LGBT Rights in East Germany

Dec 6, 2023

Please note well that the mere fact that I am posting this video here should not be in any way misconstrued. I am not posting it because I have any liking for the then GDR, communist East Germany; rather, I am posting it for educational purposes. I, for one, had absolutely no idea that the GDR was progressive in matters gay rights.

Truth to tell, I have trouble understanding why others have trouble with two people of the same sex loving each other anyway. Many people’s attitudes would point to them being in some way pious, whereas, in actual fact, they are usually most certainly not. And how many of those homophobes eat shellfish or have tattoos? Lest we forget, these two things are STRICTLY FORBIDDEN by the Bible. Check out Leviticus! And how many of us mix fibres when we dress ourselves in the morning? Or transgress when it comes to the many other dietary laws and restrictions — the many proscriptions clearly set out in the Bible? – © Mark Alexander

Italy According to Giorgia Meloni: No Country for Non-traditional Families

Jul 21, 2023 | On a cruisade for the defense of traditional families, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wants to make surrogacy carried out abroad by Italian couples a crime, after stepping up restrictions on homosexual couples' already limited rights to parenthood.

Read more about this story here.

How Life Is Changing for Italy's Gay Families – BBC News | Reupload

Sep 24, 2023 | Italy’s government is planning to criminalise people who travel abroad to have children via surrogacy, which is already banned in the country. While the majority of Italians who seek surrogacy abroad are believed to be heterosexual, many same-sex parents fear the new law is targeting LGBT families by making it harder for them to have children.

A recent Ipsos poll shows that 45% of Italians oppose the idea of surrogacy, but 45% were also in favour of granting legal recognition for children born via surrogacy.


In a country so short of babies, one would think that the government of such a country would be glad to get all the babies they can get, in order to swell the birthrate! – © Mark Alexander

Buttigieg Blasts DeSantis for Campaign Ad | #shorts

Click here to hear Pete Buttigieg put down DeSantis.

Global Gay: The Next Frontier in Human Rights - Documentary

Nov 16, 2018 | A global revolution is underway to obtain what UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Barack Obama call ‘the final frontier in human rights’: the universal decriminalization of homosexuality.

Homosexuality is forbidden in almost half of the world. Out of 196 UN member states, there are 7 where it is punishable by death. In 84 others, it can merit prison and physical punishment. But today, momentum is building and the debate on gay rights is omnipresent - whether it be regarding legalization in the Middle-East and Africa or the focus of gay marriage laws in the West.

After years of long diplomatic struggle, several world leaders have declared themselves in favor of the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. But victory won’t come easily. The countries that still punish homosexuality refuse to give in to international pressure. Global acceptance and equality will take time to achieve.

‘Global Gay’ follows this battle for decriminalization through the lives and work of some of its fearless pioneers, providing a vibrant chronicle of the growing global social movement. In the words of Ban Ki Moon, “The time has come”.

Filmed in Russia, Cuba, Cameroon, Nepal and South Africa.

Is Supreme Court's "Gay Wedding" Case Built on a Lie? Man at Center of Story Is Married to a Woman

Jun 30, 2023 | The Supreme Court has now ruled that Colorado's Anti-Discrimination Act would violate a Christian business owner's First Amendment rights by not allowing her to discriminate against same-sex couples and potentially compelling her to create websites "celebrating marriages she does not endorse." Lorie Smith of Colorado filed the lawsuit with help from the right-wing Alliance Defending Freedom as part of the group's ongoing attempt to roll back the rights of LGBTQ people. But as reporter Melissa Gira Grant discovered, part of the case may have been built on a lie. Smith has never actually built a wedding website; the lone request Smith claims to have received from a gay couple supposedly originated with a straight man in another state who told Grant he had never asked for a website and that he has been married to a woman for many years. "He had no idea that his information was in this case," says Grant, who wrote about the case for The New Republic.

Homophobic businesses in the US have a powerful ally: the US supreme court: The court is more interested in protecting the dignity of bigots than the dignity of gay couples denied services for who they are »

Supreme Court Backs Web Designer Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage

Gay Rights Ruling
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The decision appeared to suggest that the rights of L.G.B.T.Q. people, including to same-sex marriage, are on more vulnerable legal footing, particularly when they are at odds with claims of religious freedom.

The Supreme Court sided on Friday with a web designer in Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right to refuse to provide services for same-sex marriages despite a state law that forbids discrimination against gay people.

In a 6 to 3 vote, split along ideological lines, the court held that the First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion.

The case, though framed as a clash between free speech and gay rights, was the latest in a series of decisions in favor of religious people and groups, notably conservative Christians.

The decision also appeared to suggest that the rights of L.G.B.T.Q. people, including to same-sex marriage, are on more vulnerable legal footing, particularly when they are at odds with claims of religious freedom. At the same time, the ruling limited the ability of the governments to enforce anti-discrimination laws. » | Adam Liptak and Abbie VanSickle | Friday, June 30, 2023

Gay Couples Fear Italy's Right-wing Alliance | Focus on Europe

Oct 18, 2022 | Giorgia Meloni's election victory is a nightmare for Monica and Maria. The lesbian couple have adopted each other's two children, but their situation could become a problem in the future.

Ukraine Passes LGBTQ+ Hate Speech Ban in ‘Big Step’ for Equality

Ukraine has passed a new LGBTQ+ rights law. (Getty)
PINK NEWS: Ukraine has passed a bill banning hate speech against LGBTQ+ people in the media.

The legislation, banning hate speech and incitement based on sexual orientation and gender identity, was unanimously approved on 15 December, LGBTQ Nation reported.

“It’s a big step for Ukraine, to start adoption of our legislation to European values,” Olena Shevchenko, chair of Ukrainian LGBTQ+ rights group Insight, told The Washington Blade.

“We hope our government will recognise LGBTQI people as equal as soon as possible.”

The bill comes after the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, confirmed that he will ask Ukraine’s government to look into legalising same-sex marriage after the war with Russia ends.

Over the summer, a petition calling for the legalisation of marriage equality in Ukraine gained more than 28,000 signatures, passing the 25,000 threshold required for it to be considered by the president. » | Emily Chudy | Thursday, December 22, 2022

‘I’m Afraid for My Future’: Proposed Laws Threaten Gay Life in Russia

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The laws, all but assured of enactment, would intensify a crackdown on L.G.B.T.Q. freedom in Russia, which Vladimir V. Putin has cast as a corrosive Western influence.

MOSCOW — In an industrial block in northeastern Moscow on a recent Friday night, organizers of an L.G.B.T.Q.-friendly art festival were assiduously checking IDs. No one under 18 allowed. They were trying to comply with a 2013 Russian law that bans exposing minors to anything that could be considered “gay propaganda.”

The organizers had good reason to be wary: Life has been challenging for gay Russians since the law passed, as the government has treated gay life as a Western import that is harmful to traditional Russian values and society.

Now Russia’s Parliament is set to pass a legislative package that would ban all “gay propaganda,” signaling an even more difficult period ahead for a stigmatized segment of society.

The laws would prohibit representation of L.G.B.T.Q. relationships in any media — streaming services, social platforms, books, music, posters, billboards and films — and, activists fear, in any public space as well. That’s a daunting prospect for queer people searching for community, validation or an audience. » | Valerie Hopkins and Valeriya Safronova | Photographs by Nanna Heitmann | Friday, November 4, 2022

Vlad and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow are cool with killing innocent people—fathers, mothers, the elderly and innocent children in the Ukraine, and sending off to war innocent Russians only to be used as cannon fodder, but two consenting adult males or females who have found love and who wish to spend the rest of their lives together in peace and love is a problem for them – a BIG PROBLEM, it seems. What a sick society Russia has become under Putin! It is a bastion of backwardness and benightedness. How sad! – © Mark Alexander

Verwandt auf Deutsch. Related in English.

The Psychic Trauma of Being Queer in Singapore

Jasjyot Singh Hans
OPINION : GUEST ESSAY
THE NEW YORK TIMES: I was at a watch party last month, waiting excitedly for the expected announcement that Singapore would finally decriminalize consensual sex between gay men.

Section 377A of Singapore’s Penal Code, a holdover from British colonial times, has loomed as a barrier to queer rights, setting the tone for discrimination in broader areas like housing, health care and employment.

Although the government had years ago stopped enforcing it, repeal gave gay Singaporeans like me hope that we might finally be accepted, and cheers went up when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivered the news. But the room went silent moments later.

Anxious to reassure conservatives, Mr. Lee quickly added that marriage was defined as between a man and a woman and would be protected from further legal challenge through a constitutional amendment. No changes were mentioned in other policy areas that marginalize us. The status quo, justified by the familiar refrain of family values, would be maintained.

Rather than a gesture of reconciliation, the government cynically validated bigoted factions that have historically abused and organized against queers. » | Joel Tan * | Thursday, September 22, 2022

* Joel Tan is a Singaporean playwright and artist based in London. His play Tango dramatized the human cost of Singapore’s homophobic policy environment.

Thomas Announces Targeting of Gay Rights; Tacit New Direction to Anti-abortion Movement

Jun 25, 2022 • Rachel Maddow points out Clarence Thomas' singling out of court precedents involving contraception and gay rights and cautions same sex couples to prepare for the political energy of the anti-abortion movement to take Thomas' direction to attack.
sodomy law

World Cup 2022: Wales Staff Boycott Qatar over Gay Rights

BBC: Some of the Welsh national football team's staff will not travel to the World Cup in Qatar because of the country's stance on gay rights.

Head of Welsh football Noel Mooney said the team would use the event as a "platform" to discuss human rights in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.

He is also asking Fifa and Uefa to "think very deeply about their conscience" when choosing host nations.

Qatari officials have said it would be a "tournament for everyone". » | James Williams, BBC Wales political correspondent | Sunday, June 12, 2022

A Long Fight for Gay Rights in Romania

Nov 18, 2019 • This video is about the fight for gay rights in Romania, produced by Luis Jachmann

After Years of Progress on Gay Rights, How Did the US Become So Anti-LGBTQ+?

Florida’s ‘don’t say gay’ bill bans discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools between kindergarten and third grade. Illustration: Esme Blegvad/The Guardian
THE GUARDIAN: A slew of bills are rolling back recently won freedoms. Is America ready to fight for LGBTQ+ rights all over again?

In 2019, the Atlantic ran an opinion piece titled “The struggle for gay rights is over”. Written by the rightwing academic James Kirchick, the piece was obviously meant as a provocation, but its argument that “for those born into a form of adversity, sometimes the hardest thing to do is admitting that they’ve won” was at least considered cogent enough at the time to publish.

It came towards the end of a slew of political victories for the LGBTQ+ cause. At that time, it seemed as though the US supreme court would hand down a landmark ruling immediately before Pride Weekend every couple of years. The demise of the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act in 2013 was followed by the end of the federal ban on marriage equality in 2015. Widespread acceptance of same-sex marriage rights, gay people serving in the military and the need for protections for LGBTQ+ people followed. As recently as 2020, the court, then with two Trump appointees, ruled that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protected gay, lesbian and transgender workers. For all the terrible crises of our century, LGBTQ+ people’s rights were solidly enshrined, and attitudes were shifting in line with legislation. In 1985, 89% of parents said they would be sad if they discovered their child was gay or a lesbian. By 2015, it was down to 39%. » | Peter-Astrid Kane | Thursday, April 28, 2022

Bermuda’s Ban on Same-Sex Marriage Is Allowed, UK Judges Rule

THE GUARDIAN: JCPC overturns decision by lower court that ban was unconstitutional, in setback for LGBTQ rights

The Bermuda flag. The JCPC is the ultimate court of appeal for Bermuda and many other British overseas territories. Photograph: Tetra Images/Alamy
British judges have ruled tha Bermuda’s ban on same-sex marriage is permitted under its constitution, in a setback for gay rights in the British overseas territory.

The UK’s judicial committee of the privy council (JCPC) – the ultimate court of appeal for Bermuda and dozens of other British overseas territories, dependencies and Commonwealth states – on Monday overturned a decision by Bermuda’s highest court, which ruled the ban to be unconstitutional.

The JCPC also ruled separately that there was no right to same-sex marriage under the constitution of the Cayman Islands. » | Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent | Monday, March 14, 2022

Vladimir Putin on Gay Rights in Russia | September 29, 2015 | Charlie Rose

Sep 30, 2015 • "The problem of sexual minorities in Russia [...] has been a deliberate exaggeration aimed at making an enemy image of Russia for political considerations. I believe this is one of the lines of attack against Russia." -- Vladimir Putin on the media representation of gay persecution in Russia.

Anyone listening to this short video clip would be forgiven for concluding that Russia is a paradise for gays! Alas, we all know the sad reality of gay rights in Russia: they are virtually non-existent. Russia is a bastion of homophobia. Indeed, from what I have read and watched over the months and years, gays in Russia are persecuted. This sad reality doesn’t chime with Putin’s comforting words! – © Mark

Global Gay: The Next Frontier In Human Rights - Documentary

Nov 16, 2018 • A global revolution is underway to obtain what UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Barack Obama call ‘the final frontier in human rights’: the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. Homosexuality is forbidden in almost half of the world. Out of 196 UN member states, there are 7 where it is punishable by death. In 84 others, it can merit prison and physical punishment. But today, momentum is building and the debate on gay rights is omnipresent - whether it be regarding legalization in the Middle-East and Africa or the focus of gay marriage laws in the West. After years of long diplomatic struggle, several world leaders have declared themselves in favor of the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. But victory won’t come easily. The countries that still punish homosexuality refuse to give in to international pressure. Global acceptance and equality will take time to achieve. ‘Global Gay’ follows this battle for decriminalization through the lives and work of some of its fearless pioneers, providing a vibrant chronicle of the growing global social movement. In the words of Ban Ki Moon, “The time has come”. Filmed in Russia, Cuba, Cameroon, Nepal and South Africa. - Follow us on social media : Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/BestDocument...

Botswana Upholds Ruling Decriminalising Same-sex Relationships

THE GUARDIAN: Court of appeal decision hailed as victory for LGBTQ+ community that could encourage other African countries to follow suit

Activists wait for a decision by judges on the government’s appeal against the 2019 ruling.Photograph: Monirul Bhuiyan/AFP/Getty
THE GUARDIAN: Court of appeal decision hailed as victory for LGBTQ+ community that could encourage other African countries to follow suit

Gay rights campaigners expressed joy at the Botswana court of appeal’s decision to uphold a ruling that decriminalised same-sex relationships, saying the country’s judiciary had set an example for other African countries.

The government had appealed a 2019 ruling that criminalising homosexuality was unconstitutional. The ruling had been hailed as a major victory for gay rights campaigners on the continent, following an unsuccessful attempt in Kenya to repeal colonial-era laws criminalising gay sex.

Dismissing the appeal on Monday, the bench of five judges unanimously ruled that criminalising same-sex relationships was a violation of the constitutional rights of LGBTQ+ individuals to dignity, liberty, privacy and equality.

“Those sections [of the penal code] have outlived their usefulness, and serve only to incentivise law enforcement agents to become keyhole peepers and intruders into the private space of citizens,” said court of appeal president Ian Kirby.

The ruling added: “Since the appellant’s grounds of appeal have been unsuccessful there can be only one outcome and that is that the appeal must fail.”

Before the 2019 ruling, gay sex was punishable by up to seven years in jail. » | Nyasha Chingono in Harare | Monday, November 29, 2021

Newcastle LGBTQ+ Fans' Group on 'Harrowing' Online Abuse after Saudi Takeover

CHRONICLE LIVE: Newcastle United's LBTQ+ supporters' group have faced online abuse in the wake of their takeover statement welcoming the new owners

The co-chair of Newcastle United's LGBTQ+ supporters' group has opened up on the online abuse they have received since the Saudi-backed takeover was confirmed.

United with Pride has faced heavy criticism since releasing a statement last month on the day the long-awaited sale of the Magpies was confirmed.

The fans' group outlined their hope that working with the new owners could lead to a 'a positive influence to improving the conditions for the LGBTQ+ community in Saudi Arabia'.

However, human rights organisation Fair Square labelled their approach as 'naive', while critics were quick to highlight the contrast in their pre-takeover declarations of there being 'no room for discrimination'.

Saudi Arabia's human rights record and their intolerance of same-sex relationships has come under greater scrutiny as a result of the Magpies takeover, with Amnesty International demanding changes to the Premier League's owners' and directors' test.

United with Pride's co-chair Ian Pearson-Brown has labelled it a 'harrowing' five weeks since, and fears the group's positive work to date has been undone. » | Chris Knight Business of Football writer | Wednesday, November 24, 2021