LONDON - Millions of people joined Pride marches around the world in 2019 and gay, bisexual and transgender rights were increasingly in the spotlight, with some countries legalizing gay marriage while others mulled the death penalty for same-sex relations.
The year also marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots against police brutality in New York City, which triggered the modern movement for LGBT+ rights in Western countries.
Here are 10 stories from a year of change for many LGBT+ people around the world:
1. Brunei and Uganda death penalty for gay sex
In March it was revealed that the small East Asian country of Brunei was planning to implement changes to its Islamic penal code that would impose death by stoning for same-sex intimacy.
After a global backlash, with businesses and celebrities such as George Clooney and Elton John boycotting companies owned by Brunei, the sultanate announced in May that a moratorium on the death penalty would be extended.
In October, a Ugandan minister said the east African nation was planning to reintroduce a bill colloquially known as "Kill the Gays." The government denied that the death penalty would be imposed for gay sex following an international outcry.
2. Gabon criminalizes gay and lesbian sex
In July, the central African nation of Gabon banned "sexual relations between people of the same sex", introducing a penalty of up to 6 months in prison and a fine of 5 million CFA francs ($8,482 or P429,867).
The change was not widely reported until later in the year, but an activist who monitors LGBT+ rights in West Africa said he had spoken to 2 Gabonese men arrested under the new law who had to bribe police to be released.
3. Kenya upholds gay sex ban
Kenya's High Court upheld a British colonial-era law criminalizing gay sex by up to 14 years in jail in May, throwing out a petition by LGBT+ campaigners on the grounds that same-sex relations clashed with traditional moral values.
Advocates said the law promoted homophobia in the socially conservative and religious East African nation and violated constitutional rights to privacy, equality and dignity. They are appealing the ruling.
4. Botswana legalizes gay sex
In June, Botswana legalized same-sex relations when the High Court overturned a colonial-era law that had punished consensual gay sex by up to 7 years in prison.
"Discrimination has no place in this world," Justice Michael Leburu said in his ruling, which followed previous judgments in the southern African country that had recognized the right of LGBT+ people to equal protection before the law.
5. Same-sex marriage spreads
Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage in May, despite two-thirds of people voting in a referendum in November 2018 to retain the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.
The self-ruled island was followed by Ecuador in June, with the South American nation becoming the 27th country in the world to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.
The following month, the British parliament voted to extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland.
6. Trump's transgender military ban goes into effect
The United States implemented a law in April that banned openly trans people from enlisting in the military, with President Donald Trump stating that trans service members would cause "tremendous medical costs and disruption".
It reversed a policy of Trump's predecessor, President Barack Obama.
7. Brazil's top court rules homophobia is a crime
In May, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled that homophobia and transphobia were crimes under existing anti-discrimination laws in the South American country. This outlawed violence against LGBT+ people and made it illegal to deny them access to education, jobs, shops and public buildings.
The ruling came after President Jair Bolsonaro, a self-proclaimed "proud homophobe", removed LGBT+ responsibilities from the human rights ministry after taking office in January.
8. LGBT-free zones spread in Poland
Poland's ruling Law and Justice Party in campaigns for the European Union elections in May and national elections in October depicted "LGBT ideology" as foreign ideas that undermined traditional values.
While Warsaw's mayor signed a pro-LGBT+ declaration in February, dozens of towns - mostly in conservative, rural Poland - declared themselves "LGBT free" and Pride marches in some cities were attacked by protesters.
9. Georgia Pride marchers defy far-right threats
While millions marched in global Pride celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising this summer, in Tbilisi, Georgia, LGBT+ people and their allies had to scale down their parade amid far-right threats.
In November, the premiere of a film about gay love in the country was attacked by violent ultra-nationalist demonstrators, more than 25 of whom were arrested.
10. "Conversion therapy" bans spread
Germany's cabinet in December backed a law that would ban so-called conversion therapy for minors, as a global movement to end discredited practices that aim to change someone's gender identity or sexual orientation gathered pace.
Conversion therapy, which has been widely condemned by medical associations around the world as ineffective and detrimental to mental health, is illegal in Malta, Ecuador, Brazil and Taiwan.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia is set to vote on a plan to outlaw gay and premarital sex while beefing up its blasphemy laws in a shakeup fuelled by religious conservatism and slammed by rights groups Thursday.
The proposed criminal law overhaul could affect millions in the world's biggest Muslim majority country, including heterosexual couples who might face jail for having sex outside wedlock or having an affair.
But there are also fears it could punish the Southeast Asian nation's small LGBT community as gay marriage is not allowed in Indonesia.
"Indonesia's draft criminal code is disastrous not only for women and religious and gender minorities, but for all Indonesians," said Andreas Harsono, senior Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch.
"Lawmakers should remove all the abusive articles before passing the law," he added.
Updating Indonesia's criminal code -- which stretches back to the Dutch colonial era -- has been debated for decades.
While a push last year fizzled, the mooted changes now appear set to be voted on in parliament before the end of the month -- with strong support from religious groups.
Shift towards fundamentalism
"Even though the criminal code bill that will be ratified still has shortcomings, it's far better than the (one) today," said Robikin Emhas, spokesperson for the Nahdlatul Ulama, a major Islamic organization.
Rights groups say the proposals underscore a growing shift towards fundamentalism in a country long hailed for its religious tolerance.
"This is a setback," said Papang Hidayat, research manager at Amnesty International Indonesia.
"Religious values as a source of lawmaking has now reached the national level -- that's worrying."
People who have premarital or extramarital sex could face between 6 months and 1 year in jail, as well as fines, under the changes.
There are also penalties for anyone "showing or offering" contraception to minors under 18.
Indonesia's Aceh province already imposes Islamic law, and whipping is a common punishment for a range of offenses including gambling, drinking alcohol, and having gay or premarital sex.
The proposals call for a wider interpretation of Indonesia's blasphemy law, which has seen members of religious minority groups, including Christians and Buddhists, prosecuted in the past.
The new law would also criminalize "insulting" the president or vice president, which critics said would be a blow to free speech.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SINGAPORE - Thousands of people took part in Singapore's annual gay pride rally on Saturday, with many calling for a law banning gay sex to be scrapped following similar measures elsewhere in the region.
Singapore joins dozens of other cities around the world in celebrating gay pride this weekend but it is the only one where gay sex is criminalized, although the law is not enforced.
Pressure for change in the city-state has increased since India's top court struck down colonial-era criminalization of homosexuality last year. Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan recently became the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage.
"The majority of Singaporeans are tolerant. But for us to be accepted, we have a long way to go," said Elaine, 26, a banker who attended the rally with her girlfriend.
"But I'm happy that the government doesn't stop or disallow events like this to happen," she added, asking to give only her first name.
Under the law, a man found to have committed an act of "gross indecency" with another man could be jailed for up to two years, although prosecutions are rare. The law does not explicitly ban homosexual acts between women.
Previous legal challenges to overturn the ban have failed but shortly after the landmark Indian court ruling, a Singapore DJ filed a new court challenge against the colonial-era law.
For 32-year-old public relations executive Devane Sharma, the criminalization of gay sex has repercussions on the society even if prosecutions do not take place.
"The government often says that the law isn't really enforced so it's okay, but there are ripple effects on the rest of society, especially in matters on sexual health and workplace discrimination," Sharma said.
The gay pride rally has been held since 2009 under stringent public assembly laws at Speakers' Corner, an area set aside for demonstrations, performances and exhibitions for citizens and permanent residents only.
During its six decades since independence, Singapore has emerged as a modern, wealthy city-state.
Lawmakers, however, remain cautious over social reforms, partly due to sensitivities stemming from the ethnic and religious mix among Singapore's 5.6 million inhabitants.
But there was an optimistic mood among the marchers at Saturday's rally:
"It's a matter of time. I think within a few years, the law will (be repealed). I am hopeful," Sharma said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON—Brunei said new laws imposing the death penalty for gay sex and adultery were designed more for "prevention than to punish" in response to the United Nations' condemnation of the measures.
The United Nations said the Muslim-majority former British protectorate violated human rights on April 3 by implementing Islamic laws which punish sodomy, adultery and rape with the death penalty, including by stoning, and theft with amputation.
But Erywan Yusof, Brunei's second minister of foreign affairs, defended the new laws in a letter to the United Nations, saying the move was focused more on "prevention than punishment".
"Its aim is to educate, deter, rehabilitate and nurture rather than to punish," Yusof wrote to the United Nations.
In the letter Yusof said the offenses would not apply to non-Muslims in Brunei, which has has been at the center of a media storm since it announced the rollout of more Sharia laws in March.
Brunei, a small Southeast Asian country of about 400,000 people, has consistently defended its right to implement the laws, elements of which were first adopted in 2014 and which have been rolled out in phases since then.
Its U.N. letter said the "criminalization of adultery and sodomy is to safeguard the sanctity of family lineage and marriage of individual Muslims particularly women".
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on April 3, through a spokesman, said "human rights are to be upheld in relation to every person everywhere without any kind of discrimination".
"The legislation approved is in clear violation with the principles expressed," his spokesman said.
The U.N. has noted that the right to be free from discrimination was enshrined in article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said he had met with Yusof who assured him that prosecutions for gay sex were "unlikely" but this was not satisfactory. "(Yusof's) suggestion that Sharia prosecutions are in practice unlikely is not acceptable: everyone should be free to be who they are and love who they want," Hunt said on Twitter.
Celebrities, from actor George Clooney and singer Elton John, have galvanized support against the new laws, with protesters boycotting the Dorchester Collection range of hotels, owned by the Brunei Investment Agency, across the world.
Over the past week, travel agents, London's transport network and finance houses were among a rising number of companies to cut ties with businesses owned by Brunei. (Reporting by Hugo Greenhalgh @hugo_greenhalgh; Editing by Belinda Goldsmith Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit https://news.trust.org)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - Travel agents, London's transport network, and finance houses were among a rising number of companies on Friday to cut ties with businesses owned by Brunei to protest over the Sultanate's introduction of the death penalty for gay sex and adultery.
The small Muslim-majority former British protectorate on April 3 rolled out further Islamic Sharia laws, which punish sodomy, adultery, and rape with death, including by stoning, and theft with amputation, sparking a global outcry.
The move prompted a corporate backlash after actor George Clooney and singer Elton John called for a boycott of hotels owned by the Southeast Asian country, including the Dorchester in London and the Beverley Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
STA Travel, a global travel agency owned by privately-held Swiss conglomerate Diethelm Keller Group, said it would no longer sell flights on national carrier Royal Brunei Airlines.
"We've taken this stance to add our voice to the calls on Brunei to reverse this change in the law and in support of LGBTQI people everywhere," the company said in a statement.
Virgin Australia Airlines, the second biggest airline in Australia after Qantas, ended an agreement that offered discounted tickets on Royal Brunei Airlines for staff.
Royal Brunei did not respond to requests for comment.
Transport For London (TfL), which is responsible for London's transport system, said it was removing adverts promoting Brunei as a tourism destination from the city's public transport network due to "great public sensitivity."
Deutsche Bank banned its staff from staying in the 9 luxury hotels of the Dorchester Collection, which is owned by Brunei's state-owned Brunei Investment Agency (BIA).
BIA did not respond to a request for comment. The UK-based Sovereign Wealth Center estimates the BIA has US$39 billion of assets under management.
The Dorchester Collection made a public appeal, saying its values were "far removed from the politics of ownership".
"We understand people's anger and frustration but this is a political and religious issue that we don't believe should be played out in our hotels and amongst our 3,630 employees," the Dorchester Collection said in a statement on its website.
But this did not prevent numerous organizations moving their events elsewhere.
British estate agent Knight Frank, property industry networking group Movers and Shakers, which has about 300 corporate members, and property investment company Landsec said they would not use Dorchester Collection hotels.
As well as owning the hotel group, the BIA holds about 4 percent of London-listed digital tech venture capital firm Draper Esprit PLC which it acquired in 2018.
Draper Esprit's CEO Simon Cook said the company "naturally abhor" the moves in Brunei but added the BIA bought shares on the open market and has no "influence either on our company culture or our investment decisions".
The backlash also spread to universities.
More than 50,000 people signed a petition calling on Oxford University to rescind an honorary degree awarded to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, 72, the world's second-longest reigning monarch and prime minister of the oil-rich country.
The university's information office said they shared the international condemnation of Brunei's new penal code and backed the United Nations' call to stop this entering into force.
"At present, the University has not taken any decision on rescinding the Sultan of Brunei's 1993 Honorary Degree of Civil Law by Diploma," the university said in a statement.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON--British pop legend Elton John has joined actor George Clooney in calling for a boycott of nine Brunei-owned hotels over the sultanate's new death-penalty laws for gay sex and adultery.
The call came as a growing list of politicians and celebrities added their names to those condemning the new laws and supporting a boycott.
"I commend my friend, #GeorgeClooney, for taking a stand against the anti-gay discrimination and bigotry taking place in the nation of #Brunei - a place where gay people are brutalized, or worse - by boycotting the Sultan's hotels," the singer wrote on his Twitter page late Saturday.
The 72-year-old, a veteran gay rights campaigner, said his "heart went out" to staff at the hotels, but that "we must send a message, however we can, that such treatment is unacceptable".
The nine hotels mentioned by Clooney are located in Britain, France, Italy and the United States. They include London's exclusive Dorchester and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
The Dorchester Collection luxury chain issued a statement saying that its code emphasizes "equality, respect and integrity in all areas" and that "we do not tolerate any form of discrimination", CNN reported.
Clooney called for the boycott earlier this week, saying "every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels, we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery".
'BARBARIC' DECISION
"No one should face the death penalty because of who they love. Brunei's decision is barbaric," Britain's international development minister Penny Mordaunt wrote on Twitter.
Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark called the new penal code "shocking" and "barbaric".
Amnesty International called on Brunei to "immediately halt its plans to implement these vicious punishments".
In the US, Clooney's call drew supportive declarations from lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle and a strong statement from the Trump administration.
"We strongly oppose human rights violations and abuses against LGBTI persons, including violence," the State Department said in a statement.
LGBTI stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex. Intersex people are people born with physical features that are neither wholly male nor female.
US CONDEMNATION
Former US vice president Joe Biden, who is expected to seek the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination, tweeted on Friday: "Stoning people to death for homosexuality or adultery is appalling and immoral...
"There is no excuse -- not culture, not tradition -- for this kind of hate and inhumanity."
Another Democrat seeking the party's nomination, Senator Kamala Harris of California, joined the chorus. "These human rights abuses cannot be tolerated," she said.
And Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, said on Twitter: "This is wrong. It is barbaric. America should condemn this immoral and inhumane law, and everyone should be united against it."
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis also tweeted in support of her fellow actor's stand. "I stand with George Clooney, a good man doing the right thing, fighting an unjust and barbaric law."
Clooney and his wife, human-rights lawyer Amal Clooney, have been active in humanitarian causes.
Brunei, an absolute monarchy ruled for 51 years by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, is to implement the new penal code starting Wednesday.
Homosexuality is already illegal in the sultanate, but it will now become a capital offence. The law applies only to Muslims.
Brunei first announced the measures in 2013, but implementation has been delayed, in the face of opposition by rights groups, and as officials worked out the practical details.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON, United States - American actor George Clooney has called for a boycott of nine Brunei-owned hotels over the sultanate's imposition of the death penalty for gay sex and adultery.
"Every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery," Clooney wrote on website Deadline Hollywood.
"I've learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you can't shame them. But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way," he added.
The nine hotels are located in the US, Britain, France and Italy.
Brunei will implement the harsh new penal code -- which also mandates amputation of a hand and foot for theft -- starting next Wednesday.
Homosexuality is already illegal in the tiny sultanate, but it will now become a capital offense. The law only applies to Muslims.
Brunei first announced the measures in 2013, but implementation has been delayed as officials worked out the practical details and in the teeth of opposition by rights groups.
In addition to film-making chops that have netted him two Oscars, Clooney is known for his globe-trotting political activism, especially his tireless campaigning to draw attention to the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WELLINGTON - New Zealand's parliament has passed legislation to erase historic convictions for engaging in gay sex, saying the bill would help right past injustices.
Homosexuality was decriminalized in New Zealand in 1986, but people who were convicted before then still had the offence listed on their official records.
Lawmakers unanimously passed a bill late Tuesday allowing people convicted of consensual homosexual sex to have their records expunged.
"I would like to apologize again to all the men and members of the rainbow community who have been affected by the prejudice, stigma and other negative effects caused by convictions for historical homosexual offenses," Justice Minister Andrew Little said.
"This bill sends a clear signal that discrimination against gay people is no longer acceptable, and that we are committed to putting right wrongs from the past."
The justice department said the convictions related to three offences that were dropped in 1986 -- sodomy, indecency between males and keeping a place of resort for homosexual acts.
It estimates about 1,000 people will be eligible to apply to have their records cleared when the scheme takes effect next year.
To qualify, the sex that led to the conviction must have been consensual and taken place between those aged 16 years or older.
Family members can also apply to have the records of a deceased relative cleared.
New Zealand passed laws banning discrimination against gays in 1993 and in 2013 became the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to legalise same-sex marriage.
ns/mp/gle/hg
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SEOUL - A South Korean military court on Wednesday sentenced a captain to six months in jail for having same-sex intercourse with another soldier, amid accusations that the army is cracking down on gay personnel.
The captain, whose name was not given, was convicted of breaking a clause in South Korea's military law banning homosexual activity by army personnel, the military said, adding it would continue to "handle disorderly conduct according to law."
He was sentenced to six months in prison, plus a suspended sentence of one year.
Homosexual acts are not a crime for civilians in South Korea, but it remains a conservative and patriarchal society and does not recognize same-sex marriage.
New President Moon Jae-In, elected earlier this month, is a former human rights lawyer and seen as a liberal, but came under fire from activists after saying in a televised debate that he did not like homosexuality.
Rights groups say that at least 32 soldiers face criminal punishment for similar actions.
"The captain was charged for having consensual sexual intercourse with his partner in a private space," said Kim Hyung-Nam of the Military Human Rights Centre campaign group.
Last month the organization accused the army of setting up fake accounts on dating apps to find military personnel and conducting homophobic interrogations on those exposed.
Rights group Amnesty International slammed the South Korean army for an "unjust conviction" that should be "immediately overturned".
"What counts is their service not their sexuality," said Roseann Rife, its East Asia research director.
"It is long overdue for South Korea to repeal this archaic and discriminatory provision in the military criminal code, and get up-to-date when it comes to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex people," she added.
sh/slb/fa
source: news.abs-cbn.com
A sharia court Wednesday sentenced two men to be publicly caned for gay sex for the first time in Indonesia's conservative province of Aceh, the latest sign of a backlash against homosexuals in the Muslim-majority country.
The pair, aged 20 and 23, were sentenced to 85 strokes of the cane each after being found guilty of breaking Aceh's strict Islamic laws.
They were caught together in bed in March by vigilantes who burst into the boarding house where they were staying in provincial capital Banda Aceh.
Presiding judge Khairil Jamal told the court that the men had been "proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing gay sex, the defendants are sentenced to 85 strokes of the cane in public".
Officials have not revealed the men's names due to the sensitivity of the case. The sentence will be carried out at a later date.
Aceh is the only part of Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population, that is allowed to implement sharia law and public canings for offences ranging from gambling to drinking alcohol were already common.
But the men found guilty Wednesday will be the first to be subject to the punishment for gay sex, which was banned in Aceh under a regulation introduced in 2015. Gay sex is not illegal in the rest of Indonesia.
The verdict is the latest example of growing hostility towards Indonesia's small lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, which faced a backlash last year with government ministers publicly making anti-gay statements.
After the men were caught in the raid in March in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, phone footage circulated online showing the vigilantes kicking, slapping and insulting them, with one of them slumped naked on the ground.
They were then turned over to the sharia police. Authorities said the pair admitted to being in a relationship and having had sex three times.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
