you attend the party with one of their neighbors, a [gay man] OR [heterosexual woman] who is 25 years of age and single. You do not know this person, but you decide to go to the party with them anyway.”

Then, the participants were asked to rate a number of questions about the trustworthiness of the neighbor, by asking things such as “You and your acquaintance see a good-looking man. You want to talk to him but need to go to the bathroom. How likely is it that your acquaintance will go and flirt with this man when you are in the bathroom?” Some of the participants were “primed” by first reading an article about how heterosexual men are increasingly likely to be willing to engage in same-sex sexual explorations (in order to create a feeling of potential competition with gay men). However, in this first experiment, the researchers found no significant effects, and that women didn’t appear to trust gay men more or less than other women, despite potential competition or not.

However, things got very interesting in the second part of this study. There, researchers looked specifically at women who were currently in a heterosexual romantic relationship. The women were asked to consider the following scenario: “Imagine that you and your boyfriend/husband have recently been invited to a party. It is the night of the party and you become ill. However, a [heterosexual woman] OR [gay man] who is your neighbor offers to go to the party with your boyfriend/husband. This person is 25 years of age and single. Your boyfriend/husband decides to go to the party with your neighbor, while you stay home sick.”

Again, the researchers used a priming strategy and an article describing men who’d left their wives to be with other men, to evaluate whether seeing gay men as a potential competitive threat, influenced the degree of trust the women felt for gay men.

In this second experiment, the researchers found significant results, in that partnered women were far more likely to trust a gay man with their male partner, than to trust another woman, even after the priming variable tried to compel the women to see gay men as a potential mating threat.

Personally, I do wonder how much potential displacement might be happening here. Are the women really that distrusting of other women and highly trusting of gay men, or is some of this effect driven by potential mistrust of their husbands, displaced onto those other women? It would be fascinating in future research to inquire of these women their level of trust for their partners, and any possible history of infidelity, and identify if these experiences influence their reported mistrust of other women and heightened trust of gay men.

Partnered women in Western societies are typically taught that they must guard their male partners from other women, who may attempt to poach or steal them. Even when they are encouraged to view the possibility of gay men as a potential threat to their relationship, straight, partnered, Western women just don’t seem to regard them as a real threat, and trust gay men much more than other straight women.

🏳️‍🌈 Religious Leaders: U take vaccine, u gay

internaldisputes — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 10:36:57 +0800

🇮🇷 Iranian cleric bizarrely warns people against Covid vaccine saying it 'makes you gay'
Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/ir...people-23469797

A controversial Shia cleric in Iran has bizarrely claimed coronavirus vaccines turn people gay, according to reports.

Ayatollah Abbas Tabrizian - who rejects academic medicine - made the unsubstantiated claim via messaging platform Telegram, where he has almost 210,000 followers, it has been claimed.

The Jerusalem Post reports the medical quack wrote: "Don't go near those who have had the COVID vaccine. They have become homosexuals."

Homosexuality is punishable by execution in Iran and it is thought thousands of gay people have been killed by the state since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Tabrizian, who has a history of deriding western health methods in favour of his own practice of 'Islamic medicine', has been slammed by LGBTQ campaigner Peter Tatchell.

He told the Daily Mail the cleric's words only served to demonise the gay community as well as inoculations against Covid.

"Ayatollah Tabrizian combines scientific ignorance with a crude appeal to homophobia," he said.

While Iranian dissident Sheina Vojoudi told the Post, much like other clerics in the governing regime, Tabrizian "relates all the shortages to sexuality".

She went on to disregard his claims as "nonsense" and completely contradictory in their attempt to scare people against getting inoculated while regime leaders have already had a Pfizer jab.

"They don't provide it for the people with the excuse that they don't trust the West," continued Ms Vojoudi.

"The clerics in Iran are suffering from lack of knowledge and humanity."

[addedon][/addedon]
🇮🇱 Ultra-Orthodox rabbi tells followers Covid vaccine ‘can turn people gay’
Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/mi...y-b1788543.html

An ultra-Orthodox rabbi has told his followers to avoid getting a Covid vaccine because it can “make them gay”.

Israeli media reported that Rabbi Daniel Asor, who has amassed a large online following, also claimed inoculation efforts were part of a “global malicious government“ trying to ”establish a new world order”.

While his claim of a link between the vaccine and homosexuality is factually incorrect, it also contradicts statements from leading orthodox rabbis who have called on their followers to come forward for a coronavirus jab.

According to news outlet Israel Yahom, Mr Asor used a recent sermon to claim: “Any vaccine made using an embryonic substrate, and we have evidence of this, causes opposite tendencies. Vaccines are taken from an embryonic substrate, and they did that here, too, so ... it can cause opposite tendencies," seemingly referring to homosexuality.

Responding to his comments, LGBT+ rights group Havruta joked that it was “currently gearing up to welcome our impending new members”.

🏳️‍🌈 Biden: Recognise LGBT or face sanctions

internaldisputes — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 10:57:39 +0800

🇺🇸 Biden opens major push for LGBTIQ rights abroad
Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/...abroad-14130456

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden has quickly launched a campaign to support LGBTIQ people abroad, putting their rights higher on the US foreign policy agenda than ever before.

Elevating a 2011 initiative launched by his former boss Barack Obama - and reversing a turnaround under Donald Trump - Biden is expanding the scope of US efforts on LGBTIQ rights while also adjusting based on lessons learned over the past decade.

In his first foreign policy speech, Biden announced Thursday (Feb 4) he was ordering all US government agencies active abroad to promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people and to come up with plans within 180 days.

"All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love," Biden said in the presidential memorandum.

Biden, who plans a dramatic rise in US admissions of refugees, promised greater attention to LGBTIQ asylum seekers, including by ensuring action on urgent cases even when vulnerable people first flee to countries that are less welcoming.

The memorandum said that the United States would also combat discriminatory laws overseas and work to build international coalitions against homophobia and transphobia.

A senior State Department official said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to name a special envoy on LGBTIQ issues.

"I think that when that envoy is appointed, that will help to elevate attention to these issues even further," the official told AFP.

SPEAKING OUT

The Biden administration has already incorporated its message in public statements. State Department spokesman Ned Price criticised Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his interior minister verbally attacked gay people, and Biden mentioned LGBTIQ rights in a message to an African Union summit.

Considering the outsized US influence on the world, activists expected Biden to set an example. They pointed to the rapid impact both at home and abroad when Biden, then vice president, in 2012 became the highest-ranking US official to back marriage equality - which became the law across the United States three years later.

After the gradual evolution on LGBTIQ rights under Obama, "we have a radically different opportunity today" said Jessica Stern, executive director of advocacy group OutRight Action International.

"To have President Biden issue this very holistic presidential memorandum so early in his administration is a clear indication that this is a political priority for him," she said.

Stern voiced hope for greater funding for non-governmental groups, which a number of European nations fund more generously.

But she cautioned that the solution was not always vocal US support at the local level.

"One of the most effective and consistent ways of discrediting LGBTIQ people and our movement is to say that they are the result of colonial and Western imposition -- they're getting paid by foreign donors," Stern said.

The State Department official said the United States would examine each country and decide case by case whether public diplomacy is the best approach.

"Our watch-word always is to work and listen to the activists on the ground working on these issues to get their best advice on how to move the ball," the official said.

BACKING LOCAL VOICES

The United States has plenty of case studies from the Obama years.

Obama slashed aid or trading privileges to Uganda and Gambia after the countries passed laws that authorised imprisonment for homosexuality.

The tough rebukes fueled a backlash in parts of Africa, whose most populous nation Nigeria defiantly pushed through its own draconian law.

But there has been steady progress, even in nations once seen as hotbeds of homophobia such as Jamaica. Gay sex is now legal in nearly two-thirds of all nations, and 28 countries allow same-sex marriage, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.

Phillip Ayoub, an associate professor at Occidental College in California who has studied diplomacy and sexual minorities, said the key was to support local campaigners but to let them lead.

"There are activists on the ground who will say that it might not make sense to be fully visible right now because that can increase violence toward our communities," he said.

"This kind of foreign policy cannot be top-down. It has to be done carefully with civil society in different countries and I think empowering them is one way where we can be productive."

Trump reversed some LGBTIQ gains at home, particularly on transgender people.

Under Trump's secretary of state Mike Pompeo, an evangelical Christian, the United States limited visas for foreign diplomats' same-sex partners, stopped US embassies from flying rainbow flags and entered a joint declaration with countries including Uganda that promoted theb

Trump appointed an openly gay ambassador to Germany, Ric Grenell, who launched a campaign to end the criminalisation of homosexuality, although critics say the effort was aimed more at furthering other Trump goals such as pressuring Iran and discouraging immigration.

After Trump, Ayoub said, Biden's approach "is a monumental change".

🏳️‍🌈 Immigration to Gays: Mohon bertaubat

internaldisputes — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 23:21:06 +0800

🇲🇾 Immigration Dept Alleged of Violating Freedom of Movement Against LGBT Couple
Source: https://twitter.com/NumanAfifi/status/1357343656877772806

[twt]https://twitter.com/NumanAfifi/status/1357343656877772806[/twt]

🏳️‍🌈 SG activists: What's wrong with gay sex?

internaldisputes — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 08:56:03 +0800

🇸🇬 Singapore activists appeal court ruling on gay sex ban
Source: https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-as...ing-gay-sex-ban

Three Singapore campaigners launched an appeal Monday against a court’s decision to uphold a law banning sex between men, the latest effort to overturn the colonial-era legislation.

A holdover from British rule of the city state, the law is rarely enforced but activists say it still jars with the affluent country’s increasingly modern and vibrant culture.

Others, however, argue that Singapore remains conservative at heart, and is not ready for change, while officials also believe most would not be in favour of repealing the legislation, known as Section 377A.

Last year, the High Court dismissed three challenges to the law, which it heard together, by a retired doctor, a DJ and an LGBT rights advocate.

The trio challenged that decision Monday at the Court of Appeal.

M. Ravi, a lawyer representing retired doctor Roy Tan, said in a Facebook post he had argued the gay sex ban should be deemed “absurd”.

Tan, 62, said the appeal was based on the grounds that the judge hearing last year’s case was wrong to reject arguments the legislation breached several articles of the constitution.

These include the right to equality before the law, the right to life and personal liberty and the right to freedom of expression, he said in a statement.

Singapore’s ban, introduced in 1938, can imprison men for engaging in gay sex for up to two years.

Challenges to the law have been rejected twice, first in 2014 and again last year.

The city state has a vibrant LGBT scene and last year Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that while LGBT people were welcome to work in Singapore, Section 377A would remain “for some time”, according to media reports.

🏳️‍🌈 "Is my rabbit a lesbian?"

internaldisputes — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 13:28:39 +0800

🇬🇧 Frantic pet owner actually asks vet if her rabbit is a lesbian.
Source: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/01/22/lesbi...-animals-essex/

A concerned woman in Essex called in to ask a vet on breakfast show This Morning if her pet rabbit is a lesbian.

In a segment with vet Dr Scott Miller’s on Friday (22 January), Yvette called up to ask about her Sapphic small mammal.

She said: “This is a little awkward, two girls, two sisters, same litter, little bunnies. I got them when they were about nine or 10 weeks old.”

She explained that the two rabbits, named Hovis and Willow, got into a “huge fight” one day, so Yvette separated them.

“However,” she continued, “now at 21 weeks… Hovis is mounting Willow continually and chasing her round the run.”

The concerned woman said she had “looked up online” how to prevent the humping, but had only found advice on telling the bunnies off in a “stern voice”.

Her question to Miller was: “Is my rabbit a lesbian?”

The vet seemed uncomfortable, but started his answer brilliantly: “A lot of animals can be gay, about 1,500 species of animals are known to show homosexual behaviour so it’s all very, very natural. Love is love.”

However, he explained that Hovis the rabbit is not likely to actually be a lesbian, and that the mounting was more aggressive than sexual.

He said: “In this particular case it’s territorial – two animals, two sisters, sharing the same room are going to fight.

“They’re going to want a bit of extra space and female rabbits, more than male rabbits, are more territorial as they’re the ones who are going to protect their burrow.”

Miller said that once the rabbits had been spayed, the humping would likely cease.