Muslim countries block LGBT groups from international AIDS conference
Fifty Muslim countries have banded together to block LGBT groups from attending a United Nations conference on HIV/AIDS. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation sent a letter requesting the ban and, while it did not specifically mention LGBT issues, the EU and Canada were quick to point out that all banned groups had LGBT links.
Gay CEO Tim Cook visits anti-gay India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host openly gay Apple CEO Tim Cook for the first time this week, drawing focus to the criminalization of gay sex in India. India’s courts briefly decriminalized homosexuality in 2009, before recriminalizing it again in 2013.
Attitudes to LGBT people around the world
When it comes to attitudes towards LGBT people, how do the countries of the world line up? The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association has released their 2016 study, and news is mostly good.
Mexican president proposes same-sex marriage
After years of struggle through the courts, and a promising supreme court ruling last year, Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto has proposed making same-sex marriage the law of the land. The change would mean writing same-sex equality into the Mexican constitution to reflect the growing legal consensus that gay people deserve marriage too.
Read more at the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Seychelles decriminalizes sodomy
The National Assembly of the Seychelles, a 115 island archipelago in the Indian Ocean, has voted to decriminalize sodomy. Half of the 28 member assembly voted in favour, while the other half abstained. Previously, gay sex could be punished with up to 14 years in prison.
Read more at the Seychelles News Agency.
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