Switzerland divided over new law against homophobia

GENEVA - For gay rights campaigner Jean-Pierre Sigrist, the new law being voted on in a referendum in Switzerland on Sunday might have stopped him getting beaten up 4 decades ago.

"And maybe I would not have been laughed at when I went to the police," said the 71-year-old, who believes the law will be "an added safeguard against homophobia."

The new law would widen existing legislation against discrimination or incitement to hatred on ethnic or religious grounds to include sexual orientation.

The change was passed by the Swiss parliament in 2018.

But the populist right wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) and the Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (EDU), a small party based on Christian values, are opposed.

Critics of the law, who have forced a public referendum on the issue, believe it will end up censoring free speech.

Eric Bertinat, a UDC local lawmaker in Geneva, told AFP that he believed the law was "part of an LGBT plan to slowly move towards same-sex marriage and medically assisted reproduction" for gay couples.

UDF chief Marc Frueh has called it a "censorship law."

But Sigrist, founder of Switzerland's association of gay teachers, said it would counter growing intolerance.

The retired teacher said he supports freedom of expression, "but not the freedom to say anything at all."

All of Switzerland's major parties except the UDC, the biggest political force in parliament, support the law.

NO TO 'SPECIAL TREATMENT'

Under the new law, homophobic comments made in a family setting or among friends would not be criminalized.

But publicly denigrating or discriminating against someone for being gay or inciting hatred against that person in text, speech, images or gestures, would be banned.

The government has said it will still be possible to have opinionated debates on issues such as same-sex marriage, and the new law does not ban jokes -- however off-color.

"Incitement to hatred needs to reach a certain level of intensity in order to be considered criminal in Switzerland," Alexandre Curchod, a media lawyer, told AFP.

But he admitted that there could be exceptions "if it can be shown that, under the cover of artistic production or joking, someone is in fact engaging in incitement."

Gay rights campaigners are divided over the legislation.

A group called "No to Special Rights!" is opposed, arguing that the gay community does not need special protection.

"I fight for the acceptance and normalization of my sexuality. But for me that also means not asking for special treatment," said Michael Frauchiger, co-head of the group.

Opinion polls show that the Swiss as a whole are broadly in favor of the law, but that the margin between supporters and opponents has narrowed in recent months.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

From parades to punishments: 10 headline LGBT+ stories in 2019

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

Tolerance towards LGBT+ people seen rising globally

LONDON - LGBT+ people have seen a rise in tolerance in almost every region of the world over the last decade, according to an index released on Monday.

Iceland was named as the most tolerant country towards LGBT+ people in a survey of 167 countries by British think-tank the Legatum Institute, while central Asian country Tajikistan was in last place.

"It is encouraging to see that our 2019 Prosperity Index shows a rise in tolerance towards the LGBT community globally over the past decade," Shaun Flanagan of the institute's Center for Metrics told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"However, the LGBT community, as well as other often marginalized groups, such as immigrants, ethnic minorities and religious groups, still face considerable persecution across certain parts of the world today."

The data is part of the 2019 Legatum Prosperity Index, which measures a host of factors affecting countries' ability to create wealth and wellbeing, ranging from investment environment to health and personal freedom.

Social tolerance towards minority groups increased in 111 of 167 countries over the last decade, and across every region except for Eastern Europe & Sub-Saharan Africa, it found.

The rise in acceptance of LGBT+ people was particularly marked, rising from about one in four people expressing acceptance a decade ago to almost a third in the latest report.

Tolerance towards LGBT+ people was measured according to responses to a Gallup poll that asked more than 130,000 people around the world whether their city or area was a good place for gay and lesbian people to live.

Top-ranking Iceland was followed by The Netherlands and Norway in the 2019 index, while Canada and Denmark took fourth and fifth place respectively.

Several of the least tolerant countries criminalize homosexuality, with penalties including a potential death sentence for men in Mauritania and Somalia, both in the bottom five.

However, legality did not always equal acceptance - lowest-ranked Tajikistan decriminalized gay sex in 1998 but LGBT+ people still face widespread discrimination.

It was followed by Somalia, Azerbaijan, Senegal and Mauritania in second to fourth last place respectively. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Gay marriage legal in 28 countries

PARIS - The first-ever gay civil unions in Denmark 30 years ago paved the way for full same-sex marriages that are today allowed in 28 countries, even though homosexuality remains illegal in some parts of the world.

Here is an overview.

Europe, gay marriage pioneers

On October 1, 1989, for the first time in the world, several gay couples in Denmark tied the knot in legal civil unions.

Danish homosexual couples would however have to wait until 2012 to be allowed to marry in church.

The right to a religious marriage ceremony was first allowed in The Netherlands in 2001.

Thirteen European countries followed: Belgium, Britain (although not Northern Ireland), Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

Austria allowed gay marriage from 2019.

Some countries allow only gay civil partnerships including Croatia, Cyprus, The Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland.

The Czech government has backed draft legislation that would make the country the first post-communist member of the European Union to legalize same-sex marriage, but its fate is uncertain.

Slovenia also allows civil partnerships but in 2015 rejected in a referendum a proposal to legalize gay marriage.

In 2014 Estonia became the first former Soviet republic to authorize same-sex civil unions.

In Romania a referendum aimed at enshrining a ban on gay marriage in the constitution failed in 2018 because of a low turnout.

Progress in the Americas

Canada was the first American country to authorize same-sex marriage in 2005.

In 2015 the US Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide at a time it was banned in 14 out of 50 states.

The United States' first gay marriage had actually taken place in 1971, when a Minnesota couple obtained a marriage licence thanks to an overlooked legal loophole. The marriage was officially recognized in March 2019, after a five-decade legal battle.

In Latin America five countries allow same-sex marriages: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay, joined by Ecuador in June 2019.

Mexico's federal capital authorized gay civil unions in 2007 and marriages in 2009. Half of its 32 states have followed.

Chile legalized gay civil unions in 2015.

Costa Rica's Supreme Court in 2018 ruled that a ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional and gave parliament 18 months to amend the laws.

Cuba left out of its new constitution adopted in February 2019 changes that would have paved the way for legal same-sex marriage. The definition of marriage will be left to a new Family Code which will be put to a referendum.

Taiwan, first in Asia

While much of Asia is tolerant of homosexuality, Taiwan became in May 2019 the first in the region to allow gay marriage.

In the Middle East, where homosexuality is repressed, Israel leads the way in terms of gay rights, recognizing same-sex marriages that are performed elsewhere although not allowing such unions in the country itself.

Several countries in the conservative region still have the death penalty for homosexuality, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Australia (2017) and New Zealand (2013) are the only places in the wider Asia-Pacific region to have passed gay marriage laws.

Africa: marriage in one country

South Africa is the sole nation on the African continent to allow gay marriage, which it legalized in 2006.

Around 30 African countries ban homosexuality, with Mauritania, Somalia and Sudan having the death penalty for same-sex relations.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Masked men and murder: vigilantes terrorize LGBT+ Russians

MOSCOW - Receiving photos of mutilated bodies with the warning "you're next" rattled gay rights activist Nikita Tomilov but when he saw surveillance men outside his home, he fled Russia for good.

The threats via social media came from Pila - Russian for "saw" - a homophobic group which has said it was behind the fatal stabbing in July of an LGBT+ activist whose name was among a dozen on their widely-circulated assassination "blacklist".

"I went to the police when I saw two masked men lurking outside my apartment, but they said they couldn't do anything without proof that these men were there," Tomilov, 22, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation via Skype from a European country.

"What kind of proof could I bring them? And my family members started receiving threats as well. I realised it was too dangerous for me to stay in Russia."

Elena Grigoryeva, 41, was stabbed eight times in the face and back in St Petersburg. The Investigative Committee, which handles major crimes, said she was murdered by a local resident she had been drinking with and detained two suspects.

Although the police did not treat the murder as a hate crime initially, they promised to investigate whether Pila had anything to do with Grigoryeva's death after complaints from lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) rights groups.

Pila - which takes its name from the "Saw" American horror movies - is the latest threat to shake the LGBT+ community in Russia, where homosexuality was deemed a criminal offence until 1993 and classed as a mental illness until 1999.

Violence against gay people and hostility from the wider community has been on the rise since 2013 when the Kremlin adopted a gay "propaganda" law as part of a drive to defend what President Vladimir Putin called Russia's "traditional values".

LGBT+ campaigners say the law has helped authorities crack down on activists and contributed to a rise in anti-LGBT+ hate crimes as well as police reluctance to investigate them.

The Russian LGBT Network, which offers legal aid to gay people, said only eight out of 64 cases of physical violence against LGBT+ people that it received in 2018 were investigated by the police.

Moscow police headquarters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova did not respond to requests for comment. In several public statements, Putin has said there is no discrimination against LGBT+ people in Russia.

ATTACKS

Pila has used its website, Instagram, Russia's biggest social network VK and messaging app Telegram to call for gay Russians to be deported, posted a list of LGBT+ activists to be assassinated, and offered cash rewards for attacks on them.

Opinions differ on the danger it poses. The size of the vigilante group, which became active online in mid-2018, and the identities of its backers remain unclear.

Tomilov believes it is a powerful organisation capable of murder, while others see it merely an intimidation campaign, unlikely to go beyond online threats.

"We can't be certain it's a real group that can organise physical attacks on people," said Igor Kochetkov, head of the Russian LGBT Network.

"There isn't a single confirmed fact of assaults, let alone murders, committed by the so-called Pila. What we're seeing is a website that comes and goes, emails and messages on social media."

Pila's website and all of its online accounts were blocked last month after complaints from activists who fear its threats are fuelling homophobia and violence against LGBT+ people.

"They openly call for violence against certain people, but law enforcement has taken no action whatsoever," said Alexander Kondakov, a sociologist at Finland's University of Helsinki who authored a study on anti-gay hate crimes in Russia.

"This terrible situation encourages not just Pila itself, but others like them, too - people see that these actions go unpunished.

LGBT+ rights group Vykhod said the police promised to examine and analyse screenshots of Pilas website last week.

UNPUNISHED

Vitaly Bespalov, editor of the gay news site ParniPlus, received an email on Aug. 26 instructing him to kill Maxim Lapunov - a gay man who went public about being kidnapped and tortured in Chechnya - before Oct. 1 or else be killed himself.

"You, surely, haven't forgotten that boozer Yelena Grigoryeva?" said the email, written in Russian in capital letters, sent from an email address containing Pila's name.

"Our slave offed her – but you'll never find those who ordered it," said the email, seen by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, using a slang phrase meaning to kill someone.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation was unable to independently authenticate the email or reach Pila for comment. Emails sent to the address used to threaten Bespalov failed to deliver "due to a permission or security issue".

"I filed a complaint to the Interior Ministry," said Bespalov. "But they know they will go unpunished. If they wrote something against Putin, the police would have found them the next day. They understand that no one will even look for them."

Alexei Nazarov, an LGBT+ activist from St Petersburg, was targeted in an identical email on Aug. 26, which was sent to one of his friends who was instructed to kill him. Nazarov declined to name the friend who received the email for safety reasons.

Nazarov said he thought Pila was just a creepy online campaign but its calls for violence were dangerous.

"What if someone mentally unstable reads it, interprets it as a call to action and kills me for real?" he asked. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Murder, ‘gay-hunters’ strike terror in Russia's LGBT community

When LGBT activist Yelena Grigoryeva found her name on a hit list of a "gay-hunting" group, she did not appear to take the threat seriously.

The group called itself "Pila", meaning "saw", after the series of Hollywood horror films of the same name, in which a serial killer plays games with his victims. 

Pila promised "very dangerous and cruel little gifts" to a number of Russia's gay activists. 

"That's just a threat," Grigoryeva wrote on Facebook early last month, posting a screen grab of the group's website on her page. 

"This is not how crimes are committed."

On July 21, her body was found in bushes close to her home in Saint Petersburg, with at least eight stab wounds to her face and back. She was 41.

The murder has horrified Russia's LGBT community, even though there seems to be no firm evidence linking Pila directly to Grigoryeva's fatal stabbing.

"I do not know who these people are, but it's significant that people who think this way live among us," said activist Mikhail Tumasov, who has also received threats from Pila. 

"Many people would like to do in reality what Pila is threatening us with. The idea has emerged that killing people over their sexual orientation is not just normal, but noble," he told AFP.

Russia's gays and lesbians are no strangers to violence, hate crimes and even homophobic murders.

But a vigilante group seeking to turn violence against LGBT people into a game and encouraging Russians to hunt them down for sport plumbs new lows, campaigners say.

Activists said the Pila website had been around for about a year, posting names and pictures of their targets and promising "awards" for attacks on them.


- 'Start protecting citizens' - 

Prominent activist Igor Kochetkov accused authorities of doing little to stop it as he urged police to probe the website and the death threats against Grigoryeva.

"Dear police and other law enforcement agencies. It's time to get to work!" Kochetkov, whose name was also on the hit list, said in a recent video address. 

"Start protecting all citizens! And if you believe that people like us should not be protected find yourselves a different job." 

Pila's website has only recently been blocked, as have its channels on the popular encrypted messaging app Telegram. 

But Pila has promised "to play until the end", despite the ban.

Late last month, investigators arrested a man suspected of killing Grigoryeva, suggesting the attack was the result of a personal dispute. 

Then they said they had taken the wrong man and detained a new suspect. 

But the investigators made no mention of the homophobic threats against the activist, implying she was killed by a drinking companion.

Separately, Russia's Anti-Extremism Center said it could not conduct a probe into Pila because its website had been blocked.

LGBT activists accuse authorities of refusing to properly investigate Grigoryeva's murder and the homophobic group.

They say Pila may not be made up of cold-bloodied killers, but that its main goal was to further terrorise Russia's beleaguered gay community.

"Pila is dangerous because it sows hatred. It inspires people to commit real crimes," said Alla Chikinda, spokeswoman for an LGBT support center in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

The center, too, has received threats from Pila, which called for it to be shut down.

"You will be the next victims of our game if you don't comply with our conditions," the group warned in a letter.

The Yekaterinburg center has now installed video cameras and complained to the police.


- 'Feeling of impunity' - 


Even though Russia decriminalized homosexuality in 1993, it remains a deeply homophobic society. 

A rise in violence against gays has been seen since 2013, when Russia passed a law banning gay "propaganda" among minors.

At a G20 summit in Japan in June, President Vladimir Putin insisted Russia respected gay rights, but also made fun of gender identity. 

"Transformers, trans... I don't even understand what this is," he said.

In July, Russia opened an unprecedented criminal case accusing officials of negligence for allowing a gay couple to adopt two children.

Activists say it should come as no surprise that groups like Pila did not fear punishment.

"They enjoy a feeling of impunity," said Vitaly Bespalov, editor at a gay online portal and one of the targets. 

"They know they will face nothing for it."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Madrid high heels run defies gravity, homophobia

MADRID, Spain—Dozens of men and a few women in stiletto heels raced through the center of the Spanish capital on Thursday, defying gravity, the heat and attempts by the far-right party Vox to curtail their Gay Pride celebrations this year.

The race in Chueca, a gay-friendly neighborhood in central Madrid, draws competitors from abroad and is one of the most eagerly awaited parts of the annual festival of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

The race attracts the young and old, the athletic and the portly. Reaching the finish line is no easy task: rules state that heels must be at least 10 cm (4 inches) high, and the shoes are measured before the race.

Madrid Pride, one of the world’s largest LGBT celebrations, will culminate in a parade in the city center on Saturday.

The ultra-conservative Vox, a political newcomer that won about 10 percent of the vote in April's national election and recently enabled the center-right to take over the Madrid city hall, has increasingly attacked the festival and LGBT rights in Spain.

Vox wants to move the Pride Parade from the city center to a park in the suburbs.

Vox's Madrid regional branch head, Rocio Monasterio, told La Contra TV on Tuesday the celebrations "denigrate people's dignity."

"When a mother, a father step outside there is no reason for them to stumble into this spectacle... involving explicit sexual acts in the street at daytime."

During the high heels run, there were chants against Vox.

Javier Garcia, a 23-year-old nurse, wants the race to stay in Madrid's center to keep it visible.

"People still have to fight and make visible certain inequalities that are still not fully resolved," he said before taking part in the race.

Garcia said he felt nervous because it was his first time running in Madrid's event, although he had participated in a similar one in the Canary Islands.

The race winner gets 350 euros ($390).

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Billionaire Branson urges business to back LGBT+ rights

LONDON - British billionaire Richard Branson urged fellow business leaders on Thursday to use their clout and put pressure on countries such as Brunei that persecute citizens for their sexuality.

Brunei's decision to impose the death penalty for gay sex had spurred the call for action, Branson wrote in a blog posted on Virgin.com. He was joined by 20 other top executives, who put their names to a wider initiative in support of LGBT+ rights.

"Why take action now? The answer is simple. I feel that every opportunity to stand up for what we believe in is a good opportunity to shift the conversation on a global scale," said Branson, who made his fortune from a conglomerate of enterprises bearing the Virgin name.

John Fallon, chief executive of education group Pearson, and Paul Polman, former chief executive of consumer goods company Unilever, were among 21 signatories of an initiative supported by Open For Business, a coalition of global firms promoting LGBT+ inclusion.

"It is time for all of us, as business leaders and as human beings, to stand up to ensure that people are free from the fear of abuse for who they love," the 21 signatories wrote.

"This is our responsibility to our employees, to our customers and to communities all over the world."

The initiative calls for businesses to create inclusive workplaces, actively support criminalized LGBT+ communities, and engage with repressive regimes on their policies.

More than 70 countries worldwide, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, enforce anti-LGBT+ laws.

Brunei, a small Southeast Asian country of about 400,000 people, sparked outcry last month when it rolled out laws penalizing sodomy, adultery and rape with the death penalty.

Celebrities, from actor George Clooney to singer Elton John, have galvanized support, with protesters boycotting the Dorchester Collection of hotels, owned by the Brunei Investment Agency.

A growing list of banks, including Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Citi and Nomura, have banned staff from using the hotels.

STA Travel and London's transport network have also begun to cut ties with businesses owned by the sultanate.

In a letter to the United Nations, Brunei has defended the imposition of strict sharia laws, which it began introducing in 2014, as more for "prevention than to punish."

Matt Cameron, managing director of investment industry organization LGBT Great, called for a boycott of countries that enacted anti-gay and anti-transgender laws.

"The financial services sector is a massive part of the global economy and carries a lot of clout," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"I do think there's a responsibility and an accountability for the industry to step up and use its force."

However, Daniel Winterfeldt, a partner in law firm Reed Smith's global capital markets practice, stressed the value of talking with governments, whatever their views.

"Engagement is incredibly important. If you build up a barrier, things can actually get worse," Winterfeldt said.

"When (business leaders) attend high-level meetings with governments, it is important that on their lists of concerns are equality issues." 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Multinationals see benefits in Taiwan same-sex marriage

LONDON - Some of the world's largest companies said on Wednesday that plans to grant equal marriage to LGBT+ couples in Taiwan - the first Asian nation to do so - would boost the country's economy.

Taiwan's parliament is expected to vote by late May, a deadline set by the constitutional court when it ruled in 2017 that same-sex couples could legally wed.

Google, Airbnb, Deutsche Bank, EY, Mastercard and Microsoft have joined forces with nine other companies, including Taiwan-based O-Bank Co, to laud the benefits of same-sex weddings.

"We value diversity, inclusivity, respect, equality and non-discrimination, as well as seek to protect these values within our company and while working with our business partners," said Patrick Pan, enterprise public lead at Microsoft Taiwan.

"We do so not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it can make our company and society stronger and more successful."

Economists say the benefits of same-sex marriage include increased productivity, greater labor mobility, and less stress in the workplace over perceived discrimination.

According to 2016 research from Swiss bank Credit Suisse, the performance of a basket of 270 companies that supported LGBT+ policies was on average 3 percent higher than that of the MSCI All Country World Index, which measures global stock movements.

AN ASIAN FIRST

Taiwan is set to become the first country in Asia to allow same-sex marriage following a 2017 ruling by the country's Constitutional Court that to deny gay and lesbian couples the right to marry violated the constitution.

However, Taiwanese voters rejected same-sex marriage in an advisory referendum last November, prompting concerns about whether the ruling would become law.

Under the terms of the court's judgement, lawmakers have until May 24 to pass legislation that will allow same-sex couples to wed. If the Taiwanese parliament fails to act, same-sex marriage will automatically become legal.

"Leveraging different perspectives fuels innovation, fosters collaboration and strengthens relationships," said EY's Taiwan country managing partner Andrew Fuh.

"This is why we believe that each of us has a role to play in advancing diversity and inclusion."

Taiwan's parliament is currently considering two bills offering couples differing rights ahead of the May 24 deadline.

Jennifer Lu, chief co-ordinator of Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan, said passing marriage equality would send a message to the world that "Taiwan is open for business."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Rising number of businesses cut ties with Brunei over gay sex death penalty

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

Mormons allow baptism for children of same-sex couples

LOS ANGELES - The Mormon Church on Thursday announced it would now allow the children of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender parents to be baptized, regardless of whether the parents are members.

The decision is "effective immediately," said the Church, officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in a statement.

The new policy allows a child to be blessed as a baby and baptized at age eight.

"Previously, our handbook characterized same-gender marriage by a member as apostasy," or a denial of faith, the statement said. 

"While we still consider such a marriage to be a serious transgression, it will not be treated as apostasy for purposes of Church discipline. Instead, the immoral conduct in heterosexual or homosexual relationships will be treated in the same way."

The Church added it wanted to "reduce the hate and contention so common today" -- but insisted its overall teachings had not changed.

"These changes do not represent a shift in Church doctrine related to marriage or the commandments of God in regard to chastity and morality," it said. 

Founded in 1830, the Mormon Church, whose headquarters are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, has 16 million members and says its mission is to restore a true church in preparation for the return of Jesus Christ. 

Its informal name refers to the "Book of Mormon" -- named after an old prophet -- which followers believe is a restored version of the true word of Jesus, rather than traditional Christian scripture.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints also advocates for baptizing dead people who were not baptized while alive -- a practice which sees a living person baptized to baptize the dead person by proxy, even if they lived several generations before. 

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George and Amal Clooney on justice mission for women and gay people

EDINBURGH - Celebrity couple George and Amal Clooney said on Thursday they wanted to use their star power to push for justice globally for women, children, LGBT+ people, religious minorities, and journalists.

The 57-year-old Hollywood actor said some countries were using courts to do "really rotten things" and it was important to "shine a light" on where this was happening.

The couple's Clooney Foundation for Justice, set up in 2016, plans to this year launch, TrialWatch, a project to monitor trials and create an index to track which countries are using courtrooms to oppress minorities and government critics.

Amal Clooney, an international human rights lawyer, said it was important to expose injustices and the countries using courts to target vulnerable people, human rights defenders, and press freedom.

"We now have the highest number of journalists in jail in the world since records began," she told a charity gala organized by the People's Postcode Lottery in Edinburgh.

The Clooneys, who married in 2014, said they were both committed to using their fame to raise awareness about human rights abuses and corruption.

Amal Clooney, 41, said her job was less glamorous than it might seem as it mainly involved piling through vast amounts of paperwork but their fame could be used to their advantage.

"It helps when we want to engage governments to act or business leaders," said the British-Lebanese lawyer.

Her actor husband also played down the glamour of fame, joking about being the father of one-year-old twins, but acknowledged that he had always been determined to use the public spotlight to do good.

"I didn't grow up wealthy," he said. "If you end up getting lucky, you should share that luck."

The Clooneys were in Scotland to collect an award from the People's Postcode Lottery for their humanitarian work.

Britain's People's Postcode Lottery is one of several charity lotteries set up in Europe since 1989 by the Netherlands-based social enterprise Novamedia.

The lottery awards cash prizes and also donates about 32 percent of sales to charity, which has totaled more than 400 million pounds ($530 million) since 2005.

The organization has given money to some of George Clooney's other charities and has also made a grant to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters.

($1 = 0.7602 pounds)

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Some 4.5 pct of US adults identify as LGBT - study

An estimated 4.5 percent of US adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and they tend to be younger and poorer than the population at large, according to an analysis of polling data released on Tuesday.

The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law examined previously released results from the Gallup Daily Tracking survey and went deeper into the data, enabling a more detailed demographic picture of the adult US LGBT population of roughly 11.3 million people.

The institute found Washington, D.C., had the highest percentage of LGBT people at 9.8 percent and North Dakota had the lowest at 2.7 percent.

The self-identifying LGBT population also skews younger. Only 23 percent are age 50 or older, compared with 47 percent of non-LGBT adults, and 56 percent of LGBT adults are under age 35 compared with 28 percent for the non-LGBT population.

"Younger people are more likely to actually live as LGBT and to identify that way because they are growing up in a time when it's more acceptable to acknowledge those feelings and to act on them," said Kerith Conron, research director at the Williams Institute.

The LGBT population is also economically disadvantaged: more likely to lack access to a sufficient nutrition or to have household incomes below $24,000, the analysis found.

Although LGBT people come from all ethnic groups, people of color represent a slightly higher percentage than they do in the general population for reasons that require more research, Conron said.

The Williams Institute, which specializes in LGBT research for law and public policy, also confirmed its previous estimate of the transgender population at 0.6 percent, or roughly 1.4 million US adults.

Conron said an apparent one-percentage-point increase in the LGBT population from 2011 was likely the result of more people feeling comfortable responding to questions about their sexual orientation.

In 2011, the Williams Institute estimated the US LGBT population at 3.5 percent based on other survey data.

Modern polls and surveys estimate the LGBT population well below a common but unattributed figure of 10 percent that sexologists link to an oversimplification of Alfred Kinsey's work some 70 years ago.

However, in surveys that are more anonymous and private, closer to 10 percent of respondents say they have some level of same-sex attraction even if they stop short of identifying themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, Conron said.

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'Spot a gay' list in Malaysian newspaper sparks outrage

KUALA LUMPUR -- A stereotype-laden checklist for spotting gay men and lesbian women published by a popular Malaysian newspaper has sparked outrage in the Muslim-majority nation, with activists warning it could endanger lives.

The Malay-language tabloid Sinar Harian claimed gay men love to go to the gym -- just to check out other men -- wear tight clothes to show off their physiques and tend to sport beards, while their eyes widen when they see handsome men.

Lesbians, the paper said, "hate men" and enjoy hugging.

The list, published Friday, was swiftly met with derision online, while campaigners warned it could further stoke animosity against LGBTQ groups, who have been increasingly targeted with violence and discrimination in recent years.

"It exposes these people to bullying, which could lead to violent hate crimes towards them," Eric Paulsen, Lawyers for Liberty executive director, told AFP Tuesday.

Malaysia has experienced growing religious fundamentalism in recent years, sparking friction between conservative forces and those campaigning for greater rights. The country retains its colonial-era criminal ban on sodomy, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, caning or a fine.

Human Rights Watch said in a 2017 report that discrimination against LGBT people was "pervasive" in Malaysia.

One of the country's biggest social media stars, Arwind Kumar, railed against the list in a video posted on YouTube.

"How the hell does a gay person endanger your life? With an article like this you are only going to take away lives," he said. "Are you dumb? How can having facial hair make someone gay?" 

Kumar said in the video, pointing out that religious leaders were also known for their abundant facial hair. The clip has been viewed thousands of times.

Sinar Harian has not yet issued any response to the controversy.

Malaysia hit the headlines in March 2017 over its attitudes to homosexuality when the country's film censorship board demanded cuts to Disney's hit movie "Beauty and the Beast" because of a "gay moment." But the entertainment giant refused and the film was released in full.

In June, Malaysian health authorities were forced to backpedal on plans for a contest to "prevent" homosexuality, but in December the state of Terengganu sparked alarm by announcing plans for a conversion therapy course aimed at transgender women.

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Celebrations spread after Australia backs same-sex marriage

Celebrations swept across Australia Wednesday as voters emphatically endorsed same-sex marriage after more than a decade of divisive debate, and political leaders immediately began moves to enshrine the historic shift in law by Christmas.

Thousands of marriage equality supporters took to parks and squares across the vast country, hugging, dancing and singing under clouds of glitter when the results of the two-month-long postal survey were announced.

Revelers wrapped in rainbow colors swarmed the entertainment districts of Sydney, Melbourne and other cities, closing streets as the party continued late into the evening.

"This means everything, this means everything," shouted one partygoer named Chris at a huge rally in Sydney, fighting back tears and hugging his partner Victor.

"It has been fantastic. I have been with my partner for 35 years and he was so joyed up that he burst into tears," added another reveller, Gerry Boller.

Almost 62% of the 12.7 million people who participated voted "yes" to the question: "Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?"

Just 38.4% voted "no", according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which carried out the poll.

Irish-born Qantas Airlines chief Alan Joyce, who is openly gay and campaigned strongly for the "yes" campaign, also fought back tears as he spoke of his delight.

"I was so proud of Ireland in May 2015 when they became the first nation in the world to vote for marriage equality... But today I am even more proud of Australia, the country of my selection," he said in Sydney.

Nearly 80% of eligible voters took part in the poll, with the "yes" vote winning a majority in all of Australia's states and territories.


- 'Yes for love' -


Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a moderate conservative who backed the "yes" camp, hailed the result of the non-binding vote and vowed to pass a bill legalizing marriage equality "before Christmas".

Australians "voted yes for fairness, yes for commitment, yes for love", Turnbull said, adding that he had already been invited to "stacks" of gay weddings once the law takes hold.

"Now it is up to us, here in the Parliament of Australia... to get on with the job the Australian people have tasked us to do and get this done, this year, before Christmas."

Within hours of the vote result, Dean Smith, a Senator from Turnbull's Liberal Party who is gay, introduced a bill that would legalize gay marriage while allowing religious institutions and clergy to refuse to celebrate same-sex unions if they conflict with their beliefs.

Hardline opponents in Turnbull's party have pressed for more extensive religious protections to allow commercial service providers to reject same-sex weddings and let parents pull their children from school programs they feel undermine heterosexual traditions.

They have support notably from Muslim and some conservative Christian communities which returned a high percentage of "no" votes in the survey.

But Turnbull rejected those calls this week and he and the opposition Labor Party are expected to back a bill based on Smith's proposal with a "conscience vote" in the two houses of parliament.

"We will have a bill that will deliver on the instructions the Australian people have given us to change the law to allow same-sex couples to marry. That is our job. It is over to us now," he said.

A survey of federal politicians by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation published Tuesday found that 72 percent of House members and 69 percent of Senators would support the change to marriage laws.

Turnbull called the postal vote in the face of opposition from hardliners who refused to back a national plebiscite on the issue.

The move was opposed by proponents of same-sex marriage, who wanted direct legislative action.

They said the lengthy vote process was both a waste of money –- it cost just under 100 million Australian dollars ($76 million) -– and exposed gay people and their families to hate speech.

"No" campaigners said they would continue defending their cause.

"In a democracy, just because you win it doesn't mean you... bulldoze forward," said Senator Eric Abetz, a prominent "no" campaigner.

"Keep in mind there are 4.8 million of our fellow Australians that actually voted no... do we say they should no longer be heard? Or do we actually ask them questions as to how can their concerns be alleviated so we can move forward as a nation?"

But the solid margin for the "yes" vote and the high turnout looks to limit the influence of "no" campaigners.

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German parliament legalizes same-sex marriage

The German parliament on Friday legalized same-sex marriage, days after Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would allow her conservative lawmakers to follow their conscience in the vote.

The German legal code was changed to say "marriage is entered into for life by two people of different or the same sex", in the bill that was strongly supported by leftist parties.

The reform grants full marital rights, including child adoption, to gay and lesbian couples, who in Germany have been allowed since 2001 to enter so-called civil unions.

The lower house passed the bill by a margin of 393-226. The upper house has already approved it, and the measure is expected to enter into force before the end of the year.

The election-year bill was pushed by Merkel's leftist rivals who pounced on a U-turn she made in an on-stage interview Monday -- a maneuver that left many of her conservative lawmakers fuming.

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Meet the boyfriend of Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere

MANILA - Rumors about the sexuality of Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere started going around after some got a little too nosy with her Instagram photos.

After seeing her getting cozy with a female friend, many were quick to jump to the conclusion that she's a lesbian. Having an openly gay woman as Miss Universe would have been unprecedented.

But as it turned out, Mittenaere, the first Frenchwoman to win the Miss Universe crown in decades, has a boyfriend, dentist Matthieu Declercq. She told GMA News that she's in love with him.

While the two may not share many photos together online, Declercq was seen supporting his lady love during the coronation night of the 65th Miss Universe pageant here in the Philippines.

And based on their Instagram posts, the two also have a lot in common such as their penchant for travelling and football aside from their love for oral hygiene.

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5 major gains for LGBTI rights in 2016

DAKAR - From bathrooms and beauty pageants to diplomatic disputes and Donald Trump's U.S. presidential victory, 2016 was a turbulent year for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people worldwide.

Gay and transgender rights took more prominence than ever in the global media spotlight after several high-profile legal battles, and celebrity and cultural endorsements.

Yet LGBTI people worldwide still face discrimination in many aspects of life such as employment, education and healthcare, and are subjected to widespread violence, campaigners say.

However, gay and transgender rights groups are being increasingly backed, and are fighting to change policies and laws to protect LGBTI people from violence and discrimination.

Here are five of the biggest gains for LGBTI rights in 2016:

1) United Nations appoints first gay rights investigator

The United Nations in September appointed its first gay rights independent investigator to help protect homosexual and transgender people worldwide from violence and discrimination.

Vitit Muntarbhorn's three-year role was created by the U.N. Human Rights Council amid objections by Muslim countries, and several African states who sought to have his work suspended.

Yet Muntarbhorn told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that even those countries perceived as the most virulent opponents of LGBTI rights may in fact have pockets of openness and tolerance.

Muntarbhorn, an international law professor who has served on many U.N. bodies, including inquiries on Syria and as a special rapporteur on North Korea, also said he does not see his task in terms of how many people he might represent worldwide.

"One person might be affected 10, 20, 100 times ... bullied at a young age, can't go to toilet, laughed at, tortured, ultimately killed and defamed at the same time," Muntarbhorn said. "How many violations can you count?"

2) U.S. celebrities, corporations boycott North Carolina over transgender bathroom law
Entertainers such as Bruce Springsteen and companies ranging from PayPal to Deutsche Bank have pulled events and jobs from North Carolina to protest a law restricting bathroom access for transgender people in government buildings and public schools.

North Carolina in March became the only state in the country to require transgender people to use state-owned public restrooms and changing facilities that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity.

Transgender rights have become an increasingly divisive issue in the United States, and the use of public bathrooms has been a flashpoint in the controversy over the past year.

Republican lawmakers cited privacy and security concerns when they passed the law, but critics say the bill, which also blocks local measures protecting LGBT people from discrimination, is stigmatizing, insulting and unconstitutional.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory earlier this month conceded the state's contested gubernatorial race to Democrat Roy Cooper, four weeks after the Nov. 8 election that many saw as a referendum on the transgender bathroom law.

3) Malta bans conversion therapy to lead way in Europe

Malta became the first country in Europe to ban conversion therapy, a much-criticised and discredited practice that aims to change sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

The southern Mediterranean island nation criminalised conversion practices - often referred to as "gay cure" therapies - with its parliament calling it a "deceptive and harmful act".

Those who prescribe or perform the therapy can be punished with fines of up to 10,000 euros ($10,400) and one year in jail.

Malta is widely considered as one of the most progressive nations in Europe when it comes to LGBTI rights, having made a raft of legal and social changes in recent years.

It has introduced LGBTI-inclusive education, passed same-sex civil unions and allowed transgender people to change their legal gender without any medical or state intervention.

Conversion therapy is still legal in most countries worldwide, but has been banned in several American states.

4) Belize scraps colonial-era anti-homosexuality law
Belize's Supreme Court in September ruled that a colonial-era law criminalising homosexuality was unconstitutional, in a judgment LGBTI activists say will boost efforts to abolish anti-gay laws in other former British colonies in the Caribbean.

The law, which punished gay sex with up to 10 years in prison, was scrapped after years of advocacy by the gay rights activist Caleb Orozco of the United Belize Advocacy Movement.

Belize became the third country to decriminalize gay sex in 2016, along with the South Pacific island of Nauru and the Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Campaign.

Yet it remains illegal in 72 countries worldwide, most of which are former British colonies, the gay rights group said.

5) Beauty pageants, film industry shine spotlight on gay and transgender issues

From the first openly lesbian Miss America contestant and Israel's inaugural transgender beauty pageant to Emmy awards for the hit transgender TV series "Transparent", the entertainment industry is shining a bigger spotlight on LGBTI stars and issues.

The popularity of shows in recent years like "Orange Is The New Black" and movies such as "The Danish Girl", which feature transgender stars or focus on issues facing gay and transgender people, have seen LGBTI rights become mainstream in the media.

Yet this success comes amid controversy within the LGBTI community over how transgender people are portrayed, and over the casting of straight men and women in transgender roles.

"I would be happy if I were the last cisgender male to play a transgender female," actor Jeffrey Tambour said in September in his acceptance speech after winning an Emmy for his portrayal of transgender woman Moiré Pfeiffer in "Transparent". (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)

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Ex-Sexbomb dancer admits lesbian relationship

MANILA, Philippines — Former Sexbomb dancer Louise Bolton said she's in love with a 19-year-old woman, Nathalie Danielle Padilla.

In an interview with Pep, Bolton said that she wanted to make the relationship public as proof that she cares more about Padilla than her showbiz career and image.

"Si [Padilla], ayaw niyang i-out, kasi baka raw kasi masira ang pangalan ko," shared Bolton. "Sabi ko, hindi. Kasi kung mahal ka talaga ng mga sumusuporta o ng mga fans mo, kahit anong gawin mo tanggap ka nila. So kung may magba-bash man, hindi ko mga followers yun."

Padilla was part of a 2015 "It's Showtime" segment that showcased talented lesbians.

And while Bolton said that she has been with Padilla for only two months, she revealed that she and her girlfriend have been talking about having kids in the near future. She told Pep about their plans to get her pregnant using the sperm of Padilla's brother.

"Ang gusto niya kasi sa kuya niya, hihingi lang kami ng sperm," Bolton said.

Padilla, in the same interview, added: "Parang yung egg cell niya at yung sperm ng kuya ko."

Meanwhile, Bolton was also asked about her new short-haired look. She said that she wanted to announce her lesbian side after her contract as a Sexbomb dancer expired last May.

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