A teacher and an assistant principal at North Carolina's Efland-Cheeks Elementary have stepped down following the backlash over the teacher's reading of a gay children's book in the classroom. Third-grade teacher Omar Currie sparked uproar this spring when he read the book, "King & King," to his class. The book, which was given to Currie by Assistant Principal Meg Goodhand, tells the story of a fictional prince who defies the pressure to marry a princess and weds a man.
Currie wanted to teach a lesson after one student was repeatedly bullied and called "gay" in a derogatory manner. "My reading of 'King & King' was the 100 percent right thing to do," he said. "It's obvious Orange County Schools is lacking leadership right now."
A handful of parents expressed anger, arguing Currie was forcing his opinion on the children, although many LGBTQ advocates, as well as Goodhand, came to Currie's defense in a heated public meeting last month. Read More
Italy: Venice bans children’s book about gay penguins
Books which teach about same-sex and single-parent families will be banned in schools in Venice. The moves comes after Luigi Brugnaro was elected the city’s mayor earlier this month.
Brugnaro made the pledge to purge the city’s nurseries and primary schools of books about gay partnerships and gay adoption. “We don’t want to discriminate against anyone and at home parents can call themselves daddy number one and daddy number two, but I have to consider the majority of families, which have a mum and a dad,” he told La Repubblica newspaper. Read More
Norway: Proposal to extend transgender rights to children
Norway’s government proposed that children as young as 7 should be allowed to change their legal gender with parental support, among the lowest ages in the world for transgender rights. The suggested overhaul includes personal decisions without medical diagnosis.
“Today’s rules in this area are unacceptable and have been unchanged for almost 60 years,” Health Minister Bent Hoie said in a statement, to be debated by experts before any formal bill goes to parliament. “The proposal is historic in that it will no longer be the health service but the individual who decides if he or she has changed sex,” he said.
The draft would affect everything from social security numbers to passports. Anyone aged 16 or above could apply themselves. The proposal only affects legal documents - surgery can only be performed on those over 18. Anyone who applies for a legal change of gender can reverse it if they later regret it. Read More
Nigeria: Acceptance of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people slowly increasing
A new poll conducted by NOI Polls in partnership with Bisi Alimi Foundation and The Initiative for Equal Rights in Nigeria, has mapped awareness, perception, and acceptance of lesbian, gay, and bisexual, people and same-sex relationships among the Nigerian population. While considerable opposition remains for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and their relationships, the poll found that acceptance has grown over previous polls. The findings also suggest that many Nigerians are unwilling to reject lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in their families.
“This poll tells us that Nigerians are not inherently homophobic, but that in the absence of accurate information around gender and sexuality, people are left to believe myths and misinformation,” said Bisi Alimi, founder of the Bisi Alimi Foundation. “The trend in this survey has shown that with a conducive environment to provide unrestrictive and unbiased information about gender and sexuality in Nigeria, we will be able to create a platform for discussion and dialogue where views can be shared and opinions expressed without fear.” Read More
UK: Cisgender added to Oxford English Dictionary
Cisgender has officially been added into the Oxford English Dictionary. Dating back to 1999, the adjective is defined as 'designating someone whose sense of personal identity corresponds to the sex and gender assigned to him or her at birth. This word exists to serve as an equal and complement to transgender.' Read More
Jamaica: Police sharpen to work with vulnerable groups
With two weekends of training seminars completed, members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force are expected to be more aware of the diverse groups in society and to better understand the safety and security issues facing them. 50 members of the JCF underwent diversity training.
The training sessions made police aware of how to deal with vulnerable groups in carrying out their duties. The areas of focus were women and girls, people living with disabilities, marginalised youth and the LGBT community.
Harrison Henry said that the Jamaican legal framework has been slow to recognise the increasing diversity in the population. She called on participants to make use of the training which will enhance their skills and allow them to carry out their duties conscientiously. She reminded the police that to serve and to protect was not only a moral duty but also a legal one. Read More
Poland: For Poland's gay community, a shift in public attitudes, if not laws
Many European Union nations are enhancing rights for their LGBT citizens. But not Catholic Poland. This former Soviet satellite constitutionally restricts marriage to a man and a woman. Recent efforts to pass laws to protect the LGBT community in Poland from discrimination and violence have gone nowhere.
But there is one notable change these days — in Polish attitudes. Homophobic attitudes were prevalent among Polish lawmakers when Robert Biedron was elected as a MP in 2011. "I was the first member of the Polish parliament who was openly gay," Biedron says, "and they would not be brave enough to shake hands publicly because somebody would think they're gay."
Polish gay rights activists note other changes, too, including the opening of central Europe's first homeless shelter for LGBT teens earlier this year in Warsaw. Marianna Szczygielska, the project coordinator for the Warsaw-based Campaign against Homophobia, says attitudes toward gays began to change in 2004: "With [the] opening of borders after joining the European Union, things have changed, especially for queer youth," she says. "Even LGBT characters being featured in popular TV series, that already makes a difference in social acceptance." Read More
Israel: Homophobic op-ed by Islamic leader raises Arab Israeli ire
A homophobic article by an Israeli Islamic leader has sparked a flurry of condemnations by Arab civil society, shining a light on a usually suppressed debate on gay rights. Commenting on the same-sex wedding of Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, deputy head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, launched a scathing attack on homosexuality in an op-ed titled “You make me sick,” published on Yaffa48.com.
“Western societies have reached the lowest of lows,” wrote Khatib, and that society was succumbing "to moral degradation." "It is noteworthy,” he continued, “that suspicious local organizations, tabloids and biased writers have been advocating this perversion. To all those, I say not ‘may you be well and have boys’ but rather ‘may you be miserable and suffer plagues and AIDS, you perverts!'”
Khatib’s comments quickly drew fire from Israeli Arabs on social media.
Al-Qaws, a Palestinian NGO supporting sexual and gender diversity in Palestinian society, argued in a rare statement that Khatib’s concern over homosexuality may indicate a paradigm shift in Arab treatment of the subject: “We wonder,” the organization wrote, “Is this a miserable attempt to exploit the issue of gays for political purposes, or did the Sheikh see change taking place before his eyes and get nervous?” Read More
US: Episcopal Church formally embraces same-sex marriage
The bishops of the Episcopal Church have authorized their clergy to perform same-sex weddings. Episcopalians overwhelmingly voted to allow religious weddings for same-sex couples, solidifying the church's embrace of gay rights that began more than a decade ago with the election of the first openly gay bishop.
In resolutions adopted here at the denomination’s General Convention meeting in Salt Lake City this week, the bishops have endorsed new liturgies or services for same-sex couples wishing to marry in church. The bishops also approved changing the church’s canons, or rules, governing marriage, making them gender neutral by substituting the terms “man and woman” with “couple.” However, clergy were also given the right to refuse to perform a same-sex marriage, with the promise they would incur no penalty, while bishops were given the right to refuse to allow the services to take place in their diocese. Read More
UK: Roses are red, condoms are blue... if you have syphilis
Three UK teens may have found a way to help couples test for STDs in the privacy of their own home. They've invented a condom called the S.T.EYE that changes color when it comes into contact with the pathogens -- green for chlamydia, yellow for herpes and blue for syphilis. The condom -- created by 14-year-old Daanyaal Ali, 13-year-old Muaz Nawaz and 14-year-old Chirag Shah from the Issac Newton Academy in London -- won top honors in the healthcare category at the TeenTech Awards.
The design is still in the conceptual stage, but the teens have already reportedly been approached by a condom manufacturer about improving their invention and possibly turning it into something headed to a drug store near you. This isn't the first we've seen of color-coded personal products. Last year, a nail polish company unveiled a product that could test for the presence of date rape drugs such as Rohypnol, Xanax and GHB in drinks. Read More
New Zealand: STI/HIV health alert issued in Auckland
Syphilis and gonorrhoea cases are on the rise in Auckland, where gay and bisexual men are being urged to get a sexual health check-up. Average monthly syphilis cases have increased 120% over the last 18 months, and average monthly gonorrhoea cases by 170% in the last six months. Recent data from University of Otago shows an increase in HIV diagnoses among gay and bisexual men across New Zealand.
“The STI epidemic is very worrying” says Executive Director of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation Shaun Robinson. “There have been several significant breakouts of STIs amongst men who have sex with men over the last two years and the situation appears to be getting worse. We know that over 85% of syphilis cases in New Zealand affect gay and bisexual men and we are also seeing major outbreaks of gonorrhoea. These can do serious health damage if untreated and spread very rapidly in the community. It is very important that men who have had anal sex without condoms get an STI and HIV test.” Read More
UK: STIs soaring in gay men - warning
The number of sexually transmitted infections being spread in gay men is soaring, according to Public Health England. Figures for 2014 showed a 46% increase in syphilis infections, 32% in gonorrhoea and 26% in chlamydia. The report said there were "high levels of condomless sex" in general and "rapid" transmission of infections in HIV-positive men.
Dr Michael Brady, the medical director of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "The continued rise in both syphilis and gonorrhoea is a worry and evidence that we still have much to do to address the nation's poor sexual health and rates of STIs in those most at risk. We should make better use of new technologies and approaches - local awareness raising through targeted social media based on the geographical breakdown of the data we are seeing today and an offer online testing - to reach those who are not accessing 'traditional' services" Read More