Us vs. them (Egypt): Deport me!

Second of two articles about the challenge of breaking through emotional barriers that people erect between themselves and victims of persecution who act or look unlike them. This article, by activist/commentator Scott Long, focuses on the difficulty keeping relatively affluent Westerners’ interest in non-white victims of repression, particularly in news coverage of Egypt. The previous … Continue reading →

Quorum: Global LGBT Voices in New York

World’s Leading LGBT Activists To Speak In New York The Daily Beast, in collaboration with groups including 76Crimes.com, is to host “Quorum: Global LGBT Voices” at the New York Public Library, featuring talks and panels highlighting the struggles and triumphs of LGBT people worldwide News Release – Dec. 4, 2014/PRNewswire/ — The Daily Beast, in collaboration with … Continue reading →

Will Brunei’s horrid law unite LGBT and women’s activists?

The celebrity-boosted boycott of the Sultan of Brunei and his Beverly Hills Hotel could open the way for an important partnership of activists supporting women’s rights and those pushing for LGBT rights. So far, though, little progress has been made in that direction, although a mix of both types of advocates joined former talk show … Continue reading →

Anti-gay hate group has cozy ties to Putin, Russia

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is moving full speed ahead with plans to hold an international anti-LGBT conference at the Kremlin in Moscow this fall, despite the growing international crisis in Ukraine and the withdrawal of key conference partner Concerned Women for America over concerns that holding the conference would give the appearance of … Continue reading →

Whoopi Goldberg has a message for Nigeria, Uganda

“You’re on the wrong side of history,” entertainer Whoopi Goldberg tells the presidents of Uganda and Nigeria in a YouTube video made for the Human Rights Campaign.  She focused on recent “roundups” of LGBT people in Nigeria because of the new anti-gay law there and the prospect of further arrests there and in Uganda, which … Continue reading →

Global conflict: Faith, gay rights, and repression

As pro-LGBT-rights protests and anti-LGBT initiatives continue in dozens of countries, here’s a sampling of the news and commentary about what’s going on. Coverage of new international faith-based activism is below. See also the furor over Russia’s anti-gay crackdown as the Sochi Olympics approach and a sampling of coverage of events in Africa and the Caribbean. … Continue reading →

Cringing, cheering about $3m for LGBT rights worldwide

International LGBT activists managed to cringe and cheer simultaneously at the news this week that the Human Rights Campaign, long dedicated to the fight for gay rights and equal marriage in the United States, has also turned its attention to the fight for LGBT rights abroad. The cheer was because a widespread recognition of the … Continue reading →