US Ruling Inspires Awakening on Gay Marriage
The Jakarta Post - Jakarta, Indonesia, 6/30/2015
Although a recent US Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage may not have significant impact on Indonesia, religious leaders say that the landmark decision will inspire recognition of the rights of homosexuals in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. Abdul Mu’ti, deputy secretary-general of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic organisation, said that the impact of the court ruling was inevitable and might encourage support for same-sex marriage in the country. A similar response was voiced by the secretary-general of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), Gomar Gultom, who said the US court ruling would trigger a similar response from related groups in Indonesia, no matter how small.
LGBT Communities Must Speak up More: Activist
The Jakarta Post - Jakarta, Indonesia, 6/29/2015
An activist for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, identifying himself as Dedy, has called on LGBT communities in Indonesia to speak up more to demand greater protection of their rights by the state. Forum LGBT Indonesia, a coalition of LGBT individuals, recorded 47 cases of abuse against gay individuals across the country throughout 2013. These included bullying, physical attacks, verbal abuse and murder, as well as exclusion in the workplace and criminalisation. The director of Suara Kita, an NGO focusing on LGBT rights, Hartoyo, said it was still too far for Indonesia to approve same-sex marriage, which he considered as the peak of the fight for LGBT rights.
UN: Philippine Efforts to Uphold Women’s Rights not Enough
The Philippine Star - Manila, Philippines, 6/29/2015
The Philippines still falls short in preventing the violation of women’s reproductive rights despite its passage of a Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law in 2012, a report of a United Nations committee revealed. Officials of the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) are in Manila to present recently released findings and recommendations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) that the Philippine government has not taken sufficient action to prevent the violation of women’s reproductive rights.
Rainbow DPs on Facebook: Why Does not Mean Much for LGBT Rights in India
The Indian Express, India, 6/29/2015
On Facebook, people are changing profile pictures with gay pride colours thanks to a neat Facebook tool called facebook.com/celebratepride after the US Supreme Court ruled that right to marriage was a Constitutional Right and that same-sex marriage was a part of this. In India, being gay is hardly something one can announce with pride. In 2011, India’s first legally married lesbian couple had to be granted police protection as they faced death threats in their village in the state of Haryana, India.
LGBT Pinoys Celebrate US Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage
The Philippine Star - Manila, Philippines, 6/28/2015
The landmark decision of the US Supreme Court ruling same-sex marriage as a legal right raised hope among members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community that the same could also be legalised in the country. Several hundred LGBT people held a Gay Pride rally on June 27, 2015 at Rizal Park in Manila to celebrate the historic ruling, many carrying placards and streamers that said ‘Fight for Love’ and waving rainbow banners. Some came with pets dressed in rainbow costumes. Sylvia Estrada Claudio, a gender rights advocate and professor of women development studies at the University of the Philippines, said the US court decision was also ‘a triumph for feminism’ because of the ‘intimate connections’ between discrimination based on biological gender and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.
US Report Slams Human Rights Record of Pakistan, India
The Nation, Pakistan, 6/27/2015
Extrajudicial and targeted killings, disappearances, torture, lack of rule of law and sectarian violence were cited as Pakistan's ‘most serious’ human rights problems in a US government report, which also noted that the ‘orderly transitions’ in the military (chief of staff) and the judiciary (Supreme Court chief justice) solidified the democratic transition. The most serious human rights problems were extrajudicial and targeted killings, disappearances, torture, lack of rule of law (including lack of due process, poor implementation and enforcement of laws, and frequent mob violence and vigilante justice), and sectarian violence. Similarly, India's human rights record also comes under sharp criticism. The report stated that abuses by police and security forces were among the most significant human rights problems in India.
Supreme Court Declares Same-Sex Marriage Legal Across the U.S.
CNN - Washington, USA, 6/27/2015
In a landmark opinion, a divided Supreme Court ruled on June 26, 2015 that states cannot ban same-sex marriage, establishing a new civil right and handing gay rights advocates a victory that until very recently would have seemed unthinkable. The 5-4 ruling had Justice Anthony Kennedy writing for the majority with the four liberal justices. Each of the four conservative justices wrote their own dissent. The far-reaching decision settles one of the major civil rights fights of this era - one that has rapidly evolved in the minds of the American public and its leaders, including President Barack Obama. He struggled with the issue and ultimately embraced same-sex marriage in the months before his 2012 re-election.
Inhuman Treatment: UP Hospital Brands AIDS Patient, Reveals her HIV Positive Status
The Times of India - Meerut, India, 6/26/2015
How are people living with HIV treated in Indian hospitals, thirty-year-old Meena's (name changed) story might give an indication. Admitted to Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College in the city on June 19, 2015 for a caesarean delivery, doctors not only pasted a big piece of paper on her bed that screamed 'Bio Hazard +ve', complete with the red AIDS ribbon drawn on it to announce that here was one battling the deadly virus, she was also made to clean her own medical waste after the stitches were cut three days later. Not stopping at that, a senior doctor also allegedly abused Meena for ‘bringing another diseased child into the world’. Because of the handwritten pamphlet, all her relatives and friends who visited her at the hospital came to know of her HIV positive status, which added to her anxiety.
No funds, no Condoms, 3L in Maharashtra at HIV Risk
The Times of India - Mumbai, India, 6/26/2015
A practically broke Maharashtra State Aids Control Society (MSACS) has asked NGOs to curtail their HIV prevention activities in the state and do away with a significant chunk of their workforce. Over 182 projects that cater to nearly three lakh population in the state will suffer as distribution of condoms and syringes to availability of medicines and testing kits will take a direct hit. The dismissing of peer educators and outreach workers will directly impact the distribution of condoms, lubricants and syringes in the state's most vulnerable pockets. The MSACS in its circular blamed the change in funding pattern of the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) for the delay in receiving funds, which are likely to arrive only by October, 2015.
'Homosexuality Regarded as Disorder Only Due to Lack of Understanding'
The Indian Express - Chennai, India, 6/25/2015
There is no dearth of optimism in G Sankari’s words when she says that a big change, led by LGBT community members, is coming and that it would improve the quality of life in the nation. She added that it was a lack of understanding, which was the reason behind society’s non-acceptance of transgender people. ‘When they understand that what we are is nothing abnormal, they are totally fine with us,’ she told City Express. Sensitising the youth will go a long way towards achieving the goal because students make tomorrow’s society, she added.
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