UK: Caseworkers ‘must not stereotype’ gay asylum seekers

The Home Office has published new guidance on the treatment of sexual identity issues in asylum claims following last year’s critical report by Borders and Immigration Chief Inspector John Vine.

The guidance states that Home Office caseworkers must conduct “a sensitive enquiry into the development and exploration of the claimant’s sexual identity and the extent to which it is relevant to the assessment of the need for protection. It should not be an enquiry into any explicit sexual activity.” Read More

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Arkansas Legislature Passes Bill Allowing LGBT Discrimination

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The Arkansas legislature gave its final thumbs-up Friday to a bill that will block cities and counties from enacting antidiscrimination laws that protect LGBT people. The Arkansas House of Representatives voted decisively, 57-20, for SB202, with seven members voting present. Having already cleared the state Senate Monday, the bill now heads to the governor’s desk.


Gov. Asa Hutchinson told BuzzFeed News in a statement he will let the bill take effect. By neither vetoing nor signing the legislation, he said, “I am allowing the bill to become law.”
The bill’s sponsor, Republican State Sen. Bart Hester, said this week that he sponsored the measure to create consistent policies across Arkansas that will attract business, and because he was infuriated that cities were attempting to expand civil rights laws for LGBT people. Read More

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Inside The Last-Ditch Conservative Campaign To Target LGBT Americans

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In this progressive climate, the battle has shifted to the state level, where conservatives are waging a last-ditch campaign to target LGBT Americans. Two months into 2015, the volume of legislation that allows religion to be used for discrimination is already higher than the total for 2014. 

The legislation introduced so far tends to fall into three broad categories: bills that could facilitate discrimination on the basis of religious freedom, bills that specifically target officials who marry same-sex couples and bills that would allow anyone to refuse to recognize a couple's marriage based on religious beliefs.  Read More
 

US: Lawmakers introduce bill to promote LGBT rights worldwide

The International Human Rights Defense Act, spearheaded by Sen. Edward Markey and Rep. Alan Lowenthal would appoint a special envoy within the U.S. Department of State to coordinate efforts to prevent discrimination and advance the rights of LGBT people worldwide.

“With the rights of the LGBT community under attack around the globe, we must stand hand-in-hand with them in the struggle for recognition and equality everywhere," Markey said.  Read More 

Nepal: Government ready to amend anti-gay legal provisions

Minendra Rijal, Nepal's minister for information and communication, has said the government is ready to amend discriminatory legal provisions against sexual minorities.

However, Rijal said equality could not be achieved through legal advancement and policies only, but also required changes in society's attitudes and behavior: 'I urge the community to stand up and take a lead.'  Read More

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Poland: Transgender politician to run for President

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Poland’s first openly transgender lawmaker, Anna Grodzka, plans to run for President. There are currently no openly transgender heads of state in the world, meaning that Grodzka – who is already the world’s only elected transgender MP – would make history again if successful. Read More

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Dominican Republic: Advocates, officials to launch LGBT tourism campaign

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Members of the Center for Integrated Training and Research, a Dominican advocacy group known by the Spanish acronym COIN that has fought the AIDS epidemic in the country and throughout the Caribbean for more than two decades, will meet with representatives of the Dominican Ministry of Tourism and Tourism Police to promote LGBT tourism and gay rights in the Caribbean country. Read More 

Colombia: LGBT advocate participates in peace talks

The head of a LGBT Colombian advocacy group took part in peace talks between his country’s government and a rebel group. Caribe Afirmativo Director Wilson Castañeda was among the six Colombian human rights advocates who participated in a meeting between representatives of President Juan Manuel Santos’ government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

“We do not want a post-conflict period to generate closets where people are once again stigmatized, made invisible and continue living in fear,” he said, noting LGBT Colombians should be explicitly included. “As Colombians we hope to leave the closet behind, to be able to live without fear of difference.”  Read More 

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Scholarly research on children with gay or lesbian parents

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An overview of research literature finds that children of gay parents fare no worse than children whose parents identify as straight. Taken together, this research forms an overwhelming scholarly consensus, based on over three decades of peer-reviewed research, that having a gay or lesbian parent does not harm children.  Read More