Human Rights Watch: Anti-gay laws promote vlence, discrimatn St. Vcent

Contents:

• I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT COACH KEV MAXEN MAK HISTORY AFTER COMG OUT AS GAY
• HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ANTI-GAY LAWS PROMOTE VLENCE, DISCRIMATN ST. VCENT
• ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS
• LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE
• THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY

I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.

In rponse, and apparently to monstrate his petency his assigned posn, the nonmissned officer had taken upon himself to approach the person he nsired cled toward mtg a siar offense the future: me, the only openly gay soldier my un. Together we approached our un’s learship, where she sisted that the ments had stemmed om the reprentative’s own homophobic feelgs and remend that he be reprimand and removed om his posn as the un’s sexual harassment watchdog.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

But by then was hard to ignore the anxiety I felt durg required social activi — “mandatory fun, ” as ’s lled the ary — or the tensn om my fellow moment I cid to bee a soldier and the moment I chose to live openly as a gay man occurred so closely time that ’s hard to remember which me first. It was still four months before the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell, ” a double-edged policy prohibg askg any service member about his or her sexualy while enforcg a ban on openly gay service members.

Mike and Abe were to mentor me on how to survive as a gay serviceman. As long as gay soldiers kept their mouths shut, the burn of proof fell on those makg the accatns.

A uple were more elaborate: tailed scriptns of what might happen to me if I was ught alone, and proclamatns about the wrongns of gays the ary. There are moments when feels wrong to claim my stat as a veteran; as if beg gay ma me ls of a soldier and somehow validated my service. Every memory evok an emotn: rage that I had to serve wh a nstant sense of fear of my fellow soldiers; paralyzg sadns for those who endured ab worse than I n know; and, the worst, guilt over the service members — gay or straight or transgenr — who died while servg the ary while my body is still whole.

JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

-- Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's profsnal sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer and to possibly spire others siar 's a cisn and move that drew praise and support om owner Shad Khan, who was a vol and emphatic supporter of a cy ordance that expand protectns on the grounds of sexual orientatn, genr inty and genr exprsn.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT COACH KEV MAXEN MAK HISTORY AFTER COMG OUT AS GAY

Outsi lebacker Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay and to play a game Associated Prs ntributed to this report. Sce 2011, openly gay, lbian and bisexual men and women have been permted to serve the ary. It wasn’t until 1982 that the ary enacted a policy explicly banng gay men and lbians om their ranks.

And the early 1940s, was classified as a mental illns, disqualifyg gay men and lbians om service. Eighteen years later, Congrs repealed the policy, allowg openly gay, lbian and bisexual people to serve the ary.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ANTI-GAY LAWS PROMOTE VLENCE, DISCRIMATN ST. VCENT

Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen is now the first openly gay male ach the NFL. (Jam Gilbert/Getty Imag)Jacksonville Jaguars assistant strength ach Kev Maxen me out publicly as gay Thursday, which mak him the first known openly gay male ach the NFL and all of Amerin men’s profsnal joed the Jaguars’ strength and ndng staff last season. ”Maxen is the latt the NFL to e out publicly as gay.

ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS

Tampa Bay Bucneers fensive end Carl Nassib beme the league’s first active openly gay player when he me out 2021, when he was wh the Las Vegas Rairs. Former San Francis 49ers assistant Katie Sowers ma history as both the first woman and first openly gay ach a Super Bowl was a lebacker at Wtern Connecticut State, a Divisn III program. Kev Maxen, an assistant ach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, ma sports history after publicly g out as gay.

Maxen’s disclosure is a historic one, makg him the first openly gay ach of a U. Maxen’s announcement two years after NFL star Carl Nassib beme the league’s first active openly gay player.

“I jt wanted to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay, ” the former Las Vegas Rairs player, 30, revealed a June 2021 Instagram vio. Vcent to overturn anti-gay laws om the lonial era that have led to a recent wave of vlence and genr discrimatn on the small Caribbean island. Homosexualy ntu to be crimalized the former Brish lony after many hundreds of years, leavg LGBTQ dividuals wh ltle if any legal protectns while vlent crim were beg mted wh impuny, the report said.

LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE

Standg crimal s on the island put nsensual gay sex the same tegory as crim like rape, ct, and sexual asslt, although there have been no recent nvictns unr the law. Gay people have been targeted by fay members, neighbors, -workers, classmat and teachers -- as well as police officers, the report said.

In many of the episos, police allegedly refed to offer assistance, and some s beme openly discrimatory toward gay victims. Gay workers were also facg job discrimatn a natn already bet by high unemployment. Many of the terviewe said job hirgs and firgs were beg largely termed by sexual orientatn, while other gay people lucky to have jobs faced sexual harassment the workplace.

"The crimalizatn of gay sex giv tac state sanctn to the discrimatn and vlence that LGBT people experience their daily liv and pels many to look abroad to live eely and fulfill their dreams, " said Cristian González Cabrera, gay rights rearcher at Human Rights Watch.

THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY

Six other Wtern natns -- cludg Domi, Grenada, Guyana, Jamai, and Sat Lucia -- ntue to crimalize gay sex, wh penalti as weighty as a prison for "gross cency wh another person of the same sex.

Prime Mister Rishi Sunak apologized Wednday for the treatment of gay veterans, sayg that a prev ban on LGBTQ+ people servg the U. The apology me after an pennt review published Wednday timated that hundreds, if not thoands, of veterans were dismissed or suffered unr an official ban on homosexualy the U. “As today’s report mak clear, that perd many endured the most horrific sexual abe and vlence, homophobic bullyg and harassment, all while bravely servg this untry, ” Sunak told Parliament.

It documented the effects of what lled “an prehensible policy of homophobic bigotry our armed forc. Veterans’ ttimoni “give shockg evince of a culture of homophobia, and of bullyg, blackmail and sexual asslts, abive vtigatns to sexual orientatn and sexual preference, disgraceful medil examatns, cludg nversn therapy, ” the report said.