The ugly myth about transgender people opponents of a Houston civil rights law used to win

Opponents of LGBTQ rights in Houston used a big, ugly myth to take down a law that would simply ban discrimination in certain settings. Opponents of the ordinance fell back on age-old, desperate tactics to try to combat the law, using what's widely known as the bathroom myth. You can see it in the advertisement by Texas Values Action, which shows a trans woman using the locker room that corresponds to her gender identity — and posing some sort of danger to other women in the facilities.

This is a tactic that has been used time and time again — not just against LGBTQ efforts, but against the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have established equal rights for women. The idea is that men will somehow take advantage of equal rights laws to disguise themselves as women and attack women in bathrooms.

HERO would not have protected people who commit crimes in bathrooms — they could still be prosecuted. And business owners would have been able to deny a customer they believe to be a man entrance to a women's bathroom. What business owners wouldn't have been able to do under HERO is deny trans people entrance to a bathroom in a way that's clearly discriminatory — by, for example, using a slur or insulting a person's gender identity. Read more via Vox

Western Balkans and Turkey: New EU accession reports

The European Commission’s published its annual progress reports on accession states’ progress towards EU Membership. The reports include important and extensive information on the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in those 7 countries. 

The European Commissioner responsible for Enlargement, Johannes Hahn, presented the 2015 progress reports. In his speech the Commissioner emphasised that the reports have “a strong focus on fundamental rights, including freedom of expression and fighting discrimination, notably against the LGBTI community and Roma”. Read more via Intergroup on LGBT Rights 

Russia: New bill orders fines, arrest for public coming out as gay

State Duma lawmakers Ivan Nikitchuk and Nikolay Arefyev want to amend the Russian Administrative Code with a new article listing “public expression of non-traditional sexual relations” as a violation.

“I think that the problem is acute and urgent because it concerns the social diseases of our society and the moral upbringing of the younger generation. Unfortunately, the mechanism suggested in the 2013 law ‘On the protection of children against the information that harms their health and development’ has proved to be ineffective and this prompted us to develop new measures,” Nikitchuk said in comments with Izvestia daily.

The lawmaker also told reporters that he considered homosexuality to be a “grave danger for any normal person and for humanity as a whole” because it can affect children and grandchildren and prevent them from reproduction. “In a biological sense, failure to reproduce is the same as death and this makes homosexuality a deadly danger for humanity,” Nikitchuk said. Read more via RT

US: The mob of screaming parents who want their kids kept ‘pure’ of LGBTI sex ed

Omaha Public Schools has not revised its sex education classes for 30 years. So there’s nothing about ‘sexting’ or bullying over sexual orientation and gender identity. This curriculum goes back to a time where no sitting President had even uttered the word ‘AIDS’ in public.

Updating it is a no-brainer. Omaha parents agree. In a survey of 1,500 parents, 97% supported almost all the proposed changes. The only drop in support was about discussing sexual orientations, gender concepts and relationships. 25% of the parents were against kids being given that information. But that means the majority are in favor.

A group of healthcare professionals, educators, and reproductive rights activists were prepared to vocally support the new curriculum in front of the Omaha Public School board. Nebraskans for Founders Values, Christ Community Church and other mega churches had recruited their supporters to show up brandishing signs, pasting stickers all over the auditorium and yelling. Read more via Gay Star News 

UK: Trans group branded ‘child abusers’ for teaching kids about gender

The Mail on Sunday has criticized transgender non-profit group Gendered Intelligence – for teaching children about gender. 

The Mail said that it had “seen footage of Gendered Intelligence conducting workshops with primary classes”, in which founder Dr Jay Stewart explained to children he was a man, despite being assigned female at birth. It added that “thousands of pupils” had the “controversial classes” – claiming that children were “encouraged to explore their gender identities”.

Comments on the article were shockingly hostile, with one popular comment claiming: “The people who advocate this kind of policy aught (sic) to be prosecuted for child abuse.”

The group spoke out against factual inaccuracies, writing: “There are some misconceptions in the article – mainly the alluding to Gendered Intelligence encouraging young people to become trans, which of course is not true. Dr Jay Stewart said: “It’s so important to teach children in schools that they can be anything that they want to be, regardless of the gender that they have been given at birth." Read more via PinkNews

India: 4 arrested for attacking Andheri-based youth 'for being gay'

What was meant to be a casual smoke break for a 22-year-old man, ended up being one of the most traumatic experiences of his life after he was sexually and physically assaulted by strangers for 'dressing and talking like a gay person'. However, Andheri resident Divyaroop Ananda turned his trauma into his strength. He is now an icon within the LGBT community for not only standing up for his rights, but also mustering courage to register a police complaint against his molester and assaulters.

Fearing social stigma attached with the LGBT community and those supporting it, Divyaroop's near and dear ones tried to dissuade him from filing a police complaint against the accused. But he mustered courage to approach the police after seeking help from the Humsafar Trust.

“There have been several cases wherein homophobia has led to attacks on members of the LGBT community. Besides, the victims of such attacks are scared of the social stigma attached to their sexuality, the unwillingness of the society to accept them and discrimination by police. This deters them from registering complaints,” said Sonal Giani, advocacy manager at Humsafar Trust.

“It's not just about the society's mindset, but the bigger challenge is to encourage people from the LGBT community to overcome their anxiety and approach police. Divyaroop's courage, as well as the understanding exhibited by API Shashikant Padave and officers from Khar police station is exemplary and is sure to encourage others as well,” said Giani. All four accused were produced in the court on Thursday, where they managed to secure bail. Read more via Mid-Day

Uganda: Activists warn about ‘alarming’ spate of trans bashings

LGBT rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda issued a stark warning today, after eight reported transphobic attacks in less than a week. SMUG, one of the few LGBT rights groups in a country where homosexuality is illegal and trans people are persecuted, called for the community to remain vigilant.

According to the group, the spate of attacks have included mob beatings, home invasions and death threats – and that in least one instance, the victim ended up in the back of a police van while the attackers were allowed to go free. It notes that “reports from victims include being punched in the face outside their homes, having bottles thrown at them, and being threatened with the removal of teeth and testicles, as well as death threats”.

Pepe Julian Onziema, Programme Director at SMUG, said: “More than ever LGBT people should be on alert 24/7. Avoid walking alone especially in the night and going to LGBT unfriendly places for their own safety."  Read more via PinkNews

Jamaica: Mob attack leaves one young man in critical condition

A brutal mob attack has left one young man in critical condition, with a punctured lung and constant brain swelling. The incident took place on Saturday, October 24, 2015 after two cars reportedly stopped in the vicinity of the Canadian Embassy where several men emerged from the vehicles, armed with knives. The suspects then began to chase and attack other men who were thought to be the homeless gay youth that were known to be living in the area. Two individuals who were not a part of the group were also badly injured and  have since hospitalized.
 
While the homeless youth living in the area contest that that the brutal attack was not provoked, they also pointed out that public harassment and attacks have increased since the Sunday Gleaner published an article on October 4, 2015 with the headline “Homeless Cross-Dressers Living Among The Dead”.

One of the young men who was hospitalized has been identified as Asheen Walford, of a Papine address, who is a well known volunteer that works closely with the homeless population in Kingston and St. Andrew. The other victim, who has not been identified,  was reportedly admitted to hospital in critical condition and is currently in a comma, battling for his life with a punctured lung and constant brain swelling.  Read more via NADA

Indonesia: Gay sex made punishable by public caning

Human rights activists have called for the immediate repeal of new laws passed in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province that make gay sex punishable by 100 lashes of the cane, calling it "an enormous step backwards". Aceh is the only part of the majority-Muslim nation that is allowed to implement Islamic sharia law and already carries out public canings for gambling, drinking alcohol and fraternising with the opposite sex outside of marriage.

The law explicitly outlaws anal sex between men and "the rubbing of body parts between women for stimulation", making homosexuality technically illegal for the first time in Aceh. The bylaw will also be the first in Aceh to be applied to non-Muslims, both Indonesians and foreigners.

Amnesty International, which has called for an end to caning in Aceh, asked that the bylaw be repealed immediately. "The criminalisation of individuals based on their sexual orientation is a huge blow for equality in Indonesia," the group's Asia-Pacific director Richard Bennett said.

The province of Aceh, in Indonesia's west, has been slowly implementing sharia law since gaining a degree of autonomy from Jakarta in 2001 in a deal struck to quell a decades-long separatist movement in the province. Read More via Australian Broadcast Co.

Canada: Two more communities mourn trans deaths by suicide

September 26, I made a memorial sign containing the names and photos of the 16 trans people reported to have died by suicide so far in 2015; and I took the sign with me to the Second Annual Journey to Hope Walk for Suicide Awareness and Prevention. Della Fergusen, organizer of the event, invited me to join her on stage during the opening ceremonies to read all of their names aloud to the gathered crowd. It was a sobering experience that will stick with me for the rest of my life, as I recall how close I too have come to my own death over the years.

Less than 48-hours later I learned of not one, but two more reported suicides of trans people occurring on September 28, 2015. In Toronto, Ontario, Canada, friends and peers of 29-year-old Ryley Courchene have taken to social media to talk about her passing and comfort one another through their grief. There has yet to be any significant coverage of her passing through online news sites or in any Canadian publications.

Also on the 28th, 16-year-old trans activist, youth leader, and accomplished writer, Skylar Lee,  Wisconsin, scheduled a Tumblr blog post to go live which contained his suicide note. In it, he discussed his longtime struggles with depression and mental health issues, and requested of mourners: “Don’t turn my name into a hashtag”.  Read More via Planet Transgender

Argentina: Iconic trans activist stabbed to death in BA

Trans activist Diana Sacayán — who in 2012 received from President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner a DNI card with her female identity — was found dead with multiple stab wounds yesterday in her apartment in the City neighbourhood of Flores.

Sources from the Attorney General’s Office confirmed that the high-ranking member of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) was murdered. The same source confirmed that Sacayán’s body was found in a pool of blood with her hands and feet tied with rope. 

The building superintendent noticed that the door to her flat on the 13th floor was open. When he entered, he witnesses traces of violence everywhere. Investigators said that the apartment’s door was broken from the inside, meaning that Sacayán likely knew the perpetrator and allowed the murderer to come inside and locked the door, but he was not able to find the key to open the door.  Read More via Buenos Aires Herald 

Morocco takes action against anti-gay attack

Morocco has arrested three people suspected of beating up a man presumed to be homosexual and attempting to blackmail his family with a video. "A suspect was arrested for assaulting a young man, who was undressed, for his assumed homosexuality, and another two were arrested for trying to blackmail the victim's family with a video," Casablanca police said.

Online newspapers posted footage showing individuals beating a young man wearing women's underwear, before undressing him completely while threatening to kill him. From the video, police managed to identify the 17 year old victim. Read More via Your Middle East