Brutality on display : media coverage and the spectacle of anti-LGBTQ violence in the Colombian Civil War

During the Colombian Civil War, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people were targeted by armed actors for reasons related to ideology and strategy. Even with the generalised violence in Colombia during this time, there was significant public interest in this specific form of violence, as evidenced by its tabloid coverage. The nation’s main tabloid – El Espacio – covered this violence against LGBTQ people in graphic detail. Twenty years of coverage (1985–2005) includes a range of gory graphics and horrific headlines that show the pain of a persecuted community in a highly violent context. In this article, I focus on this media coverage of anti-LGBTQ violence, notable for its brutality and prejudice, to argue that its spectacle built on a stigma that reinforced the cleavage of its victims from the body politic through a legitimation of the violence. In doing so, the coverage of this violence became a weapon of war that depoliticised the subordination of an entire population in a society beset by an internal armed conflict.

See: RITHOLTZ, Samuel Max, Brutality on display : media coverage and the spectacle of anti-LGBTQ violence in the Colombian Civil War, Third world quarterly, 2024, OnlineFirst   – https://hdl.handle.net/1814/76724

Thailand moves closer to legalising same-sex marriage

Thailand’s lower house has passed a bill which gives legal recognition to same-sex marriage, nudging the country closer to becoming the first South East Asian nation to introduce marriage equality.

More: https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/03/27/thailand-same-sex-marriage-bill-passed/

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The Thai House of Representatives approved Wednesday an equal marriage bill, with 400 favouring votes out of 415 members of the house. The bill still requires approval from the Senate and endorsement from the king. If the Senate and the king approve the legislation, Thailand will become the third Asian country/region that recognises same-sex marriage, after Taiwan and Nepal.

To guarantee marriage equality, the bill substitutes gendered nouns with gender-neutral nouns in the current Thai Civil and Commercial Code. Under section 1448 of the code, a marriage can take place only when the man and woman have completed their seventeenth year of age. The bill will amend this section with gender-neutral nouns such as person, spouse and betrothed. In addition, the bill also guarantees the right for “people of all genders” to be engaged and married. Civil rights as fiancés or spouses, including medical decision-making, social security rights, civil servant benefits and spousal tax deductions will no longer be exclusive to heterosexual couples. The bill also sought to amend the minimum age for marriage from 17 to 18 to fulfill its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin attributed the success to the societal consensus in Thailand as it is necessary for the whole country to work together to build an equal society free from discrimination. Thavisin also claimed that gender and family formation are basic human rights that the government should guarantee.

Previously in 2021, Thailand’s Constitutional Court upheld the constitutionality of section 1448 which provided for the exclusive legal recognition of heterosexual marriages, citing the maintenance of the existence of society and traditional customs as supporting grounds. The court nevertheless urged the Thai government to adopt appropriate measures to protect the rights of people with diverse sexualities.

The bill therefore serves as a huge step towards equality in Thailand. Nonetheless, rights advocates still maintain concerns about parental rights. LGBTQIA+ advocates wished to substitute “father” or “mother” with the term “parent,” a gender-neutral noun, in adoption legislation.

To come into effect, the bill still requires the Senate’s approval. However, the Senate has no power to veto a bill approved by the House of Representatives. According to section 137 and section 138 of Thailand’s Constitution, the Senate could only propose an amendment to the bill or return the bill in its entirety to the House of Representatives. After a 180-day limitation period, if the House still resolves to reaffirm the bill, the bill will be deemed to have the Senate’s approval.

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Yemen: Nine men sentenced to death by ‘crucifixion and stoning’ for alleged sodomy by Houthi court

Nine men were sentenced to death by a Houthi court in Yemen in a mass trial based on “dubious” charges of sodomy, a human rights organisation has said.

More: https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/03/27/houthi-yemen-death-sodomy-lgbtq/

Georgia ruling party introduces bill restricting LGBTQ+ rights ahead of elections

The governing Georgian Dream party announced a controversial bill on Monday aimed at curbing LGBTQ+ rights in the Transcaucasian country. The bill aims to combat what the party has called “LGBT propaganda” and proposes significant changes to the constitution. It seeks to prohibit sex changes, adoption by same-sex couples and gatherings promoting same-sex relationships. Observers note that the anti-LGBTQ+ agenda could serve as a strategy to rally conservative voters in the upcoming October 2024 national elections and divert attention from pressing economic challenges.

Georgia, which is predominantly Orthodox Christian, has long grappled with conservative social norms, exemplified by the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage implemented in 2018. The Georgian Dream’s executive chair, Mamuka Mdinaradze, stated that only marriage should be allowed between a “male and a single genetic female.” Furthermore, he emphasized the bill’s focus on safeguarding “family values and our future generations” against what he labeled “pseudo-liberal values.”

The proposed legislation comes amid a backdrop of political maneuvering, with the ruling party facing a decline in public support since its narrow victory in the 2020 parliamentary elections. In contrast, Tbilisi Pride, an LGBTQ+ rights organization, condemned the bill as “homophobic” in a statement on Facebook, reflecting the polarized perspectives within Georgian society. Tbilisi Pride has previously criticized the government for the “segregation of LGBTI people” in November 2023 for removing SOGI-related issues from the Human Rights National Strategy (2022-2030) and the Human Rights Action Plan (2024-2026).

EU officials tasked with evaluating Georgia’s progress toward membership candidacy face a dilemma. Granting candidate status could be interpreted as a political decision, especially amidst concerns about the government’s perceived alignment with Russia and its crackdown on civil liberties and human rights. The EU is closely watching, and in its 2023 Report, it noted that “several key issues remain … notably discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The European Court of Human Rights ruled against Georgia in December 2021, in a case concerning an attack on LGBT protestors in the capital city of Tbilisi.

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Russia watchdog labels ‘LGBT public movement’ as terrorist organization

A Russian state financial watchdog labelled the “LGBT public movement” as a terrorist organization on Friday, as reported by Russian state media outlet TASS. This development comes three months after the Supreme Court of Russia ordered the LGBT+ movement to be declared as extremist.

The Federal Service for Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring) added the LGBT+ movement to its official list of terrorist and extremist organizations published on its website, TASS reported. Rosfinmonitoring is a federal organization responsible for combatting international money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as assessing national security threats. Other organizations on their list include Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

In late 2023, the Russian Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit accusing the LGBT+ movement of inciting social and religious discord. The Supreme Court of Russia ruled in the Ministry’s favor and declared that the LGBT+ movement was an extremist organization. This recognition effectively banned all LGBT+ activities as well as the use of the rainbow pride flag, and the court ordered that their ruling of the movement as extremist should be implemented immediately.

The ruling received widespread criticism, with Human Rights Watch describing the decision as “perverse persecution of LGBT people.” Since the ruling, multiple individuals in Russia have been prosecuted for extremist activities for their association or involvement with the LGBT+ movement. In January, a man was prosecuted for posting a rainbow flag on social media, while another was placed in detention for five days for wearing rainbow patterned earrings. 

The LGBT+ community has faced many hardships in Russia, with the Russian Constitution undergoing amendments to Article 1 of its Family Code in 2020 to state that marriage could only exist between a man and a woman. Furthermore, gender affirming care for transgender individuals in Russia was banned in July 2023.

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US embassies to be banned from flying Pride flags

A US government funding package includes a provision that bans the country’s embassies from flying Pride flags on their buildings.

More: https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/03/25/pride-flag-ban-us-embassies-joe-biden/

Repost from The New York Times: ‘Wear It or We Will Beat You to Death’ – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen horrifying persecution of L.G.B.T.Q. people

The world should recognize it as a crime against humanity.

More: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/15/opinion/ukraine-russia-putin-crimes.html?smid=em-share

Two arrested in Russia’s first LGBTQ+ extremism case

Two employees of an LGBTQ+ club in the Russian city of Orenburg have been arrested on suspicion of being members of an “extremist organisation”.

More: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68615477

The persecution of trans people by the Nazis was devastating – and it still echoes down the ages

More: https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/03/14/trans-history-wwii-nazi-germany-nazis-transgender-magnus-hirschfeld/

USA: Book ban attempts in US libraries and schools hit record high in 2023: focus on LGBTQ+ and people of color

The American Library Association (ALA) announced on Thursday that censorship demands and book ban attempts in public libraries and schools hit a record high in 2023. The ALA documented 1,247 demands to ban 4,240 different books. This is a 65 percent increase from 2022, when 2,571 books faced censorship demands. In 17 states, book ban attempts targeted more than 100 titles. The ALA said this is “the highest levels ever documented” by the group.

Public libraries saw a particular increase in censorship demands, with a 92 percent increase from 2022. This made up 46 percent of all book challenges in 2023. Censorship demands in school libraries, which were previously the main focus of book ban attempts, increased by 11 percent.

ALA President Emily Drabinksi criticized the increase in censorship demands and defended the libraries and library professionals that work to promote intellectual freedom, saying:

Every challenge to a library book is an attack on our freedom to read. The books being targeted again focus on LGBTQ+ and people of color. Our communities and our country are stronger because of diversity. Libraries that reflect their communities’ diversity promote learning and empathy that some people want to hide or eliminate. Libraries are vital institutions to each and every community in this country, and library professionals, who have dedicated their lives to protecting our right to read, are facing threats to their employment and well-being.

Of the challenged titles, almost half (47 percent) were books written by LGBTQ+, Black or other marginalized authors, or books that told stories related to those communities. This follows the national trend of conservative groups and legislators targeting diversity initiatives in schools, which has led students to stage walkouts in protest and organize banned book groups.

The ALA said that the surge in censorship demands came from groups and individuals that targeted multiple books at the same time. One of the major groups advocating for books bans, Moms for Liberty, has been designated a far-right extremist anti-government group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a national civil rights organization. In addition to organized book ban campaigns, Moms for Liberty’s book rating system and a review site from a former member drive individuals to make censorship demands.

The new data report comes amid a pushback against censorship efforts. Organized attempts to ban books have prompted a number of groups to start anti-censorship efforts, with many people citing opposition to Moms for Liberty in particular. A federal judge blocked portions of Iowa’s book ban law in December and an appeals court ruled in January that a Texas law targeting “sexually explicit” material likely violates the Constitution.

Despite this, ALA officials warn that censorship demands will continue, with Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, saying, “The reports from librarians and educators in the field make it clear that the organized campaigns to ban books aren’t over, and that we must all stand together to preserve our right to choose what we read.”

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