LGBTQIA+ - The African Mirror

Oct

06

2020

New Zealand ruling party vows to ban efforts to alter sexual orientation

LGBT+

NEW Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's centre-left government vowed on Monday to ban conversion therapy, which aims to change a person's sexual orientation, if returned to power, as widely expected, in polls on October 17. The globally discredited treatment, which harms and stigmatizes members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans community has adherents in New Zealand, however. A recent survey showed more than one in six respondents reported being subjected to the efforts of psychiatrists, psychologists or counsellors to stop them being trans or non-binary, Labour Party leader Tāmati Coffey said. "Conversion therapy has been linked to severe adverse…

Oct

03

2020

By The African Mirror

Transgender figures in politics around the world

LGBT+

TOM HAYNES PETRA De Sutter, a gynaecologist serving as a Green party member of the European Parliament, was named as deputy prime minister in Belgium this week - becoming the most senior transgender government official in Europe. With LGBT+ rights becoming more accepted worldwide, gay and trans politicians have gained greater prominence in recent years, and Pauline Ngarmpring became Thailand's first trans candidate for prime minister last year. Here are some trans people who serve in high-level politics and government around the world: - Tamara Adrian, alternate deputy in Venezuela's National Assembly Adrian, 66, a member of the small Popular…

Oct

02

2020

By The African Mirror

Intersex surgery ‘abuses’ condemned by 34 states at U.N. rights forum

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE MORE than 30 countries have condemned "medically unnecessary surgeries" on intersex children as a human rights violation, amid mounting efforts to ban such operations. It is the first time that unnecessary surgeries on children born with an indeterminate sex have been criticised at the United Nations, advocates said, with 34 countries signing the statement at a U.N. Human Rights Council session. "Intersex people - that is, individuals who are born with sex characteristics that do not fit the typical definition of male or female bodies - continue to face serious and widespread human rights violations and abuses," the…

Oct

01

2020

By The African Mirror

Transgender people still criminalised in 13 U.N. member states, report finds

LGBT+

HUGO GREENHALGH AT least 13 United Nations member states still criminalise transgender people, while others use morality and indecency laws to crack down on the trans community, a report showed on Wednesday. Nigeria, Oman and Lebanon are among the nations with explicit anti-trans laws, according to the latest Trans Legal Mapping Report by LGBT+ rights group ILGA World. The research details trans legislation and policies in 143 U.N. member states and 19 other jurisdictions. Many other countries apply "seemingly innocuous" regulations covering offences such as "public nuisance, indecency, morality (and) loitering" to police trans communities, the report said. However, at…

Sep

29

2020

By The African Mirror

Arts figures defend J.K. Rowling in transgender rights row

LGBT+

HUGO GREENHALGH PROMINENT figures in the British arts including novelist Ian McEwan and playwright Sir Tom Stoppard have signed a letter denouncing "hate speech" against "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling over her comments on transgender rights. Rowling weighed into a fierce debate on the issue earlier this year, raising concerns over trans women being allowed access to single-sex spaces - a stance that drew praise from some women's campaigners and condemnation from many trans activists. "J.K. Rowling has been subjected to an onslaught of abuse that highlights an insidious, authoritarian and misogynistic trend in social media," wrote the 58 signatories…

Sep

28

2020

By The African Mirror

Ellen DeGeneres issues apology, vows ‘new chapter’ after on-set turmoil

LGBT+

LISA RICHWINE ELLEN DeGeneres has opened the new season of her popular television talk show by apologizing to staff after reports of a toxic work environment on her set and saying changes had been made to start "a new chapter." Three top producers on the "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" exited the show, producer Warner Bros. said in August after an internal investigation into complaints of bullying, racism and sexual misconduct against them. "I learned that things happen here that never should have happened," DeGeneres, 62, said in the opening monologue for the premiere of her show's 18th season. "I take…

Sep

28

2020

By The African Mirror

Hope is thin as LGBT+ activists join Belarus protests for change

LGBT+

NATALIE VIKHROV LGBT+ activists in Belarus hope mass protests for democratic rule in Belarus will also help deliver long-awaited gay rights and rid the former Soviet state of homophobia. But they concede such hopes might be far off in their deeply conservative country, with no anti-discrimination laws to protect LGBT+ people. Even some of their fellow protesters are homophobic, they say, expecting a long fight before glimpsing equality. President Alexander Lukashenko was sworn in for a sixth term at a secret ceremony on Wednesday, sparking new demonstrations by a restive population protesting his claim on power. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko…

Sep

23

2020

By The African Mirror

TikTok apologises for censoring LGBT+ content

LGBT+

UMBERTO BACCHI TIK TOK has apologised for suppressing LGBT+ content in the past, with a director telling British lawmakers on Tuesday that the company now removed LGBT+ images only when required to do so by law enforcement agencies. The video streaming app came under fire last year over reports it censored depictions of homosexuality, such as two men kissing or holding hands, and artificially prevented posts from LGBT+ users from going viral in some countries. "I'm really sorry, we really got that wrong," TikTok's director of public policy in Europe the Middle East and Africa, Theo Bertram, told a British…

Sep

20

2020

By The African Mirror

U.S. LGBT+ TikTok users fear losing ‘safe space’ as Trump bans downloads

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE U.S. LGBT+ TikTok users said they feared losing a popular community platform and valued "safe space" after the Trump administration announced it would stop Americans from downloading the Chinese-owned video-sharing app. The order, which takes effect on Sunday, only bans new downloads of the app, but TikTok said another restriction due to kick in on Nov. 12 would amount to an effective ban affecting existing users. TikTok, which has 100 million U.S. users, is widely used by young LGBT+ people to share niche jokes, find a date, and swap advice and stories about traumatic experiences such as being…

Sep

18

2020

By The African Mirror

J.K. Rowling says book character in transphobia row has real-life roots

LGBT+

J.K. Rowling said one of the characters in her new crime novel, a male killer who on one occasion disguises himself as a woman to abduct a victim, was loosely based on two real-life murderers. In a vitriolic online debate, pro- and anti-Rowling hashtags trended on Twitter after the novel's publication on Tuesday, because an early review in the Telegraph newspaper said the book's moral seemed to be "never trust a man in a dress". Critics of the "Harry Potter" author accused her of revealing prejudice through a transphobic trope, while supporters defended her right to write fiction without people…