Image credit: Bill Taroli | Flickr

Recent situations around the world demonstrate that despite shifting attitudes toward acceptance of LGBT individuals (in one recent, and explicit example, South Africa's Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu says he will never worship a "homophobic God" and would rather go to hell), there continue to be strong and pervasive negative attitudes that find their way into daily situations and even into laws, even in places like Canada, Europe and the United States. According to UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, same-sex relationships are illegal in more than a third of countries around the world and punishable by death in five.

Ontario Couple Threatened With Violence by Local Religious Group

Susan Belyea and Karen Dubinsky, a lesbian couple in Kingston, Ontario, recently received two letters written “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our savior”, demanding they leave the area or “be used as target practice.” The anonymous, threatening letters were addressed to “lesbian bitches”. The first letter began by stating the group is small but dedicated, devoted to “removing the scourge of homosexuality in our city,” and claim to have been following the couple for several weeks. They demanded “re-conversion” to heterosexuality and since, according to their observations, the women are “unlikely to convert”, they were told the warnings will escalate to “higher and higher levels of harassment and derailment.”

They went on to claim that they have contacts in the Kingston Police and demanded the couple refrain from notifying the police or risk escalated efforts to “surgically persuade” them to go somewhere like Vancouver or “preferably San Francisco”.

The group asserted that they have “successfully relocated” other people from their community and even though they claim to be primarily non-violent, in the second letter, they claimed to have given younger members of the group BB guns and will use the women as “target practice”. They also threatened, “Take our previous letter seriously or fun and games will turn into deadly serious action.”

The Kingston police are apparently aware of the letters and Constable Chris Gobeil was assigned to the case.

Images of the letters can be found here.

Vancouver Teacher Faces Disciplinary Action for Harassing Gay Student

Meanwhile, in Vancouver, B.C., gym teacher Geoffrey George Hudson openly and repeatedly mocked a gay, grade-9 student, referring to him as “she”. He also mentioned to other staff members that his style and behaviour was “weird” and that he thought the boy wanted to be a girl.

The boy’s experiences of harassment by the teacher were so negative, the student chose to complete his physical education requirement via an online option. Hudson has been reprimanded for his treatment of the student.

Alabama Tea Party Leader Prays Against Same-Sex Marriage During Public Service Commission Meeting

In the United States, where the Defense of Marriage Act was recently overturned by the Supreme Court, bias against gays continues, especially in areas where Conservative Christian ideology dominates. In Alabama, the Public Service Commission starts all meetings with prayer. Recently, active Prattville Tea Party leader, John Delwin Jordan, began the session with a four-minute-prayer, calling on God to forgive sins, including the “sin of same-sex marriage”.

Russian Lower House Passes Bill Banning Distribution of LGBT Information

In June, the lower house of Russia’s parliament passed a bill that bans providing information about LGBT people to youth. The bill effectively bans pride rallies and fines make it highly cost-prohibitive to provide any kind of LGBT information. The law is expected to easily pass the upper house and be approved by President Putin, who has recently demonstrated complicity with the Russian Orthodox Church.

The UN continues to push for gay rights to be recognised in countries where they are illegal, but because of culturally normed expectations and traditions often rooted in religious convictions, the work continues to be difficult and the progress often slow.