The latest “Equal Eyes” compilation of LGBTI news briefs from UNAIDS includes some slight signs of progress in Indonesia, India and Malaysia, which have laws against same-sex intimacy, and in Lithuania, which has an anti-“gay propaganda” law. Continue reading
Kyrgyzstan has amended its constitution to ban same-sex marriage, but continues to delay action on a proposed Russian-style law against “gay propaganda.” Continue reading
Russia’s anti-gay attitudes are affecting Kyrgyzstan, the Central Asian country that is the subject of the Coda Story media project about the erosion of LGBT rights in Russia and the former Soviet Union. These are excerpts from that Coda Story article, including a brief update on the off-again/on-again Kyrgyz anti-“gay propaganda” bill: A Violent Struggle Over … Continue reading
A proposal for a Russian-style anti-“gay propaganda” law in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan is back in the Kyrgyz parliament. Reporter Anna Lelik, writing for EurasiaNet, sees some reasons for optimism in the latest developments. However, continued inaction on the homophobic bill would have been more encouraging. [Note for non-British readers: The online Free … Continue reading
Homophobia, often violent, is a problem in Russia and five nearby countries that have enacted or considered imposing anti-“gay propaganda” laws. None of these countries has a specific law against same-sex intimacy, with the exception of the internationally unrecognized Moldovan break-away territory of Transnistria. But each of them has prohibited or considered imposing prohibitions on … Continue reading
The European Parliament is keeping a worried eye on two Central Asian nations’ proposals to adopt Russian-style anti-“gay propaganda” laws. The Russian law, enacted in 2013, provides for fines of up to 200,000 rubles (about US $3,000) for “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” that appears where the message could reach minors, including online. The law … Continue reading
The U.S.-based advocacy organization Human Rights First warns of threatened restrictions on the human rights of LGBT people in Belarus. In a commentary titled, “Homophobic Legislation Threatens LGBT Community in Belarus”, Belarus activist Slava Bortnik writes: Homophobic Legislation Threatens LGBT Community in Belarus Belarus, my home country, is toying with a Russian-style “anti-propaganda” bill, potentially … Continue reading
