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Global LGBT Recap: Adventists Talk About, Not To, LGBT People; British Muslim Group Welcomes Gay-Rights Activist; Homophobia Exports Continue

By Peter Montgomery

…l countries are passing brutal anti-LGBTI legislation. Uganda and Nigeria: International Fallout Continues The European Parliament passed a resolution last week condemning anti-gay laws in Nigeria and Uganda. In response, the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Parliament reportedly “said it will discourage African heads of state and government from attending the EU-Africa summit scheduled for May should Western nations impose sanctions on Uganda and…

Global LGBT Recap: Homogeopolitics; Dalai Lama Says Gay is OK; Pope Says Civil Unions May Be

By Peter Montgomery

…ted D.C., New York, Texas and California as part of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Activists from Latvia, Serbia, Russia, Georgia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and other countries have traveled to the U.S. over the last year. BuzzFeed’s Lester Feder also takes a global look at what he calls a new cold war over human rights, in which Russia becomes a more important ally to politicians like Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The…

Women as Head Pastors Was Final Straw for Southern Baptist Convention — Not Scandal, Sexual Abuse, or Dalliance with Dictators

By Caroline Matas

…her leaders avoid the same mistakes he made.” Scandal, abuse, and unsavory international influence are not unique to Saddleback Church, but instead seem to be a thematic constant of the Southern Baptist Convention. Moreover, scandal, abuse, and unsavory international influence had, apparently, no bearing on Saddleback’s rejection from the SBC. What truly put them out of cooperation with the denomination was their choice to give Wood’s wife Stacie…

Global LGBT Recap: Promise and Peril in the New Year

By Peter Montgomery

…il terms for hate crimes. Russia: Principle 6 Campaign & It Gets Better An international cast of athletes has joined the Principle 6 campaign, which as created by Athlete Ally and All Out to give athletes, spectators, and others a way to raise awareness of anti-LGBT laws in Russia before and during the Sochi Olympics. The campaign is built around Principle 6 of the Olympic charter, which states: “Sport does not discriminate on grounds of race, rel…

United Nations Affirms the Human Right to Blaspheme

By Austin Dacey

…hes between competing claims of conscience. This stance is defended by the International Humanist and Ethical Union and elaborated in my forthcoming book, The Future of Blasphemy: Speaking of the Sacred in an Age of Human Rights. The message of General Comment No. 34 is not only a clear condemnation of the blasphemy laws of countries such as Pakistan, which despite having ratified the ICCPR in 2008, continues to impose the death sentence for blasp…

Debate Over Mother Earth’s ‘Rights’ Stirs Fears of Pagan Socialism

By Bron Taylor

…arth,” language below proposed by Evo Morales on the occasion of the first International Day for Mother Earth on April 22, 2009. Most people who care about their planet and its inhabitants will discover that this indigenous and socialist leader from Bolivia makes more sense than the voices expressed on Fox. And in any case, it is a good idea when observing Earth Day in 2011 to be aware of the International Mother Earth Day, which was devised to tu…

Brexit Boosters: Why the Religious Right Hates the European Union

By Peter Montgomery

…tin Ruse, who has worked for years to keep abortion and LGBT rights out of international agreements, complained back in 2003 that Justice Anthony Kennedy, in his opinion overturning laws criminalizing consenting sex between adults, referred to an amicus brief submitted by former UN High Commission for Human Rights Mary Robinson. Ruse fumed, “If the Supreme Court continues to be guided by the decisions of the UN and the EU, US recognition of same-s…

Does Helen Thomas Work for Israel?

By Shaul Magid

…srael is a legitimate nation-state created by the United Nations, the only international body we have. Her comment was not about “the occupation,” it was about the legitimacy of Israel’s existence. And that legitimacy is not merely a “Jewish claim” (though it is that also); it is an international declaration. Israel did not conquer Palestine in a war. The Arab world rejected partition in 1948 and Israel accepted it. The state was created with the…

Arrest the Pope: New Atheist Effort to Seek Justice in Sexual Abuse Crisis Should Be Applauded

By Frances Kissling

…erra Leone until 2007. Robertson claims “the Holy See can no longer ignore international law, which now counts the widespread or systematic sexual abuse of children as a crime against humanity.” Moreover, he challenges the Vatican’s claim of diplomatic immunity from legal action. While Robertson is not the first lawyer to make these claims, he may have a better chance to get them heard in an international court than others have had. US lawyers att…

Oppose Afghanistan But Not a Pacifist? Tough.

By Gabriella Lettini

…entious objection? The reasons are many: the need for freedom of religion, international agreements on the conduct of war, motivations for military service, and backdoor drafts. The majority of religions in the United States allow participation in what Christians call “just war.” President Obama asserted that the failure of just war in World War II compelled the United Nations to create agreements such as the Nuremberg Principles and Geneva Conven…