Religion Dispatches
…eeing more progress this year in places like England, France, Uruguay, and Mexico, in spite of institutional religious opposition. In other places, like Russia, the church and state joined forces to pass repressive legislation. Here in the states, conservative American evangelicals have strongly resisted moves by the Obama administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to advance LGBT equality as an internationally recognized human right. T…
Read More…ruck that says “I still love you. —God.” Drug cartel violence continues in Mexico, where a gang shootout interrupted a festival for the Virgin of Guadalupe. In other Mexican cartel news, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, known as “El Mas Loco” and leader of the La Familia cartel, died last Thursday in a gun battle with Mexican police. For many, Moreno was both a folk hero and religious leader, but to others he was a vicious criminal. Elephant tails, dried…
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…hich has boasted in recent months about helping anti-equality activists in Mexico and launching a new chapter in Nigeria. Last Tuesday, the group wrote about the assistance it is providing Christian groups who are opposing the advance of marriage equality in Taiwan. BuzzFeed, the polling firm Ipsos, and the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law collaborated on a survey of public attitudes toward transgender people in 23 countries. (ILGA rel…
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…, bisexual or lesbian, a higher proportion than in the other main parties. Mexico: More pro- and anti-equality organizing In the face of growing activism by anti-LGBT religious groups, advocates of marriage equality have launched a new social media campaign, #SíAcepto. The National Front for the Family delivered more than half a million signatures opposing the presidential initiative on marriage equality and the teaching of “gender ideology.” Some…
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…local magistrate to transform their partnership into a legal marriage. Lebanon: Activists prepare for LGBT health week LGBT Health Week starts on Saturday, March 11. This year’s theme is “Marginalization is bad for health.” United Kingdom: UK tells gay asylum seekers to go back to Afghanistan and pretend to be straight The government recently suggested that gay Afghan refugees whose asylum claims have been rejected should hide their sexual orienta…
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…ted on May 24; it could clear the way for same-sex couples to get married. Mexico: Some officials in Michoacán refuse marriage licenses in spite of legal change Some civil registry officials in Michoacán are reportedly continuing to refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples even though the state legislature changed its Family Code last year to include marriage equality. Paraguay: Presidential candidate pledges support for marriage equality Fina…
Read More…d tear gas, plastic pellets and water at them. For many LGBTs, Turkey is a stopping point on the way to hoped-for resettlement in Europe, Canada, or the United States. Said one transgender woman, “No reason in this life will make me think to go back to Syria, whether there is war or not. My problem is not just the war.” Another Syrian, Sami, supports himself and his friends through sex work. Like many other Syrian LGBTs, Sami is waiting for his re…
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…haj acknowledge the challenge of establishing “a firm Muslim identity in a non-Muslim country” and that many “feel like the LGBT community is a living contradiction to what you were brought up to believe.” But here’s the thing. When you are an underrepresented minority—whether Muslim, African American, female, etc.—democracy is an all or nothing business. You fight for everyone’s rights (and the operative word here is “fight”), or you get none for…
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…ors. Faith-based groups have been leading resistance to marriage equality. Mexico: Local officials resist court ruling on marriage equality Marriage equality continues to expand via the complicated interplay between Mexican federal courts and state legislatures; the process is explained and tracked by journalist Rex Wockner. With an amparo, or court order, two women became the first same-sex couple married in southern Veracruz. Elsewhere, staff in…
Read More…rough a marriage of convenience, which Tariq admits is a “farce” but might stop his wife from being killed by her parents…. Tariq and his wife are both from south Asian origin, and believe it would be impossible – and dangerous – for them to reveal their true sexuality to their families due to cultural pressures. Hundreds of others just like them are seeking fellow gay partners of the opposite sex for sham marriages to escape the pressure from the…
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