A decade ago, LGBT Puerto Ricans were criminals under the sodomy law, today we’re second-class citizens and when this bill is signed into law, we will be closer to achieving the first-class citizenship that we deserve,’ Serrano added. ‘Equality is inevitable. Puerto Rico will be for all.’
Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said in a statement: ‘The Puerto Rican LGBT community has endured an epidemic of anti-LGBT violence that has taken more than 35 lives in the past three years. Nonetheless, this community has continued to stand strong in the face of adversity and today can celebrate this glorious victory.’
Another priest came armed with a stool. Their followers carried rocks, sticks, and crucifixes. “Kill them! Don’t let them leave alive,” they screamed.
They smashed heads, windows of shops, and a minibus in which activists tried to escape. Twelve people, including three policemen, were seriously injured.
“Before the van arrived, about ten girls—gay rights activists—were being taunted by a growing, frothing mob. A stone was thrown and split a girl’s head open.… This mob was the creation of the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Georgian government has so far been gutless in standing up to the Church to protect the rights of its citizens. Shame on you, Georgia. Shame on you,” Paul Rimple, a Tbilisi-based journalist, posted on his Facebook page.
Despite a ban by a local court, more than a hundred LGBT rights activists held the first gay pride demonstration in the capital of Kiev.
The event was relatively peaceful despite the attempts by a very small number of individuals to disrupt the occasion.
“This can be considered a historic day,” Elena Semyonova one of the organisers told reporters after the activists held a 20-minute-long march along a street near the centre of the Ukrainian capital.
Nikolai Aleskeev, Russian LGBT rights advocate, has been arrested for his part in organizing a gay rights march this morning.
…
‘This is the eighth year in a row we are trying to peacefully conduct Moscow Pride, but this time we face unprecedented pressure in terms of laws, bans and threats.
Aleskeev also received a letter from the European Court of Human Rights yesterday, denying his request to intervene with the Russian government for protection.
Aleskeev said: ‘If me or someone else is killed or injured in Moscow Pride on Saturday 25 May then the blood will also be on the hands of the Head of European Court of Human Rights and [its] judges.’
Riley Roberts testifies in favor of Marriage Equality (by planevada)
A very well spoken young man!
Q.
“18 year old Reno resident Riley Roberts testifies in favor of Senate Joint Resolution 15 before the Assembly Legislative Operations committee on May 9, 2013.
SJR13 would repeal language from Nevada’s constitution that excludes same sex couples and replaces it with language recognizing all marriages, regardless of the couple’s gender. SJR13 must pass the legislature in 2013, again in 2015, and will then go to a vote of the Nevada people in 2016.
In a press conference held in Moscow today (22 May) Thorbjorn Jagland, secretary-general of the Council of Europe (CoE) delivered a stern message to Russia regarding gay rights.
He said: ‘Authorities have an obligation also to (ensure) that LGBT people can express their views and (hold) demonstrations.
‘This is a fundamental principle in the European Convention on Human Rights,’ of which Russia is a signatory, he said.
Why not expel them from the EU if the don’t comply?
The TGEU map [above] shows countries in blue that require no sterilization, orange for countries that require sterilization and red for countries where trans people can not legally change their gender.
More at the source link.
We must be very careful that in the interest of tolerance we do not allow minority views to defeat majority sentiments,” Thwaites told journalsists yesterday at a post Sectoral Debate press conference at Jamaica House.
Over 150 LGBT people and their friends have braved homophobic and transphobic thugs to demand their rights at a protest in St Petersburg, Russia.
TW: violence
“The most effective way to eliminate discrimination against homosexuality is to acknowledge same-sex couples’ rights to marriage,” said Huang Yizhi, one of two female Beijing lawyers who organised the campaign.
She said that such a step could help the public become more accepting of the gay community, while also fostering social stability. Huang previously represented a gay client who was discriminated against while trying to donate blood in 2010.
The lack of legal protection for homosexuals has forced many of them to hide their identity, or even marry a member of the opposite sex, just to comply with social norms. This creates serious social problems, she said.
International Day Against Homophobia (by USattheUN)
(via towleroad.com)
Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice has posted a video marking today’s International Day Against Homophobia.
Today, as we commemorate International Day Against Homophobia, we rededicate ourselves to a basic but essential truth – that human rights are universal and must be protected for all. Homophobia, sadly, is present in every corner of our world. And, it is a problem we continue to face here in the United States.
At the United Nations, the United States is standing up for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and fighting to ensure that their voices are heard and protected. The United States was proud to co-sponsor and adopt an historic resolution at the UN Human Rights Council condemning human rights abuses and violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
We will continue to work in every possible arena to protect communities and promote societies in which everyone – especially LGBT youth – can live safely and without fear regardless of who they are or whom they love. We call on all nations and all peoples to join us in ensuring that human rights are universally protected everywhere every day.
PARIS — France’s constitutional council, the country’s highest constitutional authority, on Friday rejected a challenge by conservative lawmakers to the country’s new marriage equality law, saying the law is constitutional.
The ruling means France could see its first gay marriages by the end of May.
France’s parliament passed the law legalizing same-sex marriage last month after a wrenching national debate and protests that flooded the streets of Paris.
Opponents led by the conservative UMP party immediately challenged the law in France’s Constitutional Council, which rejected their motion Friday.
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, Kenya, 2013. Police in Kenya have stopped people marching through the capital Nairobi today (17 May) to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).
A permit had been issued to allow Kenyan LGBTs and supporters to procession.
But this morning police withdrew the permit just as the event was about to start on Freedom Corner, Uhuru Park.
Julie Jules, Out in Kenya community leader, told Gay Star News: ‘Basically the police stopped the procession because we would be seen to be “promoting homosexuality”.
My niece is a lesbian,” Reid said during a sit-down with reporters. “She’s a school teacher. Her employment shouldn’t be affected with that. We should have a law that says that, not just the good graces of wherever you work.
![Nikolai Aleskeev, Russian LGBT rights advocate, has been arrested for his part in organizing a gay rights march this morning.
…
‘This is the eighth year in a row we are trying to peacefully conduct Moscow Pride, but this time we face unprecedented pressure in terms of laws, bans and threats.
Aleskeev also received a letter from the European Court of Human Rights yesterday, denying his request to intervene with the Russian government for protection.
Aleskeev said: ‘If me or someone else is killed or injured in Moscow Pride on Saturday 25 May then the blood will also be on the hands of the Head of European Court of Human Rights and [its] judges.’](http://24.media.tumblr.com/305098532134ca4516b22b108692fa53/tumblr_mncyh3pf8P1qgo5q0o1_400.jpg)
![The TGEU map [above] shows countries in blue that require no sterilization, orange for countries that require sterilization and red for countries where trans people can not legally change their gender.
More at the source link.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/0b1a53e8df7deb979bb208c343b9ba08/tumblr_mn5x8xdK7T1qgo5q0o1_500.jpg)
