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19 Jan 2017 - NPWJ News Digest on LGBTI rights
Articles
White House says early release of Chelsea Manning down to ‘pursuit of justice’
by Pink News, 18 Jan 2017
The White House has said that Chelsea Manning had her sentence dramatically reduced in “pursuit of justice”. President Obama yesterday announced that he planned to commute the sentence of transgender whistleblower Chelsea Manning, in one of his final acts as President. Private Manning, who announced her transition to female in 2013, was imprisoned in Fort Leavenworth military prison after leaking details of classified government documents concerning alleged war crimes and rights abuses via WikiLeaks. Manning has sued the US Army for her right to transition behind bars, and has also taken action against her “unjust” 35-year prison sentence – on the basis that her actions helped make public a large number of serious issues related to military practise. After Manning attempted to take her own life and embarked on a hunger strike over the issue, the military finally agreed to allow her to undergo gender treatment – but court documents indicate military officials are still refusing to officially recognise her transition. NBC News previously reported that Manning was on the “short list” for a commutation from President Obama, issued a final round of pardons and commutations as he leaves office. After it was confirmed that Obama had commuted the sentence, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said it was done “in pursuit of justice”.
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Sri Lanka just took a decision on whether to legalise homosexuality
By Pink News, 18 Jan 2017
The cabinet met yesterday to discuss proposals to decriminalise same-sex acts. Currently same sex-acts, by a person of any gender, are illegal under Sri Lankan law. Households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for any the protection goven to married couples. Some private clinics in Sri Lanka claim to be able to "cure" patients of their homosexuality, despite the fat its widely recognised same-sex thoughts can not be changed by therapy. Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror reports that cabinet members decided to reject plans to decriminalise same-sex acts. Instead they agreed to place a provision in their new Human Rights Action Plan. The plan says it will seek to stop discrimination based on sexual orientation. However many have been cynical of the plans – pointing out that all LGBT rights being illegal is clearly discrimination in itself, and people are unlikely to respect LGBT people when the law doesn’t indicate they should. However some ministers have even protested at such a mild change in the law. It’s reported some ministers protested at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, claiming it was “yet another surreptitious attempt to recognize homosexuality.”
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Marriage equality bill contains discrimination law loophole, NSW warns
By The Guardian, 17 Jan 2017
The federal government’s same-sex marriage bill contains a loophole that could see florists and bakers refuse to serve gay weddings by claiming to be religious organisations, the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Board has warned. The board, part of the state’s justice department, made the warning in submissions to the Senate committee looking at the federal government’s same-sex marriage bill exposure draft. It said the exemptions appear “to formalise existing institutional prejudices and discrimination into law rather than remove them”. It said the exemption for religious bodies and organisations went “significantly beyond” what was needed for freedom of religion and allowing the refusal of goods and services was inconsistent with state and territory discrimination law.
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In LGBT 'paradise', Thai transgender activist breaks barriers to education
By Reuters, 17 Jan 2017
Thai transgender activist Nada Chaiyajit completed her undergraduate studies in August, and two months later, school officials told her 12 classmates - all men - that their graduation certificates were ready. But her college, the University of Phayao in northern Thailand, would not issue her documents because she submitted a photo in which she looks like a woman, even though her identity card says she is male. "They asked me, 'Can you take a new photo - can you tie up your hair and wear a tie to make yourself look like a man?' I said no," said the 37-year-old, wearing rimless spectacles and simple stretch cotton sweater and trousers. Nada refused to dress as a man or to petition to dress as a woman on grounds of gender identity disorder, as many Thai transgender students have done. Instead, in a landmark case, she petitioned her school to issue her documents according to the gender identity she has chosen, on the basis of her rights rather than mental illness. Thailand is widely seen as a paradise for gay and transgender people, with transgender women commonly seen on TV, in beauty pageants and cabarets, and at hair salons and cosmetics counters. Yet the country's rigid bureaucratic rules are still adjusting to include transgender rights.