lgbtiq discrimination
Belize Court confirms sodomy law unconstitutional
The Belize Court of Appeal last week upheld a former ruling by the Supreme Court Chief Justice declaring the country’s sodomy law unconstitutional. Previously, Caleb Orozco, an LGBTIQ activist in the Central American country, brought a case against the sodomy law in the Supreme Court. Supreme Court Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin ruled in favour of …
LGBTIQ Indians join citizenship law protests
LGBTIQ Indian community organisations joined other rights groups on a march through New Delhi yesterday. The march protested the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Critics describe the law as anti-Muslim and claim it also violates India’s secular constitution. Over 1,000 members of India’s LGBTIQ communities joined the protest. The CAA and two other government measures …
Catherine McGregor predicts backlash against ‘queer mafia’
Catherine McGregor prophesied a backlash against the ‘queer mafia’ in an appearance on Sky News on New Year’s Eve. Out in Perth reports McGregor predicted religious freedom as one of the big issues of 2020. Most of us don’t require a quatrain from Nostradamus to foresee that. Religious freedom was the issue du jour throughout …
Religious Freedom? US judge sues over same-sex marriages
A Texas judge last week launched a class-action suit against the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley launched the action after the commission publicly warned her for refusing to perform same-sex marriages. She claims protection under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. While the law does not compel justices of …
Indonesia tests foreign teachers for ‘abnormal’ sexual orientation
Earlier this month, international schools in Indonesia began implementing government regulation to test foreign teachers for ‘abnormal’ sexual orientation. The New York Times published questions from tests some schools required foreign teachers to take. Some questions required either agreement or disagreement with a statement. “I would feel uncomfortable knowing my daughter’s or son’s teacher was …
Reports suggest Iran executed Mohsen Lorestani 6 December
Posts from Kurdish social media accounts suggest that Iran executed singer Mohsen Lorestani on 6 December. Although authorities detained the singer in March, news of his arrest only surfaced in October. He appeared in court before the notorious hanging judge Mohammad Moqisseh, infamous for his role in torturing and executing political prisoners as far back as …
‘Shameless’ influencers paid to help rehabilitate Saudi image
Big-name DJs, actors, and models all accepted payment to attend an electronic music festival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia over the weekend. The ‘shameless’ influencers seemed oblivious to the plight of LGBTIQ people, women, religious minorities and others under the oppressive regime of the Al Saud family. David Guetta and Steve Aoki The DJ line-up at …
Hallmark: straight kiss good, lesbian kiss bad – drops ads
Hallmark Channel this week notified an advertiser that they would not show four ads showing brides kissing each other. The Hallmark Cards owned channel told the New York Times that they do not allow ads ‘deemed controversial’. Further, they stated that women showing ‘public displays of affection’ were a violation of their policies. “The decision …
$15,000 to live in same town as Westboro Baptist Church
The Choose Topeka program pays new residents up to $15,000 to live in the city that is reluctantly home to the Westboro Baptist Church. The program pays up to $10,000 to new residents who rent a home in the city or $15,000 to those who buy. It matches employer funds paid to entice needed employees …
Brunei court sentences gay defendant Shahiran in absentia
A court in Brunei yesterday sentenced Shahiran, ‘the Brunei refugee’, to eighteen months jail for sedition. Shahiran now lives in Canada after the government there granted him asylum in 2018. The case was only the second use of the sedition law in Brunei and the first full trial of a sedition case in the country. …