projectqueer:

By AP / MANSUR MIROVALEV

(MOSCOW) — Kissing his boyfriend during a protest in front of Russia‘s parliament earned Pavel Samburov 30 hours of detention and the equivalent of a $16 fine on a charge of “hooliganism.” But if a bill that comes up for a first vote later this month becomes law, such a public kiss could be defined as illegal “homosexual propaganda” and bring a fine of up to $16,000.

The legislation being pushed by the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church would make it illegal nationwide to provide minors with information that is defined as “propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism.” It includes a ban on holding public events that promote gay rights. St. Petersburg and a number of other Russian cities already have similar laws on their books.

The bill is part of an effort to promote traditional Russian values as opposed to Western liberalism, which the Kremlin and church see as corrupting Russian youth and by extension contributing to a wave of protest against President Vladimir Putin‘s rule. Samburov describes the anti-gay bill as part of a Kremlin crackdown on minorities of any kind — political and religious as well as sexual — designed to divert public attention from growing discontent with Putin’s rule.

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projectqueer:

In a powerful op-ed in Uganda’s daily newspaper, the Nobel Peace Prize winner urges Ugandan members of parliament to reject the so-called Kill The Gays bill.

BY SUNNIVIE BRYDUM

Desmond Tutu, the archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, penned a poignant op-ed Wednesday calling on Uganda’s members of parliament to stand up for the oppressed and reject the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would prescribe long-term imprisonment and even death for some LGBT people. The bill has been positioned at the top of Parliament’s list of “business to follow” for several weeks, and Speaker Rebecca Kadaga toldreporters in November that she wants the bill passed as a “Christmas present” to Ugandans who are “demanding it.”

The Rev. Tutu, who rose to sociopolitical prominence fighting to end the racial segregation of apartheid in South Africa, implored Ugandan leaders and laypeople to turn away from the hateful legislation. 

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projectqueer:

BY Neal Broverman

After the antigay group known as One Million Moms came under assault on Facebook for attacking the idea of a gay comic book character, OMM’s Facebook page went missing.

The New Civil Rights Movement reports that OMM’s page on the social media site disappeared, and a quick Facebook search confirms that news. The group, which has leveled attacks against companies like JCPenney for being pro-gay, recently pounced on DC Comics for introducing Green Lantern as a gay character. After their Facebook post on the issue received numerous pro-gay comments, OMM removed the post.

Apparently, OMM went a step further recently by deleting their entire Facebook page. The New Civil Rights Movement notes that the group sent out a Tweet yesterday that stated they will be offline for most of next week to attend “vacation bible school.”

OMM has nowhere near a million members and is part of the AFA, which is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Read more here.

projectqueer:

BY Trudy Ring

One Million Moms, the right-wing group whose last campaign against a comic book was so successful that the issue sold out, is now upset about DC and Marvel Comics’ gay superheroes.

The group, which actually numbers far less than a million, is responding to DC’s announcement that it will reboot a major character as gay and Marvel’s plans to wed Northstar of the X-Men to his boyfriend.

“This is ridiculous!” reads a post on the One Million Moms website. “Why do adult gay men need comic superheroes as role models? They don’t but do want to indoctrate [sic] impressionable young minds by placing these gay characters on pedestals in a positive light. These companies are heavily influencing our youth by using children’s superheroes to desensitize and brainwash them in thinking that a gay lifestyle choice is normal and desirable. As Christians, we know that homosexuality is a sin (Romans 1:26-27).”

The post asks supporters to send DC and Marvel “an email urging them to change and cancel all plans of homosexual superhero characters immediately. Ask them to do the right thing and reverse their decision to have sexual orientation displayed to readers.”

Apparently whoever wrote the post didn’t stop to think that heterosexuality is also a sexual orientation, and it’s displayed to readers all the time. The writer also cites the group’s campaign earlier this year against retailer Toys “R” Us for carrying the issue of Life With Archie depicting popular character Kevin Keller’s same-sex wedding — not mentioning that the issue sold out its entire print run. The Million Moms also tried but failed to persuade JC Penney not to use Ellen DeGeneres as its commercial spokeswoman.

One Million Moms is a project of the antigay American Family Association, classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group for spreading damaging misinformation about LGBT people.

projectqueer:

BY Diane Anderson-Minshall

Just as California legislators begin debating a bill that would ban the use of ex-gay conversion therapy on children (and make adults sign a waiver of informed consent if they sought it themselves), the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Beth Allen Law firm are going after a Portland, Oregon, psychiatrist using conversion therapy.

The SPLC also launched an online tool that informs users of conversion therapists near them and offers people a safe place to share their stories about this unethical therapy. SPLC and Beth Allen sent a complaint recently to two professional psychiatric associations, Oregon Psychiatric Association and the American Psychiatric Association, charging that the Portland psychiatrist unethically subjected Max Hirsh, a 22-year-old University of Oregon student, to conversion therapy.

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Last month, IN THE LIFE generated unprecedented buzz with the release of Becoming Me, a look at the real-life experiences of eight families with transgender and gender nonconforming children. While mainstream media coverage portrays transgender children as a spectacle, IN THE LIFE elevates the discussion beyond transphobic sensationalism. Becoming Me is being used as a resource for parents and an educational tool for social service providers.

(Source: neutrois)

projectqueer:

BY Diane Anderson-Minshall

Now that California’s Senate bill 1172 has passed the judiciary committee, it now goes to vote in front of the full Senate. The bill, introduced by Sen. Ted W. Lieu, would be first in nation to regulate so-called conversion therapy. Lieu called the bill a “patient-protection plan,” wrote on his own website, that the bill will “help raise public awareness of bogus and unethical therapies by mental-health providers who promise to help change a person’s sexual orientation.”

The bill will ban children under 18 from being subjected to ex-gay, conversion, or reparitive therapy treatments and would require adults who seek those treatments to sign a consent form indicating that they understand that the therapy has no proven medical basis and that there are potential dangers of reparitive therapy (including raised risk of suicide and depression).

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