https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to world congress of families 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/2017/11/06/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/2017/08/08/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/2017/07/10/founder-liberal-mosque-germany-under-guard-after-death-threats-and-more-global-lgbt A dozen UN agencies issued a joint statement calling for an end to discrimination in health care settings; the statement includes sex, sexual orientation and gender identity among the marginalized and stigmatized groups that are vulnerable to discrimination. In Antigua… Mon, 10 Jul 2017 01:27:20 EDT Peter Montgomery b57fdf64-d285-43b9-a5fb-a33eb5ea13bd https://religiondispatches.org/2017/06/26/turkish-police-move-against-activists-who-defied-pride-ban-and-more-global-lgbt-recap The anti-equality World Congress of Families will hold its fourth Caribbean regional summit on June 29 and 30 in St. John’s Antigua, with speakers from US Religious Right groups Focus on the Family and Family Watch International joining Caribbean-based leaders… Mon, 26 Jun 2017 12:50:22 EDT Peter Montgomery 8915c6f2-8b30-4212-a396-080f242237f6 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/2017/03/31/whats-behind-conservative-mormons-call-religious-freedom-advocates-stand-down-lgbt It’s not every day that a self-proclaimed conservative who spent more than a decade leading a right-wing think tank calls on his fellow people of faith to “stand down” on religious opposition to LGBT rights. But that’s exactly what Paul… Fri, 31 Mar 2017 03:58:36 EDT Sunnivie Brydum 1dfe6ab4-8496-44cf-9f36-4817d2ebdfe9 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/10/02/two-former-nuns-get-civil-union-italy-kenyan-govt-partners-world-congress-families The President of the Human Rights Council announced this week that he had chosen Vitit Muntarbhorn to fill the newly created position of Independent Expert to investigate violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Muntarbhorn… Sun, 02 Oct 2016 05:56:14 EDT Peter Montgomery 7b10cd59-c097-4700-b355-40a688e1e570 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/09/25/mexican-marriage-marches-show-struggle-between-church-and-secular-state-pro-lgbt-mormon Mexico: Anti-marriage marches stir clash between church officials and proponents of secular state A march drew tens of thousands – or hundreds of thousands depending on whose numbers you believe – of anti-marriage-equality Catholics and evangelicals to Mexico City, the… Sun, 25 Sep 2016 11:25:29 EDT Peter Montgomery b8f6bdb3-03b6-4c28-876a-0175fc73df9a https://religiondispatches.org/2016/09/17/more-bleak-times-indonesian-lgbts-south-africa-bans-extremist-anti-gay-us-pastor-mexican OutRight Action International’s Rashima Kwatra reviews the record of human rights work by Vitit Muntarbhorn, who has been tapped to fill a historic role created by the UN Human Rights Council this summer over the strong objections of anti-gay countries… Sat, 17 Sep 2016 12:10:47 EDT Peter Montgomery e2c50241-4183-432d-ae6c-68216f846ee3 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/09/03/mexicos-religious-conservatives-seek-anti-lgbt-constitutional-amendment-lgbt-activists The anti-equality World Congress of Families has regional conferences scheduled in Belgrade, Serbia on September 16-18 and Nairobi, Kenya on September 23-25 each featuring an array of speakers from the global religious right. Another regional conference is planned for Cape… Sat, 03 Sep 2016 05:25:41 EDT Peter Montgomery 0294c666-7d0b-418f-ad82-585375985156 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/07/31/russia-expels-gay-american-pastor-epidemic-anti-lgbt-violence-brazil-and-more-global Alturi profiles human rights activist Neela Ghoshal, senior researcher for the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch called on US President Barack Obama to address anti-LGBT discrimination along with laws curtailing free speech and peaceful assembly… Sun, 31 Jul 2016 08:07:36 EDT Peter Montgomery a0ad5ae0-adf4-499f-9559-ccd0b6339824 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/06/05/mormons-fight-marriage-equality-mexico-catholic-church-italys-anti-gay-nra-nigerian Scott Lively, an American who has promoted anti-gay policies around the world, recently argued that, if elected, President Donald Trump should apologize to the world for “Obama’s attempt to force the fascist LGBT agenda on everyone” and should follow Russian… Sun, 05 Jun 2016 01:28:28 EDT Peter Montgomery 2723cccc-6cce-473a-a869-9b78eb7b1de2 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/05/21/competing-visions-family-freedom-un-methodists-try-avoid-schism-sexuality-catholic Tuesday, May 17 was commemorated as International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, or IDAHOT. Among the many projects undertaken: The Bedayaa Organization for LGBTQI in the Nile Valley Area (Egypt & Sudan), the Maseahat Foundaiton for Sexual and Gender… Sat, 21 May 2016 04:08:15 EDT Peter Montgomery f37de147-b48c-4a22-8271-f084be5d0573 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/05/15/world-congress-families-blessed-georgian-orthodox-patriarch-and-george-w-bush-global The Human Dignity Trust has released a report, Breaking the Silence: Criminalisation of Lesbians and Bisexual Women and its Impacts, which it says is “the first ever global in-depth analysis of how laws against homosexuality specifically impact lesbians and bisexual… Sun, 15 May 2016 09:06:00 EDT Peter Montgomery d672fd23-5261-40c2-8042-cc154ca01de0 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/01/08/conservative-anglican-bishops-threaten-split-communion-malawi-opposition-leader-says A four-day conference convened by the Gay Christian Network is under way in Houston. The Advocate’s current print issue includes a photo essay including interviews with LGBT Muslims, featuring the work of Toronto photographer Samra Habib. “Mainstream Islam isn’t always… Fri, 08 Jan 2016 03:06:31 EST Peter Montgomery 9df8a8d1-9624-46b6-b7f5-0817345ff8a7 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/11/01/catholic-bishops-end-family-synod-little-say-gays-world-congress-families-has-plenty-say Intersex Awareness Day was observed around the world on October 26. In what one advocate has called a “life-saving” move, the U.S. State Department has indicated that it will include same-sex partners in the definition of “spouse” when dealing with… Sun, 01 Nov 2015 07:37:00 EST Peter Montgomery 334427f2-7e73-4f61-b122-c3d87bc7b2c8 https://religiondispatches.org/2015/10/23/conservative-bishops-headed-synod-victory-indonesian-sharia-official-says-gay-caning-law The World Congress of Families, which brings together American Religious Right activists with their counterparts from around the world, gathers next week in Salt Lake City, Utah, the first time one of its annual summits has been held in the… Fri, 23 Oct 2015 11:55:44 EDT Peter Montgomery 4d5c3798-fe8c-41b0-adbd-d48d9ee2dcfd https://religiondispatches.org/2015/07/24/win-natural-family-crowd-un-human-rights-council … and much more, in this week’s LGBT Global Recap. Fri, 24 Jul 2015 10:27:15 EDT Peter Montgomery 3be3e7c5-db8a-40ac-8a54-b79d04bf007b https://religiondispatches.org/2015/01/23/pope-decries-ideological-colonization-family-islamic-state-executes-gays-and-others-gay US President Barack Obama made history this week with what are reported to have been the first appearances of the words lesbian, bisexual, and transgender in a State of the Union address. He also referred to marriage equality as a… Fri, 23 Jan 2015 10:09:33 EST Peter Montgomery 719dbb38-da00-4914-b5e5-e65cbf1f687c https://religiondispatches.org/2015/01/16/gambian-prez-rails-against-gay-evil-empire-irish-priest-comes-out-during-mass-trans-talk This week the Human Rights Campaign released its list of countries to watch in 2015, both countries “where the fight for equality is making progress” and “those where the fundamental rights of LGBT people are increasingly under attack.” Anjem Choudary… Fri, 16 Jan 2015 02:49:18 EST Peter Montgomery 0af34c0a-f24e-4139-8b5b-7aabc4a9bf8c https://religiondispatches.org/2014/09/12/international-pro-family-summit-calls-new-anti-gay-laws-global-lgbt-recap American Evangelicals Attend Anti-Gay Summit in Moscow We noted last week that the World Congress of Families’ planned summit seemed to be going ahead generally as planned, though without the official WCF imprimatur. That’s exactly what happened this week, with… Fri, 12 Sep 2014 04:04:57 EDT Peter Montgomery af4783b5-db27-4c5a-918d-e3cd87a02a41 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/09/05/morality-police-jihadists-religious-competition-grindr-americans-abroad-global-lgbt World Congress of Families and the Cancellation that Wasn’t We have reported on plans by the World Congress of Families to hold one of its annual summits in Moscow this month – and the suspension of those plans in the… Fri, 05 Sep 2014 01:07:50 EDT Peter Montgomery f3106d32-fe91-4c94-b800-6a7b15b8092b https://religiondispatches.org/2014/08/28/south-asian-religious-leaders-challenged-take-stigma-and-discrimination-global-lgbt Early this month, Bard College professor Omar G. Encarnación published an op ed piece on the London School of Economics’ European Politics and Policy blog arguing that western nations should reconsider their strategy of promoting gay rights abroad. He argues… Thu, 28 Aug 2014 01:28:01 EDT Peter Montgomery be5c9951-1a61-4aff-9d02-67a829e6c618 https://religiondispatches.org/2014/06/06/global-anti-gay-forces-plot-against-satanic-equality-movement This week’s recap includes evidence of ongoing struggles over LGBT equality within Europe and between Europe and non-European countries, as well as the fraught intersections in many countries between religious belief, official policy, and the law. The Austrian Independent reports… Fri, 06 Jun 2014 09:17:11 EDT Peter Montgomery a22c2593-0b82-4660-a6af-5317ba8b1d49