The Bergen Record
LGBTQ Muslims are becoming more visible in America despite a history of being shunned
Deena Yellin, NorthJersey.com
Wed, June 29, 2022 at 3:15 AM
Growing up in a traditional Muslim family in Coney Island, Kandeel Javid often prayed at his local mosque. But it rarely brought him peace.
Javid was living with a secret: He was gay but couldn't tell anyone in his family or faith community, where homosexuality was shunned. His parents were immigrants from Pakistan, where same-sex relationships are banned. He knew they would have difficulty accepting a gay lifestyle.
Going into a mosque required him to hide a part of himself. "Many of them are closed off to LGBTQ conversations, while others have a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," he said.
He sought an oasis where he could find support but, as a teen in the early 2000s, found few resources. "There was no place where I could own my sexual orientation and not fear getting bullied, hated on or being told that I would burn in hell," he recalled. "I had to stay closeted."
For Muslim members of the LGBTQ community, Pride Month offers a bittersweet reality. The faith remains officially unwelcoming, with homosexuality banned in some Islamic countries. But there are signs of change, with individual families and support groups opening their arms.
A growing number of organizations for LGBTQ Muslims have cropped up around the country to offer support, social events, Quran study sessions and communal iftars — the meal held to break the daily fast during Ramadan — to try to eradicate the isolation felt by those often shunned by their loved ones and community.
Mosques that opened in Chicago and Toronto in recent years tout themselves as LGBTQ-friendly, welcoming everyone without the need to hide sexual orientation or gender identities.
Javid finally felt comfortable coming out of the closet in 2016, at age 26, after joining Muslims for Progressive Values, a Los Angeles-based group that promotes LGBTQ rights and has 25,000 members around the globe.
Today, the 32-year-old-engineer lives in Boston with his partner. Although he's been out for six years, his parents still have not come to terms with his gay identity, he said.
"It's been years of disconnect," he said. But some friends and relatives, including his brother, "were very accepting and told me, 'I will always love you no matter what.' "
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Islam's harsh perspective on homosexuality has its roots in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, which is found in the Quran and the Bible. According to the story as many Muslims interpret it, Lot warned the people of his city against immorality for engaging in sexual acts with men. When his protests were rejected, the city was destroyed in an act of divine punishment.
Islam generally considers same-gender sex a grave sin, and many Muslim majority countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, have implemented anti-LGBTQ laws with punishments such as prison or death. Numerous LGBTQ Muslims contacted for this story declined to be interviewed for fear of what would happen to them if their identities were revealed.
"The official position of Islam is that we don't approve of homosexuality," said Imam Moutaz Charaf of the El-Zahra Islamic Center of Midland Park. "But our mosque is open to all people. We don't try to ask people what they do or don't do in their home. We pray to Allah to guide them and help them. We emphasize that we need to be kind to all people whether they hold to the religion or not."
But not everyone shares that perspective. "Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a wide range of interpretations of homosexuality," said Sylvia Chan-Malik, an associate professor of American studies at Rutgers University.
"People have this impression that Islam is intolerant or that LGBTQ people are not welcomed within the Muslim community, but it's no less so than in our broader community," said Chan-Malik, who also authored "Being Muslim: A Cultural History of Women of Color in American Islam."
The voices heard most predominantly in the Muslim community have been male and straight, but that's changing, said Ani Zonneveld, president of Muslims for Progressive Values. She believes there's been progress, with LGBTQ Muslims "becoming more visible." More mosques today "have a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," which is a shift from "You are not welcome and you are going to hell," she said.
Zonneveld's group has worked to make a progressive interpretation of the Quran more mainstream. She officiates at gay Islamic weddings, which she says is permissible, based on her interpretation of the Quran.
Growing up in an insulated Muslim family in India, Mohammed Shaik Hussain Ali knew he was attracted to people of the same gender before he heard the word "gay." “I thought I was the only one in the world," said Ali, who now lives in Manhattan. He was elated when, in his early teens, he discovered he wasn't alone.
He came to America when he was in his early 20s to earn his engineering degree, and got a job as a software engineer. He subsequently became active in several LGBTQ advocacy organizations.
But when Ali came out to his parents at age 28, during one of their visits to America, they told him they wished he had never been born. Whenever he was with them afterward, it was like "a funeral,” he said. He cut off ties with them to maintain his sanity, but they've since reconciled.
When Mohammed Shaik Hussain Ali told his parents he was gay at age 28, they told him they wished he had never been born, but have since reconciled.
Ali is the producer of an award-winning feature film, "Evening Shadows," which premiered in 2018 and won a series of awards. It was aired on Netflix for three years until recently. "It's a bit autobiographical but with a happier ending," Ali said. The story focuses on a mother in a patriarchal conservative society in South India who is faced with a dilemma when her son reveals that he is gay. She has to deal with her intolerant husband and fight her own demons as she comes to grips with her son's truth.
After his family watched the movie, the reconciliation process began. "My mother told me she understood what she should have done differently," Ali said, adding that his father understood what he shouldn't have done.
The 38-year-old, who is a published author and is single, considers himself a religious Muslim. He prays regularly at a mosque near his Hell's Kitchen apartment. "I've read every holy book and couldn't find any reference that demonized me," he said, adding that though Muslims are generally hostile towards homosexuals, the way that he understands the Quran, it doesn't ban that kind of love.
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When he goes to the mosque, he wears his rainbow pin. "They look at it, but nobody bothers me," he said.
“I am a South Asian Indian Muslim gay. I'm not one of the identities. I'm all the identities," Ali said. "People have to take all of me or none of me. I do not come in pieces."
American Muslims, a group estimated to include almost 4 million people, have become more accepting of homosexuality, according to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey. The poll found that 52% said society should accept homosexuality, up from 27% in 2007.
Aruna Rao of Edison founded Desi Rainbow Parents and Allies, an advocacy organization for parents of LGBTQ children, because of her own need for support.
"My child came out as queer eight years ago, and I didn't have an understanding of how to respond," she said. Desi Rainbow focuses on being culturally sensitive to parents who come from South Asian countries. Many are Muslim, and the group celebrates Eid and Ramadan, in addition to holding events highlighting the experiences of LGBTQ Muslims.
Membership in the group has soared. What began with a handful of people seven years ago has grown to a mailing list of over 2,000, she said.
Rao grew up in South India and came to the U.S. as a graduate student 30 years ago. When her elementary school child told her in 2016 that "he wasn't a girl, although he was an assigned female at birth, I thought I had a tomboy who'd grow out of it."
Instead, he came out as queer, which was something that took her a while to grapple with. She did, and "today, he's a successful and happy adult," she said.
Shenaaz Janmohamed grew up in Sacramento, California, knowing she was different, not only because she was a Shiite Muslim, but because she was gay.
Her parents, who were devout Muslims, fasted on Ramadan and took the word of the Quran seriously. So when she told them she was gay, they couldn't reconcile it with their image of a good Muslim.
"We haven't reckoned with the ways that patriarchy and misogyny have influenced Islam," she said.
Janmohamed moved 12 years ago to Oakland, where she lives with her partner of 12 years and their 6-year-old daughter.
"We continue to have a journey," she said about her parents. "It's beautiful to see how much they love our child. It's healing to see the way she's accepted in ways I still don't feel accepted by my parents."
"I don't have relationships with my relatives and broader community," she said. "I wish it were different."
Janmohamed started Queer Crescent, a social justice organization focused on connecting to spiritual practice and power within the LGBTQ and Muslim community, in 2017. The group organizes cultural and political events and raises funds for marginalized Muslims, such as those with disabilities or who are incarcerated, she said.
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It started with a handful of people, and it grew. When the pandemic hit, the group went virtual, which allowed it to reach more people around the country. Queer Crescent's newsletter now has more than 900 subscribers.
The group is currently conducting a nationwide online survey of LGBTQ Muslims in America. The goal is to recognize the needs of LGBTQ Muslims, who are often removed from the broader Muslim community, Janmohamed said.
"There are so many ways to be a Muslim," she said. "I think Allah loves me as I am."
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/lg ... 06091.html
LGBTQ COMMUNITY
Re: LGBTQ COMMUNITY
The Telegraph
Quarter of young people are LGBT, Stonewall survey suggests
Gabriella Swerling
Thu, October 6, 2022 at 1:38 PM
Stonewall claims that more than a quarter of younger people now identify as LGBT following its sexuality survey.
The LGBTQ+ charity said that there are distinct generational differences regarding sexuality, with more younger people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender than other age cohorts.
For example, for Gen Z respondents, who are those aged 16 to 26, only 71 per cent identify as straight, and 14 per cent identify as bisexual or pansexual. In contrast, 91 per cent of Baby Boomers, those aged 56 to 75, identify as straight, as well as 87 per cent of Gen X respondents and 82 per cent of Millennials.
Stonewall commissioned the polling company, Ipsos Mori, to carry out three polls in June, which is Pride Month, and August 2022, each with a representative sample of about 2,000 people across England, Wales and Scotland.
The study asked 16 to 75-year-olds questions about their gender identity, sexual orientation and attraction, and Stonewall said that the findings told a “positive story” but said more needed to be done to help bisexual people feel safe.
The charity said: “This report comes after we have witnessed a steady increase in social acceptance and visibility of LGBTQ+ people in recent decades.
“This new era of openness in Britain has led to an environment where more people are free to be themselves and are more confident in their sexual and gender identity.”
Nancy Kelley, CEO of Stonewall, said: “This ground-breaking new report shows that our lives as LGBTQ+ people are more visible and connected to our friends and families.”
She added that it indicated a “profound sea-change in our identity and orientation” as a nation.
The Stonewall figures come following the latest official UK statistics for the year 2020 on sexuality, published by the Office for National Statistics, which found that the proportion of the UK population aged 16 years and over who identified as heterosexual or straight was 93.6 per cent in 2020; there has been a “decreasing trend” since records began in 2014.
It also found that people aged 16 to 24 years continue to be the most likely of all age cohorts to identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual in 2020 (eight per cent).
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/mo ... 47244.html
Quarter of young people are LGBT, Stonewall survey suggests
Gabriella Swerling
Thu, October 6, 2022 at 1:38 PM
Stonewall claims that more than a quarter of younger people now identify as LGBT following its sexuality survey.
The LGBTQ+ charity said that there are distinct generational differences regarding sexuality, with more younger people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender than other age cohorts.
For example, for Gen Z respondents, who are those aged 16 to 26, only 71 per cent identify as straight, and 14 per cent identify as bisexual or pansexual. In contrast, 91 per cent of Baby Boomers, those aged 56 to 75, identify as straight, as well as 87 per cent of Gen X respondents and 82 per cent of Millennials.
Stonewall commissioned the polling company, Ipsos Mori, to carry out three polls in June, which is Pride Month, and August 2022, each with a representative sample of about 2,000 people across England, Wales and Scotland.
The study asked 16 to 75-year-olds questions about their gender identity, sexual orientation and attraction, and Stonewall said that the findings told a “positive story” but said more needed to be done to help bisexual people feel safe.
The charity said: “This report comes after we have witnessed a steady increase in social acceptance and visibility of LGBTQ+ people in recent decades.
“This new era of openness in Britain has led to an environment where more people are free to be themselves and are more confident in their sexual and gender identity.”
Nancy Kelley, CEO of Stonewall, said: “This ground-breaking new report shows that our lives as LGBTQ+ people are more visible and connected to our friends and families.”
She added that it indicated a “profound sea-change in our identity and orientation” as a nation.
The Stonewall figures come following the latest official UK statistics for the year 2020 on sexuality, published by the Office for National Statistics, which found that the proportion of the UK population aged 16 years and over who identified as heterosexual or straight was 93.6 per cent in 2020; there has been a “decreasing trend” since records began in 2014.
It also found that people aged 16 to 24 years continue to be the most likely of all age cohorts to identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual in 2020 (eight per cent).
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/mo ... 47244.html
Re: LGBTQ COMMUNITY
The Advocate
Gay Palestinian Man Beheaded After Receiving Death Threats
Trudy Ring
Fri, October 7, 2022 at 12:44 PM
Abu Ahmad Murhia
A gay Palestinian man who had been living in Israel for two years while awaiting asylum in Canada was found beheaded Wednesday, and a suspect has been arrested after circulating images on social media.
The body of Ahmad Abu Marhia, 25, was discovered in the city of Hebron, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports. He had received death threats for being gay, but police said they had not determined a motive for the crime. Some friends of Marhia’s said he had been kidnapped.
Palestinian Authority police arrested a suspect near the scene, according to The Times of Israel. The suspect, whose name was not released, had recorded a video of the killing and put it on social media. A police spokesman said this was “a new kind of crime in Palestine” and urged people not to share the video, the Times reports.
“The heart aches at the murder of Ahmad Hakam Hamdi Abu Marhia,” said a statement from the LGBTQ Task Force, an Israeli group, quoted by Haaretz. “Ahmad fled to Israel from the Palestinian Authority two years ago, after being persecuted and threatened over his sexual orientation. Yesterday, two months before he was supposed to begin a new life in Canada, we learned of his brutal murder in Hebron, which was disseminated on social media. This is painful and bloody reminder of the harsh situation facing LGBTQ asylum-seekers who are persecuted within the PA, often exposed to real threats of murder, and seeking to reach Israel and find asylum in it.”
Activist Natali Farah told Haaretz that Marhia was “a pleasant and sensitive guy, always appreciative and grateful. He had goals he sought to achieve in life, he found a good job, and it seemed like it was all going to work out for him.”
“Many Palestinian LGBTQ people and therapists knew and appreciated him,” she added. “He was at many shelters and frameworks. Everyone is scared now.”
Palestinian sources condemned the crime as well, with a host on the Karama radio station saying it “crossed every single red line in our society, whether in terms of morals, customs, or basic humanity,” the Times notes.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ga ... 42666.html
Gay Palestinian Man Beheaded After Receiving Death Threats
Trudy Ring
Fri, October 7, 2022 at 12:44 PM
Abu Ahmad Murhia
A gay Palestinian man who had been living in Israel for two years while awaiting asylum in Canada was found beheaded Wednesday, and a suspect has been arrested after circulating images on social media.
The body of Ahmad Abu Marhia, 25, was discovered in the city of Hebron, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports. He had received death threats for being gay, but police said they had not determined a motive for the crime. Some friends of Marhia’s said he had been kidnapped.
Palestinian Authority police arrested a suspect near the scene, according to The Times of Israel. The suspect, whose name was not released, had recorded a video of the killing and put it on social media. A police spokesman said this was “a new kind of crime in Palestine” and urged people not to share the video, the Times reports.
“The heart aches at the murder of Ahmad Hakam Hamdi Abu Marhia,” said a statement from the LGBTQ Task Force, an Israeli group, quoted by Haaretz. “Ahmad fled to Israel from the Palestinian Authority two years ago, after being persecuted and threatened over his sexual orientation. Yesterday, two months before he was supposed to begin a new life in Canada, we learned of his brutal murder in Hebron, which was disseminated on social media. This is painful and bloody reminder of the harsh situation facing LGBTQ asylum-seekers who are persecuted within the PA, often exposed to real threats of murder, and seeking to reach Israel and find asylum in it.”
Activist Natali Farah told Haaretz that Marhia was “a pleasant and sensitive guy, always appreciative and grateful. He had goals he sought to achieve in life, he found a good job, and it seemed like it was all going to work out for him.”
“Many Palestinian LGBTQ people and therapists knew and appreciated him,” she added. “He was at many shelters and frameworks. Everyone is scared now.”
Palestinian sources condemned the crime as well, with a host on the Karama radio station saying it “crossed every single red line in our society, whether in terms of morals, customs, or basic humanity,” the Times notes.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ga ... 42666.html
Re: LGBTQ COMMUNITY
The Advocate
Taliban Execute Gay Man, Send Video of Killing to Victim’s Family
Donald Padgett
Mon, October 17, 2022 at 3:10 PM
A gay man was executed in Afghanistan by members of the Taliban recently, who then sent video of the horrific murder to the man’s family.
Activists from the local fledgling LGBTQ+ activist group Behesht Collective told Pink News extremists from the Taliban kidnapped Hamed Sabouri, 22, from Kabul, videotaped shooting him in the back of the head, and then sent tape of the murder to Sabouri’s mother. The kidnapping and execution took place in August, but is only now being reported in the media.
“Life is hell for every LGBT Afghan,” Bahar, a gay man and member of Behesht Collective, told the outlet, also adding that, “Taliban terrorists are worse than wild animals.”
Bahar was a friend of Sabouri, and said the shy young man had dreams of becoming a doctor before the Taliban seized power last year following the abrupt departure of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan. Since then, the Taliban have commenced a campaign of targeting, torturing, and killing anyone suspected of being LGBTQ+, creating a climate of fear and terror.
Bahar said he learned of Sabouri’s execution via cell phone, causing him to immediately delete all pictures of and communications with Sabouri. The Taliban will regularly seize the phones of men suspected of being gay. Some gay men in the country have been scrubbing or even deleting their social media accounts, as the Taliban will regularly search for profiles with LGBTQ+ content.
Another friend placed blame for Sabouri’s execution murder squarely on the shoulders of the U.S. and its coalition partners, saying their inaction resulted in the death of Sabouri and untold others.
“His execution was deliberate and outside of any legal framework,” Nemat Sadat told Pink News. “I don’t understand how people in good conscience around the world sit idle while the Taliban continue to rule with a total disregard for human life.”
Sadat, an activist who helps gay men flee across the border to neighboring Pakistan, said he has chosen to stay in the country and help others escape the terror.
Last year, a gay man using the pseudonym Gabir reported his boyfriend had been seized by the Taliban. After his execution, they returned his dismembered body parts as a warning. Another gay man now in hiding for his safety reported last year that he was burned and tortured by the Taliban. Earlier this year, a gay nonbinary person reported they felt “alone” after the Taliban tortured and stabbed them 18 times with a knife.
“Shame on you, it is our time to finish people like you,” the unidentified stabbing victim said his attackers told him.
Sadly, Sadat believes the worst is yet to come.
“The death of Hamed Sabouri is further proof that the Taliban will not stop until they eradicate all gay people from Afghanistan,” Sadat said.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ta ... 11287.html
Taliban Execute Gay Man, Send Video of Killing to Victim’s Family
Donald Padgett
Mon, October 17, 2022 at 3:10 PM
A gay man was executed in Afghanistan by members of the Taliban recently, who then sent video of the horrific murder to the man’s family.
Activists from the local fledgling LGBTQ+ activist group Behesht Collective told Pink News extremists from the Taliban kidnapped Hamed Sabouri, 22, from Kabul, videotaped shooting him in the back of the head, and then sent tape of the murder to Sabouri’s mother. The kidnapping and execution took place in August, but is only now being reported in the media.
“Life is hell for every LGBT Afghan,” Bahar, a gay man and member of Behesht Collective, told the outlet, also adding that, “Taliban terrorists are worse than wild animals.”
Bahar was a friend of Sabouri, and said the shy young man had dreams of becoming a doctor before the Taliban seized power last year following the abrupt departure of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan. Since then, the Taliban have commenced a campaign of targeting, torturing, and killing anyone suspected of being LGBTQ+, creating a climate of fear and terror.
Bahar said he learned of Sabouri’s execution via cell phone, causing him to immediately delete all pictures of and communications with Sabouri. The Taliban will regularly seize the phones of men suspected of being gay. Some gay men in the country have been scrubbing or even deleting their social media accounts, as the Taliban will regularly search for profiles with LGBTQ+ content.
Another friend placed blame for Sabouri’s execution murder squarely on the shoulders of the U.S. and its coalition partners, saying their inaction resulted in the death of Sabouri and untold others.
“His execution was deliberate and outside of any legal framework,” Nemat Sadat told Pink News. “I don’t understand how people in good conscience around the world sit idle while the Taliban continue to rule with a total disregard for human life.”
Sadat, an activist who helps gay men flee across the border to neighboring Pakistan, said he has chosen to stay in the country and help others escape the terror.
Last year, a gay man using the pseudonym Gabir reported his boyfriend had been seized by the Taliban. After his execution, they returned his dismembered body parts as a warning. Another gay man now in hiding for his safety reported last year that he was burned and tortured by the Taliban. Earlier this year, a gay nonbinary person reported they felt “alone” after the Taliban tortured and stabbed them 18 times with a knife.
“Shame on you, it is our time to finish people like you,” the unidentified stabbing victim said his attackers told him.
Sadly, Sadat believes the worst is yet to come.
“The death of Hamed Sabouri is further proof that the Taliban will not stop until they eradicate all gay people from Afghanistan,” Sadat said.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ta ... 11287.html
Re: LGBTQ COMMUNITY
Meryl Sebastian - BBC News, Kochi
Fri, November 25, 2022 at 6:24 PM
Adhila Nasarin and Fathima Noora posed for a wedding photoshoot last month
"There's freedom now, we can live our dreams."
Adhila Nasarin and Fathima Noora made headlines earlier this year when a court in the southern Indian state of Kerala reunited the two women after they had been forcibly separated by their parents.
The women had petitioned a court against the opposition they faced after they came out to their families.
Last month, they made headlines again. This time, for a wedding photoshoot in which the couple posed as brides.
Decked in silver jewellery and dressed in embellished brown and deep blue lehengas (long skirts), they beamed as they exchanged rings and rose garlands under a canopy by the seaside in Ernakulam district.
When Ms Noora, 23, shared the photos on her Facebook page - captioned "Achievement unlocked: together forever" - congratulations poured in for the happy couple.
"We just tried the photoshoot because we thought the idea was interesting," Ms Nasarin told the BBC over the phone.
Adhila Nasarin and Fathima Noora
The two women had petitioned the court for help in June after they were forcibly separated by their families
The women are among several queer couples who have participated in such photoshoots.
"We're not married yet," Ms Nasarin says. "But at some point, we'd like to be."
India's Supreme Court decriminalized gay sex in 2018 after a decades-long legal battle by activists and LGBTQ+ groups. Over the years, awareness about the community has increased, but members still face stigma and a resistance to complete acceptance.
Ms Noora and Ms Nasarin are all too familiar with this. The couple say they still face threats of separation from Ms Noora's family.
In India, same-sex marriages have no legal sanction, though petitions for legalisation are under consideration in the Delhi high court and the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, many gay couples have been participating in commitment ceremonies.
Ms Noora and Ms Nasarin have sanction from the Kerala high court to be together, but they do not have the privileges or rights that a married couple would enjoy in India.
"If we fill out any form, they ask for a wife, husband or father's name," Ms Nasarin explains. "At my workplace and elsewhere, I still have to use my father's name. We were at a hospital recently and had to give our fathers' names. It was frustrating."
This is all the more difficult because the women are not on good terms with their families.
In the absence of support from their families and the community they grew up in, the women rely on each other and LGBTQ+ groups like Vanaja Collective which helped them come together.
Ms Noora and Ms Nasarin met in high school and became close. They spent three years apart after leaving school while living with their families in different districts of Kerala as they worked on getting college degrees, making do with occasional calls and chats when they could.
Finish your education and get a job first - this was the advice they received from support groups they reached out to.
It's the same advice they now offer others who reach out to them.
Ms Nasarin says they knew it would not be easy to leave their conservative families to be together.
"In our community, a lot of people do not have a good educational background. When we try to help people find jobs, this lack of education can become a hindrance," Ms Nasarin says.
This is why they advise anyone who may be in their position to become financially independent.
"Having a job is very important in being able to live your own life," Ms Noora says. "The financial security means you are not at the mercy of someone else."
Since the court order, the two women say they miss nothing from their past.
The freedom they feel is evident from the parts of their lives they share on social media.
Once limited to a shot of holding hands or the backs of their heads, their photos now show them building their lives together - goofing around with Instagram Reels, hanging out with friends and raising a dog together.
"There's nothing I would change right now," Ms Noora says. "It's like we've left toxicity behind."
The couple say they continue to be moved by the support they have received from people. They've given several interviews, featured in a popular women's magazine and on a TV show in the state where their story has been hailed as one of strength and courage.
"Now even if we wear a mask and glasses, people recognise us," Ms Nasarin says. And so far, public attention has been warm and encouraging.
Their families, they say, still believe that their relationship is a passing phase and similar comments crop up on their Facebook and Instagram pages.
Along with well-wishers who extend support and cheer them on are detractors who tell them they have set a bad example and that they should get married to men.
Once in a while, Ms Noora and Ms Nasarin respond on Instagram to comments that seem particularly egregious.
But their response is not without humour.
Recently, when an Instagram user wrote that their sexuality had to be a phase because he'd never seen a lesbian older than 40, they responded with: "Wait till we're 40."
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/no ... 43455.html
Fri, November 25, 2022 at 6:24 PM
Adhila Nasarin and Fathima Noora posed for a wedding photoshoot last month
"There's freedom now, we can live our dreams."
Adhila Nasarin and Fathima Noora made headlines earlier this year when a court in the southern Indian state of Kerala reunited the two women after they had been forcibly separated by their parents.
The women had petitioned a court against the opposition they faced after they came out to their families.
Last month, they made headlines again. This time, for a wedding photoshoot in which the couple posed as brides.
Decked in silver jewellery and dressed in embellished brown and deep blue lehengas (long skirts), they beamed as they exchanged rings and rose garlands under a canopy by the seaside in Ernakulam district.
When Ms Noora, 23, shared the photos on her Facebook page - captioned "Achievement unlocked: together forever" - congratulations poured in for the happy couple.
"We just tried the photoshoot because we thought the idea was interesting," Ms Nasarin told the BBC over the phone.
Adhila Nasarin and Fathima Noora
The two women had petitioned the court for help in June after they were forcibly separated by their families
The women are among several queer couples who have participated in such photoshoots.
"We're not married yet," Ms Nasarin says. "But at some point, we'd like to be."
India's Supreme Court decriminalized gay sex in 2018 after a decades-long legal battle by activists and LGBTQ+ groups. Over the years, awareness about the community has increased, but members still face stigma and a resistance to complete acceptance.
Ms Noora and Ms Nasarin are all too familiar with this. The couple say they still face threats of separation from Ms Noora's family.
In India, same-sex marriages have no legal sanction, though petitions for legalisation are under consideration in the Delhi high court and the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, many gay couples have been participating in commitment ceremonies.
Ms Noora and Ms Nasarin have sanction from the Kerala high court to be together, but they do not have the privileges or rights that a married couple would enjoy in India.
"If we fill out any form, they ask for a wife, husband or father's name," Ms Nasarin explains. "At my workplace and elsewhere, I still have to use my father's name. We were at a hospital recently and had to give our fathers' names. It was frustrating."
This is all the more difficult because the women are not on good terms with their families.
In the absence of support from their families and the community they grew up in, the women rely on each other and LGBTQ+ groups like Vanaja Collective which helped them come together.
Ms Noora and Ms Nasarin met in high school and became close. They spent three years apart after leaving school while living with their families in different districts of Kerala as they worked on getting college degrees, making do with occasional calls and chats when they could.
Finish your education and get a job first - this was the advice they received from support groups they reached out to.
It's the same advice they now offer others who reach out to them.
Ms Nasarin says they knew it would not be easy to leave their conservative families to be together.
"In our community, a lot of people do not have a good educational background. When we try to help people find jobs, this lack of education can become a hindrance," Ms Nasarin says.
This is why they advise anyone who may be in their position to become financially independent.
"Having a job is very important in being able to live your own life," Ms Noora says. "The financial security means you are not at the mercy of someone else."
Since the court order, the two women say they miss nothing from their past.
The freedom they feel is evident from the parts of their lives they share on social media.
Once limited to a shot of holding hands or the backs of their heads, their photos now show them building their lives together - goofing around with Instagram Reels, hanging out with friends and raising a dog together.
"There's nothing I would change right now," Ms Noora says. "It's like we've left toxicity behind."
The couple say they continue to be moved by the support they have received from people. They've given several interviews, featured in a popular women's magazine and on a TV show in the state where their story has been hailed as one of strength and courage.
"Now even if we wear a mask and glasses, people recognise us," Ms Nasarin says. And so far, public attention has been warm and encouraging.
Their families, they say, still believe that their relationship is a passing phase and similar comments crop up on their Facebook and Instagram pages.
Along with well-wishers who extend support and cheer them on are detractors who tell them they have set a bad example and that they should get married to men.
Once in a while, Ms Noora and Ms Nasarin respond on Instagram to comments that seem particularly egregious.
But their response is not without humour.
Recently, when an Instagram user wrote that their sexuality had to be a phase because he'd never seen a lesbian older than 40, they responded with: "Wait till we're 40."
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/no ... 43455.html
Re: LGBTQ COMMUNITY
Reuters
Lebanon moves to ban 'Barbie' film for 'promoting homosexuality'
People walk past a promotional poster of film "Barbie" in Tokyo
Updated Wed, August 9, 2023 at 7:21 PM CDT
BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon's culture minister moved to ban the film "Barbie" from cinemas on Wednesday, saying it "promotes homosexuality" and contradicts religious values.
Minister Mohammad Mortada is backed by powerful Shi'ite armed group Hezbollah, whose head Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has ramped up his rhetoric against the LGBT community, referring in a recent speech to Islamic texts that call for punishing offenders with death.
Mortada's decision said the film was found to "promote homosexuality and sexual transformation" and "contradicts values of faith and morality" by diminishing the importance of the family unit.
Based on Mortada's move, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi in turn asked General Security's censorship committee, which falls under the interior ministry and is traditionally responsible for censorship decisions, to review the film and give its recommendation.
Kuwait followed in Lebanon's footsteps later in the day, saying it had banned "Barbie" and supernatural horror film "Talk to Me" to protect "public ethics and social traditions", the state news agency said.
Lebanon was the first Arab country to hold a gay pride week in 2017 and has generally been seen as a safe haven for the LGBT community in the broadly conservative Middle East.
But the issue has come into sharper focus recently, sparking tensions. Mawlawi last year took a decision to ban events "promoting sexual perversion" in Lebanon, understood to refer to LGBT-friendly gatherings.
In a speech last month, Nasrallah called on Lebanese authorities to take action against materials he deemed to be promoting homosexuality, including by "banning" them.
He said homosexuality posed an "imminent danger" to Lebanon and should be "confronted". In the case of a homosexual act, Nasrallah said in late July, "from the first time, even if he is unmarried, he is killed".
On Tuesday, Lebanon's cabinet urged citizens to "cling" to family values following a meeting with the country's top Christian cleric Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai, although it did not mention the LGBT community specifically.
Ayman Mhanna, executive director at the non-profit civic Samir Kassir Foundation, told Reuters that Mortada's move came amid "a wave of bigotry".
"This is part of a broader campaign that is bringing together Hezbollah, the Christian far right, and other top religious leaders in a focused campaign against LGBT people," Mhanna said.
Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, the movie sends Mattel Inc's doll on an adventure into the real world. The film has topped $1 billion in box office ticket sales worldwide since its July 21 debut.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily; Editing by Toby Chopra, Nick Macfie & Shri Navaratnam)
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/le ... 04212.html
Lebanon moves to ban 'Barbie' film for 'promoting homosexuality'
People walk past a promotional poster of film "Barbie" in Tokyo
Updated Wed, August 9, 2023 at 7:21 PM CDT
BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon's culture minister moved to ban the film "Barbie" from cinemas on Wednesday, saying it "promotes homosexuality" and contradicts religious values.
Minister Mohammad Mortada is backed by powerful Shi'ite armed group Hezbollah, whose head Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has ramped up his rhetoric against the LGBT community, referring in a recent speech to Islamic texts that call for punishing offenders with death.
Mortada's decision said the film was found to "promote homosexuality and sexual transformation" and "contradicts values of faith and morality" by diminishing the importance of the family unit.
Based on Mortada's move, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi in turn asked General Security's censorship committee, which falls under the interior ministry and is traditionally responsible for censorship decisions, to review the film and give its recommendation.
Kuwait followed in Lebanon's footsteps later in the day, saying it had banned "Barbie" and supernatural horror film "Talk to Me" to protect "public ethics and social traditions", the state news agency said.
Lebanon was the first Arab country to hold a gay pride week in 2017 and has generally been seen as a safe haven for the LGBT community in the broadly conservative Middle East.
But the issue has come into sharper focus recently, sparking tensions. Mawlawi last year took a decision to ban events "promoting sexual perversion" in Lebanon, understood to refer to LGBT-friendly gatherings.
In a speech last month, Nasrallah called on Lebanese authorities to take action against materials he deemed to be promoting homosexuality, including by "banning" them.
He said homosexuality posed an "imminent danger" to Lebanon and should be "confronted". In the case of a homosexual act, Nasrallah said in late July, "from the first time, even if he is unmarried, he is killed".
On Tuesday, Lebanon's cabinet urged citizens to "cling" to family values following a meeting with the country's top Christian cleric Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai, although it did not mention the LGBT community specifically.
Ayman Mhanna, executive director at the non-profit civic Samir Kassir Foundation, told Reuters that Mortada's move came amid "a wave of bigotry".
"This is part of a broader campaign that is bringing together Hezbollah, the Christian far right, and other top religious leaders in a focused campaign against LGBT people," Mhanna said.
Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, the movie sends Mattel Inc's doll on an adventure into the real world. The film has topped $1 billion in box office ticket sales worldwide since its July 21 debut.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily; Editing by Toby Chopra, Nick Macfie & Shri Navaratnam)
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/le ... 04212.html
Re: LGBTQ COMMUNITY
Reuters
First Ugandan charged with 'aggravated homosexuality' punishable by death
Updated Mon, August 28, 2023 at 2:59 PM CDT
KAMPALA (Reuters) - A 20-year-old man has become the first Ugandan to be charged with "aggravated homosexuality", an offence punishable by death under the country's recently enacted anti-gay law, prosecutors and his lawyer said.
Defying pressure from Western governments and rights organisations, Uganda in May enacted one of the world's harshest laws targeting the LGBT community.
It prescribes life in prison for same-sex intercourse. The death penalty can apply in cases deemed "aggravated", which include repeat offences, gay sex that transmits terminal illness, or same-sex intercourse with a minor, an elderly person or a person with disabilities.
According to a charge sheet seen by Reuters, the defendant was charged on Aug. 18 with aggravated homosexuality after he "performed unlawful sexual intercourse" with a 41-year-old man. It did not specify why the act was considered aggravated.
"Since it is a capital offence triable by the High Court, the charge was read out and explained to him in the Magistrate’s Court on (the) 18th and he was remanded," Jacqueline Okui, spokesperson for the office of the director of public prosecutions, told Reuters.
Okui did not provide additional details about the case. She said she was not aware of anyone else having been previously charged with aggravated homosexuality.
Justine Balya, an attorney for the defendant, said she believed the entire law was unconstitutional. The law has been challenged in court, but the judges have not yet taken up the case.
Balya said four other people have been charged under the law since its enactment and that her client was the first to be prosecuted for aggravated homosexuality. She declined to comment on the specifics of his case.
Uganda has not executed anyone in around two decades, but capital punishment has not been abolished and President Yoweri Museveni threatened in 2018 to resume executions to stop a wave of crime.
The law's enactment three months ago drew widespread condemnation and threats of sanctions. Earlier this month, the World Bank suspended new public financing to Uganda in response to the law.
The United States has also imposed visa restrictions on some Ugandan officials, and President Joe Biden ordered a review of U.S. aid to Uganda.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ex ... 39066.html
First Ugandan charged with 'aggravated homosexuality' punishable by death
Updated Mon, August 28, 2023 at 2:59 PM CDT
KAMPALA (Reuters) - A 20-year-old man has become the first Ugandan to be charged with "aggravated homosexuality", an offence punishable by death under the country's recently enacted anti-gay law, prosecutors and his lawyer said.
Defying pressure from Western governments and rights organisations, Uganda in May enacted one of the world's harshest laws targeting the LGBT community.
It prescribes life in prison for same-sex intercourse. The death penalty can apply in cases deemed "aggravated", which include repeat offences, gay sex that transmits terminal illness, or same-sex intercourse with a minor, an elderly person or a person with disabilities.
According to a charge sheet seen by Reuters, the defendant was charged on Aug. 18 with aggravated homosexuality after he "performed unlawful sexual intercourse" with a 41-year-old man. It did not specify why the act was considered aggravated.
"Since it is a capital offence triable by the High Court, the charge was read out and explained to him in the Magistrate’s Court on (the) 18th and he was remanded," Jacqueline Okui, spokesperson for the office of the director of public prosecutions, told Reuters.
Okui did not provide additional details about the case. She said she was not aware of anyone else having been previously charged with aggravated homosexuality.
Justine Balya, an attorney for the defendant, said she believed the entire law was unconstitutional. The law has been challenged in court, but the judges have not yet taken up the case.
Balya said four other people have been charged under the law since its enactment and that her client was the first to be prosecuted for aggravated homosexuality. She declined to comment on the specifics of his case.
Uganda has not executed anyone in around two decades, but capital punishment has not been abolished and President Yoweri Museveni threatened in 2018 to resume executions to stop a wave of crime.
The law's enactment three months ago drew widespread condemnation and threats of sanctions. Earlier this month, the World Bank suspended new public financing to Uganda in response to the law.
The United States has also imposed visa restrictions on some Ugandan officials, and President Joe Biden ordered a review of U.S. aid to Uganda.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ex ... 39066.html
Re: LGBTQ COMMUNITY
BBC
Punjab: India row after LGBTQ couple marry in Sikh temple
Gagandeep Singh Jassowal - BBC Punjabi
Tue, September 26, 2023 at 4:20 AM CDT
Dimple and Manisha seen on a motorbike
Manisha (left) and Dimple's wedding ceremony was attended by around 70 relatives
While India waits for the Supreme Court's verdict on legalising same-sex marriage, an LGBTQ couple's recent wedding in the northern state of Punjab has made headlines - and also created controversy.
Dimple, 27 - who uses the pronoun he - and Manisha, 21, married in Bathinda city on 18 September with the blessings of their families - something that's highly unusual in a conservative country like India.
But what was even more unusual was that their marriage was solemnised in a gurdwara - a Sikh temple - with the bride and groom performing all traditional rituals.
The wedding has been criticised by some religious leaders, including Sikhism's highest priest Giani Raghbir Singh who declared that "same-sex marriage was unnatural and contrary to Sikh ethics".
The marriage of two women in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib - the holy Sikh scripture - was "a severe moral and religious violation", he said, and instructed the Bathinda gurdwara committee to suspend priest Hardev Singh, who conducted the marriage, and three others from their duties until further notice.
Hardev Singh has since been removed from his position. In his defence, he said that he couldn't figure out that both the bride and the groom were female as one of the women was wearing a turban.
Dimple has questioned the claim, saying that they had provided copies of their identity proof to the gurdwara so there was no reason for confusion.
Dimple is from Mansa district while Manisha is from Bathinda - both are remote areas where LGBTQ+ rights are rarely ever discussed in public. Dimple, an upper-caste Jatt Sikh, and Manisha, a Dalit Hindu, met at a garment factory in Zirakpur, a town near Punjab's capital Chandigarh, where they both worked.
When I met them a few days after their wedding, they looked like any happy newly-wed couple. The couple told me that their Anand Karaj (or Sikh wedding ceremony) was attended by nearly 70 relatives.
In their wedding photographs and videos, Dimple appears dressed as a traditional Sikh groom with the customary garland of flowers tied to his maroon turban, while his bride Manisha is wearing a maroon and gold tunic, salwar bottoms and a silk scarf and both her arms are covered with red bangles.
Dimple, who mostly dresses in a shirt and trousers and keeps his hair short, says when he told his parents that he had no interest in boys, they understood and "extended their support, expressing joy in his happiness".
An only child, he once contemplated gender reassignment surgery and even consulted a doctor, but decided against it as his parents were concerned about the procedure's outcomes.
It was in 2017 after he moved to Zirakpur for work that he became more aware of LGBTQ+ issues. "There, I met like-minded friends who understood my situation and I also gained awareness from YouTube," he says.
Historic India same sex marriage hearing enters day two
'My parents were ready to kill me for their honour'
Manisha, says Dimple, wasn't his first love. "I was in a relationship with a girl for five years. Earlier this year, we broke up. Then I dated another girl for three-four months, but that also didn't work out."
Manisha, who was then a co-worker and a friend, often helped him resolve his differences with his girlfriend.
"That's when I realised that Manisha could be a better partner for me. She also enjoyed my company, we grew closer and had long chats. So, we officially became a couple a month ago," says Dimple.
Manisha says he proposed to her over the phone just three or four days after they began their relationship, adding that she readily accepted. "A woman needs a life partner who understands her, respects her, showers her with love, and treats her like a child."
But it did take some effort to convince her parents that she wanted to marry Dimple.
"My mother told me it's not possible to marry a girl. Eventually, I convinced her that if she wanted my happiness, then she had to let me marry who I wanted. Once she agreed, she also persuaded my father."
Dimple and Manisha's wedding sparked controversy in the state's Sikh community
Their parents then met and the wedding date was finalised. As Dimple is a practising Sikh, his parents say he wanted to marry following Sikh rituals so they approached the gurdwara priest.
The couple insist that they never hid their identities and show the marriage certificate Bathinda gurdwara committee has issued them.
India decriminalised gay sex in 2018, but same-sex marriages still lack official recognition. The Supreme Court recently heard a slew of petitions seeking marriage equality and judgement is due soon.
So at the moment, a same-sex marriage is not legal in India which means that Dimple and Manisha cannot access rights enjoyed by heterosexual married couples, but at the same time, experts say it is not considered a felony.
But the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, the apex religious body of Sikhism says it is investigating if there have been any violations of religious codes.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/in ... 13111.html
Punjab: India row after LGBTQ couple marry in Sikh temple
Gagandeep Singh Jassowal - BBC Punjabi
Tue, September 26, 2023 at 4:20 AM CDT
Dimple and Manisha seen on a motorbike
Manisha (left) and Dimple's wedding ceremony was attended by around 70 relatives
While India waits for the Supreme Court's verdict on legalising same-sex marriage, an LGBTQ couple's recent wedding in the northern state of Punjab has made headlines - and also created controversy.
Dimple, 27 - who uses the pronoun he - and Manisha, 21, married in Bathinda city on 18 September with the blessings of their families - something that's highly unusual in a conservative country like India.
But what was even more unusual was that their marriage was solemnised in a gurdwara - a Sikh temple - with the bride and groom performing all traditional rituals.
The wedding has been criticised by some religious leaders, including Sikhism's highest priest Giani Raghbir Singh who declared that "same-sex marriage was unnatural and contrary to Sikh ethics".
The marriage of two women in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib - the holy Sikh scripture - was "a severe moral and religious violation", he said, and instructed the Bathinda gurdwara committee to suspend priest Hardev Singh, who conducted the marriage, and three others from their duties until further notice.
Hardev Singh has since been removed from his position. In his defence, he said that he couldn't figure out that both the bride and the groom were female as one of the women was wearing a turban.
Dimple has questioned the claim, saying that they had provided copies of their identity proof to the gurdwara so there was no reason for confusion.
Dimple is from Mansa district while Manisha is from Bathinda - both are remote areas where LGBTQ+ rights are rarely ever discussed in public. Dimple, an upper-caste Jatt Sikh, and Manisha, a Dalit Hindu, met at a garment factory in Zirakpur, a town near Punjab's capital Chandigarh, where they both worked.
When I met them a few days after their wedding, they looked like any happy newly-wed couple. The couple told me that their Anand Karaj (or Sikh wedding ceremony) was attended by nearly 70 relatives.
In their wedding photographs and videos, Dimple appears dressed as a traditional Sikh groom with the customary garland of flowers tied to his maroon turban, while his bride Manisha is wearing a maroon and gold tunic, salwar bottoms and a silk scarf and both her arms are covered with red bangles.
Dimple, who mostly dresses in a shirt and trousers and keeps his hair short, says when he told his parents that he had no interest in boys, they understood and "extended their support, expressing joy in his happiness".
An only child, he once contemplated gender reassignment surgery and even consulted a doctor, but decided against it as his parents were concerned about the procedure's outcomes.
It was in 2017 after he moved to Zirakpur for work that he became more aware of LGBTQ+ issues. "There, I met like-minded friends who understood my situation and I also gained awareness from YouTube," he says.
Historic India same sex marriage hearing enters day two
'My parents were ready to kill me for their honour'
Manisha, says Dimple, wasn't his first love. "I was in a relationship with a girl for five years. Earlier this year, we broke up. Then I dated another girl for three-four months, but that also didn't work out."
Manisha, who was then a co-worker and a friend, often helped him resolve his differences with his girlfriend.
"That's when I realised that Manisha could be a better partner for me. She also enjoyed my company, we grew closer and had long chats. So, we officially became a couple a month ago," says Dimple.
Manisha says he proposed to her over the phone just three or four days after they began their relationship, adding that she readily accepted. "A woman needs a life partner who understands her, respects her, showers her with love, and treats her like a child."
But it did take some effort to convince her parents that she wanted to marry Dimple.
"My mother told me it's not possible to marry a girl. Eventually, I convinced her that if she wanted my happiness, then she had to let me marry who I wanted. Once she agreed, she also persuaded my father."
Dimple and Manisha's wedding sparked controversy in the state's Sikh community
Their parents then met and the wedding date was finalised. As Dimple is a practising Sikh, his parents say he wanted to marry following Sikh rituals so they approached the gurdwara priest.
The couple insist that they never hid their identities and show the marriage certificate Bathinda gurdwara committee has issued them.
India decriminalised gay sex in 2018, but same-sex marriages still lack official recognition. The Supreme Court recently heard a slew of petitions seeking marriage equality and judgement is due soon.
So at the moment, a same-sex marriage is not legal in India which means that Dimple and Manisha cannot access rights enjoyed by heterosexual married couples, but at the same time, experts say it is not considered a felony.
But the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, the apex religious body of Sikhism says it is investigating if there have been any violations of religious codes.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/in ... 13111.html
Re: LGBTQ COMMUNITY
CNN
Argentina once led on LGBTQ rights. After 4 lesbians are set on fire, critics blame rising intolerance on Milei’s government
Michael Rios, CNN
Sat, July 6, 2024 at 5:03 PM CDT·
It was an attack that sent shockwaves through a country long considered a pioneer in LGBTQ rights. In the early hours of May 6, four lesbian women were set on fire in Argentina. Only one of them survived.
It happened at a boarding house in the Barracas neighborhood of Buenos Aires, where Pamela Fabiana Cobas, Mercedes Roxana Figueroa, Andrea Amarante and Sofía Castro Riglo were sharing a room. Witnesses say a man broke in and threw an incendiary device that set the women on fire.
Pamela died soon after. Her partner Roxana died days later of organ failure. Andrea died on May 12 in a hospital.
Andrea’s partner Sofía was the sole survivor. She spent weeks recovering in hospital and is alive today only because Andrea threw herself on top of her to shield her from the flames, Sofia’s attorney Gabriela Conder told CNN. “Her partner saved her,” Conder said.
Local LGBTQ rights advocates condemned the attack as a hate crime and lesbicide, saying the women were targeted because of their sexual identity. Police have arrested a 62-year-old man who lived in the building but, according to Conder, aren’t currently treating the incident as a hate crime as they say the motive is still unclear.
For Argentina’s LGBTQ groups – many of whom are planning to commemorate the four women with a rally this weekend – the attack represents an extreme manifestation of what they consider a growing wave of hostility against them. Those they blame most for this rising intolerance are the people in power. Chief among them, they say, is the country’s new far-right leader Javier Milei.
“Since the beginning of the new government, there are national government officials expressing themselves in a discriminatory manner and those hate speeches before our communities from places with so much power, of course, what they do is generate – actually legitimize – and endorse these discriminatory positions that are then expressed with violence and discrimination in everyday life,” Rachid said.
Milei under fire
When Milei ran for president in 2023, he and his party were accused of making offensive remarks against LGBTQ communities which were deemed hate speech by multiple groups, including Argentina’s National Observatory of LGBTQ Hate Crimes.
In a YouTube interview ahead of the November election, Milei insisted that he does not oppose same-sex marriage, but in that same interview, he went on to compare homosexuality to having sex with animals.
“What do I care what your sexual preference is? If you want to be with an elephant, and you have the consent of that elephant, that’s a problem between you and the elephant,” he said, angering LGBTQ communities, who called the comments dehumanizing.
In late October, then-congresswoman-elect Diana Mondino, who would later become Milei’s foreign minister, told an interviewer that she supports marriage equality in theory, but at the same time, compared it to having lice.
“As a liberal, I’m in favor of each person’s life project. It is much broader than marriage equality. Let me exaggerate: If you prefer not to bathe and be full of lice and it is your choice, that’s it. Don’t complain later if there is someone who doesn’t like that you have lice,” she said.
After taking office in December, Milei took steps that critics say weakened protections for LGBTQ groups. He banned the use of gender-inclusive language in government; replaced the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity with a less powerful undersecretariat within the Ministry of Human Capital; and effectively closed the national anti-discrimination agency, saying the Ministry of Justice would absorb its functions.
Milei’s administration argued that some of those moves were part of his plan to cut public spending in response to the country’s economic hardships. But critics say his actions have normalized a culture of discrimination toward LGBTQ groups, and in the most extreme cases, have led to violent attacks such as the deadly May 6 arson.
“When hate speech is enabled by those in power, these sectors start to feel legitimized to attack,” Esteban Paulón, a former FALGBT president who was elected to Congress last year, told CNN in a phone interview. “And obviously, behind the verbal attacks come physical attacks.”
“(Attacks) always happened. That’s the reality. But they increased more in this current government due to the hate speeches constantly maintained on television, including hate speeches that our president Javier Milei exerts,” said Jesi Hernández, a lesbian and communication member of Lesbianxs Autoconvocadxs por la masacre de Barracas (Self-convened Lesbians for the Barracas massacre).
“Today it was Pamela, Roxana, Andrea and Sofía. And tomorrow it can be me.”
CNN has repeatedly reached out to the presidency for comment on these allegations but has not received a response.
Rise in hate crimes
In 2023, an annual report by the National Observatory of LGBTQ Hate Crimes recorded 133 crimes in which the victims’ sexual orientation, identity and/or gender expression were used as a pretext for the attacks. Those numbers rose from 2022 and 2021, when 129 and 120 crimes were recorded, respectively.
Rachid points out that the observatory’s numbers only represent attacks that have been officially recorded, and that the real figures are likely much higher.
Hernández, meanwhile, notes that daily life for many people has been impacted in ways not shown by statistics alone. Some now fear they could be targeted next.
“The truth is that now, sleeping peacefully in your bed is a privilege,” Hernández said, referencing the May 6 attack, “because you don’t know if you have a neighbor who will throw something at you or come in. Sleeping is now a privilege for us.”
Despite calls from LGBTQ activists, the arson is currently being investigated as an aggravated homicide rather than a hate crime, according to Conder, Sofia’s attorney. Sofia is set to testify at the end of the month, Conder said. CNN has reached out to the criminal court investigating the case but has not received a response.
Shortly after the May 6 killings, the presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni condemned the attack but dismissed the notion that it was motivated by hatred toward the sexual orientation of the victims.
“I don’t like to define it as an attack on a certain group,” Adorni said at a press conference. “There are many women and men who are suffering violence and these are things that cannot continue to happen.”
Progressives condemned his remarks, insisting that the government should regard lesbicide as a hate crime.
Adorni responded on social media with a picture of a Spanish dictionary that said lesbicide is not a registered word.
Progress in Argentina
Argentina was once a progressive pioneer in Latin America.
In 2010, it became the first country in the region to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2021, it also became the first to allow nonbinary people to mark their gender as “X” on national identity documents.
LGBTQ activists fear these historic gains are now being undermined – and potentially threatened – by the current government. But they also take comfort in surveys that suggest anti-LGBTQ views are the minority in Argentina.
According to a public opinion survey conducted in May by the University of San Andrés, some 72% of respondents said they are in favor of marriage equality, 70% said they support policies that protect transgender people from discrimination, 75% said they do not consider that transsexuality is a disease that should be treated medically, and 79% said that comprehensive sexuality education in schools is a positive thing.
The recent attacks have galvanized activists to fight for new policies and actions that would further protect LGBTQ rights.
Congressman Paulón told CNN that lawmakers are working with rights groups on various laws that would, among other things, punish discriminatory acts, prevent harassment in schools, and ban efforts to try to “correct” people’s sexual orientation, identity and gender.
He also said that to reduce attacks on LGBTQ communities, their voices and demands should be amplified in more societal sectors.
To that end, Hernández encouraged LGBTQ groups to push back against hate speech, telling those communities: “They are not insane, they are not sick, they are not people with lice. Quite the opposite. I would tell them that they are a disruptive person, that they are breaking out of the molds of ‘normality.’ And that they are very brave … and that they are whatever they want to be, despite all this.”
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ar ... 54216.html
Argentina once led on LGBTQ rights. After 4 lesbians are set on fire, critics blame rising intolerance on Milei’s government
Michael Rios, CNN
Sat, July 6, 2024 at 5:03 PM CDT·
It was an attack that sent shockwaves through a country long considered a pioneer in LGBTQ rights. In the early hours of May 6, four lesbian women were set on fire in Argentina. Only one of them survived.
It happened at a boarding house in the Barracas neighborhood of Buenos Aires, where Pamela Fabiana Cobas, Mercedes Roxana Figueroa, Andrea Amarante and Sofía Castro Riglo were sharing a room. Witnesses say a man broke in and threw an incendiary device that set the women on fire.
Pamela died soon after. Her partner Roxana died days later of organ failure. Andrea died on May 12 in a hospital.
Andrea’s partner Sofía was the sole survivor. She spent weeks recovering in hospital and is alive today only because Andrea threw herself on top of her to shield her from the flames, Sofia’s attorney Gabriela Conder told CNN. “Her partner saved her,” Conder said.
Local LGBTQ rights advocates condemned the attack as a hate crime and lesbicide, saying the women were targeted because of their sexual identity. Police have arrested a 62-year-old man who lived in the building but, according to Conder, aren’t currently treating the incident as a hate crime as they say the motive is still unclear.
For Argentina’s LGBTQ groups – many of whom are planning to commemorate the four women with a rally this weekend – the attack represents an extreme manifestation of what they consider a growing wave of hostility against them. Those they blame most for this rising intolerance are the people in power. Chief among them, they say, is the country’s new far-right leader Javier Milei.
“Since the beginning of the new government, there are national government officials expressing themselves in a discriminatory manner and those hate speeches before our communities from places with so much power, of course, what they do is generate – actually legitimize – and endorse these discriminatory positions that are then expressed with violence and discrimination in everyday life,” Rachid said.
Milei under fire
When Milei ran for president in 2023, he and his party were accused of making offensive remarks against LGBTQ communities which were deemed hate speech by multiple groups, including Argentina’s National Observatory of LGBTQ Hate Crimes.
In a YouTube interview ahead of the November election, Milei insisted that he does not oppose same-sex marriage, but in that same interview, he went on to compare homosexuality to having sex with animals.
“What do I care what your sexual preference is? If you want to be with an elephant, and you have the consent of that elephant, that’s a problem between you and the elephant,” he said, angering LGBTQ communities, who called the comments dehumanizing.
In late October, then-congresswoman-elect Diana Mondino, who would later become Milei’s foreign minister, told an interviewer that she supports marriage equality in theory, but at the same time, compared it to having lice.
“As a liberal, I’m in favor of each person’s life project. It is much broader than marriage equality. Let me exaggerate: If you prefer not to bathe and be full of lice and it is your choice, that’s it. Don’t complain later if there is someone who doesn’t like that you have lice,” she said.
After taking office in December, Milei took steps that critics say weakened protections for LGBTQ groups. He banned the use of gender-inclusive language in government; replaced the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity with a less powerful undersecretariat within the Ministry of Human Capital; and effectively closed the national anti-discrimination agency, saying the Ministry of Justice would absorb its functions.
Milei’s administration argued that some of those moves were part of his plan to cut public spending in response to the country’s economic hardships. But critics say his actions have normalized a culture of discrimination toward LGBTQ groups, and in the most extreme cases, have led to violent attacks such as the deadly May 6 arson.
“When hate speech is enabled by those in power, these sectors start to feel legitimized to attack,” Esteban Paulón, a former FALGBT president who was elected to Congress last year, told CNN in a phone interview. “And obviously, behind the verbal attacks come physical attacks.”
“(Attacks) always happened. That’s the reality. But they increased more in this current government due to the hate speeches constantly maintained on television, including hate speeches that our president Javier Milei exerts,” said Jesi Hernández, a lesbian and communication member of Lesbianxs Autoconvocadxs por la masacre de Barracas (Self-convened Lesbians for the Barracas massacre).
“Today it was Pamela, Roxana, Andrea and Sofía. And tomorrow it can be me.”
CNN has repeatedly reached out to the presidency for comment on these allegations but has not received a response.
Rise in hate crimes
In 2023, an annual report by the National Observatory of LGBTQ Hate Crimes recorded 133 crimes in which the victims’ sexual orientation, identity and/or gender expression were used as a pretext for the attacks. Those numbers rose from 2022 and 2021, when 129 and 120 crimes were recorded, respectively.
Rachid points out that the observatory’s numbers only represent attacks that have been officially recorded, and that the real figures are likely much higher.
Hernández, meanwhile, notes that daily life for many people has been impacted in ways not shown by statistics alone. Some now fear they could be targeted next.
“The truth is that now, sleeping peacefully in your bed is a privilege,” Hernández said, referencing the May 6 attack, “because you don’t know if you have a neighbor who will throw something at you or come in. Sleeping is now a privilege for us.”
Despite calls from LGBTQ activists, the arson is currently being investigated as an aggravated homicide rather than a hate crime, according to Conder, Sofia’s attorney. Sofia is set to testify at the end of the month, Conder said. CNN has reached out to the criminal court investigating the case but has not received a response.
Shortly after the May 6 killings, the presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni condemned the attack but dismissed the notion that it was motivated by hatred toward the sexual orientation of the victims.
“I don’t like to define it as an attack on a certain group,” Adorni said at a press conference. “There are many women and men who are suffering violence and these are things that cannot continue to happen.”
Progressives condemned his remarks, insisting that the government should regard lesbicide as a hate crime.
Adorni responded on social media with a picture of a Spanish dictionary that said lesbicide is not a registered word.
Progress in Argentina
Argentina was once a progressive pioneer in Latin America.
In 2010, it became the first country in the region to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2021, it also became the first to allow nonbinary people to mark their gender as “X” on national identity documents.
LGBTQ activists fear these historic gains are now being undermined – and potentially threatened – by the current government. But they also take comfort in surveys that suggest anti-LGBTQ views are the minority in Argentina.
According to a public opinion survey conducted in May by the University of San Andrés, some 72% of respondents said they are in favor of marriage equality, 70% said they support policies that protect transgender people from discrimination, 75% said they do not consider that transsexuality is a disease that should be treated medically, and 79% said that comprehensive sexuality education in schools is a positive thing.
The recent attacks have galvanized activists to fight for new policies and actions that would further protect LGBTQ rights.
Congressman Paulón told CNN that lawmakers are working with rights groups on various laws that would, among other things, punish discriminatory acts, prevent harassment in schools, and ban efforts to try to “correct” people’s sexual orientation, identity and gender.
He also said that to reduce attacks on LGBTQ communities, their voices and demands should be amplified in more societal sectors.
To that end, Hernández encouraged LGBTQ groups to push back against hate speech, telling those communities: “They are not insane, they are not sick, they are not people with lice. Quite the opposite. I would tell them that they are a disruptive person, that they are breaking out of the molds of ‘normality.’ And that they are very brave … and that they are whatever they want to be, despite all this.”
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