Russia: Ombudsman concerned over “aggressive tones” at LGBT people

St. Petersburg ombudsman Alexander Shishlov has presented his 2014 annual report on human rights in the local Legislative Assembly. A separate chapter of the report highlights multiple cases of LGBT discrimination in St. Petersburg.

Shishlov cited 36 cases of attacks on LGBT people. Of these, 30 occurred during public events. In particular, he mentioned an attempt to disrupt the LGBT rally in St. Petersburg. Nevertheless, Shishlov acknowledged “the professional work of police officers,” which helped the rally to be held without significant violations of law. However, the Ombudsman said that “hostile opponents of LGBT movement insulted LGBT activists before and after the event, prevented passage of the rally participants to the place of the meeting, threw stones and grabbed away placards.” Read More 

Brazil: HIV-Specific criminal law introduced amid media frenzy and moral panic over ‘barebacking’ gay subculture

A simply worded amendment covering ‘heinous crimes’– which currently includes murder, extortion, rape, child exploitation and spreading an epidemic that results in death – adds individuals who “transmit and infect consciously and deliberately others with the AIDS virus. (sic)” was presented to the Brazilian Parliament by the populist Congressman, Pompeo de Mattos.

The bill has considerable support thanks to an outbreak of moral panic that began with an article in the daily newspaper, O Estado de S. Paulo, that uncovered the gay ‘barebacking’ subculture and further suggested that some men were deliberately passing on HIV to unsuspecting partners. Days later, it was reported that police were now looking into the allegations.  Read More

Brazil: Politician claims 'gay blood' should be separated

A Brazilian Congressman Jair Bolsonaro claimed patients receiving blood transfusions should be able to demand ‘heterosexual blood’.

The congressman said his party, the far-right Progressive Party, wants to introduce a policy which would see people be made aware if they are receiving blood from a gay donor. Patients should also be allowed to ask to not receive the blood if it makes them uncomfortable and, instead, request blood donated by a heterosexual person.

Blood donations from men who have sex with men were previously banned completely, but in 2013 the ban was lifted allowing MSM to donate if they are in a long term relationship or if they have not had sex in the past 12 months. Read More

France: National ethics body rules for indefinite ban on gay blood donation

France's National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE) believes maintaining a ban is not a matter of gay rights, but a health issue as there are still “scientific uncertainties” on the risks of using blood from homosexuals.

“Giving blood is not a right. What matters most is the health and the protection of the receiver,” said Jean-Claude Ameisen, president of the CCNE. The committee says that lifting it now “could expose people to medical risks, which should be taken into consideration from an ethical point of view."

The ban covers people who habitually practice same sex relations, and those who confessed to even a singular gay contact during preliminary interviews for potential donors.

President of the LGBT Federation, Stephanie Nicot, called it absurd: "It's risky behavior that should lead to exclusion, and only a temporary one, not the fact that you are gay or you had a homosexual relationship 20 years ago. This is an extremely worrying sign," he said. Read More

Twitter's New Threat Reporting Tool Is a Useless Punt

Twitter, a service that admits it sucks at dealing with trolls, just announced a new tool for reporting harassment to the police. It looks like a good step at first glance—if you ignore the fact that it's a responsibility dodging, spineless fix that's highly unlikely to help anyone being harassed or threatened Twitter. This is a PR stunt, not a solution.

There is middle ground to be explored between castrating Twitter's capabilities as a free speech machine and introducing measures that actually counter abuse. Twitter could, for instance, employ proactive abuse moderators. These moderators could cooperate with appropriate law enforcement agencies and help people getting threatened make contact with police, not by giving them a copy of their complaint but by actually setting up contact. These abuse moderators could keep tabs on IP addresses known to spawn more than one abusive account.  Read More 

Indonesia: Confusion over Highest Islamic clerical body fatwa statements

Indonesia's most prominent  Islamic clerical body has issued a fatwa proposing a host of punishments for "homosexual crimes" - including the death penalty.

While Indonesia does not have a reputation for being particularly welcoming of the LGBT community – and same-sex marriage is not permitted - homosexual relations are not prohibited. Most individuals can go about their lives without prejudice.

But the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) views homosexuality as a sin. It issued the edict at the start of this month, according to The Jakarta Globe.

The fatwa claimed that homosexuality is a disease that needs to be cured and proposed a series of brutal penalties, ranging from caning to death. Read More 

UK: Londoners are least likely to accept a gay or transgender child

The data showed that Londoners are over five times more likely to reject support for a gay child – with 13% of Londoners indicating they would not support a gay child, and 20% indicating they would not support a trans child. Geographically, voters from the north of Britain were more likely to be accepting, with 1% in the North of England and 2% in Scotland indicating they would not support a gay child.

PinkNews Chief Executive Benjamin Cohen said: “This polling is eye-opening as it goes against the widely accepted notion that London is the most tolerant part of the country when it comes to LGBT issues.   Read More 

France: Lesbians’ goodbye kiss leads to ‘humiliation’ in Paris

Paris is where people – lovestruck locals and tourists alike – kiss. You can hardly take two steps down a rue or grand boulevard without seeing a couple smooching, often in the middle of the pavement.  However, it seems that not all kissers are equal in the land of liberté, égalité, fraternité. A train guard from a major railway company has been suspended after allegedly shouting at a lesbian couple that their farewell embrace “cannot be tolerated”. 60,000 people have signed a petition for the train guard's dismissal. Read More

Russia: IKEA shuts down magazine to avoid violating Gay Propaganda Ban

IKEA will shutter the website for its magazine, IKEA Family Live, in Russia to avoid running afoul of the country’s ban on “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” among minors. 

“When we do business, we observe the legislation of the countries where we work, therefore to avoid violations, we have taken the decision to stop publishing the magazine in Russia,” IKEA said in a statement carried by AFP.

The Swedish furniture chain has featured same-sex couples and their families in the magazine, which is published in 25 countries. It came under fire internationally in 2013 for excluding a story on Clara and Kirsty, a British lesbian couple, from its Russian edition after the propaganda ban was passed. Activists held a kiss-in at the Brooklyn, New York, IKEA store to protest the move. Read More 

Jamaica: Alleged Gay Youth Stoned to Death

A recent video of an alleged homosexual youth was stoned to death in Jamaica was posted and subsequently removed from a Jamaican online news Facebook page. The video depicts the lifeless body of a young man clothed in tight pants with long hair laying in a pool of blood and continuously being stoned by his executioners.

In the video, one can hear clearly anti-gay slurs being used by one of the executioners with a Jamaican accent while carrying out the barbaric act lamented, "Batty-man yuh fi dead", in translation it means "gay, you should die", repeatedly. The identity of the deceased and location where the execution took place in Jamaica are being investigated.  Read More

Kenya: Vigilante group threatens to behead homosexuals

An increase in threats against Kenya LGBTI activists from various quarters has culminated in a vigilante group issuing a warning to behead all homosexuals in a village in Mombasa. 

The founders of PEMA Kenya, the oldest LGBTI organisation in Mombasa allegedly received a leaflet that warned him to vacate the area lest he is beheaded. While a police report has been filed in Mombasa, no investigations or further action has been taken. Read More

Iraq: Islamic State executes four in Iraq for homosexuality

Members of the Islamic State terrorist group publicly beheaded four young people on charges of homosexuality in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Monday.

A local administration official, Mohamed al-Faris, said that the jihadis summoned the inhabitants of al-Rashidia district, located in northern Mosul, to watch the execution of 4 young people, all aged between 20 and 30 years. Read More