News
Russia: Four-year prison sentence for nightclub owner exposes deepening crackdown on LGBTI rights
1+ week, 5+ day ago (243+ words) Reacting to the sentencing of nightclub owner Tatiana Zorina to four years in a penal colony for purportedly organizing the "extremist activity" of a non-existent "international LGBT movement" at her venue, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International's Eastern Europe and Central Asia…...
Russia: Authorities seeking to use “extremism” laws as pretext to ban leading LGBTI organizations
2+ mon, 1+ day ago (302+ words) Reacting to the Russian Ministry of Justice's move to seek to ban as "extremist" the leading LGBTI organizations in Russia " Russian LGBT Network and the Saint Petersburg-based group Vykhod (Exit) " Marie Struthers, Amnesty International's Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director,…...
Eswatini: Education minister’s anti-LGBTI remarks risk fueling discrimination in schools
2+ mon, 6+ day ago (311+ words) Eswatini: Education minister's anti-LGBTI remarks risk fueling discrimination in schools'Amnesty International Responding to media reports in which Eswatini's Minister of Education and Training, Owen Nxumalo while making school visits during back to school visits in schools in the Hhohho Region,…...
Japan: Last high court ruling a damaging step backwards on same-sex marriage
4+ mon, 1+ week ago (372+ words) In response to today's Tokyo High Court decision that endorsed the Japanese government ban on same-sex marriage, Amnesty International's East Asia Researcher Boram Jang said: "While these cases work their way to the Supreme Court, the government can resolve this…...
“Often in LGBTQIA+ communities, we are all we have”
5+ mon, 2+ week ago (785+ words) Clinical psychologist Nancy Papathanasiou has been empowering LGBTQIA+ communities in Greece for close to 20 years, bringing people together, ensuring their stories are heard and campaigning for important changes to legislation." In this story, Nancy shares their perspective on the importance…...
Türkiye: Leaked proposals that would criminalize LGBTI people “must never see the light of day”
5+ mon, 2+ week ago (228+ words) Reacting to the leaked draft of the 11th Judicial Package (11. Yarg" Paketi) which proposes the introduction of criminal penalties targeting T'rkiye's LGBTI community, Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty's Deputy Director for Europe, said:" These proposals present a grave threat to the rights of…...
Slovakia: Parliament’s approval of draconian constitutional amendments is a step towards erosion of human rights
6+ mon, 1+ week ago (245+ words) Reacting to news that the Slovak parliament voted today to pass amendments to the constitution that will lead to the recognition of only two genders (male and female), restrict comprehensive sexuality education, and limit adoption to only married heterosexual couples,…...
Rejection of Hong Kong same-sex partnerships bill shows disdain for LGBTI rights
6+ mon, 3+ week ago (441+ words) Responding to the Hong Kong legislature's rejection of a bill that proposed a new legal framework for registering same-sex partnerships, Amnesty International's Researcher/Policy Advisor on Gender, Nadia Rahman, said: "Today the Hong Kong authorities failed to address the inequality…...
Türkiye: 53 Pride March participants must be acquitted and those arbitrarily detained must be released
7+ mon, 4+ week ago (184+ words) Fifty-three people, including three activists who have been arbitrarily detained for more than a month, are due to stand trial in T'rkiye tomorrow on charges related to June's banned Istanbul LGBTI Pride march. Ahead of the start of the trial,…...
Margot K: “What began as a modest bookshelf has grown into a LGBTIQ+ library with over 400 titles”
8+ mon, 1+ week ago (404+ words) Accessing information and resources on gender and sexuality across the Middle East can still prove challenging for a variety of reasons " a combination of restrictive laws, narrow school and university curricula, limited availability of LGBTIQ+ content in Arabic, and the…...