Kenya Supreme Court sides with LGBTQ rights

The Supreme Court of Kenya declared discrimination against the LGBTQ community unconstitutional and affirmed their right to association after a 10-year legal battle. The Supreme Court’s decision is mandatory to the lower courts.

In a 3-2 majority decision, the court ruled that article 27 of Kenya’s Constitution, which protects every person from discrimination with an open-ended list of grounds, protects sexual minorities as well.

The court said: "An interpretation of non-discrimination which excludes people based on their sexual orientation would conflict with the principles of human dignity, inclusiveness, equality, human rights and non-discrimination. To put it another way, to allow discrimination based on sexual orientation would be counter to the constitutional principles."

This decision comes at a time when there is agitation for a “third wave of criminalization of homosexual” through anti-sodomy laws in Africa. 

Justice has spoken!

Trump Jr attacks Secretary Buttigieg with unacceptable homophobic comments

Donald Trump Jr went on the far-right Newsmax network and trafficked in blatant homophobia when he referred to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as "that gay guy" and claimed that he was in his position merely because of his sexual orientation.

“Peter has no business in that position, but he’s the guy who had no business running for president. But they let him do that because he was gay, and they checked off a box, and then he didn’t win, but, well, he’s the gay guy, so we’ve got to give him something, let’s make him Transportation Secretary. What does he know about it? Nothing.”

Republicans and those on the right have sought to attack several LGBTQ members of President Biden’s Administration and cast them as unworthy of their positions.

Pete Buttigieg graduated from Harvard & Oxford. He’s fluent in 7 languages and an accomplished pianist who was invited to accompany a symphony orchestra.

Pete Buttigieg was an Intelligence Officer who served in Afghanistan. He was mayor of South Bend Indiana and he became the first LGBT cabinet member, nominated by President Joe Biden as Transport Secretary.

Pete Buttigieg and his partner Chasten are fathers of twins

LGBTQ identification in U.S. ticks up to 7.1%

The percentage of U.S. adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual has reached 7.1%, an all-time high, according to a new Gallup poll.

After showing perceptible increases in 2020 and 2021, the current percentage is double what it was when Gallup first measured LGBTQ identification a decade ago.

People born between 1997 and 2003, known as Generation Z, were most likely to identify as LGBTQ, roughly 21% said they are part of the LGBTQ community. That's almost more than double the rate for millennials, which is 10.8%. Less than 5% of older generations identify as LGBTQ, according to the poll.

The shift also comes at a time when LGBTQ rights are under attack in the USA, where there are more than 175 "anti-LGBTQ bills" being proposed in 32 Republicans states this year.

Gallup expects the trend of people identifying as LGBTQ to increase in the future as younger generations constitute a larger share of the total adult population in the U.S.

ILGA-Europe report finds that 2022 was the most violent year for LGBTQ people across the region in the past decade

Europeans who identify as LGBTQ face an increasingly toxic and violent environment, despite several legislative victories achieved over the past years, the annual report of ILGA-Europe has warned.

The study shows the steepest rise in anti-LGBTQ violence since the organisation began publishing its annual report 12 years ago.

The trends in 2022 present not only a marked increase in the number of attacks but especially in the severity and lethality with which they were conducted, such as the shootings in Bratislava and in Oslo, where the attackers were said to have purposely targeted queer people

Suicides among the LGBTQ population have climbed up, migration movements to flee repression have intensified and the space for civil society has gradually shrunk across the continent, the report says.

Meanwhile, education has turned into a "battleground" as the progress on sexual education is "challenged at a fundamental level" in countries like Hungary, Serbia, Russia, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Throughout the study, which covers developments across the 54 countries in which ILGA-Europe's affiliates are present, a key area of concern is the situation of trans people, who are reported to face an "enormous backlash" and persistent legal obstacles.

Spain and Finland are among the European countries that recently passed progressive laws to strengthen trans rights, an effort that came about only after a protracted and heated back-and-forth.

Read the report here

New President Biden executive order focuses on transgender equity

President Joe Biden signed an executive order to continue the advancement of racial equity and uplift underserved communities, to pursue equity across the board to include Black, LGBTQ, and particularly transgender Americans.

This executive order makes clear that the agencies' work to ensure equity for LGBTQ Americans is part of their broader mandate. This is about racial equity, but it is about equity more broadly as well, and that includes for LGBTQ people.

This executive order is essential and timely when Republican politicians block equity in education, reproductive health, and gender-affirming care while simultaneously fueling hate-inspired violence.

President Biden is the most pro-LGBTQ president in history. He speaks directly to the trans kids and their families, who are being targeted by Republican lawmakers and legislatures in states across the country. 

During his State of the Union speech, President Biden called for the passage of the Equality Act as a way to protect LGBTQ rights. During Pride last June, President Biden also signed a historic executive order which tasked agencies to act against so-called conversion therapy.

President Joe Biden is a great LGBTQ's ally

Spain approves a new advanced trans self-ID law

After months of debate, Spanish Parliament gave final approval to a law allowing people to freely change their gender from the age of 16, by 191 votes to 60 with 91 abstentions.

The so-called 'transgender law' allows people to change their gender on their identity papers by means of a simple administrative declaration from the age of 16, without medical supervision

The law also extends this right to 14-16-year-olds, provided they are accompanied in the procedure by their legal guardians, and to 12-14-year-olds, if they get the green light from the court.

Up to now, transgender people needed a medical diagnosis by several doctors of gender dysphoria, which is the psychological condition of feeling mismatched with one’s biological sex and gender identity. 

Spain thus joins the few countries in the world that allow gender self-determination via a simple declaration, following the example of Denmark, the first country to grant this right in Europe to transgender people in 2014.

Gay Chechen refugee detained at Moscow Airport and deported to Chechnya

 

Russian police detained a gay Chechen refugee upon his arrival in Moscow, raising fears that he may be imprisoned and tortured by security officers in his home region.

Idris Arsamikov, 28, is believed to have been taken to Chechnya, the conservative, majority-Muslim region, hours after landing at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport to attend his father’s funeral.

It is believed that Chechen authorities may have prepared charges of large-scale fraud against Idris. It noted that similar cases are regularly opened against Chechen activists who are seen as disloyal to local authorities.

Idris flee Chechnya in 2018 and settle in the Netherlands after Chechen security forces electrocuted him in a basement for having a same-sex relationship.

Chechnya's strongman leader and Putin's personal friend, Ramzan Kadyrov, who is under multiple international sanctions for alleged human rights abuses, has for years maintained that “no gays” live in his region. Credible reports have documented cases of what came to be known as a "gay purge" in Chechnya. 

SOS Idris!!!

The moment of the detention here

Czech Republic international footballer Jakub Jankto comes out

The 27-year-old midfielder, Jakub Jankto, who is on loan at Sparta Prague from Spanish club Getafe, said in a video posted on his Twitter page: “I am homosexual and I no longer want to hide myself.”

He follows Josh Cavallo of Adelaide United and Blackpool’s Jake Daniels in coming out publicly as gay in professional men’s football, and becomes the highest-profile current male footballer to come out.

Jankto has made 45 appearances for the Czech Republic, including at the most recent European Championships, and is the first La Liga player in Spain to publicly come out as gay.

“Hi, I’m Jakub Jankto,” he said in a video posted on Twitter. “Like everybody else, I have my strengths, I have my weaknesses; I have a family, I have my friends.”

“I have a job, which I have been doing as best as I can, for years, with seriousness, professionalism and passion. Like everybody else, I also want to live my life in freedom without fear, without prejudice, without violence, but with love. I am homosexual, and I no longer want to hide myself.”

Sparta Prague released a statement in support of Jankto and said the midfielder had “spoken openly about his sexual orientation with the club some time ago”. The club added: “Everything else concerns his personal life. No further comments. No more questions. You have our support. Live your life, Jacob. Nothing else matters.”

Watch his video in Twitter here.

Both Presidents Joe Biden and Lula da Silva reiterate their support of LGBTQ rights

President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Lula da Silva in a joint statement issued after they met at the White House reiterated their support of LGBTQ and intersex rights.

“Both leaders noted they continue to reject extremism and violence in politics, condemned hate speech, and reaffirmed their intention to build societal resilience to disinformation and agreed to work together on these issues,” reads the statement.

 “They discussed common objectives of advancing the human rights agenda through cooperation and coordination on such issues as social inclusion and labor rights, gender equality, racial equity and justice and the protection of the rights of LGBTQ persons.”

President Lula Da Silva, a member of the leftist Workers’ Party, was Brazil’s president from 2003-2010. He defeated Bolsonaro, a member of the right-wing Liberal Party, in the second round of Brazil’s presidential election that took place last October.

You can read the statement in English and Portuguese.

Arsenal stands by GayGooners and LGBTQ fans

The Premier League club Arsenal shows support for GayGooners and LGBTQ fans with 'love is love' banners outside and inside the Emirates Stadium.

GayGooners was formed 10 years ago this month. It was the first LGBTQ supporters club in British football and it has grown into the largest LGBTQ supporters group in the world. 

Rainbow coloured billboards have been put around Emirates Stadium, which proudly show off the message 'love is love'.

February is also the Month of Action against homophobia in Football and 19 February is the International Day against Homophobia in football.

Well done Arsenal!!!

LGBTQ activists have staged a defiant protest in Afghanistan

At a private residence in the country’s capital Kabul, around a dozen Afghan people from the Behesht Collective, an LGBTQ group, congregated to show the world that their lives are still in jeopardy.

Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, reports have circulated of LGBTQ people being beaten, raped and even murdered in Afghanistan. 

It’s a dire situation, but finding a route to safety isn’t always easy – numerous western governments have introduced policies making it harder for people to claim asylum in recent years, meaning many can’t access the support they need.

Immediately after the protest in Kabul, activists involved fled to a neighbouring country to protect themselves from the Taliban, but there’s still a long path to safety.

The country they’re now residing in is also a Muslim country where same-sex sexual relations are criminalised.

A report showed the desperate situation of LGBTQ people in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.

Read the report here

Kim Petras becomes first trans woman to win a Grammy for Best Pop Duo

 

Kim Petras held back tears as she accepted the award for Best Pop Duo alongside Sam Smith, at the 2023 Grammy Awards, for the song “Unholy.” She is the first transgender woman to win the category.

The German pop star gave an emotional speech accepting her first Grammy Award, dedicating her win to trans artists who came before her. “I want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight,” Kim said.

She also dedicated her win to her mother, thanking her for supporting Kim's transition. “I grew up next to a highway in nowhere Germany, and my mother believed me that I was a girl. I wouldn’t be here without her and her support,” she said.

Congratulations Kim and Sam!!!

Watch the official music video bellow:

Indian couples begin legal battle for same-sex marragie

 

Utkarsh Saxena and Ananya Kotia are a gay couple in India for over 15 years. In 2008, same-sex relationships were yet to gain a degree of acceptance in deeply conservative India, with many gay couples facing stigma and isolation. 

Over the years, as Indian society became more accepting of same-sex relationship and much of the country’s LGBTQ community began celebrating their sexuality openly, the couple decided to make their relationship known to their friends and family. Most of them were accepting.

Now, they have set out for a bigger challenge and filed a petition to India’s Supreme Court that seeks the legalization of same-sex marriage. Three other gay couples have filed similar petitions that will be heard by the country’s top court in March.

If legalized, India would become the second economy in Asia after Taiwan to recognize same-sex marriage, a significant right for the country’s LGBTQ community more than four years after the top court decriminalized gay sex. 

It's time India!!!

It's time to 'Marriage for All' in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is taking heat for expressing hesitation in legalizing same-sex marriage saying that it would fundamentally change society and people's values.

When Chinami Nishimura, co-deputy president of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, argued for legalizing gay marriage at a Lower House Budget Committee session, Kishida replied, “That’s a topic we should consider very carefully."

“Because it’s a topic that will change people’s perception of family, values, and society, it’s important to make a decision only after deeply contemplating the mood of the whole of society.”

Critics charge that the remarks show he is out of touch because society has moved on from the matter. Polling shows that same-sex partnerships have indeed gradually become accepted throughout Japanese society.

Japan does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions. It is the only country in the G7 that does not legally recognize same-sex unions in any form.

Because the central government has dug its heels in on the matter, local governments in Japan have issued their own partnership certificates to same-sex couples, but they do not offer the same legal benefits of marriage. More than 250 local governments have introduced these kinds of systems, covering about 60 percent of the Japanese population.

It's time Japan!!!

February is the Month of Action against homophobia in Football

Football v Homophobia (FvH) exists to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression at all levels in football. As an international initiative FvH engages in campaigning, education, advice and guidance, research, policy consultation and capacity building.

February is the Football v Homophobia Month of Action, and it starts with the campaign asking supporters, clubs, players and the football authorities to focus their efforts on challenging homophobic attitudes and ensuring the game is open to all. 

The month of action is a really good time for people to talk about the issues of LGBTQ inclusion in Football. It’s really important for LGBTQ fan groups to have a dialogue with the wider fan community and for those groups to be part of the wider fan movement.

We can never rest easy while homophobic and illegal songs are still being chanted in the stadiums. Football for everyone!!!

Football for everyone!