23 Jun 2016 - NPWJ News Digest on on LGBTI rights

Articles

We asked these out MPs what the EU actually means for LGBT rights
by Pink News, 22 Jun 2016

Ahead of tomorrow’s referendum on EU membership, four Members of Parliament look at the potential impact on LGBT people. Tomorrow, the UK faces one of the most important choices in a generation, as the public decides whether to Leave the EU or Remain. There are strong and complex views from LGBT people on both sides of the referendum, on issues from human rights to immigration, anti-discrimination protections to national identity. Ahead of the vote, we have given platforms to four out MPs from across Parliament to have their say. Condensed excerpts are below. Representing Remain, Labour’s Shadow Commons Leader Chris Bryant and Shadow Welsh Minister Nia Griffith make the case for staying in. For the Brexit camp, Foreign Affairs committee chair Crispin Blunt and newly-elected MP William Wragg takes up the mantle.

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Italian high court makes it easier for same-sex couples to adopt each other’s children
by Pink News, 22 Jun 2016

The highest court in Italy has made it easier for same-sex couples to adopt each other’s biological children. A decision by the court, however; does not make the process of adopting each other’s children automatic for same-sex couples. The Cassation Court ruling, which came on Wednesday, bolstered lower courts’ rulings on the issue of so-called “step-child adoption” in Italy. The decision has been hailed by Italian LGBT rights groups, who also criticised it for not going far enough to automatically recognise LGBT families. The organisations said the goal would be to have the biological child of a same-sex partner to be recognised from birth if a couple are in a same-sex union.

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Everything you need to know about being gay in Muslim countries
by the Guardian , 21 Jun 2016

When the US supreme court ruled in favour of same-sex marriage last year, the White House welcomed it with rainbow-coloured lights and many people celebrated by adding a rainbow tint to their Facebook profile. For the authorities in Saudi Arabia, though, this was cause for alarm rather than celebration, alerting them to a previously unnoticed peril in their midst. The first casualty was the privately run Talaee Al-Noor school in Riyadh which happened to have a rooftop parapet painted with rainbow stripes. According to the kingdom’s religious police, the school was fined 100,000 riyals ($26,650) for displaying “the emblem of the homosexuals” on its building, one of its administrators was jailed and the offending parapet was swiftly repainted to match a blue rainbow-free sky. The case of the gaily painted school shows how progress in one part of the world can have adverse effects elsewhere and serves as a reminder that there are places where the connection between rainbows and LGBT rights is either new or yet to be discovered. In Afghanistan, only a few years ago, there was a craze for decorating cars with rainbow stickers – which Chinese factories were only too happy to supply. It wasn’t until the Afghan Pajhwok news agency explained how they might be misinterpreted that the craze came to a sudden halt.

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All 28 EU member states reach consensus on LGBT rights for first time
by Pink News, 20 Jun 2016

The Council of the European Union reached consensus on Friday on a Netherlands-backed agreement concerning women’s rights, gender equality and the protection of LGBTI people across the EU. For the first time ever, the 28 member states agreed at the Council to work against “any discrimination” against LGBT people, and to ramp up pan-European efforts on equality. It urges individual national governments “to consider working together with the European Commission with regard to its List of actions to advance LGBTI equality”, and “to take action to combat discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity”. It comes in the wake of the Orlando attack. Under the terms of the agreement, the European Commission will prepare an annual progress report on the position of LGBT rights across every European country, evaluating progress across a number of areas with recommendations for reform.
 

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In India, Advocating LGBTI Rights Requires a Diplomatic Touch
by the Wire, 19 Jun 2016

New Delhi: How do diplomats advocate equal rights for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and/or Intersex (LGBTI)  community in a country where homosexuality is a criminal act? Rather delicately. On Friday evening, senior diplomats from eight countries sat down for a rather unusual ‘chat’ at the American Library in Delhi. It was not a tête-à-tête but a public event with a large audience sitting on every available chair placed along the length of the hall. June is marked as ‘Gay and Lesbian pride month’ by the United States government to commemorate the Stonewall riots – with US embassies around the world organising special events on LGBTI equality. The US embassy in Delhi has been similarly busy, but this year the intensity has been notched up a bit with the other diplomatic missions joining in for the first time. In tandem with US embassy, 27 other foreign missions in Delhi – all Western or Latin American with Japan the only Asian nation among them – also issued a joint statement on Friday to “reaffirm our countries’ commitment to equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) citizens”, with an ‘annexe’ of important milestones in legal rights for the community in various countries. The statement, just like most of the two-hour discussion on Friday, did not directly mention India’s controversial Section 377 which criminalises homosexual love – but the context is clear. Both the written statement and the conversation made it a point to acknowledge that India has been more progressive on the rights of the transgender community.

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Police use teargas against LGBT activists in Istanbul
by The Guardian , 19 Jun 2016

Riot police have fired teargas and rubber pellets to disperse an LBGT march in Istanbul that had been banned after ultranationalists said “degenerates” could not demonstrate.  Hundreds of riot police cordoned off Taksim Square in the heart of the city to prevent the Trans Pride rally taking place during Ramadan. Authorities have banned transgender and gay pride marches this month, which coincides with the period of fasting for Muslims, citing security concerns after warnings against any such events taking place in Turkey. Ebru Kırancı, a spokeswoman for the Lambdaistanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association, said: “Football fans can rally in this country whenever they want. We were going to do a peaceful activity. [The] holy month of Ramadan is an excuse. If you are going to respect Ramadan, respect us too. The heterosexuals think it’s too much for us, only two hours in 365 days.”

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