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UNESCO on Religion, Culture and SOGI in Asia; Orthodox Family Sues to Stop Cremation of Israeli Trans Woman; Struggles of Iraqi Queer Activists; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…used to receive threats but in recent years they had grown to an enormous number. My public activities resulted in promises to hunt me down, beat me up, and kill me. Neo-Nazis, homophobes and pro-Putin agitators showered me with insults on social networks, harassed me on the phone and at events, and even complained to my place of work. On 24 August 2014, Ukrainian Independence Day, myself and some friends who were in a picket on Malaya Sadovaya s…

Spiritual Unplugging, Or What to Do When There is Wifi at the Ashram

By Matt Hamilton

…self-interrogation boiled, my hand extended to the right. I reached for my phone, but I found nothing. At first I laughed at my instinct, my muscle memory. The phone, with its glowing screen, gave me solace and control. But I was tied to my cushion for another hour, and in this ashram for another day, so email would have to wait. I panicked. My heart raced. Would my editor be asking for me? Would a reply from that politician’s secretary sit unansw…

Religious Affiliation, ‘Mankind’: India’s Anti-Corruption Activist Leads Second Freedom Struggle

By April L. Bogle

…good move. When I got to the lobby another something told me to dig out my phone and check it for messages. Sure enough, I had one from an unfamiliar number. A woman’s voice said Bedi was still sleeping, exhausted from the previous day’s overseas flight, and needed to reschedule our interview for that afternoon. I called the number back, convinced the opportunity was lost. “I’m here at the hotel now, but I’m booked solid this afternoon—” “Hold on,…

Pop-Culture Angels Are More Than Just Embarrassing Kitsch

By Ed Simon

…y from Victorian sentimentalism. Such angels are on sale at reduced price; cheap wares for cheap faith. It would be an error, however, to fully dismiss pop culture angels. Despite the fact that representations of angels in film and television, comics and music, paperback novels and posters, are filtered through market concerns, such pop culture can still speak to human meaning—and because of that they merit our attention. Besides, the bulk of art…

Two Former Nuns Get Civil Union in Italy; Kenyan Govt Partners with World Congress of Families; Mexican Activists Debate Outing of Priests; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…government that hate mongering against any social group is unacceptable.” Philippines: First trans lawmaker urges support for nondiscrimination bill Geraldine Roman, the first transgender legislator in the Philippines, urged her colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass a bill outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Norway: Changing gender ‘as easy as filing a tax return’ Associated Press reports…

I Miss Tina Fey

By Julie Ingersoll

…half. There were still probably 80 empty seats, and it was clear that some number of attendees had free tickets. The largest financial supporter of the event was a local news/talk radio station and its representatives were the only media allowed in. As I arrived with my Religion Dispatches press badge they stopped me before I even got to the door. I chatted with an AP reporter and he said AP had been trying for weeks to gain media access—but that…

Why Can’t the Vatican Hear Women?

By Patricia Miller

…t hear them. The horrifying reality of the cardinal’s deafness is that the Philippines bishops’ conference spent years blocking access to contraception after it colluded with the country’s leadership to mandate a national family planning program that only offered natural family planning. Just this spring the Supreme Court finally upheld an historic measure to restore contraceptive funding after the bishops challenged it as a violation of the const…

Gambian President Threatens to Kill Asylum Seekers

By Peter Montgomery

…ing the report: Gay Japan News, KRYSS Malaysia, O Pakistan, Rainbow Rights Philippines, and Women’s Support Group Sri Lanka. According to researchers who held a teleconference call this week, family members are often the perpetrators of violence. Religious beliefs and leaders are often a source of persecution. For example: In Malaysia, harsh regulation under Sharia law is enforced by officers with a religious department. Harsh penalties for lesbia…

Pope Francis, Breeding Bunnies and Ideological Colonization

By Patricia Miller

…iod of time. But the zingers don’t end there. Francis used his trip to the Philippines to warn Catholics about the dangers of the “ideological colonization of the family,” especially of western aid agencies forcing their values on the pure, unsuspecting Catholics of the developing world by imparting a “lack of openness to life,” which is code for abortion and contraception. In case this sounds familiar, it was a favorite theme of Pope John Paul II…

Catholic Leaders Offer Criticism, Support to Boxer Pacquiao After Anti-Gay Comments…

By Peter Montgomery

…in which politicians inflamed anti-gay sentiment to win political support. Philippines: Catholic Leaders Offer Criticism, Support to Boxer Pacquiao After Anti-Gay Comments At New Ways Ministry, Bob Shine reviews some of the reaction by Catholic officials to the international controversy over anti-gay comments by boxer Manny Pacquiao, who said in a recent interview that people in same-sex relationships are “worse than animals,” comments that cost h…