Some US Christian schools believe relig eedom means they n fire gay teachers | LGBTQ+ rights | The Guardian

Contents:

• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• GAY STUNTS TO BE BANNED OM BOARDG SCHOOLS KENYA?
• GAY RIGHTS KENYA: 'WHY OUR FIGHT ISN'T OVER'
• WHAT IS EVERYDAY GAY AND LBIAN LIFE LIKE KENYA?
• DORS GACHAGUA BLASTS TEACHERS FOR 'HIDG' LBIANISM & GAY-ISM SCHOOLS
• GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT
• ‘IT’S HAD A CHILLG EFFECT’: FLORIDA TEACHERS ANX ABOUT ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• SOME US CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS BELIEVE RELIG EEDOM MEANS THEY N FIRE GAY TEACHERS
• 'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY
• FIRG OF GAY CATHOLIC SCHOOL TEACHER ULD TT LATT SUPREME COURT LG

LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?

A member of the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr (LGBT) seen reactg after Kenya's High Court led to uphold the Brish-era penal that crimalis gay sex (Photo: 24 May 2019)In the latt sign of risg homophobia different Ain untri, a Kenyan opposn MP is leadg a mpaign for parliament to further crimalise the untry's small LGBTQ Peter Kaluma's move after neighbourg Uganda adopted a tough new anti-gay law, rejectg threats by US Print Joe Bin to impose sanctns and travel rtrictns on "anyone volved ser human rights ab" I met Mr Kaluma - a member of veteran Kenyan opposn polician Raila Odga's Orange Democratic Movement - he was stg behd his sk at his office the pal Nairobi, proof-readg and makg rrectns to a bill that he tends to table parliament soon. "We want to prohib everythg to do wh homosexualy, " Mr Kaluma tells me, addg that his bill will be much broar than the legislatn passed by Uganda's parliament and approved by Print Yoweri Meveni Ugandan law is regard as one of the harsht anti-LGBTQ laws the propos life imprisonment for anyone nvicted of homosexualy, and the ath penalty for so-lled aggravated s, which clu havg gay sex wh someone below the age of 18 or where someone be fected wh a life-long illns such as the other si of the ntent, MPs Ghana earlier this month unanimoly voted favour of amendments to the untry's anti-gay legislatn, phg closer to beg enacted to law.

"The bill will propose a total ban on what the Wt lls sex-reassignment prcriptns and procr, and prohib all activi that promote homosexualy, terms of... Gay paras, drag shows, wearg the lours, the flags, the emblems of the LGBTQ group, " Mr Kaluma sex is already illegal Kenya, but the ernment n also be tolerant of gay people - for example, has given asylum to people om other Ain untri, cludg Uganda, who faced persecutn their home untri bee of their sexual Kaluma tells me he wants their asylum to be revoked, and for them to leave a small, hidn church set up to offer fort and support to LGBTQ people central Nairobi, the female pastor says Mr Kaluma's bill is g "a lot of panic, anxiety, fear". It fuels some kd of vlence that now people are planng but holdg back on, " she tells Kenyans believe that gay rights are agast their relign - whether Christian or MlimAlthough the meetg Uganda was billed as an attempt to protect the "sovereignty" of Ain stat, was actually -sponsored by an Amerin Christian right-wg anisatn, Fay Watch Internatnal (FWI) Kapya Kaoma, a Zambian prit the Anglin Church and an amic at Boston Universy the US, says Ain untri are beg targeted by FWI and siar US-based anisatns, and that the impact of s lobbyg has been "horrible and humane" parts of Ai, fuellg what he lls "ant homophobia".

"It is one thg to say: 'I don't agree wh you beg gay', but we didn't have the ant one, where policians now are sayg: 'You go to jail for life, you go to jail for talkg about beg gay, you go to jail bee you're livg wh your fellow woman', " Dr Kaoma 's Mormon founr Sharon Slater ni that the group promot anti-gay laws Ai. "Fay Watch oppos legislatn that penalis a person for havg sexual attractns or for how they intify, " she says an emailed rponse to the Slater addrsed Ain lawmakers, clerics and mpaigners at their fom Uganda's laki cy of Entebbe March, and later appeared a group photo wh Print Meveni at his official more than 20 years, Mrs Slater has lobbied ernments on what she lls "fay valu" and has ma her missn to mpaign agast children and young people beg given Comprehensive Sexualy Edutn (CSE), a curriculum-based sex tn programme champned by the Uned Natns and other c a Uned Natns Populatn Fund (UNFPA) manual for out-of-school youths east and southern Ai, sayg promot homosexualy and is too explic. "It sensis children to sex, " she Slater also quot om the manual, cludg l which say that facilators of lsons should have "a ntral, acceptg attu towards homosexualy" I ntact Maria Bakaroudis, UNFPA's CSE specialist for east and southern Ai, for ment, she says she is not keen to talk about the "opposn", as she refers to adds that the manual is only a guile, and each untry n tailor to su their Bakaroudis fends CSE, sayg provis "life-savg rmatn" to curb high rat of untend pregnanci, HIV, and sexually transmted 's LGBTQ muny has been wagg a long-nng mpaign to mand equal rightsAlthough Mr Kaluma attend the meetg Uganda -sponsored by FWI, he ni workg wh the group on his bill, which he says will propose a ban on teachg CSE sayg is part of the "LGBTQ agenda".

GAY STUNTS TO BE BANNED OM BOARDG SCHOOLS KENYA?

Homosexual stunts boardg schools Kenya would have to ensure they don’t ge on the rights of other learners orr to reta their space the boardg school.

The mister explaed that though he has nothg agast gay stunts, he believ havg them day schools would allow closer supervisn by their parents. In their two-page petn to the tn secretary, the protters lled on him to whdraw his remarks and to crimalize all typ of phobias which they say put people's liv at risk, cludg the liv of homosexual stunts.

GAY RIGHTS KENYA: 'WHY OUR FIGHT ISN'T OVER'

On Monday, the mister said an earlier statement had been misunrstood to mean that gay stunts should be expelled om boardg schools. I am source, Gee Wafula/BBCImage ptn, The law banng gay sex is specific to men but activists say that lbian, bi, trans and non-bary voic are val this nversatnBut there many dividuals om the muny who have experienced physil and verbal vlence and var forms of discrimatn.

Today, there are muni of gay, lbian, trans men and women, and non-bary dividuals across the untry who support, enurage and love one another.

Image source, Gee Wafula/BBCImage ptn, Judg led May that the lonial-era law crimalisg gay sex is not unnstutnalSeated a stairwell, other iends and I listened to the lg beg read out. In our worldwi search for Out & Around: Stori om a Not-So-Straight Journey, we travelled to Kenya to explore everyday life for gays and November 2010 the Kenyan prime mister nmned homosexualy, sayg, "If found, the homosexuals should be arrted and taken to relevant thori.

WHAT IS EVERYDAY GAY AND LBIAN LIFE LIKE KENYA?

" Unr ternatnal prsure, he retracted his statements days later, sayg he only meant that same-sex marriag are illegal Kenyan penal crimaliz homosexual behavr wh up to 14 years imprisonment. A 2007 study found that 96 percent of the Kenyan populatn oppos we asked: what is gay and lbian life actually like for the average Kenyan livg Nairobi?

We first meet wh Akyi Ocholla, a lbian om Nairobi who works for Mory Women Actn and is a member of the Internatnal Gay and Lbian Associatn. "To get a gay male perspective, we met wh Solomon Wambua, Programs Officer of the Gay and Lbian Coaln of Kenya (GALCK), the untry's largt LGBT anizatn.

" As of today, Solomon's extend fay still do not know about his sexual Solomon choos to work at GALCK spe his own ncern about whether or not he n fd employment aga after associatg wh a gay anizatn. "When I asked Solomon about the number of gays rcerated due to this penal , he says, "Up to date, no se has been nvicted of the penal leadg to actual rceratn. While there are no pri paras or openly gay clubs, Solomon aniz muny events such as World AIDS Day and the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia.

DORS GACHAGUA BLASTS TEACHERS FOR 'HIDG' LBIANISM & GAY-ISM SCHOOLS

In this week’s news round-up, sixth gra teacher Steven Arz was fired after revealg he is gay, and more news om Loma Lda, Canada, Kenya, and Zambia. Acrdg to a report the Orlando Sentel, Steven Arz, who tght sixth gra at Fort Lake Edutn Center Longwood, Florida, has been fired after givg an terview to the onle magaze Gays Wh Kids, revealg that he is gay. Arz said he and Tol are both members of the same Adventist church, WholeLife, which s pastors say wel everyone, cludg those who are gay, straight, bisexual or transgenr.

From the Orlando Sentel, “Gay teacher fired om Adventist school Longwood that accepts state scholarships” and “After Adventist school fir gay teacher, AdventHealth CEO tells workers he’s ‘proud’ to support cln. Nyali Member of Parliament Mohammed Ali recently said that members of the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Queer (LGBTQ) muny should be took to Twter to share his sentiments over the ntent issue on Tuday, followg a week-long storm on social media followg the murr of LGBTQ activist and fashnista Edw Chiloba. “Homophobic and hate-based rhetoric by lears and sensatnalisatn of Edw Chiloba’s murr by the media only serv to ce vlence agast queer Kenyans, ” they rights groups clu the Bold Network, the Natnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn, the Gay and Lbian Coaln of Kenya, Iniative for Equaly and Non-Discrimatn, Q-Iniative, Amnty and Also;.

To the gay people (both male and female), I am really sorry for the harrowg experience that you are put up , the hand of old bigots who know nothg about sexual orientatn. Image source, Getty ImagKenyan thori were wrong to ban the gay muny om registerg a rights anisatn, the untry's Supreme Court has at the same time strsed that gay sex remas judg led three-to-two that the untry's NGO board was wrong to stop the Natnal Gay and Lbian Human Rights Commissn (NGLHRC) om registerg Kenya's hight urt, the Supreme Court's lg nnot be their judgment, the judg led that " would be unnstutnal to lim the right to associate, through nial of registratn of an associatn, purely on the basis of the sexual orientatn of the applints".

GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT

Laws which were troduced unr Brish lonial le mean that is crimal to have sex that "is agast the orr of nature", which n rult up to 14 years May 2019, Kenya's high urt rejected an attempt to overturn the 's judgement ends a 10-year legal battle which began 2013 when Eric Gari, the former executive director of the NGLHRC, challenged the head of Kenya NGO Coordatn Board's refal to perm him to apply to register an NGO unr a name ntag the words gay or lbian. Members of the LGBTQI+ muny have been harassed by police, subjected to body examatns to "prove" gay sex, and openly sulted on social media and public spac.

On the day of the judgement, Member of Parliament Gee Peter Kaluma filed an official notice that he tend to troduce a bill which would jail for life people nvicted of homosexualy or the promotn of Friday's Supreme Court lg arguably torpedo any attempts to legally harass openly gay people wh new laws, Mr Kaluma n still rally MPs to crease jail terms for gay is also illegal to have gay sex neighbourg Uganda, where Mlim lears ed Friday prayers to preach agast head of the untry's Mlims, Mufti Sheikh Ramathan Mubajje, lled on the thori to enact even tougher laws agast same-sex was speakg at the Old Kampala mosque the pal, Kampala, where hundreds had gathered for Friday prayers. Earlier the week, the Uganda Mlim Supreme Council circulated a letter to all clerics unr s associatn gazettg Friday as the day to rry out peaceful protts agast homosexualy clerics were asked to prepare sermons nmng same-sex relatns and extend the same msage to the media and the event, the protts were only held the eastern cy of rights activist Frank Mugisha scribed the protts as dangero, sayg they uld crease s of vlence agast those who intify as has been a recent surge homophobic sentiment the week, Print Yoweri Meveni said Uganda would not embrace homosexualy and that the Wt should stop tryg to impose s views and "normalise" what he lled "viatns".

‘IT’S HAD A CHILLG EFFECT’: FLORIDA TEACHERS ANX ABOUT ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

WASHINGTON – A feral appeals urt has led that a Catholic high school Indianapolis was ee to fire a gay guidance unselor bee she performed at least some relig duti, the latt legal setback for LGBTQ+ rights when they nflict wh Fzgerald had worked for 14 years as a guidance unselor at Ronlli High School when school officials disvered she was married to another woman.

Michael Woods, a high school special tn teacher Palm Beach unty, Florida, wh 30 years of experience teachg and who grew up as a stunt the area who was bullied for beg gay, said he cried the night before this school year began Augt 2022 bee of anxiety related to Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill that went to effect July 2022.

“The bills are all based on false pretens, they’re li, they’re based on li, they make assumptns that somethg is happeng our schools area, that teachers are somehow doctratg our stunts, teachg them to be gay, or whatever the se may be, ” said Andrew Spar, print of the Florida Edutn add: “I thk the biggt thg gog to the school year is the unknown, bee this bill and the other bills that are out there, give parents the abily to brg plats agast teachers, brg lawsus agast school districts, and we jt don’t know how ’s gog to play out.

SOME US CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS BELIEVE RELIG EEDOM MEANS THEY N FIRE GAY TEACHERS

Instead, he was terrogated wh a seri of vague, leadg qutns that attempted to get him to adm he was had been out for years – and knew his ntract never stated he uldn’t be gay and teach at Valor – but shame-filled memori of his closeted years as a young man rose up that moment, as his job slipped away. ”The offer they ma was for Tonga to attend some form of “nversn therapy”, and when he returned to announce he isn’t gay, cut off ntact wh his fiance, scb his social media of any support for the LGBTQ muny, and nounce his support for them before the school.

“They said a lot of parents pay a lot of money to go to Valor, jt so their kids don’t have to mentored by someone who is gay, ” he cled their offer, and rigned. Outrage on the part of stunts, parents, alumni and alli over Tonga losg his job for beg gay is part of a s-long battle between anti-discrimatn laws and the right of private Christian schools (of which there are approximately 34, 500 the US alone) to relig sce the 1964 Civil Rights Act threatened the tax-exempt stat of Christian schools who refed to racially tegrate, relig schools the US have tangled wh social jtice activists seekg equal protectns for mory stunts and employe.

A nearly intil scenar volvg a gay mic teacher fired om a Catholic school played out only a short distance away at the same issue is further plited stat like Florida – where the le between public school and private relig school is sometim blurred.

'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY

Steven Arz, a sixth-gra history teacher, found himself fired om a Seventh Day Adventist school – which is publicly fund wh $1m a year tax dollars and creds – after he was featured a Gay Wh Kids article where he discsed his adopted son.

FIRG OF GAY CATHOLIC SCHOOL TEACHER ULD TT LATT SUPREME COURT LG

”Block and the ACLU have found some succs ligatg the month, a feral judge led that the firg of the North Carola teacher Lonnie Billard om a Catholic school for beg gay was a vlatn of the Civil Rights Act, shuttg down the school’s attempt to argue that they had a relig exemptn om the law. ”This laid the groundwork for the followg generatn of evangelil lears such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Tim LeHay, who partnered wh the Republin party to stir up anger around issu evangelils prevly red ltle about, like abortn, dgs and the rights of women and gays.

Campaigns to overturn gay rights legislatn like “Save Our Children” Florida (led by evangelil superstar Ana Bryant), or California’s Prop 6, which sought to ban gay men and lbians om teachg public schools, both equated homosexualy wh pedophilia and acced gay teachers of beg sexually motivated their reer the villas were new, the tactic of gng up basels fears had been the rnerstone of whe flight to Christian schools a Jon Universy’s lack of black stunts was rooted s ban on terracial datg. When the universy eventually tegrated 1971, allowed only married black stunts to attend, and 1975 allowed sgle black stunts but nied “admissn to applints engaged an terracial marriage or known to advote terracial marriage or datg” openly opposg racial tegratn eventually beme an effective tool for galvanizg evangelil voters – replaced by racist dog-whistl – gays tegratg themselv to the Amerin fay remaed a potent touchstone for the Christian right. “In 2004, evangelil lears were nng out of money and their voters had been fallg away, so they all got a room together to ci what issu would brg their flock back to the fold, and they cid on gay marriage, ” says Fzgerald.

“And so they flood the natn wh anti–gay marriage ballot measur, and that not only helped get Gee W Bh elected to a send term, but the ballot measur sometim performed better than he did … They were agast gay people prciple, but they also thought gay teachers were a bigger threat to kids than anythg.