Activists nmn vlence agast LGBTQ muny St. Vcent, where gay sex is illegal | AP News

Contents:

• GAY RIGHTS E TO THE FORE AS LEBANON PREPAR TO VOTE
• EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI
• ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
• THE U.S. & JAMAI ARE FIGHTG OVER GAY RIGHTS

GAY RIGHTS E TO THE FORE AS LEBANON PREPAR TO VOTE

(Beit) – Lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people and their rights  Lebanon are part and parcel of the natnwi protts that began on October 17, 2019, Human Rights Watch said today a web feature. (Beit) – Lebane thori have unlawfully banned peaceful gathergs of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) people, the Coaln to Defend Freedom of Exprsn Lebanon said today.

” The judg nounced the law’s discrimatory tsn to people’s private liv and clared that homosexualy is not “unnatural. The lg follows siar judgments om lower urts that have cled to nvict gay and transgenr people of “sexual terurse ntrary to nature” four separate lgs between 2007 and 2017. “This lg signals a new horizon for lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr people Lebanon, who have long been persecuted unr discrimatory laws, ” said Neela Ghoshal, senr rearcher on lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) rights at Human Rights Watch.

This recent lg related to the 2015 arrt of ne people a suburb of Beit whom police spected of beg gay and transgenr. A crimal urt cled to nvict them of “unnatural offens” 2017, when the judge said that “homosexuals have a right to human and timate relatnships wh whoever they want, whout any terference or discrimatn terms of their sexual clatns, as is the se wh other people.

EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI

While judg are not legally bound by the precent and may still nvict people of homosexual nduct unr article 534, Makhlouf told Human Rights Watch that they are likely to give ser nsiratn to the lg subsequent s. “Other urts uld still nvict people, but we’re very hopeful – we’re seeg that the trend now is not to crimalize homosexualy.

When to gay rights, Lebanon is known as one of the more liberal untri the Middle East – yet homosexualy has had a plited legal stat. The ma motivatn behd openg Out was her brother, Joey, who was “a closeted gay man for the first 24 years of his life.

“The life of a Lebane gay man Beit is siar to that of any other Lebane cizen based Beit, addn to exprsns of hate and discrimatn based on our sexual orientatn, ” says Hadi Damien, iator of Beit Pri, which was held for the first time 2017.

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

“The people behd (the Arabic translatn) are motivated by their homophobia based on their misunrstandg of sacred scriptur and based on their prenceived ias about homosexualy, ” he adds.

THE U.S. & JAMAI ARE FIGHTG OVER GAY RIGHTS

Four ndidat who publicly backed the LGBTQ muny won seats the electn – though Azzi says is not known whether their support for gay rights played a role their victory. Homosexualy⚢✖ Illegal (imprisonment as punishment)Gay Marriage⚭✖ UnregnizedCensorship✔ No censorshipChangg Genr✖ Legal, but requir surgeryNon-bary genr regnn✖ Not legally regnizedDiscrimatn✖ No protectnsEmployment Discrimatn✖ No protectnsHog Discrimatn✖ No protectnsDonatg Blood✖ Banned (fe ferral)Conversn Therapy✖ Not banned. Illegal (imprisonment as punishment) Acrdg to Lebane Law, homosexualy is met wh up to 1 year prison acrdg to article 534 of the Lebane Penal .

Ask, say, a transgenr woman Egypt, who has stggled her entire life to fd a job bee of her genr exprsn, if she “intifi” wh a rich gay Egyptian man who has the rourc to live a fortable life. On September 29, 2018, attempted to shut down the annual NEDWA nference of the Arab Foundatn for Freedoms and Equaly, which works to advance lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr (LGBT) and other human rights.

General Secury officers also took tails of all nference participants om the hotel registry where the nference was beg held, cludg participants om untri such as Egypt, where police arrted over 70 people 2018 for beg gay or transgenr, and Iraq, where armed groups have murred LGBT people wh impuny.

General Secury’s terference followed public statements om the Mlim Scholars Associatn accg the anizers of promotg homosexualy and dg abe. The difference this time around: For the first time Lebane history, electoral ndidat are promotg gay rights, markg the most high-level endorsement of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr protectn the Arab world.

The vio featurg Rhayem and others like direct viewers to a webse that lists ndidat who have publicly lled for the crimalizatn of homosexualy, as well as those who have e out agast the move.

But that announcement was preced by an endorsement of gay rights by one of the untry’s olst polil parti, the Kataeb party of Lebanon.

The ndidat’ endorsement of gay rights is the clost the Arab world has gotten to mastream polil bate on the issue, activists say. It jt weeks after Human Rights Watch released a 36-page report tailg an upsurge gay-rights activism sce the so-lled Arab Sprg. “(LGBT activists) are tellg their stori, buildg allianc, workg across borrs, velopg natnal and regnal movements and fdg creative ways to bat homophobia and transphobia, ” the April 2018 report, tled “Audacy Adversy, ” says.