Tag Archives: homosexuality

The CBC reports: The Royal Canadian Mint is releasing a new $1 coin design next year, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults was decriminalized in 1969, two years after then-justice minister Pierre Trudeau introduced amendments to the Criminal Code, famously declaring “there’s no place for the state in the …

Politico reports: The House Education and the Workforce Committee postponed a hearing scheduled for today on the economic consequences of a $15 hourly minimum wage after homophobic and sexist blog posts surfaced that were penned by one of the Republican witnesses, San Diego State University economist Joseph Sabia. In a 2002 post published on his personal column “No Shades of …

Buzzfeed reports: India could be on the brink of repealing a 157-year-old law that criminalizes gay sex in what is one of the world’s largest and longest-running LGBT legal battles. On a sweltering Tuesday afternoon in a courtroom so full people barely had space to turn around, a bench of five judges from India’s highest court began hearing arguments against …

Ireland’s state broadcaster reports: The Taoiseach has paid tribute in the Dáil to those who were criminalised for homosexual activity prior to the repeal of the laws in 1993. “Today the people I want to pay a special tribute to are the unknown heroes, the thousands of people whose names we do not know, who were criminalised by our forbears,” …

Reuters reports: Pope Francis warned Italian bishops this week to vet carefully applicants to the priesthood and reject anyone they suspected might be homosexual, local media reported on Thursday. “Keep an eye on the admissions to seminaries, keep your eyes open,” the pope was quoted as saying by newspaper La Stampa’s Vatican Insider service. “If in doubt, better not let …

From the Catholic site Crux Now: Pope Francis’s reported comment to a Chilean sexual abuse survivor, “That you are gay doesn’t matter,” has made major headlines in recent days – and on Tuesday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York affirmed Francis’s comments, saying “Jesus would have said that.” “Juan Carlos, that you are gay doesn’t matter,” Francis reportedly told clerical …

The Guardian reports: A survivor of clerical sexual abuse has said Pope Francis told him that God had made him gay and loved him, in arguably the most strikingly accepting comments about homosexuality to be uttered by the leader of the Roman Catholic church. Juan Carlos Cruz, who spoke privately with the pope two weeks ago about the abuse he …

Reuters reports: Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday she regretted Britain’s role in anti-gay legislation across its former colonies, seeking to address criticism of the Commonwealth at its gathering in London. May is looking to reinvigorate the Commonwealth, a 53-country network of mostly former colonies, as Britain seeks new post-Brexit ways to project its influence in the world and …

Trinidad’s Newsday reports: Members of the gay community are calling for calm and tolerance as three young men who were at the forefront of a human rights rally celebrating the historic court ruling on the unconstitutionality of the buggery and serious indecency laws, last Thursday, have been kicked out of their homes. The three men, social worker Luke Sinette confirmed …

BBC Sports reports: Diver Tom Daley has called for more Commonwealth countries to decriminalise homosexuality. Daley won his fourth Commonwealth Games gold medal as he and Dan Goodfellow won the synchronised 10m platform on the Gold Coast in Australia, where same-sex marriage was made legal in December. Homosexuality remains illegal in 70% of the 53 Commonwealth countries. “Coming to the …

Erasing 76 Crimes reports: Trinidad’s High Court today ruled that the nation’s law against same-sex intimacy is unconstitutional. Justice Devindra Rampersad, who is presiding over the case, stated in his ruling: “The court declares that sections 13 and 16 of the [Sexual Offences Act] are unconstitutional, illegal, null, void, invalid and of no effect to the extent that these laws …

The Trinidad Express reports: People who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, homosexual or transgender should not have the same rights as “normal” people. That is the view expressed by the Christian non-governmental organisation, T&T Cause. The group is led by Bishop Keith Ramdass, Bishop Dr Victor Gill and Vernon De Leon and was formed “to resist the tide of immorality …

The Associated Press reports: Riding a tsunami of moral conservatism and anti-gay prejudice, Indonesia’s Islamic political parties appear on the cusp of a major victory: outlawing all sex outside marriage. Revisions to Indonesia’s criminal code being considered by Parliament would allow prison sentences of up to five years for sex between unmarried people. Those changes would also criminalize gay sex, …

The Associated Press reports: Indonesia’s top court on Thursday ruled against petitioners seeking to make gay sex and sex outside marriage illegal in a victory for the country’s besieged LGBT minority. The 5-to-4 decision by the nine-judge panel of the Constitutional Court rejected the arguments of a conservative group, the Family Love Alliance, which believes Indonesia is being swamped by …

Via press release: A new website aimed at offering an array of resources for persons involved in the pastoral care of men and women who experience same-sex attractions (SSA) has been launched by Courage & EnCourage International, the Catholic Church’s officially recognized ministry in the field. Truth & Love offers a wide range of content on the subject of homosexuality, …

Reuters reports: Scotland’s devolved government issued an apology on Tuesday to men convicted in the past for same-sex activity and passed a new law which will allow them to clear their names. “It is only right that we address this historic wrong,” First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament. Discriminatory laws, although abolished, continue to have implications for people …

Britain’s Gay Times reports: More than one in four people (28.5%) believe that those in same-sex relationships should be ‘charged as criminals’, according to a new survey of over 150,000 people across 77 countries and territories around the world. Unsurprisingly, the 2017 ILGA-RIWI Global Attitudes Survey showed that there were major differences in views towards sexual and gender minorities in …

Pink Sixty reports: MP Ryad Abdel Sattar [photo] on Wednesday introduced to the parliament’s speaker Ali Abdel Aal a draft law entailing five main articles of the criminalisation of homosexuality. The draft law would pave the way for strict punitive measures against the LGBT community in Egypt, in addition to restricting the presence of LGBT People inside Egyptian society, Abdel …

Forbes reports: “Horrific laws” condemning people to death because of whom they love are the focus of a new international proposal. “The question of the death penalty” resolution to denounce the most severe punishment for consensual same-sex relations was passed on Friday by the 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Twenty-seven nations voted in favor of the resolution; …

Yesterday CNN noted that leading US Senate candidate Roy Moore called for re-criminalizing homosexuality as recently as two years ago. “I think homosexuality should be illegal,” Moore said. “Sodomy was declared illegal by the United States Supreme Court in 1987, it said there was no right under the constitution to enlarge the fundamental rights of homosexuals.” “But then they came …