Canada: Conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth to be banned in Ontario

Ontario has given final approval to an NDP private member's bill that bans so-called conversion therapy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children.

New Democrat Cheri DiNovo says therapists should not try to "fix" LGBTQ kids or subject them to what she calls unethical and abusive conversion therapy. DiNovo says not only did Ontario allow conversion therapies to go on too long, the province actually covered the treatments under its health insurance plan, a practice that ends now. Read More

Explainer: tackling the stigma and myths around sexuality

This article is part of a series The Conversation Africa is running on issues related to LGBTI in Africa. You can read the rest of the series here.

Increasing anti-homosexuality sentiment across Africa has been based on the belief that homosexuality is “contagious” or that people can be “recruited” to it.

These sentiments are reflected by 38 countries in Africa outlawing same-sex relationships. Several others are thinking about new laws against “promoting homosexuality”.

These views are dispelled as baseless by a report from the Academy of Science South Africa released this week. The report, Diversity in Human Sexuality: Implications for Policy in Africa, is based on a consensus study of research from across the world. Read more

South Africa: African academics challenge homophobic laws

A Western import. Unnatural. Contagious. Un-African. All of these arguments and more have been invoked to support the numerous laws criminalizing homosexuality in Africa. But now African academics have used scientific evidence to argue against such laws and to urge African nations to abandon them.

In a report published by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), the academics, most of whom are scientists, make the case that laws criminalizing homosexuality have no basis in science and hamper efforts to prevent and treat HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (see go.nature.com/q3rr4k).

Partly because those arguing in favour of criminalising sexual and gender diversity have made explicit appeals to science, this report examines the extent to which science supports any of the arguments that proponents of these new laws make. Drawing on recent scientific evidence and, where possible, on systematic reviews, the report seeks to provide an up-to-date overview of the state of the current biological, socio-psychological, and public health evidence and assess how this supports, or contests, the key arguments made in favour of new laws. Read More

Op-ed: Dear Gay Ambassadors, be straight about trade deal

Activists Cleve Jones and Jerame Davis ask: Why are America's out ambassadors arguing in favor of giving special 'favored nation' status to virulently anti-LGBT countries, including one that stones gays to death? Read More

America's LGBT Ambassadors: Global Trade Will Lift Up LGBT Lives

Eight of the nation's most powerful LGBT leaders explain how proposed trade agreements will export our values of equality and tolerance: As Ambassadors, we are on the front lines representing the United States. We know firsthand that U.S. interests are best served when we pursue policies that also advance our values. That’s why trade policy is among our most promising tools. Read More

US: The free market economics of LGBT equality in Texas

When the 2015 Texas legislative session drew to a close, a small group of people behind a new initiative quietly celebrated their part in the defeat of more-than 20 anti-LGBT legislative proposals. The group, known as Texas Competes, is a pro-equality business initiative housed under the non-profit organization, Equality Texas. And while backers of the discriminatory legislation relied on the premise of what is morally right, Texas Competes silently assembled a coalition of Texas businesses based on what is financially beneficial.

The initiative focused on four key components: recruiting top talent, attracting new companies to the state, supporting a healthy tourism industry and illustrated and maintaining the integrity of the Texas brand. As a result, over 250 businesses in Texas -- including Dell, Southwest Airlines, Samsung and Dow Chemical -- signed a pledge stating that LGBT equality was critical to the success of their business.

According to Rudy Oeftering, a representative of Texas Competes, this innovative, free market approach to legislative maneuvering caught the proponents of the anti-gay bills completely by surprise. Read More 

Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh Threatens To Slit The Throats Of Gay People

Gambia's notorious dictator Yahya Jammeh recently intensified his anti-homosexual rhetoric, threatening to slit the throats of gay men living in the small West African nation while seeming to claim that the West could do nothing to stop him.

"If you do it [in the Gambia] I will slit your throat — if you are a man and want to marry another man in this country and we catch you, no one will ever set eyes on you again, and no white person can do anything about it," he said to a crowd in the town of Farafeni as he spoke about fostering a healthy atmosphere for the country's youth.

The US and the European Union have both slashed aid to the country in the last year, citing general concerns over continued human rights abuses.  Read More 

Russia: Lawmakers Propose Banning Marriages For Trans People

Lawmakers in Russia introduced draft legislation today that would ban marriage between two people of the same sex, including cases where a trans person has transitioned or is in the process of transitioning. Same-sex marriage is already illegal in Russia, but the measure aims to close a bureaucratic loophole that allowed Irina Shumilova and Alyona Fursova to marry in St. Petersburg last November. Shumilova, who identifies as a transsexual woman, is still male according to her passport. Their wedding made headlines around the world and angered conservative politicians. Read More

Kenya: Dep. President says 'no room for gays' in country

Kenya's deputy president has said there is "no room" for homosexuality in the country’s society, the latest comments from an African government to anger activists and likely annoy Western donors. William Ruto made the remarks at a church service Sunday, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived for talks. 

"The Republic of Kenya is a republic that worships God. We have no room for gays," Ruto told a Nairobi church congregation in Swahili, according to an online video posted by Kenyan broadcaster KTN. Speaking to Reuters on Monday, Ruto's spokesman Emmanuel Talam confirmed the deputy president's remarks, adding: "The government believes that homosexual relations are unnatural and un-African." Read More

UK: Britain Now Has More Openly LGBTQ Legislators Than Any Other Country

This isn’t a great moment to be a liberal in Britain. In last Thursday’s general election, our largest left-wing party was eviscerated, leaving the Conservative Party with enough of a majority to do pretty much whatever it wants over the next five years. (So far, this appears to be cutting disability benefits, scrapping the Human Rights Act, and bringing back foxhunting.)

But while the country now has the least progressive government it’s seen since the early ’90s, there are a few sources of liberal glee: Britain now has 191 female MPs, more than ever before, and the number of black and ethnic minority legislators increased from 27 to 43. Oh, and somehow, fusty old Britain now holds the world record for LGBTQ political representation. Read More 

Council of Europe: Human rights and intersex people.

European society remains largely unaware of the reality of intersex people. However, through the pioneering work of a growing number of intersex groups and individual activists, the human rights community and international organisations are becoming increasingly conscious of this situation and are working to draw on human rights standards to address such concerns. 

This issue paper aims to stimulate the development of a framework of action by suggesting a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, it calls on member states to end medically unnecessary “normalising” treatment of intersex persons when it is enforced or administered without the free and fully informed consent of the person concerned. On the other, it provides possible ways forward in terms of protection against discrimination of intersex people, adequate recognition of their sex on official documents and access to justice. 

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