26 April 2018 - NPWJ News Digest on LGBTI rights

Articles

The President Of Kenya States LGBT Rights Are Of “No Importance”
by INmagazine, 23 Apr 2018

The President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, said that LGBT rights are of “no importance” to his country in an interview with CNN. The East African country’s leader spoke with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, asserting that homosexuality goes against the laws and cultural practices of Kenya. “I want to be very clear; I will not engage in a subject that is not of any major importance to the people and the republic of Kenya. This is not an issue as you would want to put it, of human rights- this is an issue of society. It is an issue of our own base, our own culture as a people,” said Kenyatta, going on to mention that no community in Kenya would acknowledge the practice as culturally acceptable.

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LGBT rights are on the line today in the government's Brexit bill
by The Independent, 23 Apr 2018

Peers will, in effect, vote on whether to shrink human rights protection in the UK. This is because the government wants to discard the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as part of its Brexit legislation. They insist that it must not be part of UK law post-Brexit, even though other EU law is to be retained. Most shockingly, the government is prepared to sacrifice the rights of people who have no other meaningful source of protection than the Charter. Chief amongst these are members of the LGBT community. The speed with which LGBT equality has been fostered within the UK is a marvel of the 21st century, but it could not have happened without the EU. It was EU law, epitomised by the Charter, that kick-started the UK’s commitment to LGBT equality.

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Trump Plan Would Cut Back Health Care Protections for Transgender People
by The New York Times, 21 Apr 2018

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration says it plans to roll back a rule issued by President Barack Obama that prevents doctors, hospitals and health insurance companies from discriminating against transgender people. Advocates said the change could jeopardize the significant gains that transgender people have seen in access to medical care, including gender reassignment procedures — treatments for which many insurers denied coverage in the past.

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How Brave LGBTQ Arab Activists Are Challenging Stigma in Their Everyday Lives
by Global Citizen, 19 Apr 2018

At a concert in Cairo in September, fans of the Lebanese rock band Mashrou’ Leila waved a rainbow flag. It was a simple but bold statement in direct defiance of an Egyptian government that describes homosexuality and gender nonconformity as “sexual deviancy” that “goes against nature.” The incident at the Cairo concert received widespread attention from international media, and raised awareness in other parts of the world about the Arab LGBTQ community’s constant struggle against oppression. But it was only one of countless daily acts of quiet defiance from LGBTQ people across the Arab world. In an attempt to highlight such activism and inject momentum into a movement for acceptance and equality, Human Rights Watch and the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality released a report and launched a series of videos this week as part of a project titled “Audacity in Adversity: LGBT Activism in the Middle East and North Africa.” The project, which details the fight for sexual orientation and gender identity rights in 19 Arab countries, seeks, in part, to inspire young LGBTQ people and connect activists across the region.

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