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international / gender and sexuality Sunday June 23, 2013 - 19:47 by TDoT
 3 comments (last - tuesday july 16, 2013 - 16:55)
Cai Wilkinson on recent LGBTQ developments in Russia. Her geographic focus is on the former Soviet Union, and she is currently working on projects about LGBT rights and human rights norms in Kyrgyzstan and Russia. __________________________________________________________ The issue of LGBT rights in Russia first properly came to mainstream international attention in March 2012, when the St Petersburg Duma passed a law prohibiting “public acts aimed at the propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism and transgenderism amongst minors“. The law provoked an international outcry, including calls for tourists to boycott St Petersburg, sister-cities to consider cut off ties with Russia’s “window on Europe”, and condemnation from the EU, with the European Parliament passing a resolution noting that it was “gravely concerned by developments which restrict freedom of expression and assembly on the basis of misconceptions about homosexuality and transgenderism” and calling on Russia and other countries considering the adoption of similar legislation to “demonstrate, and ensure respect for, the principle of non-discrimination”. ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Sunday April 28, 2013 - 19:34 by Turing
The Pro-Choice Alliance Cork condemns Fianna Fail's decision to oppose women's access to their existing constitutional right. It calls on all parties to face up to their responsibility not just to pass legislation on X but to repeal the 8th Amendment. Spokeswoman Sandra McAvoy said "It looks as if church gate collections matter more to Fianna Fail than their responsibilities to the women of Ireland. They took the same position that women had no right to control their fertility during the long fight to legalise contraception. Their Ard Feis vote could hardly have shown more clearly that they are the party of the past. Fianna Fail’s stance is further proof that the major parties lack common sense, compassion, empathy.” “They have learned nothing about women’s rights to life, health and to make their own decisions, from the scandals of symphysiotomy and Magdalen homes. But then, they have never shown an interest in the needs and interests of our women citizens.” ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Thursday January 19, 2012 - 00:35 by Maryam
Women strike back against the medieval muslim molestersEgyptian women lashing out at morality police, quite literally. Vigilante gangs of ultra-conservative Salafi men have been harassing shop owners and female customers in rural towns around Egypt for “indecent behavior,” according to reports in the Egyptian news media. But when they burst into a beauty salon in the Nile delta town of Benha this week and ordered the women inside to stop what they were doing or face physical punishment, the women struck back, whipping them with their own canes before kicking them out to the street in front of an astonished crowd of onlookers. . ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Friday September 16, 2011 - 14:34 by John Cornford
Iran hangs men for having gay sex. Confirmed by the Iranian news agency ISNA Iran. Full story at Three Iranian men have been executed after being found guilty of charges related to homosexuality, according to a semi-official news agency. The men, only identified by their initials, were hanged on Sunday in the south-western city of Ahvaz, the capital of Iran's Khuzestan province. "The three convicts were sentenced to death based on the articles 108 and 110 of Iran's Islamic penal code, for acts against the sharia law and bad deeds," the Isna agency quoted a judiciary official in Khuzestan as saying. Iran Human Rights, an independent NGO based in Norway, said the men were charged with "lavat" – sexual intercourse between two men. It is not clear whether the three men were homosexuals or merely smeared with homosexualityaccused of being gay. ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Saturday April 23, 2011 - 19:43 by Maryam Namazie
Full story with vids at url. To mark and celebrate 100 years of International Women’s Day, a one day conference was held on 12 March 2011 to discuss the impact of religion on the lives of women. The conference was organised by One Law for All and the International Committee against Stoning, Iran Solidarity, and Equal Rights Now. The day started with an opening address by renowned philosopher A C Grayling which was followed by a hugely successful conference with speakers from across the world creating a vibrant and very important debate. ... read full story / add a comment 
international / gender and sexuality Thursday April 14, 2011 - 18:15 by Lamya Kaddor
2 comments (last - sunday april 17, 2011 - 13:31)  1 image
Lamya Kaddor confronts the myths regarding the wearing of the Hijab. She shows that this is not an observance required by Islam. Rather it is an invention of misogynistic mullahs. Full text at link. However, if God had required a special head covering, would He not have said so explicitly? The khimâr thus merely constitutes a 'fashion accessory' according to the spirit of that age. Viewed rationally, functions consciously or unconsciously associated with head coverings across the course of history – such as protection against sand or evil influences – are all superannuated today and have lost their validity. People's powers of imagination have changed. ... read full story / add a comment 
international / gender and sexuality Saturday April 02, 2011 - 12:40 by Sudhama Ranganathan
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When we think of American contractors in times of war we think of recent conflicts. Private contractors are not new, but the recent phenomenon regarding the extent to which private contractors are currently utilized is well known. There are famous/ infamous companies, depending on which is being discussed, though it seems many of the big names all have scandal attached to them. However, they all seem to maintain their lucrative US taxpayer funded contracts, funded most often unknowingly by people from my country the USA. ... read full story / add a comment 
national / gender and sexuality Saturday November 06, 2010 - 13:36 by circumscript
4 comments (last - sunday november 07, 2010 - 00:10) 2 images
Even if listeners to the home service of wireless RTE yesterday were the first to know, by now there's no inside knowledge or shame attached to the FF/Green coalition's latest solution for Ireland's ills. Yep. We're talking smegma. Of course none of the commercial press titles or paid journalists or even esteemed opposition deputies or presidential candidates will utter the word................ But free smegma is there for the having. ... read full story / add a comment 
international / gender and sexuality Friday October 22, 2010 - 18:09 by Dorothy Gale
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Ari Up of The Slits has gone to the Great Gig in the Sky. Punks never die, they just pogo too high. Full text at link. THE DEATH of Ari Up aka Arianna Foster at 48 is a huge shock for her fans, not least because her musical career spanned 34 years until her death last Wednesday. The firebrand singer of UK punk band The Slits was an uncompromising innovator. At just 14, after meeting her fellow bandmates at a Clash gig in 1976, she set up an all-girl band and spearheaded the punk movement. ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Thursday July 22, 2010 - 13:26 by Clara Zetkin
11 comments (last - friday august 27, 2010 - 22:52)
The ban on the wearing of the burqa is wrong. Just as it it is wrong to force women to wear the veil. The French Left have been found wanting. Full story at link. The fact that only one French MP - a member of the rightwing UMP - voted against the ban on the burqa says it all. On July 13, the bill prohibiting the “covering of the face in public” received the votes of 335 deputies. The bill does not specify Muslims or women, but everyone knows who the targets are - the less than 2,000 women in France who normally dress in the full-length burqa or niqab. After the law comes into force next year - it has yet to pass through the senate and may face a challenge in the constitutional court - those who continue to cover up will face a €150 fine and/or compulsory citizenship classes. Those who “force” a person to wear such attire could be looking at a €30,000 fine and a one-year jail sentence (the penalties will be even stiffer if a minor is made to cover their face). ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Tuesday April 20, 2010 - 13:23 by TalliBean
2 comments (last - thursday april 29, 2010 - 18:09)
Just when you thought thinks couldn't get any worse: now women are blamed for earthquakes! A senior Iranian cleric says women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes. Iran is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and the cleric's unusual explanation for why the earth shakes follows a prediction by the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that a quake is certain to hit Tehran and that many of its 12 million inhabitants should relocate. ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Sunday December 13, 2009 - 15:08 by tomeile
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/ek241009.html Peter Tatchell's claim that Islam condones the oppression of women and legitimises violence towards homosexuals are discussed by MR magazine . Tatchell recently threatened legal action against publishers Raw Nerve books when one of their publications carried an article accusing him of Islamophobia. ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Saturday December 05, 2009 - 17:59 by pat c
Houzan Mahmoud of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, speaks of how the Imperialist invasion and occupation of Iraq has affected women, forcing many into sexual-slavery. Along with Nadya Khalife of HRW Houzan was interviewed by Rachelle Kliger of The Media Line. Full text at link. Houzan said that since 2003 more than 70% of Iraqis have lost their jobs, a situation compounded by a lack of welfare provisions. “We have more than four million widows in Iraq… who will provide for these women? The situation created absolute poverty, particularly for women, and these women have virtually no other option but to turn to prostitution. There’s nothing called choice in this,” she stressed. “They are either being forced into it because of the economic and political situation or because of a lack of security, whereby women and young girls are being kidnapped.” ... read full story / add a comment 
international / gender and sexuality Monday September 28, 2009 - 14:21 by ud
4 comments (last - tuesday september 29, 2009 - 10:55) 1 image
Certain criticisms of Michelle Obama have been doing the rounds of MSM because she did not allow a grappler within arm's length. Q: Should she hide her distaste and allow a known grappler and sexist give her a hug? A: Why did the Telegraph even ask that stupid question? Back to time honoured sexism , where a Premier who is immune from prosecution, has a mountain of sleaze behind him and caused an odd reaction in the wife of the US prez gets defended in the Media because Mrs Obama did not *want* to hug him. It is of course all her fault and nothing to do with the manner in which he greeted her. The images speak for themselves : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/....html Feminst backlash: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/20/berlusconi-...klash ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Wednesday July 29, 2009 - 11:02 by Hypatia
Amnesty reports on the situation in Nicaragua where pregnant women are being refused necessary medical treatment. This has led to an increase in maternal deaths. Full story at link. Nicaragua’s total ban on abortions is endangering the lives of girls and women, denying them life-saving treatment, preventing health professionals from practicing effective medicine and contributing to an increase in maternal deaths across the country, concludes Amnesty International in a new report issues on Monday. According to official figures, 33 girls and women have died in pregnancy this year as compared to 20 in the same period last year. Amnesty International believes these figures are only a minimum as the government itself has acknowledged that the number of maternal deaths is under-recorded. ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Monday July 20, 2009 - 10:45 by Lillian Hellman
2 comments (last - saturday august 08, 2009 - 14:52)
This is the story of the rape and murder of another young Iranian who was protesting for justice. Full story at link. On Friday June 19, a large group of mourners gathered at the Ghoba mosque in Tehran to await a speech about the martyrs of the post-election protests by presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. According to one Iranian blog, 28-year-old Taraneh Mousavi was one of a group of people that was arrested by plainclothesed security forces for attending the gathering. Weeks later her mother received an anonymous call from a government agent saying that her daughter has been hospitalized in Imam Khomeini Hospital in the city of Karaj, just north of Tehran -- hospitalized for "rupturing of her womb and anus in... an unfortunate accident". ... read full story / add a comment 
international / gender and sexuality Friday July 17, 2009 - 22:42 by + "ora pro nobis"
2 comments (last - saturday july 18, 2009 - 10:46) 2 images
Those interested in Roman Kathurlick affairs will this last week have noted how the pontiff and german shepherd, Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict XVI snubbed Berlusconi during the G8 bash in Italy but managed to give Obama a cuddle despite the former being anti-abortion, anti-contraception, anti-cell-stem research (& simply into good looking young girls) & the latter being a protestant. Then the Pope went off on holidays to get out of Rome which is a smelly and oppressive place during the summer months & broke his wrist, an incident reported throughout the global catholic interest press. But at the same time the official Vatican newspaper decided to "rehabilitate" Oscar Wilde. ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Monday June 08, 2009 - 11:59 by pat c
The Bulgarian Queer-Community is under attack by neo-nazis, last year a Queer march was attacked byfash scum who threw Molotov cocktails at the parade.This year its under threat again and a member of the Bulgarian Parliament has called for it to be attacked. Full text at link. On June 28th 2008, neo-Nazi groups aggressively attacked the first LGBTQ Pride march in Sofia, Bulgaria. A week before the march, the Bulgarian National Alliance, the most visible nationalist organization in the country, called for a “week of intolerance.” The BNA strongly encouraged nationalistic groups to organize themselves against the right of the queer community in Bulgaria to peacefully march, which resulted in loosely organized violence during the festivities. BNA members and other neo-Nazis threw molotov cocktails and small explosives at the participants of the Pride march. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. However, more than eighty skinheads, including Boyan Rasate (head of the BNA) were arrested for their attempted harm and direct violence toward pride participants. This year neo-Nazi groups are once again organizing themselves against the march and Bulgarian queers’ ability to defend their human rights. ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Tuesday May 12, 2009 - 17:56 by A. Faizur Rahman
1 comment (last - wednesday may 13, 2009 - 09:18)
Here you will find an exposition of the truth about what is mandated by the Quran and how this is twisted and ignored by the fundamentalists. About a month ago the world media reported a shocking decision by a Saudi judge in which he refused to annul the marriage of an 8-year old girl to a 47-year old man. But to those who are already familiar with the so called Islamic laws of Saudi Arabia this ruling was merely the latest in the sequence of several such cases of human rights abuse in the name of the shariah. The question is: does the Islamic law really uphold child marriage? ... read full story / add a comment
international / gender and sexuality Saturday April 25, 2009 - 16:09 by Chicherin
Azar Majedi makes the argument that socialist ideas and demands must be brought into theSecularist Movement. Otherwise the dominant rightwing ideology will prevail. Full article at link. The women’s rights movement is an integrated part of the general movement for equality and freedom. Every one here is well aware of the dismal situation of women in societies under the grip of religion; of the inherent misogyny of religion. Misogyny is an important part of the dominant ideology, so is religion. To fight misogyny and women’s inequality calls for a comprehensive and consistent struggle against the dominant ideology and the dominant political and economic order. ... read full story / add a comment |
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