22 June 2017 - NPWJ News Digest on LGBTI rights

Articles

Philippines: LGBT Students Face Bullying, Abuse
By Human Rights Watch, 22 Jun 2017

Students across the Philippines experience bullying and discrimination in school because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. While Philippine law provides protections against discrimination and exclusion in schools, lawmakers and school administrators need to take steps to ensure they are fully implemented. The 68-page report, “‘Just Let Us Be’: Discrimination Against LGBT Students in the Philippines,” documents the range of abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students in secondary school. It details widespread bullying and harassment, discriminatory policies and practices, and an absence of supportive resources that undermine the right to education under international law and put LGBT youth at risk.

Continua

Queen Elizabeth Vows To Protect The LGBT Community In Speech To Parliament
By Logo, 21 Jun 2017

In an address to Parliament on Wednesday, Queen Elizabeth pledged to protect the LGBT community from discrimination. “My government will make further progress to tackle the gender pay gap and discrimination against people on the basis of their race, faith, gender, disability or sexual orientation.” The Queen has rarely addressed LGBT equality, though when she gave the royal assent for marriage equality in 2015, she was said to have remarked “Who’d have thought 62 years ago when I came to the throne, I’d be signing something like this? Isn’t it wonderful?'”

Continua

Democrat Ossoff Loses Georgia Congressional Race to Anti-LGBT Republican
By The Advocate, 20 Jun 2017

Republican Karen Handel has beaten Democrat Jon Ossoff in the Georgia Sixth Congressional District special election, dealing a blow to Democrats, who had hoped to move the seat into their column. Handel has a deeply anti-LGBT history and conservative stances on most other issues. As a member of the Fulton County Commission in the early 2000s, she took some LGBT-friendly positions, but soon she became a steadfast opponent of LGBT equality. She took anti-LGBT positions in 2006, when she ran successfully for Georgia secretary of state. In 2010, seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination, she gave an interview asserting her opposition to same-sex marriage, civil unions, domestic-partner benefits, and adoption by gay people. And last week, approached in a restaurant by a mother who expressed hope that her lesbian daughter will be able to have a family, Handel told the woman, “My faith calls me to a different place on the issue.” The exchange can be seen in a video posted by The New Civil Rights Movement. 

Continua

Pro-LGBT posters appear in the streets of Baghdad: 'Difference is the basis of life'
By The Independent, 20 Jun 2017

Posters advocating equal rights for the LGBT community have appeared in the streets of Baghdad. The posters show two hands, painted in rainbow colours, making a heart shape over the abbreviation LGBTI. A phrase beside the picture, written in Arabic, reads, "I am equal to you. Difference is the basis of life." It is not yet known who is behind the campaign. Pictures of the posters were uploaded to the Baghdad1 Facebook page, which has prompted a mix of positive and outraged reactions. “I hope the day comes we accept each other,” wrote one Facebook user, translated from Arabic.

Continua

Russian 'gay propaganda' law ruled discriminatory by European court
By The Guardian, 20 Jun 2017

 A Russian law that bans gay “propaganda” encourages homophobia and discrimination, the European court of human rights has ruled, in a sharply worded rebuke to the Kremlin. Three Russian gay rights activists brought the case against the 2013 federal statute, widely known as the “gay propaganda” law, after they were arrested between 2009-12 for protesting against local anti-gay laws, which became the model for the later national law. 

Continua