Australia: ACL calls for defunding of school anti-LGBTI bullying program

National anti-bullying campaign, Safe Schools Coalition Australia (SSCA) has come under attack for supposedly "sexualising" children and promoting "queer sex" by the Australian Christian Lobby. The ACL urged the federal Education Minister to stop the organisation's $8 million funding. ACL Queensland director Wendy Francis stated SSCA promotes “radical sexual experimentation,” saying: “Children have the right to their innocence. The political ideology carried by this program denies children this right.” 

Speaking in her capacity as a trans* and youth advocate, journalist Kate Doak said that SSCA’s fundamental goal is to provide educators with material and resources to combat bullying of LGBTIQ students. “Whether we like it or not, LGBTIQ youth exist, and by providing resources that help both teachers and students to create more inclusive schools, programs like SSCA are ultimately saving lives by letting kids know that it’s okay to be themselves.”

The ACL did not condemn Catholic Church dioceses for distributing anti-same-sex marriage booklets to school children across Australia last month. Read More 

US: The queers left behind - How LGBT assimilation is hurting our community's most vulnerable

On the evening of June 28, two very different celebrations took place to mark the most historic New York City Pride week in decades.

The flashier of these celebrations was the iconic Dance on the Pier. As the Pride Parade came to a drizzly end, an exuberant crowd of young, gay and mostly white men made their way to Pier 26, where Ariana Grande headlined a big-budget outdoor mega-party. The event was a brazen testament to the newfound trendiness of urban gaydom. Admission started at $80, but that didn't stop 10,000 enthusiastic fans from snatching up tickets to what organizers billed as one of the world's top-tier LGBT events.

If any of those 10,000 attendees had taken a break from the dancing and glanced across the river, they may have seen the outline of the Christopher Street Piers, where a celebration of a very different kind was taking place. Here, a motley crowd of queer homeless youths -- who definitely could not afford admission to Dance on the Pier -- decided to throw an impromptu party of their own. With the bass from the Ariana Grande concert pulsing in the background, the youths -- male, female, cisgender, transgender, gay, lesbian, bisexual, black and Latino -- drank, smoked, sang, vogued and played cards under the dim light of the street lamps.  Read More

Australia: Fact or fiction? A mother and father are better than same-sex parents

Riding the momentum of the Irish referendum and US supreme court ruling legalising same-sex marriage, there are expectations Australian legislators will change the Marriage Act. A cross-party bill to legalise same-sex marriage is expected to be introduced in the Federal Parliament. But passage of the bill is not guaranteed, and many MPs are against the change.

An argument often used against legalising same-sex marriage by groups like the Australian Christian Lobby, and even a group of 40 religious leaders from multiple faiths, is that gay marriage will have a negative impact on children's wellbeing. Opponents of same-sex marriage, including groups like Family Voice Australia claim that studies show a man and a woman are best placed to raise children.

ABC Fact Check took a look at the research on the effects of gender on parenting and found most studies from the US and from Australia saw no difference between families headed by homosexual or heterosexual couples.  Read More

Hey Bill Nye, 'Does Homosexuality Make Evolutionary Sense?' #tuesdayswithbill

An anonymous viewer asks Bill whether homosexuality makes sense from an evolutionary and genetic standpoint. Bill's response? Homosexuality exists across species and throughout nature. Bonobo monkeys, for example, exhibit homosexuality. And Bonobo monkeys aren't going anywhere anytime soon. In short, Bill says we should just live and let live. Read More

Jamaica: Harassment of homosexuals triggers new security manual in schools

Concerns over the bullying of homosexuals in schools is among issues at the root of a security manual to be launched at the start of the new academic year. The disclosure was made by Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites, who, following his presentation in Parliament, said that the manual dubbed 'Security and Safety Guidelines' is expected to be included in the schools' curriculum and will be a platform to sensitise students on security issues.

"A number of civil society groups including members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender), fraternity, have raised with me, issues of bullying. It is of serious concern and the policy of Government and of the ministry (of education) is to protect the sexual integrity of everyone, so the fact that they raise the concern would be an important issue for us," the minister said.

"Bullying not only affects this society (LGBT), as we have heard reports of issues with regards to older students interfering with younger students, issues of gender also arise, all of which offer a clear position on offering zero tolerance for bullying of any sort. The manual is now being prepared and will be fleshed out."  Read More 

US: Senate votes down measure to ban LGBT discrimination in schools

Fifty-two senators voted for an amendment Tuesday to ban discrimination against LGBT students in public schools, but the measure to amend the Every Child Achieves Act failed because 60 votes were required for passage.

“I’m tremendously disappointed in the Senate,” Sen. Al Franken, who sponsored the amendment, said in a statement after the vote. “The inability to put in place meaningful protections for some of our most vulnerable children is an enormous disservice to LGBT students all across the country who face terrible bullying every day.”

In addition to banning LGBT discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, Franken’s amendment would have required campus officials to intervene when an LGBT student is being bullied. It would also bar schools from retaliating if a student complains to officials. Sen. Patty Murray, from Washington, pointed out the amendment would give LGBT students similar protections to those already on the books for students based on their race, gender, religion, disability, and country of origin. Read More

Ireland: Gay teachers welcome greater employment protection

A Bill which amends employment equality legislation to protect gay teachers in schools was passed through Report Stage by the government. It allows for LGBT teachers to be open about their sexual orientation in their school communities knowing they have robust protection under the law.

With marriage equality now becoming law, gay teachers say this is a further step towards feeling protected and proud of who they are. The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) has welcomed the law, saying there was a “chilling effect” for many teachers around the country who are afraid to come out in schools.

Chairperson of the INTO LGBT Teacher’s Group Anne Marie Lillis said: “LGBT teachers can be secure in the knowledge that speaking about our families and our relationships, in the same way as our colleagues and that being gay or lesbian will have no bearing on job security or on prospects for promotion.” Read More

Saudi Arabia: Authorities reportedly fine school more than $25,000 over “emblems of homosexuality”

A school in Saudi Arabia has been fined more than $25,000, with authorities claiming the rainbows on its building were “emblems of homosexuality,” according to a Twitter account associated with the agency that enforces the country’s religious law. The tweet, from the Saudi Society Channel, also showed that the Talee al-Noor International School has been repainted. The Saudi Society Channel is one of the Twitter accounts associated with the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the agency that enforces Islamic law in the country.

Homosexuality and trans people are routinely punished by flogging in Saudi Arabia, and the country’s authorities are among the most aggressive in the region in targeting LGBT people online and on mobile hookup apps. In July of 2014, a 24-year-old man was sentenced to 450 lashes and three years in prison for soliciting sex with other men on Twitter, according to a US State Department human rights report, & 35 men alleged to be gay were arrested this April in a raid. Read More 

Croatia: messages LGBT youth on the walls as a driver of positive change

In order to familiarize the wider community with the inequalities in the society towards marginalized communities and to encourage an environment for positive change, the group Info Zone, led a program to explore marginalized youth. 

Dealing with the problems of the lack of adequate family support and / or support the environment, issues of prejudice, discrimination, labeling, obstacles to the exercise of their own desires, ambitions and dreams, difficulty in continuing education or employment the project included three focus groups: young LGBT people, young people without adequate parental care, and young people with disabilities.

Speaking in a focus group for the LGBT community in which he participated, activist Mirjana Lolić reveals some simple messages that have derived from it: Fear and shame are not the same, Silence is the biggest problem, should have equal rights, BUT .., pride is what is after all stripes ascend, lesbophobia, Advanced minorities contribute to the development of civilization. Read More

Germany: Green Youth Munich leader, involuntary hero of CSD-Parade

As board member of political youth group 'Grüne Jugend München,' Marcel Rohrlack, 18, speaks out for LGBT rights and marriage equality, but also minimum wage, housing, and environmental issues. After attending Munich's annual pride event--Christopher Street Parade--Rohrlack and a friend were attacked and beaten by a group a five men. Documenting his injuries on Facebook, Rohrlack urged an end to violence. Read More 

Kenya: 19 school students suspended for supporting LGBT rights

A group of Kenyan high school students from St. Mary’s Kibabi Boys High School in Bungoma County – were sent home, pending an investigation by the school into the allegations against them, after anti-gay students accused them of being gay. The teenagers were taking part in a group debate regarding gay rights – an issue no doubt heightened by the upcoming visit of US President Barack Obama.

After the school boys vocalised their own support for gay people, their opponents accused them of being homosexuals themselves, and they were subsequently asked to leave school. They will be allowed to report back to the school next week with their parents to hear the verdict against them. The school’s principal, Mathew Namunwa, has warned that if any of the students are discovered to have participated in homosexual acts, they would be given counselling.

Namanuwa confirmed that there had been a debate the previous week between the pro and anti-gay pupils, which led to divisions among the peers. He said those accused of being gay are suspected to have been practising “it” with the school’s youngest and most vulnerable students. Read More via Pink News 

Kenya: African LGBTIQ youth speak out

Young African LGBTIQ activists from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda attending the Fifth Changing Faces Changing Spaces conference in Kenya gathered together to discuss issues affecting LGBTIQ youths in Africa. The participants shared our collective observations that the voices of young LGBTIQ Africans are quite often not heard even within LGBTIQ spaces.

There is the erroneous belief that young people lack the ability and capacity to organize due to lack of professional experience as well as misconception about their ability for self-determination around their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. These among other factors have silenced the voices of young LGBTIQ Africans in the struggle for LGBTIQ rights in the continent.

We, young LGBTIQ Africans are a huge part of the movement and in so many instances lead organizations that are not necessarily youth focused but are at the forerun in the struggle for LGBTIQ rights in our regions and countries. We have proven to be a driving force of the movement in Africa; both as leaders and as beneficiaries and are changing the notion that young people are being “recruited” into homosexuality in Africa. Read More