LGBulleTIn # 7

The week in LGBTI news around the world

18-24 July, 2015

This week our dispatch begins with an announcement: last Wednesday Pan Africa ILGA’s application for registration as a non-profit organisation was approved and granted. This is a tremendous gain, that will benefit not only Pan Africa ILGA but also its member organizations working to advance the rights of LGBTI people on the continent.

Feel free to celebrate with us, and then… off to our weekly LGBulleTIn!

Saturday, July 18

Helen Kennedy wins the Canadian Teachers' Federation Public Education Advocacy Award

The Canadian Teachers' Federation, an alliance of nearly 200,000 elementary and secondary educators, honoured Helen Kennedy - ILGA’s co-secretary general and executive director of Egale Canada - with the Public Education Advocacy Award.

Kennedy has been awarded along with two other educational professionals who, according to CTF President Heather Smith, “demonstrate the kind of dedication to their work that has the power to change the lives of Canadian teachers and students”.

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Monday, July 20

Taiwan: plan to draft national same-sex partnership law announced

A draft of a same-sex partnership law is likely to be written soon in Taiwan, the Global Times reports. Lo Ying-hsueh – head of Taiwan’s judicial body – said the government will put proposed bills online, allowing the public to vote on them: the results would then serve as a reference to the legislature. In November 2014 an online poll was released, revealing that 68 per cent of the population in the country supported same-sex marriage.

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Tuesday, July 21

Italy violates human rights of same-sex couples, Court says

photo: Twitter / @MilanoPride

With an unanimous vote, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Italy’s failure to provide any form of legal recognition for same-sex couples violates Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. In 2010 the Italian Constitutional Court had already pointed out the need to recognise same-sex couples, but nothing has changed since then [read ILGA Europe’s comment]

This judgement arrived only one day after the decision of the Italian Court of Cassation that interprets medical intervention and sterilisation as not necessary for having one’s gender legally recognized.

City of Sydney launches campaign against LGBTI domestic violence

A campaign aimed at ending domestic violence within the LGBTI community is about to be launched by the City of Sydney, Australia, together with the Inner City Legal Centre: the effort will include a photographic exhibition and the production of various promotional materials to raise awareness about something that has been described as “a silent epidemic”. Speaking of the campaign, Lord Mayor Clover Moore highlighted the importance of “raising awareness about ways domestic violence can affect people of all ages and backgrounds, particularly older and multicultural members of the LGBTIQ communities”.

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Wednesday, July 22

Nigerian president: sodomy “abohorrent to our culture”

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The issue of gay marriage came up here yesterday. PMB was point blank. Sodomy is against the law in Nigeria, and abhorrent to our culture. — Femi Adesina (@FemAdesina) July 22, 2015

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A four-day visit to the United States gave Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari the chance to define homosexuality as “something against the law” and “abhorrent” to his country’s culture. Such statements were reported in a tweet where Femi Adesina, Buhari’s special advisor on Media and publicity, explained that the issue of marriage equality had come up during an official meeting. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said that the US would continue pressure Nigeria to repeal any law against the LGBTI community.

Read more on Quartz

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Thursday, July 23

Colombia: 15 members of the LGBTI community killed since the beginning of the year in the Caribbean region

Since the beginning of 2015, at least 15 persons belonging to the LGBTI community have been murdered in the Caribbean region of Colombia, according to the human rights observatory of the local organisation Caribe Afirmativo. A few days ago, a lesbian woman aged 22 was shot dead in the streets of Santa Marta while she was walking with her partner; this tragedy followed shortly the one that had happened in San Marcos, Sucre, where a 17 years old trans woman was shot in the chest while she was biking home with a friend.

Read more (in Spanish) via ILGA LAC

(bulletin written by Daniele Paletta)