Compiled by David Webb

16 Western European countries denounce Hungary’s new anti-LGBT censorship law

BELGIUM — The European Commission has announced plans by the European Union to take legal action against Hungary for the passage during June Pride Month of a law banning LGBTQ content in public schools. Already 16 countries have condemned the new law.

In Brussels on June 23, Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen described the bill as shameful, saying., “I will use all the powers of the commission to ensure that the rights of all EU citizens are guaranteed, whoever you are and wherever you live.”

The bill passed by Hungary’s Parliament forbids any mention of homosexuality or sexual reassignment to anyone under the age of 18.

Of the EU’s 27 member countries, 16 signed on to a pact condemning Hungary for the legislation. Poland, a close ally of Hungary, is also in the crosshairs of the EU. Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, Latvia, Italy, Austria and Greece joined in the effort after a meeting of EU ministers to discuss the law.

Toronto’s LGBTQ community feeling unsafe after assault on gay man

CANADA — A gay man was assaulted at a Toronto Islands beach popular with the LGBTQ community as he walked to a ferry boat on June 12.

Multiple aggressors used homophobic speech as they pummeled the victim, leaving him with a broken nose, orbital bone and cheek bone as well as a hip injury, bruised skin and a concussion. The attack at Hanlon’s Point sparked fear because it is viewed as a safe place for LGBTQ people.

With bars closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the LGBTQ community have spent more time at the beach, according to Justin Khan of 519, an advocacy group for the community. “The fact that we’re in Toronto in 2021 and folks are feeling unsafe and are feeling fearful is really disheartening,” Khan said.

Police also are investigating the burning of a Pride flag at a high school in a Toronto-area suburb high school.

Canada now home to 1 million LGBTQ people

CANADA — A new report prepared for Pride Month by Statistics Canada paints a statistical portrait of the LGBTQ community.

The report shows there are 1 million LGBTQ people living in Canada, and that people under the age of 25 account for the largest segment of the population. About 30 percent are between the ages of 15 and 24 while that age group makes up only 14 percent of Canada’s total population, according to the data accumulated since 2003.

The number of same-sex couples living in Canada grew by 60 percent from 2006 to 2016, according to the data. The report attributes the growth to the legalization of same-sex marriage and new protections for gender identity and expression written into the Canadian Human Rights Act.

At the same time hate crimes targeting LGBTQ Canadians are growing. In 2019, police reported 263 incidents, a 41 percent increase over the previous year. Half involved violent crimes.

Domestic violence targeting LGBTQ family members rises in France

FRANCE — LGBTQ advocates report an increased demand for emergency shelter for young people thrown out on the street during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Inter-LGBT Association notes that “for some young people, their coming-out to their family went very badly.” The violent reactions by family members were compounded by the absence of support networks among friends in school because of the lockdowns.

Beyond Gender that advocates for transgender youth reported similar trends. Youths called on the advocacy group to mediate family disputes and to secure shelter after “being chased out of their homes.”

Activists say they suspect the number of cases is actually much higher because young people are often reluctant to report violence against them by family members.

German soccer clubs rally for LGBTQ rights after UEFA rejects stadium rainbow theme

GERMANY — Munich officials wanted to fill their stadium with rainbow-colored lights for the European Championships on June 23, but the Union of European Football Association rejected the idea for the soccer match as too political.

Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter told UEFA officials in a permit application that the light show would be a protest against Hungarian lawmakers’ recent passage of a law banning the sharing of information about homosexuality and sexual reassignment with minors. Reiter criticized the EUFA decision banning the host city’s request as “shameful.”

As news of the decision spread, soccer clubs across the country vowed support. Stadiums in Berlin, Wolfsburg, Augsburg, Frankfurt and Cologne were lit in rainbow colors as the final game in Munich.

Rainbow flags flew over Munich’s City Hall, and a turbine near the stadium and Munich’s Olympic Tower were lit in rainbow colors. “We in Munich certainly won’t let ourselves be discouraged from sending a clear signal to Hungary and the world,” Reiter said.

Observers at the game said Hungarians arriving in Munich among a sea of rainbow flags carried by LGBTQ supporters appeared bemused, and most of them refused flags offered to them.

Kashmir’s transgender community suffering during pandemic

INDIA — The LGBTQ community in Kashmir is calling for greater access to health care and COVID-19 vaccines and other support to survive the pandemic. Advocates report that the transgender community is struggling to find work. Traditionally, they made ends meet by singing and dancing at weddings, but that resource dried up during the pandemic.

Families will not give them emergency shelter because they are viewed as abnormal.

Many members of the transgender community are on the verge of starvation, and they are not considered worthy of receiving vaccinations that are in short supply. Mental health issues such as depression and suicide are on the rise. In the trans community there.

Italian political leader rejects Vatican’s attempt to halt LGBTQ-rights law

ITALY — Italian Premier Mario Draghi praised his country’s Parliament for ignoring the Vatican’s objections to a law extending additional discrimination protections to the LGBTQ community.

Speaking in Milan, Draghi said Italy is a secular country, not a religious state that can be governed by the Catholic Church. Many Italians have expressed outrage over the Vatican attempting to interfere in Italy’s legal system.

The proposed law would add women, the disabled and LGBTQ people as protected classes in banning discrimination and punishing hate crimes. It was passed in the lower house months ago, but it is stalled in the Senate by conservatives.

Anti-gay Mexican political party’s Twitter account hacked with Pride message

MEXICO — Conservative political party Partido Encuentro Social is threatening to sue after hackers posted a Pride banner and the slogan “Love is Love” on its Twitter account.

“For Life and the Family” is the slogan of the political party, which is linked to evangelical churches and opposes marriage equality and abortion. The hackers also replaced the party’s purple emblem with a rainbow-colored one.

For added emphasis, the hackers included hashtags for the states of Baja California and Sinaloa that passed new marriage equality laws during the month of Pride in June. The tweets received 4,000 retweets and 22,000 likes.

It is unclear who the party will sue. After regaining control of the account, it issued a statement saying the tweets showed “a lack of respect for our institution,” and it vowed to “continue with legal action against whoever hacked our social media.”

Polish education minister condemns LGBTQ rights march

POLAND — Thousands of LGBTQ rights advocates marched in Warsaw on June 19, sparking condemnation from conservative politicians and religious leaders. The demonstration came as liberals in the predominantly Catholic nation are demanding more tolerance and inclusiveness, and conservatives say the movement is an attack on traditional values.

Marchers gathered outside the Palace of Culture and Science for a rally with a DJ on a stage playing dance music to kick off the parade. Demonstrators told reporters that homophobia is rampant in Poland.

Days after the parade, Poland’s education minister called the parade an “insult to public morality,” suggesting the participants were abnormal people. His remarks echoed the complaints of conservative politicians and Catholic clergy who decry “LGBTQ ideology” as an effort to subvert society.

Minister Przemyslaw Czarnek pointed to the presence of “men dressed as women” in the parade as evidence of abnormality during his comments on the state-run news channel TVP. Later, he walked back the remarks, saying he was referring to the behavior of the marchers, not the people themselves.

Foundation to raise money to combat homophobia in Poland

POLAND — Equaversity Foundation will seek international donations to fund grassroots organizations advocating for LGBTQ equality as government and church officials spread homophobic rhetoric.

The new foundation’s board members include model Anja Rubik, Nobel Prize-winning author Olga Tokarczuk, film director Agineszka Holland and Queer Eye star Antoni Porowski. Organizations such as Campaign Against Homophobia, Love Does Not Exclude Association, Trans-Fusion Foundation and Association of Anti-Discriminatory Law will be eligible for financial assistance from the Warsaw-based foundation.

Polish President Andrzej Duda has called the acronym LGBTQ as an ideology more dangerous than communism, and Catholic leaders refer to a “rainbow plague” threatening the nation.

LGBTQ activists say the homophobic atmosphere within Poland has caused some people to leave the country, but foundation leaders say there is still a chance that Poland could choose a different path.

2 lesbians tortured, murdered in South Africa during Pride month

SOUTH AFRICA — Sixteen LGBTQ people lost their lives in homophobic violence in South Africa during the first six months of 2021, including two in June.

Anele Bhengu, of Kwamakhutha, and Lulama Mvandaba, of Khayelitsha, suffered mutilations before their deaths. Bhengu was found stabbed with her throat and abdomen slit, and Mvandaba’s body showed signs of being beaten and burned with an unknown object.

Officials with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said the scope of the anti-LGBTQ violence in the country will likely never be known because witnesses are afraid to come forward.

Queer Lives Matter activist Kamva Gwana said, “This is a crisis, and it is worse than we thought. It is a war on queerness.”

English council member harassed with homophobic speech

UNITED KINGDOM — A Wolverhampton council member walking to a local pub to watch a soccer tournament endured homophobic slurs and threats from car passengers twice on the same journey.

Chris Burden said he felt saddened and scared, but he was not shocked. It has happened before for the 23-year-old openly-gay languages teacher who was elected the month before Pride to the council in the Birmingham-area town.

The council member said his friends as the pub were shocked to hear what had happened to him, so he tweeted a video about his experience to raise awareness about the problem. “People don’t realize what people go through on a daily basis,” he said.