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ILGA LGBULLETTIN #1 – THE WEEK IN LGBTI NEWS AROUND THE WORLD. 6-12 JUNE, 2015

ILGA LGBulleTIn #1 – The week in LGBTI news around the world

6-12 June, 2015 Read more Read less

June 7th
Ugandan LGBTI activist graces the cover of Time magazine’s Europe, Middle East and Africa edition

Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, executive director of advocacy organization Freedom and Roam Uganda, has posed for the cover of the popular Time magazine, raising her fist alongside the line “Out in Africa”. The article tells about how the LGBTI community is “fighting back against a raising tide of homophobia”. “It’s a great honor for me to be on the cover”, said Nabagesera during another interview, this time on The Advocate. “Now many people will know about [our] struggles”.

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June 9th
The European Parliament approves a resolution for gender equality

The European Parliament has adopted a non-binding resolution by a large majority of 341 votes against 281, requesting the European Commission to present a renewed gender equality strategy that considers also the rights of the LGBTI community.

Maria Noichl, author of the report and member of the LGBTI Intergroup, said: “The resolution will serve as a good, balanced and forward-looking basis for a new women’s rights and gender equality strategy for all women and men in the EU.”

Evelyne Paradis, ILGA-Europe executive director, advised the European Commission to “seize the moment”. [read more]

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June 9th
Colombia strikes physical exam requirement for gender change

Ten trans* persons have become the first in Colombia to get their IDs under newly adopted rules, a few days after the decree number 1227 has taken effect. Psychiatric or physical examinations to prove an individual’s gender identity won’t be needed anymore: “To request a change of gender, no additional documents will be required other than identification and an affidavit #IDecide,” has tweeted Colombia’s Ministry of Justice. [read more]

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June 10th
Resilient individuals: the Australian Human Rights Commission details inequalities faced by LGBTI people

The Australian Human Rights Commission has published Resilient individualsa report that gives voice to the areas of Commonwealth and state law that create problems for LGBTI people. The document has been released following a nation-wide consultation on the issues that affect people on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status. The recommendations it contains – explains the human rights commissioner Tim Wilson in a comment written for The Guardian – “are not focused on promoting group rights or special legal privileges for people on the basis of SOGII. They are simply recommending that all Australians are treated equally before the law and government”.

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June 11, 2015
Pride parade in Seoul: permission denied

The Seoul police has decided to deny permission for a LGBTI parade in Seoul on June 28th.

According to Human Rights Watch, activists and organizers both of the Korean Queer Culture Festival and religious groups had asked for the permits for demonstrations and marches, but the police refused to register them on two different grounds:  the “possibility of inconvenience to pedestrian and vehicle traffic,” and “itinerary conflicts with the route of the opposite demonstrators”.

The suppression of the Pride parade comes in spite of South Korea’s votes for both the 2011 and 2014 Human Rights Council resolutions that called for an end to violence and discrimination based on SOGI.