Jamaican Coalition Wants Buggery Punished Severely

The Coalition for a Healthy Society is urging Jamaican courts to increase punishment for the crime of 'Buggery' which has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Committee member Delroy Chuck quizzed the Coalition on whether it would accede to some flexibility in law in respect to what he described as private morality. "If two males live together, do you believe it is the business of the State to investigate what they are doing within the confines of their bedroom?" Chuck questioned.

Head of the Coalition Dr Wayne West said if he had been asked the question five years ago he would have been inclined to support the position "because I have no intention of peeping into anybody's bedroom". However, West quipped, "when your neighbour's house is on fire you better take note of it". He argued that what is taking place in the bedroom is now being forced on persons in the public square.  Read More

Palau legalizes gay sex: Eight Pacific countries still have anti-gay laws

The Pacific island nation of Palau has decriminalized gay sex in a revision of its penal code. Gay sex used to be punishable by up to ten years in jail but lesbian sex was legal.

Dr Paula Gerber, president of LGBTI rights group Kaleidoscope Australia, said, 'This is wonderful news - giving a much need impetus to the process for reform in the Pacific. It is especially pleasing to see that recommendations made during the UN Universal Periodic Review process appear to have had an impact. Read More

Turkey gets its first umbrella LGBTI organization to fight homophobia

A new organization, the first in Turkey to ensure LGBTI websites, groups and organizations has been established to fight homophobia and transphobia in the Islamic country that straddles Europe and Asia. In existence since less than two months, the organization was created in order to ensure unity and solidarity among LGBTI groups, LGBTI websites and LGBTI organizations. Read More

The Obama Brief: How Obama Transformed the Federal Judiciary

To the extent that there is an Obama legal legacy, it centers on gay rights and voting rights, subjects that the President addresses more with caution than with passion.

In July, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a ruling that threatened the future of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. By a vote of two to one, the court held, in Halbig v. Burwell, that the insurance subsidies that allow millions of Americans to buy health insurance were contrary to the text of the law and thus were illegal. If such a decision had been made earlier in Obama’s tenure, lawyers for his Administration would have been left with a single, risky option: an appeal to the politically polarized, and usually conservative, Supreme Court. Read More

25 Senators Urge Obama to Stand Up for LGBT Rights Worldwide

Senators are pressuring President Obama to step up and appoint a special envoy for LGBT rights to the U.S. Department of State to protect LGBT people internationally.

President Obama got a letter Friday from 25 Democratic senators urging him to make a change on his global LGBT policy before the end of the year.

“In nearly eighty nations around the world there exist laws that criminalize homosexuality, prohibit public support for the LGBT community, or promote homophobia,” wrote the senators, asking the president to appoint a special envoy for LGBT human rights in the U.S. Department of State. “In seven countries, homosexuality is punishable by death. Even more troubling, though, is the recent trend of countries passing barbaric laws that deliberately try to persecute the LGBT community.” Read More

Wake Up Where the Clouds Are Far Behind

After July's International AIDS Conference ended, dozens of African delegates remained in Melbourne to seek asylum, fleeing countries that face not only widespread and generalised HIV epidemics, but violent and systemic homophobia. Benjamin Riley interviewed one of those people, learning it's hard to feel safe when the one you love is left behind.  Read More

Argentina grants first refugee status to Russian gay, victim of President Putin's non tolerance policies

A young 28 year old became the first Russian gay to be given refugee status by Argentina, because of discrimination and violence at his home country. The positive reply to the year-long request was sponsored by Argentina's Federation of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans, FALGBT. Read More

Number of Russian Asylum Seekers to U.S. Spikes in Wake of 'Antigay' Law

U.S. asylum applications from Russian nationals have jumped 15 percent for the second straight year, a rise that asylum seekers and attorneys attribute to Russians fleeing their homeland due to fears of persecution and antigay violence. Read More

Tens of thousands march for gay rights in Taiwan

In carnival splendor participants in the 2014 Taiwan LGBT Pride Parade posed for selfies with onlookers, comfortable and extravert in their lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender skins.

The parade attracted tens of thousands of LGBT rights supporters from across the globe, who took to Taipei's streets for "A Walk in Queer Shoes", celebrating the diversity of LGBT groups. Read More

Sri Lanka tells the United Nations that LGBTIs are protected in its constitution

Representatives of the Government of Sri Lanka have admitted to the United Nations Human Rights Committee that LGBTI people are protected under its constitution – though they maintain their country’s anti-sodomy law is not discriminatory. Read More

Real Religious Liberty is not Oppression

Religious liberty is one of the defining issues of our time — offering distinct challenges and historic opportunities for LGBTQ people and everyone who is struggling to create a more just society. As the Christian Right continues to use the term to frame their issues, we must not concede the definition of religious liberty to interlopers. Read More