Celebrate individuality and stand out on Zero Discrimination Day

 On 1 March, people around the world joined together to celebrate Zero Discrimination Day. Discrimination remains widespread—gender, nationality, age, ethnic origin, sexual orientation or religion can all unfortunately be the basis for some form of discrimination. In only four out of 10 countries worldwide do equal numbers of girls and boys attend secondary school and 75 countries have laws that criminalize same-sex sexual relations.

Discrimination in health-care settings also continues to be widely reported. Imagine a young woman newly diagnosed with HIV being told by her doctor that she must be sterilized, a sex worker facing violence or abuse from a nurse, a disabled person denied access to proper advice about their sexual health, a gay man frightened of disclosing his sexuality to medical staff, a person who injects drugs dying after being refused treatment or a transgender person attempting suicide after being turned away from a clinic. Health-care settings should be considered as safe and caring environments, however, such cases are happening too frequently throughout the world.

 Read more via UNAIDS

Human rights contestations: sexual orientation and gender identity

This article asks if and why sexual orientation and gender identity-related rights should connect to a human rights framework. To answer that question it begins by addressing how we understand what makes human rights resonate or not resonate and if addressing a contentious issue such as sexual orientation or gender identity from within a human rights frame advances or detracts from such resonance.

The argument developed in response is anti-foundational: i.e., that human rights' resonance has not come from some universally valid extra-political foundational source but, rather, comes from how human rights have been transformed (at times) into tools that become relevant to everyday struggles of marginalised peoples.

Considered in that context, including recognition of sexual orientation and gender identity-related rights may be extraordinarily difficult, but also presents an opportunity to re-conceptualise human rights in a way that reflects the sort of bottom-up demands that keep human rights relevant.  Read more via International Journal of Human Rights

US: Black and latino queer men face a public health emergency with HIV

Sobering news came from the CDC Tuesday: According to a major new study that covers all 50 states and DC, about 1 in 2 black and 1 in 4 Latino men who have sex with men are projected to be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime if current trends hold. As a comparison, the study found that white MSM face odds of 1 in 11, while members of the MSM community as a whole are looking at a 1 in 6 chance.

The new study, which used diagnoses and death rates from 2009-13 to extrapolate into the future, also looked at geography and found that individuals living in the South encounter more risk than those in other regions of the country. Washington, D.C., saw the highest rate at a 1 in 13 chance of an HIV-positive diagnosis.

That’s a lot of numbers, but the takeaway is this: Black and Latino MSM, in facing a risk of HIV infection that’s wildly disproportionate to other populations, are embroiled in a genuine public health emergency. Of course, this won’t come as news to advocates already working on HIV/AIDS among those groups; but it reiterates the need for education, community-specific messaging, and, above all, access to prevention tools in the effort to stem the tide.  Read more via Slate 

UN: Banning homosexuality fosters hate crime and homophobia, says report

Criminalising homosexuality amounts to torture in many of the 76 countries where same-sex relationships are outlawed, a United Nations report has declared. Prof Juan Mendez, the organisation’s special rapporteur on torture, has called for decriminalisation in his latest submission to the UN’s human rights council on the grounds that the bans – which sometimes carry the death penalty – legitimise homophobia and hate crimes.
 
In one of the strongest denunciations of laws that are enforced in many African, Asian and Middle Eastern states, Mendez, a former Argentinian political prisoner, urges governments to reconsider their statute books: “A clear link exists between the criminalisation of LGBT persons and homophobic and transphobic hate crimes, police abuse, community and family violence and stigmatisation,” his report says. 
 
The report says that in countries where homosexuality is criminalised “men suspected of same-sex conduct are subject to non-consensual anal examinations intended to obtain physical evidence of homosexuality, a practice that is medically worthless and amounts to torture or ill-treatment”.

The UN special rapporteur’s statement will provide legal support for groups such as the London-based  Human Dignity Trust which campaigns to overturn criminalisation. Read more via Guardian 

US: Father aims loaded gun at daughter after she comes out as lesbian

A man has been arrested in North Dakota for aiming a loaded gun at his teenage daughter after she came out as a lesbian. Police responded to a phone call at about 6.45pm Sunday from Bakir’s daughter, who said he was going to ‘blow her head off.’ Bakir surrendered the gun to officers and said he did not intend to harm his daughter but was just upset that she is a lesbian, court papers said.  

Read more via Gay Star News
 

US: Transgender students and ‘Bathroom Laws’ in South Dakota and beyond

The South Dakota Legislature approved a bill this month that would require public school students to use bathrooms and other facilities that correspond to their biological sex, defined in the bill as “a person’s chromosomes and anatomy as identified at birth.”

Under the measure, schools would need to find other accommodations for transgender students, whose gender identity does not correspond with the biological sex they were born with. If the legislation is signed by Dennis Daugaard, the state’s Republican governor, South Dakota will become the first state to enact such a law, and transgender students, their parents and their supporters criticize it as discriminatory.

On the other side of the debate, some schools say allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice could violate the privacy of other students.  Read more via New York Times

Spirit Awards: 'Tangerine' Star Mya Taylor Makes History as First Transgender Winner

"There's very beautiful transgender talent. So, you better get it out there and put it in your next movie," Taylor joked at the podium.
Mya Taylor made history at the 31st Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday when she became the first transgender actress to ever win at the annual ceremony.

The actress was nominated for best supporting female, beating out Cynthia Nixon (James White), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Anomalisa), Marin Ireland (Glass Chin) and Robin Bartlett (H.) to take home the trophy.

"First of all, no one tells you how nervous you're gonna be when you're up against other big actors for an award. There are so many things that go through your head, like 'Am I gonna trip on this long-ass dress getting up here?'" she joked at the podium upon accepting her award. "I have had a long journey through my 2015 because I had come from almost nothing and then got this role and this movie, and my life just did a total 360." Read more via Hollywood Reporter

Critics praise new Indian movie inspired by gay professor who was fired, filmed having sex

Based on the true story of a 64-year-old professor who was suspended after a TV crew reportedly from a local station forced their way into his house and filmed him having sex with another man, Aligarh opened in theaters in India this week to rave reviews by local critics.

Professor Ramachandra Siras, who was head of the Department of Modern Indian Languages at Aligarh Muslim University, a prestigious arts institute in Uttar Pradesh, was expelled from the school for ‘gross misconduct‘ in 2010.

He was found dead in his campus apartment two months later. Police suspected suicide. Many saw his death as yet another case which highlighted the struggles of homosexuals in India. Read more via Gay Star News

Russia: This gay assault victim has the best response for those who thinks he should stay closeted

A gay Russian man was brutally attacked outside a grocery store for looking like a ‘fag’.  Posting the images of his injuries on social media, many told him if he dyed his hair a normal color and he should keep closeted for his own safety. He doesn’t agree. 

‘According to some, I need to stop talking about gay rights and to accept the reality that in Syzran and Russia that all gays will never be accepted as the norm,’ he wrote on his VK page. ‘Live as yourself behind closed doors with a boyfriend, and everything will be alright. If I wasn’t “searching for trouble”, my life would be a fairy tale. That “happily ever after” is a lie. If you submit to homophobes, if you submit to the closet, you’re not living your best possible life. While I might have a broken face, you have a broken life.' Read more via Gay Star News

Japan: City of Nara targets LGBT economy

The city of Nara, Japan’s ancient capital, will target LGBT tourists from Japan and abroad. Plans include earmarking ¥2.08 million in the budget for the next fiscal year to inform hoteliers and innkeepers and other businesses about LGBT culture and how to make same-sex couples feel welcome, the city said.

In addition, Nara has said it will join the Florida-based International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. It will be the first Japanese municipality to become a member. The budgeted funds will be used for seminars for area businesses interested in attracting more LGBT customers, and the city will seek advice from the association on specific tips for improving service, especially for LGBT couples from overseas.

Kyoto has recently made more efforts to cater to LGBT couples, with both the Hotel Granvia and Kyoto’s Shunkoin Temple now offering same-sex wedding ceremonies. Read more via Japan Times