Tag Archive for "LGBT persecution"

Posts Tagged LGBT persecution

Must read: Nancy Goldstein on gay rights and the Winter Games

Friend of the blog Nancy Goldstein is at The Prospect today, making a very clear case for continued protests and boycotts of Russian products. Goldstein interviewed a number of Russian LGBT right activists and argues that we can’t afford to go to the Games and repeat the same mistakes that were made in 1936 in Berlin:

Think long and hard before you evoke the spectacle of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin—thus far the model for the West’s approach to Putin—or argue that winning LGBT athletes will “show ‘em” in Sochi. In 1935—as in 2013—the International Olympics Committee was keen to pretend that sporting events could wash a clearly politicized setting of its politics, or wipe ...

By Chloe Angyal • 11 years ago

Marco Rubio: Homosexuality’s a sin but I’m totally not judging

That’s basically the political equivalent of, “no offence, but you look like absolute shit.”

Florida Senator Marco Rubio sat down with Politico’s Mike Allen this week, and Allen asked the Senator if he thinks that homosexuality is a sin. Surprise: Rubio thinks it is! But don’t worry, sinners, he’s totally not judging you for it.

Via ThinkProgress:

ALLEN: Is homosexuality a sin?

RUBIO: Well, I can tell you what faith teaches and faith teaches that it is. And that’s what the Bible teaches and that’s what faith teaches. But it also teaches that there area bunch of other sins that are no less. For example, it teaches that lying is a sin. It teaches that disrespecting your parents ...

That’s basically the political equivalent of, “no offence, but you look like absolute shit.”

Florida Senator Marco Rubio sat down with Politico’s Mike Allen this week, and Allen asked the Senator if he thinks that homosexuality is a ...

By Chloe Angyal • 12 years ago

Quick hit: New Nigerian law would criminalize merely supporting gays and lesbians

Earlier this year, the Ugandan parliament re-opened debate on its now internationally infamous “Kill the Gays” bill. Now, we can add Nigeria to the list of countries proposing to ban being gay. The Guardian reports that a new bill making it illegal to marry someone of the same sex, or to witness such a wedding – the punishment would be a decade or more in prison.

Under the proposed law passed by the Senate, same-sex couples who marry could face up to 14 years each in prison. Witnesses or anyone who helps a marriage could be sentenced to 10 years. The bill also punishes the “public show of same-sex amorous relationships directly or indirectly” with 10 years in prison.

A ...

By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

White House responds to murder of Ugandan LGBT rights activist

As Vanessa reported yesterday, Ugandan LGBT rights activist David Kato was killed on Wednesday, just a few months after the Ugandan newspaper Rolling Stone published his photo under the headline “Hang them.” The New York Times has audio of Kato talking about his experience as a gay man in Uganda and about the homophobic climate in that country. Yesterday, the White House released as statement about his murder, noting that violence against members of the LGBT community is a global problem that recently manifested in Honduras as well:

Statement by the President on the Killing of David Kato

I am deeply saddened to learn of the murder of David Kato. In Uganda, David showed tremendous courage in speaking ...

By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

Australian state pours funding into anti-homophobia programming for high schools

My home state of New South Wales has just announced the launch of a new program designed to combat homophobic bullying in high schools. The program, Proud Schools, will be trialed at 12 high schools around the state, and will combine training for teachers with workshops for students and for parents.

It’s a welcome initiative: according to recent findings from the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, high school is an especially challenging time for queer youth. About two thirds of queer or questioning students reported experiencing homophobic verbal abuse, and one in five reported physical abuse. Almost all those who suffered this abuse said that it made them feel unsafe at school. And in Australia as in the ...

By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

Must-see TV: Rachel Maddow interviews author of Uganda’s “kill the gays” bill

Last night, The Rachel Maddow Show aired the first half on an interview with David Bahati, the Ugandan legislator who introduced the bill that would make homosexuality a capital crime. Bahati, as Maddow has reported on many times this year, is connected to The Family, the secretive religious organization that claims Sen. Jim Inhofe (R, OK) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R, OK) among its many conservative members.

As is the case when she goes head to head with people she strongly disagrees with, Maddow politely pulled no punches. The second half of the interview will air tonight. You can download the podcast for free on iTunes, or you can watch it on the TRMS site. The Maddow Blog is ...

By Rose • 13 years ago

Ugandan hit list further confirms an age of rampant homophobia

If one needs more evidence beyond teen suicides and the uphill DADT battle to realize that the state of rampant, unchecked homophobia is at an all-time high, check out this recent issue of the Ugandan Rolling Stone Newspaper:

This issue featured the pictures, names and addresses of gays and lesbians in Uganda. And just in case you can’t make out the words in yellow highlighter emblazoned next to the headline, it reads “Hang Them.” It has been confirmed that at least four have been attacked so far. Many gays and lesbians are in hiding and some report being dismissed from their jobs.