lgbtrights – LGBT World Beside

June 1, 2020

Brighton Beach Pride 2020 (online).

Outstanding individuals from the United States and countries of the former Soviet Union support RUSA LGBT in its effort to achieve equality and acceptance for all regardless of gender, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Very interesting guests were invited online:

Tish James (The Attorney General of New York)
Daniel Dromm (Council Member, 25th District, NYC)
Ann Northrop (Journalist and Activist; co-host at Gay USA TV
Ken Kidd (Queer Nation, Activist)
Mariya Markh (Senior Community Liaison at NYC Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit)
Sharon Kleinbaum (Senior Rabbi at CBST (New York))
Randi Weingarten (President of the American Federation of Teachers)
Michael Schreiber (Attorney at SAFE)
Geoff Trenchard (Senior Staff Attorney at New York City Anti-Violence Project)
David France (Filmmaker (“Welcome to Chechnya”))
Adam Eli (Queer Activist; Founder of Voices4_ (New York))
Igor Kochetkov (Co-founder of the Russian LGBT Network)
Kir Fedorov (Psychologist, trainer, speaker (Russia))
Olga Baranova (Activist; founder of Moscow Community Center)
Masha Gessen (American journalist, writer)
Oleg Dusaev (West Coast, RUSA LGBT (USA))
Gleb Latnik (RUSA LGBT DC (USA))
Anna Talisman (Russain–speaking LGBTIQ+ group “Rainbow”(Israel))
Robyn McCutcheon (An american diplomat, engineer and historian)
Lawrence Moss (Human Rights Scholar (USA))
Carolina Dutca (Interdisciplinary artist (Transnstria))

Performers:

Hristina (Singer, LGBTIQ-activist)
Josh Daniel (Actor-performer (Broadway))
Еugene (Singer, Dezery Band (Russia))
Lorina Rey (Drag Queen (Russia))
Matvey Cherry (Artist, performet (USA))
Rude Mechanical Orchestra (Independent orchestra)
Slava (Singer, Svrny_ band (Russia))

You have a chance to watch the Fourth Brighton Beach Pride on the record. This is an incredible atmosphere.

Thank you very much for this opportunity.

May 23, 2020May 24, 2020

Bringing COC COVID-19 care packages to refugees.

ENG / RUS

Morning.

The morning began with collecting and loading boxes into cars. Jordan Sowle completely controlled the process and did a great job.

We arrived at the first camp of AZC BUDEL, where LGBT refugees met us.

They were very happy and were grateful for this help. We managed to talk with them and find out about their health status.

LGBT refugees said that they cannot buy enough of the protection against COVID-19 on their own, as there is very little money and only enough for modest food.

We went to the second camp at AZC WEERT, where we were met by COA staff and LGBT refugees living in the camp.

The COA staff politely talked to us and thanked for the help for the refugees. It is difficult to find extra money to buy protection for each refugee. LGBT refugees became satisfied and thanked us.

Next we went to the camp AZC ECHT.

It was difficult to meet at the AZC ECHT in the camp, one representative from LGBT refugees came to us. He took the boxes for everyone else. Unfortunately, we were not able to take a photo, as it was not safe for the refugee.

Jordan Sowle agreed in advance to meet at each camp. He took on most of the work. Jordan Sowle found cars where we could get help from COVID-19. Fully planned meeting times. His professional experience was very useful in our project.

In the future, we plan to repeat sending protection from COVID-19 to these camps and to the new AZC. You can take part in this by sending any amount of donation to our details indicated below.

We’re inviting you to make a difference today by donating to the Chechyna Appeal.

May 17, 2020

May 17.

International Day Against Homophobia, IDAHOBIT.

The term “homophobia” (Homophobia: from the Greek homos – the same and phobos – fear, fear) appeared relatively recently – in 1972. Prior to this, the phenomenon, which today is called homophobia, was a social norm. To refer to the irrational fear of homosexuals, rejection and neglect of members of sexual minorities, the term “homophobia” was first used by the psychiatrist George Weinberg.

The 20th century was, without a doubt, the most homophobic historical period: the deportation of gays to concentration camps under the Nazi regime, the Soviet Gulag, blackmail and persecution in the United States during the McCarthy era … Obviously, all this seems very distant to us. But in many countries, the situation of gays remains exactly that now.

Homosexuality discrimination is observed everywhere: in at least eighty countries homosexuality is prohibited by law, in many countries it is punishable by imprisonment of up to ten years. Sometimes the law provides for life imprisonment. In another dozen countries, the death penalty is applied to homosexuals.

The idea of establishing the International Day Against Homophobia on May 17 was put forward by the French writer and scholar Louis-Georges Ten. The day was not chosen by chance – it was May 17, 1990 that the General Assembly of the World Health Organization excluded homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses. Ten expressed the hope that this day will help change for the better the lives of those people who need it most.

International Day Against Homophobia has been officially celebrated since 2003. The recognition of this day poses certain obligations to the international community, which has already come together in the fight against many other forms of discrimination and social violence, but so far in most states it has not provided broad support in the fight for the rights of sex minorities.

The goals of this Day are to counteract any physical, moral and symbolic violence towards people with a different sexual orientation or gender identity; supporting and coordinating all initiatives around the world that help all citizens achieve equal rights; a broader campaign to protect human rights.

For example, in a number of countries that supported the initiative to hold this Day, on May 17 various events and campaigns, campaigns and flash mobs are held related to the International Day against Homophobia and aimed at raising awareness of the planet’s population about the problem of homophobia through the media, as well as promoting bills on equal rights for homosexual and heterosexual persons.

May 14, 2020

The Netherlands is again out of the top 10 LGBTI rights.

The Netherlands again falls out of the top 10 European countries where the rights of LGBTI persons are well regulated. This is evident from the Rainbow Europe Index that the European LGBTI organization ILGA-Europe will publish on 14 May 2020.

“This is not happy news,” responds COC chairman Astrid Oosenbrug. “But I am hopeful. Various legislative changes and improvements are planned. As far as I am concerned, this is an encouragement to government and parliament: go ahead and quickly adopt those laws. We must and can return to the leading group in Europe when it comes to LGBTI rights! ”

The Netherlands has been in ninth place in Europe for some time since November. This was thanks to a law of D66, PvdA and GroenLinks that prohibits discrimination against transgender and intersex people. The Netherlands has since been overtaken by other countries. We are now eleventh in Europe. The European top three is formed by Malta, Belgium and Luxembourg.

To catch up, COC hopes that LGBTI rights will be quickly enshrined in Article 1 of the Constitution. The House of Representatives is currently examining a bill to the effect of D66, PvdA and GroenLinks. Countries such as Malta, Sweden and Portugal already have a Constitutional ban on LGBTI discrimination.

The COC also calls for more measures to tackle violence against LGBTI people. For example, penalties for crimes with a discriminatory background should be increased. GroenLinks and ChristenUnie previously announced that they would come up with a bill on this point.

Together with NNID, the COC pleads for a ban on involuntary medical treatment of intersex children. At the request of the interest groups and the House of Representatives, the government is currently investigating this possibility. A ban already exists in Malta and Portugal.

With TNN, the COC argues for the abolition of the so-called ‘expert statement’ as a requirement for trans persons to change their gender registration. The organizations also want it to be possible for young people under the age of 16 to change their gender registration. The government has announced that it will improve the transgender law soon.

Europe

According to ILGA-Europe, Europe is at a crucial point when it comes to LGBTI rights. “Countries that were once in the lead have lagged behind,” said ILGA. “The COVID-19 pandemic, which affects disproportionate vulnerable groups, is being used by some governments to curb human rights of LGBTI people.”

ILGA-Europe notes that no progress has been made in LGBTI rights in 49% of European countries in the past year. There were also countries that showed decline in the past year. At the very bottom of the rankings of ILGA-Europe, Russia, Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan are dangling.

The ILGA-Europe Index measures the situation in European countries with legislation and rights for LGBTI persons. The Index is therefore not about LGBTI acceptance. A report by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) will be published on 14 May on the acceptance of LGBTIs in Europe.

April 22, 2020

#SilenceDay2020 will be held online.

The new format will make it possible to join it from anywhere in Russia and the world. In addition, the constant slogan of the action “We are silent to be heard” will be equally relevant for the online mode. “The Alliance of Heterosexuals and LGBT for Equality” publishes a memo for those who want to join the action #Day of Silence2020:

HOW TO PARTICIPATE?

You can sew a protective bandage in the colors of LGBT flags (rainbow flag, bi- or pan-flag, trans- or queer flag, etc.) or paint the finished protective mask. The mask illustrates well that homophobia is also a kind of virus, people suffer and die from it. If you don’t have time to “bother” with a mask, you can use traditional color adhesive tape by sticking a mouth over it.
Think about what you want to say, which topic to cover. Draw a poster or several posters.
Take a photo and / or record a short video. You can write an accompanying text or a support post.
Post it on social networks, indicating the hashtags:

#ДеньМолчания2020 #DayOfSilence2020

Tell your friends and girlfriends about the promotion. They may also want to support LGBT people. Repost is welcome.

Last year, the rally in honor of the Day of Silence in St. Petersburg ended in mass detentions of its participants. Then there were 11 LGBT activists in the prison. The journalist Plyus PLUS witnessed the incident and prepared a video report on what happened in the center of the Northern capital.

LGBT action ‘Day of Silence’ in St. Petersburg in 100 seconds (04.17.2019)

Information: The “Day of Silence” campaign is dedicated to the suppression of discrimination, physical and moral violence, hate crimes and negative attitudes based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The first “Day of Silence” was held in 1996; Maria Pulzetti, a student at the University of Virginia, became its organizer. The following year, initiative groups transferred the task to the national level and almost 100 US colleges and universities joined the action. Since 2000, the American nationwide LGBT organization GLSEN has become the official organizational sponsor of the event. In 2006, according to some estimates, more than 450,000 students and almost 4,000 colleges and universities took part in the action in the United States. Starting this year, Day of Silence is held in Europe, Poland became the first country to accept it.