Ban “conversion therapies” across the EU! Sign now

“As a gay man, you will never be happy… People will not trust you… Everyone will avoid you and treat you like a leper.”

A “conversion therapist” in Italy said this to me when I was young, scared of other people’s biases, and deeply ashamed of being gay.

My local church was the only place where I could find some peace and tranquility. But when I opened up about my feelings, I was told that being gay was something that needed to be fixed. That’s how I met this “gay cure” doctor and started what he called therapy, but what was actually psychological abuse. It left me completely traumatized.

This happened to me a long time ago, but every day thousands across Europe are still being abused, traumatized, and even tortured.

I can’t stay quiet while so many others suffer as I did, so I’m turning to you, Andreas.

The European Commission is about to publish its first-ever LGBTI strategy and if we act right now, we can pressure them to make sure “conversion therapies” are banned in the EU.

Andreas, will you sign the petition and help me turn the EU into a “conversion therapy” free-zone?

Young people – like I was at the time – are especially vulnerable, and these so-called “cures” often lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness, and even suicide.

The European Parliament, the UN, and every mainstream medical and mental health organization have condemned these practices. The science is clear. “Gay cures” cause severe physical and psychological suffering.

Let’s ensure that the next generation of LGBT+ kids doesn’t face the abuse I did.

The EU Commission has a responsibility to act.

Help us get “conversion therapies” banned in the EU.

Thanks for going All Out!
Gian Mario Felicetti

PhD Position: Religiously-motivated Speech Targeting LGBTs: An International Human Rights Analysis

Erasmus University Rotterdam  

The Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), named after Rotterdam-born humanist and theologian Erasmus, is a research university with a strong international orientation and a pronounced social focus, both in its education and research activities. On the lively, modern campus, more than 28.000 students and scholars of more than 100 nationalities are constantly encouraged to develop their talents and meet their ambition. Our more than 2700 scientists and employees work together with all our students to solve challenges faced by global society, drawing their inspiration from the consistently dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. The academic education offered at our faculties is intensive, engaging and strongly focused on practical application. We increasingly perform our research in multidisciplinary teams, which are closely interwoven with international networks. In terms of research impact and the quality of its degree programmes, EUR can compete with the foremost universities in Europe, which is reflected in its consistent top-100 position in most major universities rankings. Erasmus University Rotterdam’s key values are daring, curiosity, social involvement, breaking new ground and striving for success www.eur.nl 

Erasmus School of Law 

Erasmus School of Law employs 500 members of staff and is attended by around 5000 students. Erasmus School of Law offers bachelor programmes in Law, Tax Law and Criminology, with a focus on active academic learning. Students can subsequently choose from a wide variety of master programmes. Erasmus School of Law also collaborates in Double Degree programmes combining law and (business) economics or law and business administration and is one of the founders of the European Master in Law & Economics. Once students have completed their master’s degree, they may choose from several postgraduate tracks provided by Erasmus School of Law (in collaboration with Erasmus Academy and others).   

The fundamental premise underlying academic research conducted at Erasmus School of Law is that law cannot be considered in splendid isolation or as an end in itself. It is embedded in an economic and social context that shapes law. At the same time, law itself shapes society and defines economic relationships. In line with this vision, our mission is to conduct innovative research on the function of law in its economic and social context. This research has a strong social and business-driven orientation. Erasmus School of Law is committed to promoting international and interdisciplinary research, as shown by its participation in several international research collaborations. 

We engage in research-driven education, in which research questions as well as the interdisciplinary and international approach are embedded. 

Vacancy for a PhD-position (M/F 1.0 FTE, start: March 2021; fixed-term in total 3-year contract): 

Job Summary & Role Purpose 

An Early Stage Researcher (ESR) position for a fixed-term of 3 years is available at Erasmus University Rotterdam, within the EU-funded Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (H2020-ITN-ETN) for the consortium entitled Network of Excellence of Training on Hate (NETHATE, GA 861047). The ESR will work within Erasmus School of Law School on a PhD research project. 

PhD-position description: The research project has the provisional title Religiously-motivated speech targeting LGBTs: An International Human Rights Analysis. The ESR will work under the supervision of Professor Dr. Jeroen Temperman, Professor of International Law and Religion, on a PhD thesis aiming to investigate whether states may or indeed should, in the light of international human rights standards, have legislation in place prohibiting anti-LGBT hate speech. This research reflects on what this legislation should look like and what type of hateful speech acts should come within this legislation’s ambit. Particular emphasis shall be on the question as how to ensure that free religious speech, also guaranteed by international law, is not disproportionately restricted by such measures combating hate speech. 

The ESR will benefit from a wide-ranging training programme featuring local, European Training Network (ETN)-wide, and external activities with opportunities for travel to other ETN partners. Training will take place through Advanced Training Courses and topical conferences organised by ETN partners across Europe. The ESR will contribute to ambitious and carefully planned research, outreach, impact, and dissemination activities benefiting from the expertise of world-leading senior academics. Planned brief secondments (to be confirmed) partly designed to expose the ESR to relevant working environments outside academia, include two Netherlands-based LGBT rights civil society organizations.  

A career development plan will be prepared for each fellow in accordance with his/her supervisor and will include training, planned secondments and outreach activities in partner laboratories of the network. The ESR fellows are supposed to complete their PhD thesis by the end of their employment. 

Your profile 

You have a university master’s degree in law, preferably with an international (human rights) law specialization. You can demonstrate relevant scientific research skills, proven, for example, by academic publications or by the quality of your master thesis. You have excellent (certified) oral and written skills in English. Candidates must fulfil the entrance requirements for the PhD programme at Erasmus (Graduate) School of Law. Furthermore, you must have had less than four years full-time equivalent research experience and must not have already obtained a PhD. 

Other qualifications include:  

• Evidence of conducting academic legal research and very good academic writing skills 
• Evidence of excellent organisational skills and ability to meet deadlines;  
• Ability to work highly efficiently and meet competing priorities;  
• Highly motivated, with excellent organisational skills and with strong attention to detail and quality;  
• Willing to travel to attend secondments, training and academic events.  

Desirable Requirements & Skills include furthermore: Evidence of affinity with human rights law and particularly with LGBT rights and religious freedom, as evidenced e.g. through internship, thesis research, publications; At least one academic publication (besides the LL.M. thesis), preferably in the area of international human rights law 

Please note that an assessment is part of the application procedure.  

Employment conditions 

EUR and Grant Specific EU conditions 

Candidates will be required to meet the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher eligibility criteria: http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/ and the entry requirements for the PhD programme at the host institution where the ESR is based.  

The position come with good employment conditions, compliant with the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO NU). The initial contract will be for one year (1.0 fte). If you have given sufficient proof of your abilities, the temporary contract will be renewed for a further two years. The salary is in accordance with the doctoral candidate scale of the CAO NU. For a full-time appointment, the salary is € 2,395 gross per month during the first year, which will increase annually up to € 2,920 gross per month in the third year. In addition, the attractive employment package includes an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, generous leave provisions for a healthy work-life balance, a good pension scheme, excellent options for collective insurance, and a provision for the use of the Internet at home. The employee may also use a few campus facilities, such as sports facilities and the library.  

EUR offers a Dual Career Programme to partners and spouses of new international employees at EUR. This programme is executed in close cooperation with nearby universities of Leiden and Delft. It aims to facilitate partners and spouses in their search for a job on the Dutch labour market. See www.eur.nl/en/working/international-staff-eur/family/work-partners  

Erasmus University Rotterdam is an equal opportunities employer, committed to promoting equality, diversity and fairness irrespective of age, disability, gender, pregnancy or marital status, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Please note that there are residency requirements for each ESR position, you must not have resided in country where ESR position is located more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the appointment. The researcher must undertake transnational mobility.  

Researchers may be of any nationality. In regards researchers with refugee status, time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status (under the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1967 Protocol) are not taken into account (for mobility rules). It should be noted, however, that any time spent in the country of the beneficiary after refugee status has been obtained is then counted when determining eligibility. 

Researchers at risk are especially encouraged to apply. ‘Researchers at risk’, under the current MSCA work programme refers to “researchers who are either at risk in their origin countries (due to discrimination, persecution, suffering and/or violence), or are seeking refuge out of these reasons or have recently found refuge in Europe”. 

Information and application 

More information about Erasmus University and Erasmus School of Law can be found on http://www.eur.nl/ and http://www.esl.eur.nl/. Questions regarding the PhD position can be sent to Professor Temperman, temperman@law.eur.nl   

Your application must be written in English and accompanied by the following documents (make sure your application consists of separate documents, parts A – D): 

• Letter of motivation, including information on your present situation 
• CV, including information on     
• Education + diplomas 
• Grades 
• Publications 
• Grants / prizes 
• Experience abroad 
• Extracurricular activities 
• Proof of your master’s degree, including grade transcripts of your Bachelor and Master studies 
• Sample of your own work (e.g. master thesis, paper, (if possible) published article) 

You may apply for this position until 22 November 2020, 23.00.  Please send your application to: application@law.eur.nl  

If you apply for this position, please always mention the vacancy number AT-2020.10/PHD and refer in your letter to this vacancy number.  

Erasmus University Rotterdam does not appreciate acquisition and canvassing by third parties with respect to the above job advertisement. 

Vacancy: Postdoctoral Fellow on the Extreme Right, Hate Crime and Political Violence

University of Oslo – Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX)

Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) seeks to recruit two excellent candidates in the Social Sciences, Humanities or Law doing high quality research on far right politics and right-wing violence. The successful applicants will work full time as a Postdoctoral Fellow (Assistant Professor). The appointment is for a fixed, non-tenured term of 3 years, with a possibility to extend the position to four years with teaching obligations. The main purpose of the fellowship is to qualify researchers for work in higher academic positions within their disciplines.

C-REX studies both ideological and behavioral aspects right-wing extremism. C-REX three main objectives are: (1) developing cutting edge empirical and theoretical knowledge on right-wing extremism, violence and hate crime in Norway, Europe and beyond; (2) serving as an international hub on multi-disciplinary research on right-wing extremism and (3) disseminating research-based knowledge to stakeholders, policy makers, the public, civil society organization, schools, and media

More specifically, the center concentrates on the following areas of research: (1) ideology and identity, (2) violence and hate crimes, (3) gender in extremism, (4) parties and movements, and (5) analyses of prevention and intervention. While the center concentrates on Europe, it also carries out research on right-wing extremism beyond Europe. C-REX has developed a unique database on right-wing violence and terrorism and the center is currently also developing other databases related to protest events, so-called (extremist) ‘formers’ and primary sources.  

The Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) is a cross-disciplinary center for the study of the extreme right, hate crime and political violence. The center was established in 2016 and is a joint collaboration with six of the leading Norwegian institutions and three of the leading international universities on extremism research. It is led by C-REX is led by professor Tore Bjørgo and researcher Anders Ravik Jupskås.Qualification requirements

A comprehensive assessment of the applicant’s scientific qualifications forms the basis of appointment.

Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree (PhD) in Social Sciences, Humanities, Law or related disciplines before taking up the post. For applicants who have yet to receive their PhD degree, the Doctoral dissertation must have been submitted for evaluation before the application deadline (December 1, 2020). Such applicants should note the date of submission of their PhD in the cover letter. Appointment is dependent on the public defense of the doctoral thesis being approved.

Candidates with a record of high-quality publication, especially in leading peer-reviewed international journal and/or leading publisher, will be prioritized. However, the length of the applicant’s research career (discounted for parental leave, etc.) will be taken into account when considering the number of such publications: The intention is to recruit the person that has the best prospects for contributing to the project’s research outputs by publishing research of the highest quality over the coming 3-year period. 

The candidate should, in the cover letter (maximum 2 pages), briefly explain how his/her research profile and agenda will contribute to the overall goals of C-REX. Applicants are free to formulate a project within the field of far-right politics and/or right-wing violence, but they must relate their project to one or several of the center’s research profile presented above (see also the center’s website for more information). Applicants must formulate a project description that lays out a promising research project that can be fulfilled in the course of three years.

Candidates with prior research experience on one or more of the topics covered by C-REX will have an advantage.

Other desired qualifications and experiences include experiences with previous systematic data collection efforts, extensive academic and non-academic networks, strong administrative and organizational skills, very good command of English, and dissemination skills. Finally, personal suitability for the position will be taken into consideration.

See also the regulations regarding the terms of employment for Postdoctoral Fellow positions and Guidelines concerning appointment to postdoctoral and research posts at the University of Oslo.We offer

• Salary according to “SKO 1352 postdoktor”, pay grade 59-67, NOK 523 200-605 500 per year (approx. 52 000 – 61 000 Euro)
• budget for travel and research assistance (currently NOK 45 000 per year).
• an academically stimulating and international working environment
• a friendly and inclusive workplace
• a good pension scheme through the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• A good work-life balance and access to Norway’s excellent public services and welfare schemes, including generous parental leave provisions and affordable and accessible childcare
• Postdocs with teaching obligations at the Department of Political Science are expected to acquire formal pedagogical competency during the first half of the four years period
• Female postdocs can take part in the UiO Mentorprogram for female postdocs 

Applications

Applications should be submitted electronically with the following: 

• Letter of application
• CV
• A complete list of publications
• A  research proposal. The proposal should clarify the research theme, main research questions, how the research contributes to the existing literature, theoretical approach, methodology, and a publication plan (maximum 3.000 words (!) verything included).

Note! Publications should not be submitted with the application; the most promising candidates will be invited to submit their publications, as well as their educational certificates and diplomas, later in the process.

Short-listed candidates for the job will be invited to an interview and may be asked to do a trial lecture.

(Questions regarding the electronic application form should be sent to personnel officer Sylvi Anita Varsi Øien, saoien@sv.uio.no, telephone +47 22856907)Please note

Applicants, who at the time of appointment cannot provide documentary evidence of basic formal teaching competence, must acquire such competence within two years by completing a mandatory pedagogical course provided by UiO.

The University of Oslo has an Acquisition of Rights Agreement for all employees for the purpose of securing intellectual property rights to research results, etc.

Pursuant to section 25, of the Freedom of Information Act, information concerning the applicant may be disclosed to the public, even if the applicant has requested not to appear on the list of applicants.

As a state institution, we have a personnel policy goal of a balanced age and gender composition of our staff and to recruit persons with an ethnic minority background.Contact information

Director Tore Bjørgo, tore.bjorgo@c-rex.uio.no, telephone: +47 22 84 58 50

Deputy director Anders Ravik Jupskås, a.r.jupskas@c-rex.uio.no, telephone: +47 22 85 76 42About the University of Oslo 

The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 28 000 students and 7000 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society.

The Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) is a cross-disciplinary center for the study of the extreme right, hate crime and political violence. The center was established in early 2016 and is a joint collaboration with five of the leading Norwegian institutions and three of the leading international universities on extremism research. The research focuses on both ideological and behavioral aspects right-wing extremism. In particular, C-REX concentrates on the following areas of research: (1) ideology and identity, (2) violence and hate crimes, (3) gender in extremism, (4) parties and movements, and (5) analyses of prevention and intervention. Geographically, the center concentrates on Europe.

6 countries pushing for non-binary registration in Europe

On 21 October, International Pronouns Day, ILGA-Europe shared a blog post about six European countries pointing the way forward for the recognition of different gender markers. Allowing for non-binary gender markers in official documents is primarily an issue of accuracy, privacy, and respect for a person. Belgium, Iceland, Germany, Malta and the Netherlands are five countries in Europe allowing the registration of gender markers other than male or female, or using no gender markers at all in their official documentation. (Credit: Roman Didkivskyi)

Read about non-binary registration in Europe on our blog.

Check out ILGA-Europe’s report on non-binary gender registration models in Europe.

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will conduct a remote fact-finding mission on 2 and 3 November 2020 on the situation of LGBTI+ people in Poland

Read: https://search.coe.int/directorate_of_communications/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectId=0900001680a02227

USA: Federal judge allows transgender discrimination claims against Georgia county to continue

Chief Judge Marc Treadwell of the US District Court for the Middle District of Georgia began her 37-page opinion by addressing the Sheriff’s Office’s Sovereign Immunity affirmative defense. She concluded that the Sheriff’s Office failed to show it was acting as “an arm of the state” and denied the motion to dismiss.

The judge also reviewed the Defendants’ motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to the court, Lange sufficiently plead her gender dysphoria as a disability under the act. However, the court ultimately granted the motion to dismiss the ADA claim “[b]ecause the [health insurance] Plan [was] equally available to all employees and Lange [] pleaded no facts suggesting otherwise.”

Finally, Judge Treadwell dismissed Lange’s Rehabilitation Act claim and her Federal Equal Protection claims against the Sheriff individually as well as the other county employees. Though the court dismissed those claims, it allowed Lange’s sex discrimination claims under Title VII to go forward, citing Bostock v. Clayton County. Lange’s ADA Title I and Federal Equal Protection claims against both the county and Sheriff’s Office were also allowed to continue.

The post Federal judge allows transgender discrimination claims against Georgia county to continue appeared first on JURIST – News – Legal News & Commentary.

Nigeria high court drops case against 47 men accused of violating homosexuality law

Nigeria Federal High Court Justice Rilwan Aikawa has struck out a case against 47 men accused of violating Nigeria’s law against homosexual relationships, including gay marriage, due to “the lack of diligent prosecution.”  

The men faced charges relating to public displays of affection with the same sex, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.  The men were arrested at the Lagos hotel in 2018.  Police claim the men were being initiated into a gay club while the men claim they were attending a birthday party.

The court had adjourned the case on several occasions with the prosecution failing to present witnesses.  The prosecution also failed to show up to Tuesday’s hearing.

Under Nigeria’s laws, when a case is struck out, it means that the accused can be arrested and arraigned again on the same charge.  In contrast, when a case is dismissed, the accused cannot be arrested again on the same charge.  Nonetheless, people were heard cheering after Justice Aikawa announced the verdict.

The post Nigeria high court drops case against 47 men accused of violating homosexuality law appeared first on JURIST – News – Legal News & Commentary.

The four-part documentary, titled EQUAL, will tell the story of the fight for LGBT+ rights in the lead up to the Stonewall riots in 1969.

Read: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/10/21/billy-porter-hbo-max-equal-documentary-stonewall-samira-wiley/

Russian cabinet strikes down abhorrent bill that would have erased trans people and banned same-sex marriage

Read: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/10/21/russia-cabinet-family-code-trans-rights-marriage-equality-same-sex-adoption/