Increasing desperation in the Bangladeshi LGBT community came to a head Friday, May 19, when police in Bangladesh broke up a social gathering, making 29 arrests in what seems to be part of a government crackdown against the LGBT community. Continue reading
While human rights activists criticize Indonesia’s failure to curb anti-LGBT zealots and roll back homophobic fundamentalist Islamic laws, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence praised Indonesia as a model of “modern Islam” that other Muslim-majority countries should follow. Continue reading
Raina Aliev, a transgender woman, was reported killed early this month, three days after marrying her husband. The murder reportedly took place after her Muslim father, Alimshaikh Aliev, called for his daughter’s execution on a Russian TV station, referring to Raina Aliev as “him.” Continue reading
A mix of good news and bad news from around the world, assembled with help from UNAIDS’s Equal Eyes recap of the world’s LGBTI news. BAD NEWS The website of Russia‘s LGBT youth group Deti-404 (Children-404) has been blacklisted by the government’s media oversight group Roskomnadzor. This is not the first time Deti-404 has been found … Continue reading
Indonesia is hot and bothered about sex in general and LGBTI issues in particular. The country’s highest court is deliberating whether all sex outside marriage should be made illegal — the latest push by conservative Islamist organizations seeking religiously based changes in the country’s largely secular legal code. As the Washington Post reported, if the … Continue reading
Many of the world’s 76 countries with anti-homosexuality laws have Muslim majorities, but most are majority-Christian. Of the total, 43 percent (33 countries, in this blog’s tally) have a Muslim majority. Majority-Christian countries account for 49 percent of the total (37 countries). Muslim majority 1 Algeria 2 Egypt 3 Eritrea 4 Ethiopia 5 Gambia 6 … Continue reading
Islamic leaders in Iraq and Pakistan have issued statements calling for toleration of some LGBTI people. Each announcement fell far short of what LGBTI activists know is necessary to achieve fair and equal treatment for LGBTI people, but each represented a shift toward acceptance of at least some members of the LGBTI community. However, the … Continue reading
Pernicious traditional interpretations of the Biblical and Quranic story of Sodom and Gomorrah underlie much of the world’s homophobia. Brian Whitaker, former Middle East editor of the Guardian, gives a brief explanation in the valuable Guardian article “Everything you need to know about being gay in Muslim countries”: ‘It’s about attempted male rape and the … Continue reading
Three upbeat news items involving countries with anti-LGBTI laws, courtesy of UNAIDS Equal Eyes recaps of the world’s LGBTI-related news. Barring an unexpected event, this post is probably the final pre-Christmas publication on the Erasing 76 Crimes blog. We’ll return after Christmas and hope you will join us here then. Appeal for change in Guyana … Continue reading
The Associated Press reported on Oct. 3: 2 suspected Indonesian lesbians to undergo ‘rehabilitation’ BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Two suspected lesbians detained earlier this week by Islamic Shariah police in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province will undergo what an official described Saturday as “rehabilitation,” and won’t be charged with a crime. The women, 18 and 19 … Continue reading
