POLICIES

DESTINATIONS

More pressure on the LGBT community in Indonesia.

September 6, 2017 compassq Comments Off on More pressure on the LGBT community in Indonesia.

Twelve women have been evicted from their home in the conservative Indonesian province of West Java amid renewed fears of crackdown on sexual diversity. The group had been renting a shared house in the village of Tugu Jaya, where their cohabitation and “unfeminine” appearance had unsettled conservatives. Responding to a complaint from religious leaders and an Islamic youth group that the women’s living arrangements was “against the teaching of Islam”, police raided the women’s home last Saturday, giving them three days notice to leave.

HEROES

Jewish + gay = losing kids.

September 6, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Jewish + gay = losing kids.

A formerly Hasidic mom lost custody of her kids after coming out as gay — and was barred from even telling her youngest children about her sexuality, according to a first-of-its-kind Brooklyn court ruling. The shocking decision was finally struck down by an appeals court in August, but only after months of legal wrangling.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Aussie conservatives misjudged the marriage survey.

September 6, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Aussie conservatives misjudged the marriage survey.

If Australian conservatives thought young people would ignore a nonbinding postal survey on marriage equality, they were wrong. Under pressure from his party’s vocal right wing, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Aug. 8 that a nonbinding plebiscite (or vote) of the nation’s citizens will be held by mail to determine whether Australians support legalizing same-sex marriage.

POLICIES

Gay marriage debate in Australia gets ugly.

September 5, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Gay marriage debate in Australia gets ugly.

Australia’s debate over whether to legalise same-sex marriage has become increasingly bitter, with accusations of bullying and calls for a doctor to be deregistered after she rallied against legalising same-sex marriage. As the federal government pressed ahead with plans for a controversial national plebiscite, Dr Pansy Lai, a Chinese-born paediatrician in Sydney, found herself at the centre of the debate after appearing in a television advertisement for the “no” campaign.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

5 points to wipe transgender people from America.

September 5, 2017 compassq Comments Off on 5 points to wipe transgender people from America.

Two years ago, the Family Research Council (FRC), an Evangelical Christian anti-LGBT hate group according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), published a road map laying out a plan to morally legislate the transgender community in the US out of existence. I wrote about the danger posed by this plan in January of 2016 in an article titled “And Then They Came for Transgender People,” deliberately echoing the words of Martin Niemöller.

POLICIES

Referendum to ban gay marriage set for Romania.

September 4, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Referendum to ban gay marriage set for Romania.

The ruling Social Democratic Party in Romania intends to organize a referendum this autumn to limit the constitutional definition of the family. This would effectively exclude the possibility of legalizing same-sex marriages, party leader Liviu Dragnea said, quoted by Reuters.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Life for a gay man in Zimbabwe is “worse than dogs and pigs”.

September 4, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Life for a gay man in Zimbabwe is “worse than dogs and pigs”.

President Robert Mugabe says people like Takunda Amina are “worse than dogs and pigs” – so daily life as a gay man in Zimbabwe was never going to be easy. At 24, Amina has already been chased from his family home, forced to marry – twice – and fathered three children who ask him tough questions about sex and sexuality. He has been vilified in the national press – snapped at a gay party – and rejected as a disgrace by his parents. Not even the best spiritual healers could ‘cure’ Amina of being gay.