Compiled by David Webb
Australian high school students cite anti-LGBTQ harassment
AUSTRALIA — A university study of LGBTQ high school students shows 30 percent experienced physical harassment as either a victim or a witness, and 90 percent heard homophobic language daily.
Western Sydney University conducted the survey of 2,376 LGBTQ students aged 13 to 18 at government, independent and Catholic schools across Australia. Only six percent of the students reported seeing intervention by educators in the incidents, although anecdotes of gay students being called “faggot” and suffering physical assaults were common.
The research reveals the experiences of the students significantly shaped their sense of connectedness to their school, which can be a factor affecting academic success, according to Jacqueline Ullman, an associate professor of adolescent development, behavior and wellbeing and author of the study.
Brazilian activists attribute anti-gay violence to President Bolsonaro’s homophobia
BRAZIL — A 22-year-old gay man was gang raped and tortured in early June in Florianópolis, a capital city in the southern region of the country.
Three armed men, who used sharp objects during the attack and forced the victim to carve homophobic slurs into his own body, left him lying in the street, according to police officials. He was taken to the hospital when found and is now recovering at home.
Lirous Avila, president of the Association in Defense of Human Rights, cited the assault as an example of growing “barbaric” violence against LGBTQ people in Brazil. Activists claim the homophobic and misogynistic comments of President Jair Bolsonaro, who refers to himself as a “proud homophobe,” have contributed to the epidemic of violence.
The Supreme Court of Brazil banned violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in 2019, but activists claim the government needs to enhance enforcement.
Survey shows LGBTQ community appears to be growing worldwide
FRANCE — People born after 1997, known as Generation Z, are four times as likely to identify as nonheterosexual or noncisgender, according to a global survey by a Paris-based market research and consulting firm Ipsos.
The results released on June 9 are based on internet surveys in native languages of 19,000 people, ages 16 to 74, in 27 countries. Nine percent of respondents of all ages identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual or asexual. For Generation Z respondents, the figure doubled to 18 percent.
Previous surveys of young Americans have pointed to this phenomenon: In a Gallup poll last year, 5.6 percent of U.S. respondents overall identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, while 16 percent of those in Generation Z reported being LGBTQ.
Hungarian lawmakers censor LGBTQ discussion, materials for youth
HUNGARY — The National Assembly in Budapest passed legislation on a 157-1 vote on June 15 banning the sharing of information about homosexuality or sex reassignment to minors.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s conservative ruling party Fidesz introduced the legislation in its most recent anti-LGBTQ campaign effort that was also embraced by the right-wing Jobbik. One independent lawmaker voted against it.
A children’s book, “Wonderland is for Everyone,” published last year outraged conservative politicians because it advocated acceptance of minorities. Calls for its banning as “homosexual propaganda” followed the release.
Human rights groups warned that the measure could be used to harass people based on their sexual orientations and gender identities as has reportedly occurred with Russia’s so-called gay propaganda law passed in 2013.
Marriage equality continues advancement in Mexico
MEXICO — Sinalo became the 20th state to approve same-sex marriage on June 15 in a unanimous vote with several lawmakers abstaining.
That leaves 12 of Mexico’s 32 states non-compliant with marriage equality following the Supreme Court of Mexico’s 2015 ruling that state civil codes preventing equal marriage are unconstitutional. The court ruling required all states to either allow same-sex marriages to take place or to recognize marriages performed in other states.
Other states approving same sex marriage are Mexico City, Campeche, Chihuahua, Colima, Coahuila, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Hidalgo, Baja California, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosi, Tlaxcala, Quintana Roo, Chiapas, Pueblo, Jalisco, Nuevo Leon and Aguascalientes.
Prior to Sinalo’s move, Baja California recently also approved marriage equality. The new law passed there with strong support.
Homosexuality legal in South Korea, except for soldiers
SOUTH KOREA — LGBTQ activists accused a military court of discrimination after it found two male soldiers guilty of indecency and sentenced them to six-month suspended sentences for consensual oral sex.
The soldiers were sentenced in March 2020, but the proceedings remained hidden until early June. The court compared the soldiers’ actions in December while confined in COVID-isolation to rape, saying they had “molested” each other.
The court based its decision on a controversial article of the Military Criminal Act known as 92-6. The article punishes sodomy by military personnel with up to two-year prison terms. Homosexuality is not illegal in South Korea, but it is considered taboo in the largely conservative society with President Moon Jae, a former human rights lawyer, on record as saying he is opposed to it.
Ugandan police raid LGBTQ shelter
UGANDA — Police arrested 44 people at an LGBTQ shelter near Kampala in early June on charges of negligence related to alleged behavior that could spread disease.
Ugandan officials claimed the suspects violated restrictions on the size of gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID, but authorities administered anal tests to determine the sexual orientations of the suspects, according to Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha.
Uganda is among the dozens of countries around the world in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized.
Church of England official lambasts gay conversion therapy
UNITED KINGDOM — A Church of England bishop wants the government to expedite a proposed ban on gay conversion therapy and to provide penalties for faith leaders who refuse to comply.
Bishop David Walker of Manchester said prayer aimed at changing sexual orientation “where there is a level of power imbalance and a level of force” instead of a “gentle, noncoercive” manner should be prohibited. “Where activity has harmed someone, the person who has caused the harm should face prosecution.”
The government announced in the Queen’s speech in May that it would investigate conversion practices before bringing forward the legislation. Supporters worry efforts to guarantee religious freedom and freedom of speech could lead to loopholes in a law.
Opponents to a ban say it would jeopardize ministers when they preach and church members when they pray for each other.
UK appeal tribunal gives gender-change doubter pass
UNITED KINGDOM — A think tank researcher who lost her job over a social media post claiming transgender women cannot successfully change their biological sex exercised a protected right to opinion under the Equality Act, according to an appeals tribunal.
The ruling overturned an employment tribunal decision in 2019 as an “error in law” that found tax expert Maya Forstater, 47, had expressed “offensive and exclusionary” views “not worthy of respect in a democratic society.”
Forstater had criticized an unsuccessful government proposal to reform the Gender Recognition Act to allow people to self-identify as a particular gender.
The appeals tribunal said only views of Nazism or totalitarianism would fail to meet the protections for rights of freedom of expression and thought. Observers noted that organizations must now consider whether policies made to accommodate gender rights organizations are violating the rights of people with gender-critical views.
