In her statement, Special Envoy for Children and Women, Kim Simplis Barrow warned against bullying and the loss of basic human rights from the LGBT community. Watch here
On the state of LGBTI Commonwealth citizens
Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma statement: LGBTI Commonwealth citizens remain victims of stigma and discrimination in many of our communities. Appalling persecution and violence are suffered merely because of innate sexual orientation and gender identity. Such abuse is unacceptable: it robs millions of our fellow citizens of the right to live lives of dignity, undermining their mental and physical health, and sense of well-being. Read More
Jamaica Op-ed: Confront Anti-Gay Bigots
When Barack Obama referenced Angeline Jackson in his remarks to young leaders during his visit to Jamaica, it was more than a statement about the bravery of an individual and the right of people, whatever their sexual orientation, to enjoy their fundamental human rights in a free and democratic society.
It was a declaration, too, of the nature of leadership: that, at its best, it is conditioned by neither opportunism nor narrow expedience.
We hope that Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller heard and was inspired to lead her administration in a frontal legislative defence of this country's gay and lesbian community to love who they wish, without fear of discrimination, official, or otherwise. In other words, it is not enough for the prime minister to designate a member of the Cabinet - as the Americans may have been advised she has done - to trove for complaints about government agencies that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and then use moral suasion in an effort to reverse such bigotry. Nor should such an initiative be secret, as it appears to be. Read More
Op-ed: How do you change the deeply held beliefs of a nation? Here’s one strategy.
The transformation over the last 20 years in how Americans view gay people is the result of one of the most successful social justice movements of modern time.
How did we build this broad social consensus that it is wrong to discriminate against gay people and unfair to exclude same-sex couples from the freedom to marry? The chief engine of this extraordinary change has been the wider discussion, greater visibility and increased awareness of shared values, understanding and empathy generated by the freedom to marry movement.
After some losses and blows to our efforts, we decided to overhaul the messaging in 2010. Working with partner organizations and movement supporters, we combined polling data research with the lessons learned through experience to figure out what messages and messengers could help build the majority we were seeking.
Research showed us that we had to shift our emphasis from abstract talk of rights and benefits to more personal connections tied to values. We had to touch the heart as well as the mind. Rather than focusing on, for example, how exclusion from marriage can mean denial of health coverage, Social Security or other critical legal protection, we talked more about the love and commitment that are at the heart of the desire to marry for gay and non-gay couples alike. We needed to highlight our connectedness. Read More
South Koreans becoming more open-minded about LGBT rights
A recent South Korean poll showed young South Korean respondents are increasingly open-minded about the rights of sexual minorities and their favorable attitudes toward the LGBT community have doubled from 2010 to 2014. The trend, according to South Korea's Asan Institute, showed South Korea is moving toward consolidating its democratic and liberal values.
LGBT rights became a headline issue in South Korea when Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon told the San Francisco Examiner in 2014 that he hoped South Korea becomes the first Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage. Read More
Russia: Anti-gay gang from Barnaul faces criminal charges over sexual assault and torture of teenager
Four young people from 16 to 20 years old, residents of Barnaul, a city in the West Siberian Plain and the administrative center of Altai Krai, calling themselves “fighters against same-sex love,” are to stand in trial on charges of crimes committed against a 16 year old teenager under several articles of the Criminal Code: beating, sexual assault, extortion, robbery.
At the end of January 2015, an unnamed 16-year-old boy met became friends with a 20-year-old young man via social media. The two agreed to meet in person. When the teenager arrived, gang members attacked him, beat, and sexually assaulted the boy. Read More
Making the pen give LGBT might
In a move to help make journalism as practiced in the Philippines more sensitive to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, Outrage Magazine has launched the Pink Ink.
Pink Ink is in line with the #HateWatchPH, which aims to: 1) document LGBT-related hate crimes happening in the Philippines, and 2) empower LGBT people to report, and/or do something when such crimes happen; and 3) form partnerships with like-minded organizations to eradicate – not just curb – LGBT-related hate crimes. It has numerous components as it attempts to help develop would-be journalists while they are still in campuses, and provide support to already professional media practitioners. Read More
US: Olympian Bruce Jenner Interview Breaks Twitter Record as Most Social Friday Telecast of All Time
Bruce Jenner, the Olympic gold medalist and member of the Kardashian family, ended months of speculation when he announced during a television special that he identified as a woman and was transitioning to female.
The announcement made him among the highest-profile people to publicly come out as transgender. For the purpose of the interview, Mr. Jenner said he preferred the pronoun “he,” and Ms. Sawyer called him Bruce. He said that he had been undergoing hormone therapy for a year and a half but had not made up his mind about reassignment surgery. He declined to provide the name he might use during or after his transition, citing privacy concerns.
According to Nielsen Social, a total of 8.1 million people in the US saw one or more of the 972,000 tweets sent about the 2-hour special, “Bruce Jenner – The Interview” The tweets were sent by 403,000 people and viewed 139 million times, making Jenner’s official declaration that he is a transgender individual who identifies as a woman the top worldwide trend on Friday. See more of Jenner's interview here
Taiwan: Gamania becomes first company to recognize gay marriage
Computer game developer Gamania has become the first listed company in Taiwan to recognize same-sex marriage by extending marital leave to gay employees. Gamania said it realized that gender equality was a global trend, with tech companies such as Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Intel, HP and eBay throwing their support behind gay marriage in the US. It added that it was important create an happy work-life environment for staff. Read More
US: IBM has 'strong opposition' to Louisiana religious freedom bill
IBM voiced its "strong opposition" to Louisiana's religious freedom bill (HB 707) backed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, a week after the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau also asked that the bill be dropped over fears that it would tarnish the state's open and accepting image.
"We are deeply concerned by reports that you intend to support this legislation. IBM has made significant investments in Louisiana including most recently a technology services delivery center in Baton Rouge, creating new jobs for Louisiana workers," wrote James Driesse, IBM senior state executive. "A bill that legally protects discrimination based on same-sex marriage status will create a hostile environment for our current and prospective employees, and is antithetical to our company’s values."
IBM's prominent, 800-job facility in downtown Baton Rouge is being built only few blocks away from where the legislation will be debated. The company is expected to bring 400 jobs to Monroe in the northern part of the state. Read More
China: Google, IBM, Ford and McKinsey attend first LGBT job fair
The event was organized by WorkForLGBT and Shanghai LGBT Professionals as part of its second, annual LGBT Corporate Diversity & Inclusion Conference. Both the conference and job fair – held in conjunction with Kanzhun.com – took place at the Langham Xintiandi Shanghai.
Around 200 HR leaders and LGBT employees attended the conference, and around 400 LGBT Chinese job-seekers attended the job fair, which featured 17 Fortune 500 companies.
WorkForLGBT founder, Steven Paul Bielinski, said that LGBT job seekers were keen to meet with representatives of companies that had comprehensive diversity and inclusion policies: "Talented LGBT employees from all across China traveled to Shanghai to be part of this groundbreaking job fair. Inclusive employers with programs, policies, and a corporate culture where LGBT employees can bring their authentic selves to work are their first choice." Read More
Russia: Meet the badass mom who’s taking on the gay propaganda law
Elena Musolina grew up thinking homosexuality was an affliction of alcoholics and drug addicts. Now she marches alongside her son at LGBT rights protests and goes head-to-head with Russia’s most vocal anti-LGBT politician.
When Musolina joined Coming Out’s support group for parents of LGBT kids in 2011, she didn’t expect it would become political. But that changed when the “gay propaganda” ban made her feel like her son was a second-class citizen. Musolina, a petite 68-year-old, comes to LGBT rights demonstrations in St. Petersburg with other mothers in Coming Out’s parents club, which she now helps lead.
The group is now under threat after Coming Out was branded a “foreign agent” under a 2012 law that requires NGOs receiving foreign funding and engaging in what the government broadly deems “political activity” to register as such. Read More