Rupert Everett Explores 50 Years of LGBT Progress in Great Britain | Absolute Documentaries

May 4, 2023 | Fifty years after the decriminalization of homosexuality in Great Britain, actor Rupert Everett examines the evolution of both the gay community and public opinion toward gay people.

BEWARE: This documentary is not suitable for the faint-hearted, narrow-minded, or for the overly religious. Furthermore, and more importantly, it is NOT suitable for children. I’m asking even myself if I am old enough to watch it!– Mark

LGBT Veterans Want Military Ban Report Immediately

BBC: Campaigners are urging the government to immediately release the findings of a review into the treatment of LGBT veterans who were forced out of their jobs as a result of being gay.

Until 2000 it was illegal to be gay in the British military - with more than 5,000 veterans thought to be affected.

Some have given evidence to a review launched last year but are concerned the report has not been published yet.

The government said it would consider the recommendations "in due course".

One veteran told BBC News she wants the government to apologise because gay officers' lives "were robbed" by the ban. » | Lauren Moss, LGBT correspondent & Josh Parry, LGBT producer, BBC News | Friday, June 9, 2023

Vladimir Putin Signs Chilling ‘LGBT Propaganda Law’ Expansion for All Russian Citizens

Vladimir Putin signed the ‘LGBT propaganda’ law expansion on Monday. (Getty)
PINK NEWS: Russian president Vladimir Putin has signed a bill expanding its ability to suppress LGBT media into law.

The nicknamed ‘LGBT propaganda law,’ originally signed in 2013, forbid media for under-18s to promote what officials deemed “non-traditional values,” including same-sex relationships and gender diversity.

Now, after being approved by the Federation Council on 30 November and signed by Putin on Monday (4 December), the country has effectively banned all LGBTQ+ media for Russian citizens of all ages.

Its effects are already being felt in the country, with authorities reportedly cancelling gay pride events and detaining activists, according to Reuters.

Those found in breach of the law can be fined up to 400,000 roubles (£5,400), while organisations can be fined 5 million roubles (£68,500).

Non-nationals can face up to 15 days in prison and expulsion from Russia.

“This bill deprives LGBTI people their right to freedom of expression and endorses their discrimination, risking a rise in hate crimes,” human rights group Amnesty International wrote in a tweet. » | Amelia Hansford | Monday, December 5, 2022

Israel Elections | Netanyahu in Coalition Talks with anti-LGBTQ Party, Could Walk Back Conversion Therapy Ban

HAARETZ: After securing a majority in the Israeli elections, Netanyahu’s Likud looking to expedite coalition talks and bring the anti-LGBTQ Noam party into the governing coalition

Officials in Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party’s plan to negotiate a coalition agreement with the anti-LGBTQ Noam faction of Religious Zionism with the aim of bringing Noam into the new government coalition – potentially walking back recent civil rights gains such as a ban on conversion therapy.

…

A number of policy changes instituted by the outgoing government of Prime Minister Yair Lapid are expected to be reversed by the new Netanyahu-led government, including policies benefitting the queer community, a senior Likud official told Haaretz. They mainly came from the Health Ministry, where Nitzan Horowitz, who is openly gay, is currently the minister. » | Michael Hauser Tov and Bar Peleg | Thursday, November 3, 2022

The Israel We Knew Is Gone »

Life in Scotland Is Getting Worse, Say Young LGBT+ People

THE GUARDIAN: Concerns about bullying, homophobia and hate crime revealed in latest five-yearly report

Life for LGBT+ young people in Scotland is “worse now than it has been for a long time”, according to a report which highlights growing concerns about homophobia in public spaces, bullying in schools and transphobic media coverage.

The five-yearly report from the campaigning and advocacy group LGBT Youth Scotland found a sharp decrease in respondents who believe that Scotland is a good place for LGBTI young people to live, falling from 81% in 2017 to 65% in 2022 and the first drop in the figure for 15 years.

There was also a significant increase in those who believe that homophobia and transphobia is a “big problem” in Scotland since the last survey was undertaken in 2017 – rising from 11% to 25% and 49% to 69% respectively. » | Libby Brooks, Scotland correspondent | Tuesday, April 26, 2022

The Guardian View on Banning ‘Conversion Therapy’: Protect Everyone

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: These cruel, stigmatising practices should be comprehensively proscribed

A Reclaim Pride march in July 2021. Photograph: Getty
“On reflection, it was something he cared passionately about.” This was the absurd explanation from a Downing Street spokesperson of the prime minister’s partial U-turn on scrapping a ban on conversion practices. The outcry at dropping the promised legislation prompted him to restore it, but it will now be limited to sexual orientation. Transgender conversion practices will not be included.

Boris Johnson’s convictions have always been largely a matter of convenience. But the abhorrence most people feel towards conversion practices is deeply rooted. And it is most; in a YouGov poll, more than 62% of voters wanted the banning of these practices targeting both sexuality and gender identity. People recognise that conversion “therapy” is no such thing: this is about shaming and suppression. Sometimes families force it upon individuals. In other cases, they may seek it out under pressure, or because they have been made to feel that there is something “wrong” with them.

At the extreme, these practices may extend to verbal and physical abuse. More often, government research finds, they mean attempting to “pray the gay away”, or talking therapies. Either way, they seek to extinguish a person’s understanding of who they are, and increase stigma. The research notes growing evidence that such practices are statistically associated with poor mental health outcomes, including suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. » | Editorial | Sunday, April 17, 2022

‘Jesus Loves Me and My Boyfriend’: How One Gay-friendly Town Repelled Homophobic Protesters

THE GUARDIAN: Amid a national resurgence of anti-gay fervor, locals in Guerneville, California, countered the hatred and won – with pizza boxes

Suzy Kuhr, Dax Berg and Jake Hamlin, members of the Pizza Box Brigade. Photograph: Peter-Astrid Kane
Jake Hamlin lives within earshot of a group of protesters who have set up on the main street in downtown Guerneville, California, for the past several weeks. They probably park themselves outside Smart Pizza for the central location and because of the rainbow flag draped in front of the restaurant.

“We can’t get away from it. We can hear them in our living rooms!” he said, adding that they repeat the same chants. “‘This town is gonna burn! There’s more sin here than in San Francisco!’” He said the town will occasionally draw small groups of anti-gay protesters who set up tables with pamphlets, and generally behave politely. But these protesters are different. “The group is very active,” he said.

So locals like him are also taking a different approach to counter-protest, and appear to have succeeded in driving the protesters out.

As the protesters descended from out of town, always on Wednesdays, harassed passersby, and told locals not to eat at Smart Pizza or other LGBTQ+-friendly businesses, according to Hamlin and fellow townspeople Suzy Kuhr and Dax Berg, they have been met by the self-named Pizza Box Brigade. The Brigade is made up of 30 or so locals who organized via group text and greet the protesters with messages including “Hate is toxic” and “Jesus loves me and my boyfriend” painted on pizza boxes. » | Peter-Astrid Kane | Saturday, April 16, 2022

North Korea’s ‘Only Openly Gay Defector’ Finds Love

OH HWAN
BBC: Jang Yeong-jin's remarkable story as North Korea's only openly gay defector was covered by the international media after he published his autobiography. Now, almost a quarter of a century after fleeing the country, he tells the BBC that he plans to marry his American boyfriend.

Jang Yeong-jin had never found women attractive. But it wasn't until his wedding night, aged 27, that this made his life difficult.

Jang felt intensely uncomfortable. "I couldn't lay a finger on my wife," he recalls. Although the couple did eventually consummate their marriage, sex was rare. Four years later - his wife still not pregnant - one of Jang's brothers began to quiz him. Jang admitted he had never been aroused by the opposite sex, and his brother promptly sent him to a doctor.

"I went to so many hospitals in North Korea because we thought that I had some sort of physical problem."

It never occurred to Jang, or his family, that there could be another reason for his lack of interest.

Medical tests

"There is no concept of homosexuality in North Korea," he says. If someone is seen running to greet another same sex friend, it's assumed that's just because they have such a close friendship. In fact adults of the same sex often hold hands in the street, he says. "North Korea is a totalitarian society - we have lots of communal life so it's normal for us."

Jang now thinks his experience of being misunderstood was by no means unique. » | Julie Yoonnyung Lee, BBC Korean | Sunday, March 21, 2022

LGBT Rights in North Korea »

'We Are the Most Homophobic Country in the EU': Poland’s Election and the LGBT Fightback | 2020

A short note to Andrzej Duda: Being gay is not an "ideology"! Calling the LGBT movement an ideology is about as absurd as it gets! The movement came about because gay people were downtrodden over the centuries, and denied their rights as himan beings. If people had behaved in a fair and decent manner toward them, there would have been no need for an LGBT movement in the first place!

All people, whether straight or gay, deserve to be treated with decency and respect, indeed, treated in a humane way. People shouldn't be demonised for being true to themselves.

In recent weeks, since the start of Russia's war on the Ukraine, Poles have shown the world how extraordinarily kind and generous they can be. Poles have truly stepped up to the plate and treated Ukrainian refugees exceptionally well. Kudos! Would that Poles would also show the same kindness and consideration to gay people, many of whom struggle to come to terms with their sexual orientation.

Come on, Mr Duda! It's the Christian way. Gays do not choose to be so; rather, they are God's creation. God simply made them that way! If being gay is wrong, then God Himself has erred. But the mere idea of God erring goes against Christian doctrine that God is perfect and inerrant.

Therefore, on this Good Friday, Mr Duda, I implore you and your colleagues to re-assess your treatment of gay people in your country. It's the only thing that makes sense; and it is also the Christian way. – © Mark

LGBT in Poland: I Still Can't Be Myself - BBC News

Nov 24, 2021 • Large parts of Poland were labelled "LGBT-free zones", where regional governments, as well as smaller councils, declared they were against LGBT ideology or ideologies that “undermine” the family.

Now, provinces have started to backtrack after the EU said it would freeze funds.

But has anything really changed for LGBT people in those areas?

Poland Election: The Fight for LGBT Rights - BBC News | 2020

Jul 9, 2020 • Polish President Andrzej Duda, who is seeking re-election on Sunday, is accused of running on an anti-LGBT platform and says he plans to ban same-sex couples from adopting.

Before the coronavirus lockdown, Ben Hunte, the BBC’s LGBT correspondent, went to Poland to visit its so-called ‘LGBT-free’ zones, and discovered what life is like for gay people living there.

Filmed by: Sean Allsop, Patrick Clahane
Edited by: Tobias Chapple

Boris Johnson Ditches Conversion Therapy Ban in Shameful U-turn

Boris Johnson attends a memorial service for the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey on 29 March 2022 in London, England. (Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty)
PINK NEWS: Boris Johnson has ditched his long-promised conversion therapy ban.

ITV News reported that an official briefing document confirms Johnson “has agreed we should not move forward with legislation to ban LGBT conversion therapy”.

This is despite a ban on the practice being announced in the Queen’s Speech last year, and the government running a major consultation on the issue.

A government spokesperson confirmed: “Having explored this sensitive issue in great depth the government has decided to proceed by reviewing how existing law can be deployed more effectively to prevent this in the quickest way possible, and explore the use of other non-legislative measures.”

Theresa May first promised to outlaw the practice in 2018.

The leaked document suggests the U-turn will be announced in May’s Queen’s Speech, and that the Ukraine war could be used as justification. . » | Reiss Smith | Thursday, March 31, 2022

This is indeed shameful! It shows us clearly that the man is duplicitous, unprincipled and weak. – Mark

Related article.

Boris Johnson Ditches Plans for Ban on LGBT Conversion Practices

THE GUARDIAN: Leaked document forces government to announce change in approach despite repeated promises

A protester holds up a sign during a Reclaim Pride protest last year. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock
Boris Johnson has ditched plans for a legal ban on conversion practices despite repeated promises for such a move, Downing Street has confirmed.

The government announced the change of policy after it emerged in a leaked document obtained by ITV News.

A government spokesperson said: “Having explored this sensitive issue in great depth the government has decided to proceed by reviewing how existing law can be deployed more effectively to prevent this in the quickest way possible, and explore the use of other non-legislative measures.”

Conversion practices attempt to change or suppress a person’s sexuality or gender identity and Johnson and his predecessor Theresa May promised to make it illegal.

The move to drop plans for a legal ban was condemned by the Liberal Democrats. The party’s equalities spokesperson, the MP Wera Hobhouse, said: “This is not just yet another U-turn from the Tories, but giving the green light to a form of torture in the UK. This is an utter betrayal of the LGBT+ community. » | Heather Stewart and Harriet Sherwood | Thursday, March 31, 2022

This is proof that BoJo is not only a clown; but he is a contemptible clown! Conversion therapy is not only very dangerous; it is also ineffective and unenlightened. BoJo, you are a disgrace to your party; moreover, you are unworthy of the leadership position you hold. You have ditched the ban on conversion therapy; now it is time—high time—for the country to ditch you! – © Mark

I’ll Fight to Overturn US Ban on My ‘Queer Bible’, Says British Author

THE OBSERVER: Former model Jack Guinness caught up in furore over Mississippi mayor’s attempt to withhold funding for library until ‘homosexual materials’ are withdrawn

Jack Guinness said he was proud that the controversy had turned him into a campaigner. | Photograph: Pal Hansen/The Observer
A British writer, presenter and former model says he is shocked to find himself at the centre of an unprecedented wave of book banning in the US.

A Mississippi mayor has told the Madison County Library to remove LGBTQ+ books from its shelves or lose funding. One of the books singled out as an example was The Queer Bible, a collection of LGBTQ+ history essays edited by Jack Guinness. Ridgeland’s Republican mayor, Gene McGee, has refused to release funds to the library until “homosexual materials” are withdrawn.

Tonja Johnson, executive director of the Madison County Library System, said when she told McGee that the library served the whole community, he replied that he only served “the great Lord above”.

Guinness discovered his anthology had been caught up in the book ban on Twitter. “I couldn’t quite believe my eyes,” he told the Observer. “When you write a book, you kind of imagine people might read it, but you don’t imagine anyone will ban it. Referring to it as ‘homosexual material’ – that’s the sort of phrase my grandmother would have used to talk about my jeans.”

Guinness, once described by GQmagazine as “the coolest man in Britain”, worked as a model after university for fashion labels such as Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Dunhill and became a famous face on the capital’s social scene. He was friends with Pixie Geldof, DJ Nick Grimshaw and musician Florence Welch, and used to be Alexa Chung’s flatmate.

He soon segued from modelling into work as a presenter and as a writer for Vogue, GQ and the Guardian. Since starting the Queer Bible as a website in 2017, he has been included in Attitudemagazine’s trailblazers list of exceptional LGBTQ contributors to the arts. He is also now a member of London mayor Sadiq Khan’s diversity in the public realm commission. » | Alice Fisher | Sunday, February 13, 2022

Gay Kiss on Live TV Evades Singapore’s Ban on LGBT Content

THE GUARDIAN: Video clip of two men kissing in Beijing bar during Channel News Asia report hailed as ‘act of revolution’

Two men are seen kissing behind the Channel News Asia reporter during a live broadcast from Beijing. Photograph: CNA/YouTube
It was a Singaporean news report on the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, live from a Beijing bar filled with eager fans. Yet it was two men – who burst into the view of the camera, sharing a dramatic kiss – who stole the show.

The clip has since gone viral in Singapore, where broadcasting codes restrict content that promotes LGBT “lifestyles”, and where sexual relationships between men are outlawed.

The kiss does not feature in a version of the report published by Channel News Asia (CNA) on its website. But on TikTok a clip of the kiss has been viewed more than 825,000 times. “This is actually an act of revolution,” one user wrote. It has also been shared widely on Weibo, a popular social media platform in China. » | Rebecca Ratcliffe, South-east Asia correspondent | Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Quit the Cr**! Stop the BS! Give Us Our Full Rights Now! Everywhere! We Are Human Beings, Too! We Are Entitled to Love and Entitled to Be Happy.

via GIPHY

Past Convictions for Homosexual Activity to Be Wiped from Records, Patel to Announce

THE GUARDIAN: UK’s disregards and pardons scheme set to be expanded to ‘right wrongs of the past’

Any conviction that was imposed on someone purely due to consensual homosexual activity under now-abolished laws will be included in a scheme aimed at “righting the wrongs of the past”, the UK home secretary is set to announce.

Priti Patel said more people would have convictions for same-sex sexual activity wiped from their records, as she sought to expand the government’s disregards and pardons scheme from a narrow set of laws.

Currently, only nine former offences are included on a specified list that the Home Office said “largely focused on the repealed offences of buggery and gross indecency between men”.

If someone had been convicted of a crime under these now-scrapped laws, they can apply to have it disregarded – wiped from their criminal record and not be required to be disclosed. » | PA Media | Tuesday, January 4, 2022

The UK Must Ban ‘Conversion Therapy’ – Even for Adults Who Claim to Want It

THE GUARDIAN – OPINION: In allowing over-18s to give ‘informed consent’ to this abusive practice, the government is pandering to rightwing evangelicals

Last week the government finally published its proposals on how it intends to ban the degrading practice of so-called “conversion therapy”. It has taken years of lobbying, several high-profile resignations, as well as various statements from senior religious leaders and indeed whole denominations – such as the Church of England and the Methodist church – to get us to this point. Was it worth the wait?

In truth there is much in the proposals that can and should be welcomed. The government has shown willing to listen to the senior human rights lawyers behind the Cooper report, which I convened, and has accepted our proposal of a two-pronged approach involving both criminal and civil remedies. This means that as well as clear criminal sanctions against perpetrators, who now face sentence of up to five years and a hefty fine, it will also introduce new protection orders that will work to safeguard young vulnerable LGBT+ people from harm.

That is, if you are under 18 or have been found to have been forced or coerced into conversion therapy. But this restriction, focusing purely on the under-18s, is woefully inadequate and leaves thousands still open to abuse, particularly in religious settings – which the government’s own research has shown accounts for the majority of conversion practices. The new law would still allow adults to freely seek out such therapies. However, we know that it is young adults (aged 18-24) who are vulnerable to significant risk when they leave home and find themselves wooed by fundamentalist religious groups. » | Jayne Ozanne | Tuesday, November 2, 2021

First Group of LGBT+ Afghans Fleeing Taliban Arrive in the UK

THE GUARDIAN: Students and activists in group that British foreign ministry hopes will be ‘the first of many’ in coming months

Activists around the world have been campaigning to raise awareness of LGBT Afghans and women’s dire situation under the Taliban's rule. Photograph: Alain Pitton/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
A group of LGBT+ Afghans has arrived in Britain, the first since the Taliban’s return to power in August caused panic among gay and transgender Afghans, who feared persecution and even death under the Islamists’ rule.

The evacuation of the 29 Afghans is “hoped to be the first of many” in the coming months, Britain’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday, hours after a Taliban spokesman said LGBT+ rights would not be respected.

Thousands of Afghans including LGBT+ people, women and officials linked to the previous administration rushed to flee the country after the Taliban’s swift return to power on 15 August, but many were unable to board foreign evacuation flights.

“We played a key role getting these people out and will continue to do all we can to help at-risk Afghans leave the country,” British foreign secretary Liz Truss said in a statement, adding Britain would continue to defend “the right of all people to be themselves and love who they want”.

Among the group are students and activists who had repeatedly stood up for equality for the LGBT community in Afghanistan, the Foreign, Common and Development Office (FCDO) said. » | Agencies | Saturday, October 30, 2021

Machtwechsel in Afghanistan: Grossbritannien nimmt LGBTQ-Personen auf, US-Aussenministerium und Pentagon halten angeblich Informationen zurück: In Afghanistan haben die Taliban die Macht übernommen. Viele Staaten haben ihre Landsleute und lokalen Mitarbeiter unter teilweise dramatischen Umständen evakuiert. Die Lage im Land ist unübersichtlich. »

US Issues Its First Passport with X Gender Designation to Reflect ‘Lived Reality’

THE GUARDIAN: Diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights said it’s a matter of ‘dignity and respect’

The White House is lit in pride colors in Washington DC in 2015. Photograph: Molly Riley/AFP/Getty Images
The US has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation – a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who don’t identify as male or female – and expects to be able to offer the option more broadly next year, the state department said on Wednesday.

The US special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, Jessica Stern, called the moves historic and celebratory, saying they brought the government documents in line with the “lived reality” that there is a wider spectrum of human sex characteristics than is reflected in the previous two designations.

“When a person obtains identity documents that reflect their true identity, they live with greater dignity and respect,” Stern said. » | Associated Press | Wednesday, October 27, 2021