https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to Australia en https://religiondispatches.org/2018/01/02/2017-around-world-progress-and-persecution-lgbt-people Journalist Masha Gessen dubbed 2017 “the year Russian LGBT persecution defied belief.” Pink News called 2017 “ the year of the homophobic purge” featuring “brutal crackdowns across the world.” The Daily Xtra’s year-end recap focused more on the good news… Tue, 02 Jan 2018 12:38:20 EST Peter Montgomery f1967b35-d0f3-45ce-a3ef-7e4ff0ffe508 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/12/18/indonesian-court-rejects-religious-conservatives-bid-criminalize-gay-sex-more-global Costa Rican human rights and anti-torture activist Victor Madrigal-Borloz is the new UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. The first expert, Vitit Muntarbhorn, resigned for health reasons after his first year in the position, which was created… Mon, 18 Dec 2017 12:04:57 EST Peter Montgomery 8d3b4277-3328-49cd-8e55-6790a23489ec https://religiondispatches.org/2017/11/27/marriage-debate-australia-shifts-push-religious-exemptions-and-more-global-lgbt-recap Queer Asia has issued a call for submissions for the Queer Asia Film Festival and Queer Asia Conference, which are tentatively scheduled for June 29 and 30, 2018. Deadline for submission of abstracts for the conference is December 30, 2017… Mon, 27 Nov 2017 02:02:08 EST Peter Montgomery 82480bd6-f13a-481a-b797-d64e2e13a62f https://religiondispatches.org/2017/11/21/australians-vote-overwhelmingly-marriage-equality-and-more-global-lgbt-recap Australia: Voters overwhelmingly support marriage equality; opponents seek religious exemptions Australian voters overwhelmingly expressed support for marriage equality in a non-binding mail referendum whose results were released on November 15. The win came in spite of a “well-organized religious campaign”… Tue, 21 Nov 2017 03:37:54 EST Peter Montgomery 35e156c5-5d85-4591-a61c-e17edba1c54a https://religiondispatches.org/2017/11/13/will-international-criminal-court-bring-charges-against-isis-gender-based-persecution Gay Times (U.K.) has compiled a map with nations marked by colors representing eight legal status categories for LGBT people, ranging from marriage equality to death penalty. “Original Sin,” a book by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, alleges “a host of… Mon, 13 Nov 2017 11:44:45 EST Peter Montgomery e4dc4ef6-82c3-42c7-9084-8754ee3a69ef https://religiondispatches.org/2017/11/06/anti-lgbt-culture-warriors-march-more-global-lgbt-recap International ILGA published its 2017 Global Attitudes Survey on Sexual, Gender and Sex Minorities, which it calls “the largest investigation of attitudes towards sexual, gender and sex minorities around the world ever conducted.” A section of the survey asks whether… Mon, 06 Nov 2017 12:14:03 EST Peter Montgomery 6a889402-6d5f-4d5c-a9f5-2f72451aca19 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/10/30/australian-church-leaders-see-marriage-vote-battle-soul-australia-global-lgbt-recap-1030 Editors from the International Press Institute told American journalists “that Donald Trump’s hostility toward the free press is emboldening dictators and autocratic leaders across the globe.” Human Rights First reacted to raids on LGBT nightclubs in Belarus by saying it… Mon, 30 Oct 2017 03:09:27 EDT Peter Montgomery f42a71e5-be18-471c-89ab-d2687bd498c3 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/10/23/rising-global-tide-anti-gay-crackdowns-more-global-lgbt-recap International At the Washington Post, Max Bearak takes note of the “rising global tide of crackdowns on LGBT communities” that we have been documenting in Religion Dispatches’ weekly Global LGBT Recap: This week, a government journal in the former Soviet… Mon, 23 Oct 2017 01:23:20 EDT Peter Montgomery cc193b3b-9a72-42f2-8132-6cfe9ec7d07a https://religiondispatches.org/2017/10/17/sydneys-anglican-diocese-gives-1-million-no-campaign-marriage-and-more-global-lgbt-recap Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies: “It is a consequence of our discipleship to uphold the gift of marriage as God has designed it.” Tue, 17 Oct 2017 08:41:19 EDT Peter Montgomery 1230ca0c-9c25-4b99-85ba-ece278972bb5 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/10/10/us-religious-right-groups-support-move-toward-illiberalism-hungary-and-poland-and-more The European Lesbian* Conference, which brought together 500 activists, artists, academics, politicians, journalistas and civil society leaders in Vienna ended on Sunday. At 76 Crimes, Dominique Menoga and Michaël Cousin reflect on the first international francophone conference on sexual and… Tue, 10 Oct 2017 02:55:22 EDT Peter Montgomery 7a562892-1108-441e-953f-d09831b49596 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/10/08/mormon-leader-affirms-doctrine-marriage-and-more-global-lgbt-recap Global Religious Right: ADF Expands Again Alliance Defending Freedom, the US-based religious right legal group, has expanded its global culture-war reach with the opening of an office in London. In an email to supporters, ADF’s international affiliate wrote, “Lord Alton… Sun, 08 Oct 2017 02:39:01 EDT Peter Montgomery ebea32f4-db68-47bf-aec7-591fd3f62bfb https://religiondispatches.org/2017/09/25/lgbt-muslim-clash-aiding-rise-right-europe OutRight Action International has published quotes from speakers at the meeting of the LGBTI Core Group during the recent United Nations General Assembly. The LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey held its annual conference in Podgorica, Montenegro… Mon, 25 Sep 2017 03:11:10 EDT Peter Montgomery aed81aaa-ad4b-42f5-8d87-246f5235af49 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/09/18/australian-church-nixes-straight-couples-wedding-over-their-marriage-equality-support Vitit Muntarbhorn, a Thai lawyer and diplomat, cited health problems in resigning effective October 31 as the United Nations’ first independent expert charged with investigating violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The creation of… Mon, 18 Sep 2017 10:15:53 EDT Peter Montgomery 9defd6a8-24de-421a-a119-e18e92fc3817 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/09/11/religious-conservatives-mobilize-internationally-against-spanish-nondiscrimination-bill “Anti-Gender Campaigns in Europe: Mobilizing Against Equality,” edited by Roman Kuhar, associate professor at the University of Ljubljana, and David Paternotte, lecturer at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, has been published by Rowman & Littlefield International. From the publisher’s description… Mon, 11 Sep 2017 11:44:18 EDT Peter Montgomery 83ce4cbd-989f-4753-8368-9e0896eae84f https://religiondispatches.org/2017/09/05/catholic-cardinal-slams-jesuits-bridge-building-book-and-more-global-lgbt-recap Reports from several international LGBT gatherings: The Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (IDNOWA), founded in 2016, reported on its August gathering in Accra, Ghana, which drew more than 30 delegates from 10 countries, for interfaith worship and conversations about… Tue, 05 Sep 2017 11:26:44 EDT Peter Montgomery de0731a2-d5ea-4f4c-b711-320073d2610a https://religiondispatches.org/2017/08/21/some-christian-and-muslim-leaders-urging-no-vote-australian-mail-ballot-marriage Author Michael Muhammad Knight writes at Vice on “Editing Homophobia Out of the ‘Islamic Tradition.’” New Ways Ministry’s Bob Shine reflects on an interview conducted with former Vatican official Krzysztof Charamsa that was published in Religion and Gender at the… Mon, 21 Aug 2017 04:13:12 EDT Peter Montgomery d3e1e04a-5501-4520-81a5-bacd506d9f1c https://religiondispatches.org/2017/08/14/challenging-both-homophobia-islam-and-populist-bogeyman-homophobic-muslim-and-more Taken together, several articles published this week challenge populist portrayals of the “homophobic Muslim” as a threat to Western values in various countries, while also challenging conservative Muslim teachings that queerness and Islam are incompatible. In the Guardian, Moustafa Bayoumi… Mon, 14 Aug 2017 10:00:10 EDT Peter Montgomery 6d519c21-6dba-43bb-a073-260ecc864c3d https://religiondispatches.org/2017/08/08/kuwait-morals-committee-announced-deportation-76-gay-men-and-more-global-lgbt-recap Brian Brown, president of the International Organization for the Family, the parent organization to the World Congress of Families, bragged in a fundraising email about the organization working with the government of Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban and praising the campaign… Tue, 08 Aug 2017 12:45:26 EDT Peter Montgomery ccf7a794-5897-4eb4-b06a-cc122a00d886 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/08/01/burmas-spirit-festival-and-more-weeks-global-lgbt-roundup The Washington Blade spoke to bisexual activists in a dozen countries and reported on the global movement in a two-part series. Earlier this month, the intensely anti-gay leader of the U.S.-based Mass Resistance, Brian Camenker, traveled to the U.K. to… Tue, 01 Aug 2017 05:16:04 EDT Peter Montgomery a6983bba-4a05-4663-85da-8844ac577c47 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/07/24/catholic-archbishop-takes-jesuit-magazines-slam-ecumenism-hate-and-more-global-lgbt Earlier this month, the Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica published an article on the political alliance between conservative evangelicals and Catholics in the U.S., calling it an “ecumenism of hate.” From the Jesuit-run America magazine: U.S. politics have become increasingly… Mon, 24 Jul 2017 08:05:04 EDT Peter Montgomery c12496b4-e74c-4b60-a012-7ee9cd2e03ba https://religiondispatches.org/2017/06/12/scottish-episcopal-church-angers-conservative-anglicans-embrace-same-sex-marriage-and The Global Interfaith Network on Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression has published an e-book, “ Behold, I make all things new: What do the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam really say in regard to human sexuality?”… Mon, 12 Jun 2017 12:32:18 EDT Peter Montgomery 2af81c60-a424-45b3-b09d-693967619a7c https://religiondispatches.org/2017/06/05/pride-month-prejudice-worrisome-time-lgbt-people-global-lgbt-recap LGBT communities in many parts of the world celebrate Pride month in June. The U.S. State Department told embassies and consulates that they may recognize local celebrations. The Associated Press’s David Crary kicked off the month with a June 1… Mon, 05 Jun 2017 11:56:51 EDT Peter Montgomery b8f4d533-0d8d-497d-9bc3-434b42022294 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/05/29/world-congress-families-draws-anti-lgbt-activists-budapest-more-global-lgbt-recap Activists from around the world celebrated the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). The Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality compiled 14 IDAHOT projects from the Middle East and North Africa region. The World Congress of Families, a global… Mon, 29 May 2017 07:00:59 EDT Peter Montgomery 5533e1ff-e036-4223-8692-67da160d004a https://religiondispatches.org/2017/05/15/can-eurovisions-rainbow-arch-undermine-ukraines-orthodox-value-system-and-more-global Wednesday, May 17 will be commemorated around the world as International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Ukraine: Eurovision sparks conflict With Orthodox Church over rainbow arch AFP’s Olga Shylenko wrote about the contradictions around this year’s Eurovision being held in… Mon, 15 May 2017 01:00:21 EDT Peter Montgomery 7a52e804-8b4b-4ac1-8d28-741518d962ae https://religiondispatches.org/2017/04/07/anti-romeo-vigilante-squads-target-men-suspected-being-gay-more-global-lgbt-recap Christian LGBT bloggers David and Constantino Khalaf (Modern Kinship on Patheos) have published what they call “ The Ultimate Resource Guide for LGBTQ Christian and Allies.” OutRight Action International posted a round-up of countries with constitutional protections relating to sexual… Fri, 07 Apr 2017 05:09:43 EDT Peter Montgomery 4593ffdb-349c-49ac-8e9d-a8bffb8fde77