A bill before Nigeria’s National Assembly to ban “same gender marriage” would expand Nigeria’s already draconian punishments for homosexual conduct and threaten all Nigerians’ rights to privacy, free expression, and association, Human Rights Watch said today.
In a letter to President Umaru Yar’Adua, leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate, the Nigerian National Human Rights [...]

Tags: LGBT, Nigeria

Leave a comment »

Equality is a basic value underlying human rights standards and cannot be retracted at the whim of a simple majority, Human Rights Watch said in an amicus brief submitted to the California Supreme Court. Human Rights Watch called on the court to overturn Proposition 8, a referendum narrowly passed last November that withdrew the right [...]

Tags: LGBT, USA

Leave a comment »

The Honduran authorities should fully investigate the murder of Cynthia Nicole, a leading Honduras transgender rights defender, and other attacks on the transgender community. Nicole’s killing is the latest in a series of violent attacks against transgender people in Honduras.
Unknown assailants murdered Nicole, 32, in the early hours of January 9, 2009. According to testimonies [...]

Tags: Honduras, LGBT

Leave a comment »

The sentencing in Dakar on January 6, 2009 of nine men who were involved in HIV-prevention work, on charges of “indecent and unnatural acts” and “forming associations of criminals,” shows how laws against homosexual conduct damage HIV- and AIDS-prevention efforts as well as the work of human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch said today.
“These charges [...]

Tags: LGBT, Senegal

Leave a comment »

In a powerful victory for the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, last Thursday 66 nations at the UN General Assembly supported a ground breaking statement confirming that international human rights protections include sexual orientation and gender identity. It is the first time that a statement condemning rights abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, [...]

Tags: Global, LGBT, UN

Leave a comment »

The Origins of “Sodomy” Laws in British Colonialism
A new HRW report “This Alien Legacy“describes how laws in over three dozen countries, from India to Uganda and from Nigeria to Papua New Guinea, derive from a single law on homosexual conduct that British colonial rulers imposed on India in 1860. This year, the High Court in [...]

Tags: Global, LGBT

Leave a comment »

European Institutions Should Help End the Violence
Lesbian and bisexual women and transgender men face violent abuse, including rape, in Kyrgyzstan, both in family settings and from strangers on the street, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued today. The report calls on the Kyrgyz government to acknowledge the problem and protect the victims, and [...]

Tags: Kyrgyzstan, LGBT

Leave a comment »

The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina must provide adequate security for the participants in the first “Sarajevo Queer Festival”, said Amnesty International after several people were attacked at the end of the first day of the festival. The authorities must also promptly and thoroughly investigate the attacks and bring those responsible to justice.
Eight people, policemen [...]

Tags: Bosnia and Herzegovina, LGBT

Leave a comment »

The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina must guarantee a climate free of intimidation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, as they prepare for the first “Sarajevo Queer Festival”, Amnesty International said today. This festival of art and culture, which includes exhibitions, performances, public discussions and films, is planned to take place between 24 and [...]

Tags: Bosnia and Herzegovina, LGBT

Leave a comment »

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Groups Gain Consultative Status The decision by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) granting consultative status to two groups that work on sexual orientation and gender identity is a victory in the ongoing struggle for inclusion at the UN, a coalition of six human [...]

Tags: LGBT, UN

Leave a comment »