The concept of “traditional values” has been weaponized for use against LGBT people. “Through a persistent rhetoric, powerfully promoted by Russia and its allies, LGBT people have come to embody all that is antithetical to so-called ‘traditional values,’ ” says Graeme Reid, director of the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch. Continue reading
A common thread ties together the anti-LGBT crackdowns in Egypt, Tanzania, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Indonesia and the Russian republic of Chechnya — many of them look like “copy cats” of each other. Is public pressure the only hope for stopping them? Continue reading
Indonesian and Egyptian leaders have made news through repressive, wrong-headed responses to the existence of LGBTI people. Continue reading
Indonesian police have raided the homes of “suspected lesbians” as part of an ongoing crackdown on suspected LGBTI people. Human Rights Watch protested the actions as invasions of privacy and human rights abuses. Continue reading
Modestly edited items from ILGA’s LGBulleTIn and UNAIDS’s Equal Eyes news summaries: Continue reading
Anti-LGBT repression in Indonesia and Nigeria is impeding the battle against HIV/AIDS. Meanwhile, in Kenya, Lebanon and Malawi, HIV researchers are seeking new insights into the epidemic and how to combat it. Continue reading
Confronted with international outrage over the public flogging of gay men, the Indonesian province of Aceh has moved the floggings indoors. Continue reading
The latest “Equal Eyes” compilation of LGBTI news briefs from UNAIDS includes some slight signs of progress in Indonesia, India and Malaysia, which have laws against same-sex intimacy, and in Lithuania, which has an anti-“gay propaganda” law. Continue reading
A leader of Indonesia’s second-largest Muslim organization has called for a boycott of the Starbucks coffee chain because of its LGBT-friendly policies. Continue reading
Dozens of organizations worldwide have formed a coalition seeking to end persecution of LGBT people in Indonesia. In the following statement, the coalition asks for support from allies worldwide: Continue reading
