Tag: transphobia

Disinformation About Olympic Boxing Finalist Imane Khelif Still Widespread

As Imane Khelif readies for her Paris bout, the debate over her Olympic eligibility in the women’s category has escalated, spurred by online hate speech and gendered disinformation.

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif made headlines following her victory in the welterweight (66 kg) boxing category against Italy’s Angela Carini on August 1. Khelif was declared the winner by the referee following Carini’s decision to quit after just 46 seconds.

But many of the headlines were far from celebratory. With Khelif’s victory came a wave of disinformation and heated discussion about the athlete’s gender.

On social media, influential posters ranging from politicians like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and former US President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance, to athletes like the American swimmer Riley Gaines and well-known public figures like bestselling “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling shared accusations that Khelif was competing in a women’s category despite being a man, and that Thursday’s bout had been an unfair matchup.

[Translation: I know you won’t give up, Angela, and I know that one day you will earn with effort and sweat what you deserve. In a finally fair competition.]

Several media outlets like the UK’s Daily Mail Online or India’s Times Algebra also shared posts with the claim that Khelif was either transgender or a biological man.

Despite there being no proof that Khelif is a transgender boxer, heated debates on social media are still ongoing. A look at the numbers and search terms on Google Trends regarding Imane Khelif reveals that the top search terms still include “disorders of sex development,” “XY chromosome” and “Imane Khelif gender test.”

Looking at the comments left by users under posts by media outlets about Khelif’s upcoming matches also reveal the extent of hate speech and disinformation being spread about the boxer.

Disinformation, support for Khelif go viral

The hashtag #IStandWithAngelaCarini has mainly been used to push the narrative that the Italian boxer was at a disadvantage because she had allegedly been forced to fight a man. But it hasn’t just been those attacking Khelif who have been active on social media, with her supporters using the hashtag #IStandWithImaneKhelif.

Several users trawled the internet to dig up photos providing “evidence” of Khelif’s femininity — sharing childhood photos, official documents and interviews with her family members.

“My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl,” said her father Omar Khelif in a short video clip posted to YouTube by Sky News. “She’s a strong girl. I raised her to be hard-working and brave. She has a strong will to work and to train.”

What have sports officials said?

Officials from various sporting bodies have also come to Khelif’s defense, sharing information in an attempt to clear the doubts about her gender.

The Algerian Olympic and Sports Committee was among the first to strongly condemn the allegations. In a statement issued on the day of her first fight, the committee said, “Such attacks are entirely unethical and baseless, especially as she prepares for the pinnacle event of her athletic career — the Olympic Games.”

In a post on Facebook, it added that it had filed an official complaint with the International Olympic Committee to address the online harassment of Khelif.

At a press conference on August 3, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said the “hate speech” directed at boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, a Taiwanese boxer facing similar allegations, at the Paris Olympics was “totally unacceptable.”

“How can somebody being born, raised, competed and having a passport not be considered a woman?” he said. “We will not take part in a politically motivated cultural war.”

Disinformation about Khelif still widespread

But even these official statements have not ended the debate surrounding Khelif’s gender, with many pointing to the fact that Khelif was disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023. In a press conference on August 5, the IBA specified that both Khelif and Lin had been ruled ineligible after a sex chromosome test.

At the time, IBA President Umar Kremlev told Russian state news agency TASS that DNA test results showed that several athletes had XY chromosomes. Traditionally, XX chromosomes stand for female and XY chromosomes for male, but science has shown it’s not as simple as that.

The IOC has stated that the gender tests conducted by the IBA were illegitimate and lacked credibility. On August 1, the Olympics governing body said it stands by the athletes and their eligibility to compete. The committee has long criticized the IBA and banned the Russian-run organization in 2019.

While Khelif has not commented on her gender or any test results, the boxer has spoken out about the mental toll this viral debate and hate speech has on athletes. In an interview with SNTV on August 5, Khelif urged the people to “uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects.

“It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people,” she added.

Khelif’s next fight on Tuesday is against Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand. The winner of the match will compete for a gold medal on Friday.

This article first appeared on DW. Imane Khelif beat Janjaem Suwannapheng and will play for the gold on Friday, August 9 2024.

In Photos | Kinnar Ka Ki – A Story Of Four Transwomen, Their Journeys And Vision

‘Kinnar Ka Ki’ is an investigation to instigate the idea of embracing all lives as equal, break stereotypes about the trans community and see them for who they are.

Kinnar is the Sanskrit translation of the word transwoman and the theme Kinnar Ka Ki is a play on the significance of the transformation of the bodies, souls and minds.

The project ‘Kinnar Ka Ki’ was born from the sheer hope of portraying the stories of four beautiful transwomen hailing from various towns in India. It is not a story about them, it is by them. I stand as a mere mediator. ‘Kinnar Ka Ki’ is a photo essay account of their daily life – verbatim translated into English for the convenience of readers at large – bringing to light the perils and biases of being part of a society they continue to fight to find their rightful place in.

Overwhelmed by their transformation stories and the fire in their bellies, I document ‘Kinnar Ka Ki’ as a tell-tale for all of society to empathise, not sympathise and to create a safe space for them to be heard and seen the way they want to be.

Neither a ‘how’, nor a ‘why’ – ‘Kinnar Ka Ki’ is an investigation to instigate the idea of embracing all lives as equal, break stereotypes about the trans community and see them, particularly Poppy Banerjee, Tarana Patil, Sweety and Bhavika for who they really are – aspirational transwomen of our society.

Poppy Banerjee

Beauty

I moved to the city of dreams from Kolkata to become a make-up artist. I want to work so hard and be so good that I can grace big stars like Priyanka Chopra one day. Being a make-up artist, I know very well that everyone has flaws. I have never been in front of the camera, only behind. But I know I’m beautiful because my heart is beautiful.

 

Growing up, my mom and I had a strong connection. I love her food and miss it very much in Bombay. A line that I think about every time things gets hard is something Ma used to say to me–“Never do anything that would hurt your family or cause them pain.”

I want to achieve big things, work even harder so that someday they look at me and say, “No matter what shape or form you come in, we are proud of you”.

Tarana Patil

Hope 

I look like my mummy. When I compare her younger photos to me now, I see the similarity.

At least mother tolerates me for who I am. On the other hand, my father does not even look at me. He tells her, “If he is going to come in front of me, he has to come as my son only.” I hope that someday they will recognise me for who I am and all the things I have doing for them. I hope they will accept me as Tarana.

As a young girl, I would feel very jealous watching my sister dress up. Now, I appreciate it so much more. I adore the idea of wearing a bra. I want to save enough money to be able to do my implant operation quickly.

It is my majburi that I have to take up odd jobs and even beg to collect enough money since it’s so difficult to get regular work. I know people look at me in a certain way. I’ve been called names and teased on the road. But some take my blessings for money. Some even say that only when I come to their shops, their business kicks off for the day, and I hope it’s because I’m doing it with a true heart.

Sweety

Pride

I feel very proud that God made me this way. I can stand for myself. I came to Bhavika’s house only two months ago from Pune. I had a good life there, you know? I got everything I wanted–food on bed, clothes, everything; everything except the liberty to breathe freely. So I ran away to be able to live.

Being a part of this community has taught me the true meaning of love. Unconditional and equal to all animals and humans. We have been through so much that we do not want anyone else to go through what we have survived. I believe education and awareness can go a long way in understanding our stories.

I think about my parents every day. They must be in so much pain, dealing with so much backlash from the society. I think if they are even 10 percent as proud of me as I am of myself, I’ll be satisfied.

I want them to feel proud that I am a transgender person. I’m what they colloquially call the ‘third gender’. But third person is still a person, right? I want to achieve something big for that change to happen.

Bhavika

Unity

I started taking people in to my house to support all those who were lost in their transformation. I’m 30 years old, but it feels like I’ve lived up to 60 already. I can relate to a teenager as much as I can relate to an older person. If I’m like a brother to someone, I think about what kind of a brother I want to be, if I’m a mother, what kind of a mother am I? I think about all these roles and only then take decisions. I don’t know how powerful my decisions but I feel very strongly about them.

I believe that no one has to suffer alone. My family and my trans family play a large role in my growth and I can go ahead in life with them always by my side. I have achieved a lot in life, seen a lot in life. I am India’s leading third-gender Bollywood actress, singer and model. Money is not everything, but can be a lot of things– this is my motto. Most important is to remember that the only way forward is when we all walk together!

Shreya Basu is a photographer, writer and memory hoarder. Her vision is to blend her work with humanism. She can be found on Instagram @shubasu13

This project was possible only with the support of Anat. Anat is a gender free content collective that has been at the vanguard of supporting artists who do not conform to the traditional gender classification. They can be found on Instagram @anatspeaks

This article was originally published on Feminism in India and re-published here with their permission.

All images provided by author

Teen Commits Suicide Over Alleged Homophobia, Leaves Note on Facebook

Avinshu Patel hailed from Mumbai and had moved to Chennai three months ago to start working at a spa. He was found at Neelangarai beach by the local police.

A 19-year-old boy from Chennai committed suicide on July 2, allegedly over transphobia and homophobia, according to the virtual suicide note he left behind on his Facebook account.

Avinshu Patel’s note read: “Please don’t blame anyone for my death. I am someone you call a hijra … everyone knows that I am a boy but the manner in which I walk, talk and think is like a woman. People in India do not like this fact. This is why I am committing suicide.”

Source: Facebook/Avi Patel

Avi, as he was known by his friends, hailed from Mumbai and had moved to Chennai three months ago to start working at a spa. According to police reports, he called his friend in Mumbai earlier that evening, telling him he wanted to end his life. He was later found at Neelangarai beach by the local police, according to reports by The New Indian Express (TNIE).

TNIE also spoke to the friend, Ishaan Mastry, who said, “He sent me a text around 2.30 afternoon saying he was at a mall with a friend. They had gone out for lunch. Just two hours later he called me and told me he wanted to end his life. He was crying.”

“He told me he had taken poison but did not explain the reason for the drastic decision. He just hung up. I tried calling him back, several times, but there was no answer. At around 9 in the night, he put up that Facebook post, after which his phone was switched off.”

Ishaan Mastry contacted the staff at his salon, who also tried to get in touch with him, but in vain. Next day when the staff called his mobile phone it was answered by a cop, who informed him that he was dead. Mastry added that Avinshu had never mentioned being bullied or harassed before.

According to TNIE a senior police officer said that his family did not want to press any charges. “We investigated, but there are no signs of abuse. We are, however, probing the death.”

In his note, Avinshu also mentions his family. “Please do not blame my family. Help them. We are poor. I love my mom, dad and sister. I thank them for supporting me.” The letter ended with another request to not hold anyone accountable for his death.

The plight of LGBTQ in India
The suicide comes less than a year after the Supreme Court struck down Section 377 of the IPC in September 2018, decriminalised homosexual intercourse. While the LGBTQ community has garnered legal support, the ground realities are still very different.

Homophobia and the society’s treatment and attitude towards the community are yet to change. “Every queer person faces harassment. Section 377 may have been struck down, but it remains a judgment. It has not changed people’s mentality or our everyday lives,” C Moulee, founder of Queer Chennai Chronicles told TNIE. “Not many organisations have anti-discrimination policies to provide LGBT+ individuals with safe spaces.”

A recent report by the JAMA Pediatrics, who pooled data of 35 studies and analysed over 2.5 million adolescents, found that sexual minority youths were at higher risk of exhibiting life-threatening behaviours, such as suicide, as compared with heterosexual peers. Transgender youths were the most affected, nearly six times as likely to attempt suicide as heterosexual peers, followed by bisexual and homosexual teens.

If you know someone – friend or family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of telephone numbers (www.spif.in/seek-help/) they can call to speak in confidence. You could also accompany them to the nearest hospital.

Featured image credit: Unsplash

Caste and Religion Create Barriers Within the Hijra Community

On paper, hijras might appear to be a homogeneous group, but there are rising inequities within the community.

In 2014, the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment, expanded affirmative action to apply to hijras, by collectively adding them to the other backward class (OBC) category. With this move, a superseding OBC identity was given to all the hijras irrespective to their official religion, caste and class. Yet, four years later, this has led to a series of complex issues within the community.

Prior to the hijras becoming OBC on paper, there was a popular assumption in academia that hijras are a casteless group. This was because the hijras become an ostracised caste in themselves, with their own performative rituals in private spaces. Moreover, within the community, when a hijra is initiated through a reet or ritualistic ceremony, there is also a renunciation of caste lineage, along with the gender assigned at birth.

Most hijras also drop their surnames, to hide their religion and caste identity. This protects them from identity-based discrimination. Other hijras, who are from privileged castes and religions, often don’t let go of their surnames.

After hijras were given legal recognition as a ‘third gender’ and quota as part of the OBC in 2014, there was greater visibility of the community in public spaces. One of the results of this increased access to public space was the establishment of the Kinnar Akhada for practicing inclusive faith and religion.

Laxmi Narayan Tripathi – the head of Kinnar Akhada, and also the first transgender person to represent Asia Pacific in the UN in 2008 – grew up Brahmin, and has openly claimed that there is no caste or religion in the hijra community. Contrary to such claims, Living Smile Vidya, the Dalit transgender feminist writer and theatre artist, expresses concerns, saying that “savarna transgenders who have NGO funding” claim to falsely represent the community and direct all the benefits towards themselves.

Such inequity within the hijra community was also pointed out by Sharmili*, a 24-year-old hijra from Dakshinipuri, who confided in me that she belongs to the Valmiki community. Despite her musical talent and dancing skills, Sharmili’s hijra guru does not allow her to accompany them on their hijra toli for collecting ritual blessings. Sharmili believes this is because of an inherent caste bias within some sections of the hijra community, as collecting ritual blessings is often seen as a prerogative of hijras who are savarna by birth.

Furthermore, claiming that there is no religion in the hijra community is both controversial and contradictory. There are many inter-religious hijra festivals and holidays that are legitimised by different hijra gharanas, which are celebrated together in the community. Despite multi-religious piety being a common practice in the community, a group of hijras told me that it was difficult to do the ‘new’ paperwork and documentation required to claim the ‘third gender’ identity officially as it would separate some hijras from their choice of religion.

I understood this more intricately while working with the hijra communities living in urban slums of New Delhi, where I was told that every Friday they would go to the Jama Masjid to offer their namaz in kurta–pyjamas. They told me that they would sit in the last queue and read their namaz but be careful of not casting their shadows over fellow namazis. I found out that the Muslim hijras I interacted with believed that they had sinned by castrating themselves and were trying to protect others from the darkness of their own shadows.

There were also those hijras who had been successful in completing their pilgrimage to Hajj. The hajji hijras had been successful in their pilgrimage to Mecca because they had a passport issued to them in their gender assigned at birth, which was ‘male’. This was before Saudi Arabia banned people identifying as transgender on paper from entering their country to perform Hajj and Umrah, without giving any reasons for the same. While preparing for their pilgrimage, the unspoken rule for hijras is to chop their hair short and try and sprout facial hair – often by stopping hormone intake – to pass off as a ‘man’. In this politics of paper, I understood that it is not any religion that discriminates against hijras; it is transphobia.

Therefore, on paper, the hijras might appear to be a homogeneous group but there are rising inequities between different groups of hijras belonging to different socio-religious backgrounds that need to be addressed. There are growing marginal voices in the hijra community in matters related to religious and caste-based identitarianism. Such unheard hijra voices bring out the complex experiences of exclusion from within the hijra community.

To put it in the words Paulo Freire from Pedagogy of the Oppressed, the oppressed tend themselves to become their oppressors by resembling them and this culture of silence needs to be cracked open.

*Name changed

Ina Goel is a freelance writer and founder of The Hijra Project. She may be contacted at inagoel@gmail.com

‘Policing Gender, Sexuality Creates a Pattern of Stigma, Harassment and Violence’

The International Commission of Jurists has called to end criminalisation of LGBTI identities in South Asian states.

New Delhi: On International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO-T) (May 17), the International Commission of Jurists has called for an end to criminalisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities and to respect, protect and fulfill the full range of their human rights. The Commission has observed that discriminatory laws across South Asia have enabled socially constructed gender and sexual norms to intimidate and even threaten violence against LGBTI persons. In a statement, the jurists have urged South Asian states to repeal discriminatory laws against LGBTI:

Under international law, including the International Bill of Rights, that is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two Covenants – the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and/or gender identity is prohibited. In this context, the Office of the UN High Commissioner of the Human Rights has underscored five core international human rights law obligations for States: (1) protecting individuals from homophobic and trans-phobic violence; (2) preventing torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of LGBTI persons; (3) decriminalizing homosexuality; (4) prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and (5) respecting the freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly of LGBTI persons.

The statement reasoned that under international human rights law, the principle of non-discrimination includes the right to determine one’s sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity and gender expression. It observed that the states’ policing of gender and sexuality has created a pattern of stigma, harrassment and violence, which goes against international human rights law obligations. The statement further emphasised that consensual same-sex sexual relations, based on colonial era laws, remain criminalised in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The signatories added that the continued existence of such laws creates an ominous threat against entire large segments of  populations in these countries. 

The statement also cited examples of countries which have amended their laws to make them progressive:

In India, in 2014, the Supreme Court recognised the right of transgender persons to self-identify their gender as male, female or as third gender. However, the Transgender Persons Bill, 2016, if enacted in its current form, would deny the right of self-identification to transgender persons.  

In another welcome move, on August 24 2017, the Indian Supreme Court affirmed the right to privacy as a fundamental right, and stated that one’s sexual orientation and gender identity are core aspects of an individual’s right to privacy. Recently, the Court has also decided that it would hear petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code on the basis that this provision infringes the petitioners’ rights to sexuality, sexual autonomy, life, privacy, dignity and equality, along with other fundamental rights recognized by the Indian Constitution.

In Pakistan, in 2009, the Supreme Court directed the Government to recognise the human rights of transgender persons. Subsequent Supreme Court orders further directed the Government to provide free medical and educational facilities, microcredit schemes and job quotas to transgender people in every Government department. However, the Supreme Court’s orders remain largely unimplemented. On 8 May 2018, Pakistan’s  Parliament enacted a law to protect and promote the rights of transgender people. While this law is a landmark achievement, it falls short of international standards in this area, including the Yogyakarta Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity.

In Nepal, in 2007, the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment directed the Government to ensure that people of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations can access their fundamental rights without discrimination. Further, the 2015 Constitution contains provisions for the protection, empowerment and advancement of gender and “sexual minorities”. A recently tabled bill proposes to criminalize unnecessary medical interventions, and provides some, though incomplete, protections to intersex children.

While there have been some progressive developments, discrimination, violence and other human rights abuses against LGBTI people – both at the hands of State and non-State actors – remain rampant in South Asia.

In addition to this, the organisation has urged all South Asian governments to enable transgender persons to have the right to determine their gender, and enact legislation that establishes prior, free, full, informed, genuine and consistent consent for any unnecessary medical interventions on intersex persons.

On Confronting My Own, and then Society’s Queerphobia

“When I was a kid filled with internal queerphobia, being called a ‘chakka’ or ‘gay’ was very offensive, but after years of exploration, I’ve realised my queerness is completely normal.

Queerphobia is as deeply rooted in Indian society as queerness is rooted within me. Queerness has always been a part of me, even before I understood what the term ‘queer’ even meant, before I even knew that people could choose to not live by the gender norms associated with their biological sex or could love someone of the same gender. But even then, I had to deal with queerphobia simply because I was effeminate. At that age, I had no choice but to ignore or just tolerate the bigotry directed at me as I had no support and no one to guide me. But no matter how much I tried to ignore it all, the abusive slurs, assaults and bullying left a deep impact on me and continue to effect me even today. Although I am now aware of the fact that there’s nothing wrong with me, things haven’t changed much. When I experience prejudice because of who I am, I still find it difficult to deal with.

When I was a kid filled with internal queerphobia, being called a ‘chakka’ or ‘gay’ was very offensive and disturbing for me, as if ‘chakkas’ or ‘gays’ were some monsters from an alien planet. But over time, after years of educating myself through queer documentaries, talks, stories, articles and meeting other queer folks, I’ve realised my queerness is completely normal. Loathing myself for my sexuality is pointless.

Nazariya

This realisation has also helped me deal with the ignorant cis-heterosexual people who matter to me. I came out to my friends and family knowing that they weren’t going to accept me right away but I also believed that with time, they might understand if they meet or hear more about people like me, which is why I think representation matters a lot.

At a certain point, I realised I was always switching between two different roles – the perpetuator of queerphobia and the one who fights against it. I finally chose to be the latter and since then, I’ve made it my goal to make people question their misconceptions about queer people. I do this by being out, proud and visible every single day. I know now that gender is not what defines our capacity as people, and the ones who believe in gender roles are the ones who’d rather live in darkness than progress to something better, so their opinions shouldn’t affect my work.

As a queer student who is also a member of the college theatre society, my femininity often makes people uncomfortable – resulting in lots of double-takes and staring. I deal with these situations by not reacting, unless a situation absolutely requires it. Sometimes, I even dress more masculine, just to avoid harassment and violence because toxic masculinity makes it dangerous for men to disobey our society’s strict gender norms.

We have been conditioned to think of queerphobia is an unavoidable reality, and unfortunately sometimes we do have to follow social protocols just to ‘avoid’ confrontations and harassment. People get uncomfortable when they see someone breaking gender stereotypes, and then they resort to queerphobia or misogyny instead of trying to understand the other person.

Nivedita Menon puts it best in her book, Seeing Like a Feminist:

“Social order displays not the absolute presence or absence of intolerance to difference but a spectrum of intolerance. Each of us bears responsibility to some degree for maintaining these protocols of intolerance, which could not be kept in place if every single one of us did not play our part. From bringing up children ‘appropriately’, to lovingly correcting or punishing their inappropriate behaviour, to making sure we never breach the protocols ourselves, to staring or sniggering at people who look different, to coercive psychiatric and medical intervention, to emotional blackmail, to physical violence – it’s a range of slippages all the way that we seldom recognize.”

I don’t believe that avoidance is key to surviving, but reacting to everyone all the time isn’t sustainable either. In our current social and political climate, retaliation almost always leads to violence against those who don’t fit the ‘norm’. The key, I believe, is to slowly ‘queer out’ our public and private domains by responding to hate rather than reacting to it. Most of the time, hate is rooted in a fear of the unfamiliar. We must try to normalise our identities and expand the community by engaging in discussions with those who are unaware of our existence.

We can build solidarity by sharing our stories with those who are unfamiliar with the community.

Aniket Chauhan is a college student from New Delhi and a member of Nazariya. 

Featured image credit: Pixabay

US Lifts Military Ban on Transgender People

Advocates of the LGBT community have appreciated the move but have said that the change has been a long time coming.

US defense secretary Ash Carter addresses a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington. Credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas

US defence secretary Ash Carter addresses a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington. Credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas

Washington: The Pentagon on June 30 ended its ban on openly transgender people serving in the US military, formally removing the risk to an estimated thousands of US troops who once could have been kicked out of the armed forces due to gender identity.

The repeal, which ends one of the last barriers to serving in the military, comes after a 2011 decision to end the US military’s ban on openly gay and lesbian people serving, despite concerns – which proved unfounded – that such a move could be too great a burden in wartime and would undermine battle readiness.

“We’re eliminating policies that can result in transgender members being treated differently from their peers based solely upon their gender identity rather than upon their ability to serve,” defence secretary Ash Carter told reporters.

Carter said that within 90 days, the Pentagon would create a guide book for commanders on how to lead transgender service members and medical guidance to doctors.

Within one year, transgender individuals would be allowed to join the armed forces, he said.

Carter said that based on a study carried out by the Rand Corporation, there were about 2,500 transgender active-duty service members and 1,500 reserve transgender service members. Still, Rand’s figures were within a range, which at the upper end reached 7,000 active duty forces and 4,000 reserves.

“The reality is that we have transgender service members serving in uniform today,” Carter said, acknowledging the policy change will have implications for issues including deployment and medical treatment.

He added that at least 18 countries already allowed transgender personnel to serve openly in their militaries.

Carter announced in 2015 that he intended to lift the ban and laid out a series of steps, including a six-month study on the implications of lifting the restrictions. But advocates for the LGBT community said the process, which eventually stretched to nearly a year, has taken too long.

Advocates praised Carter’s announcement on June 30 and said it followed several moves by the military to be more inclusive in the last decade.

“I would hope that it showcases the fact that the sky will not fall, the world will not come apart, by us being a more inclusive and open society,” said Matt Thorn, executive director of OutServe-SLDN, an advocacy group for LGBT military personnel. “I don’t think anybody should be concerned or afraid about moving forward with this policy.”

But critics have argued that Carter is putting the political agenda of the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama ahead of military readiness.

“Over the next few weeks, we are going to continue to push for actual answers to the readiness questions we’ve been asking for nearly a year to which we have still not received a response,” Republican representative Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.

(Reuters)

The Gender Beat: Adivasi Woman Murdered; SC Asks for National Policy on Compensation for Sexual Violence Victims

A round-up of what’s happening in the worlds of gender and sexuality

A round-up of what’s happening in the worlds of gender and sexuality

Students from various colleges holding placards as they shout slogans during a rally against gender discrimination and violence toward women in Mumbai on December 10, 2014. Credit: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters.

Students from various colleges holding placards as they shout slogans during a rally against gender discrimination and violence toward women in Mumbai on December 10, 2014.
Credit: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters.

Frame national policy for relief to sexual assault victims: Supreme Court

A bench of the Supreme Court has directed the Centre to frame a uniform policy to financially compensate victims of sexual violence, according to a report in The Hindu.

It has issued a notice to the Centre, the states and the union territories on the question of the implementation of Section 357 A of the Criminal Procedure Code, which mandates that the states must coordinate with the Centre in order to properly compensate and rehabilitate victims of sexual violence or their dependents.

The bench said: “Setting up of Nirbhaya Fund is not enough… The Union of India must ensure that adequate relief is being provided to the victims of sexual offences”.

New investigation team created for Kerala Dalit law student’s rape and murder

The newly elected Left Democratic Front (LDF) state government in Kerala has constituted a fresh team to investigate the rape, torture and murder of a Dalit law student in Perumbavoor.

According to a report in The Hindu, Additional Director General of Police B. Sandhya will head the team. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the move was a result of complaints against the ongoing investigation.

Dalit woman kidnapped, raped for two days in Chikkaballapur

Three men kidnapped and raped a 21-year-old Dalit woman in Chikkaballapur, Karnataka. The woman was kidnapped on May 20 while waiting for a bus by the three men, who are auto-rickshaw drivers. They then allegedly raped her for two days. The men have been arrested.

China shames Taiwan’s new president for being single

An article by the Chinese state news agency Xinhua has said that Taiwan’s newly elected, first female president, Tsai Ing-wen, “leans toward an emotional, personal and extreme development of her political ruling style,” because she is single and doesn’t have children, says a report in The Huffington Post.

The article was removed after widespread criticism, but a cached version is still available online.

Adivasi woman murdered

A 55-year-old Adivasi woman was shot dead by three young men on motorcycles on May 26. Reports say that she was targeted by them because they “suspected her of performing black magic on the villagers at Sijukala in Mayurbhanj district.”

Police officers say that they have launched a search operation to arrest the killers.

Teenage boy stripped, paraded naked in New Delhi

Four men stripped and assaulted a 16-year-old boy for sitting on their scooty, according to a report in Gaylaxy. The boy was paraded naked and may also have been sexually assaulted, say reports.

The boy alleges that he was sexually assaulted by the men and that they inserted a beer bottle into his body, but the police deny these charges. All four have been arrested.

Tweets of gangrape in Rio de Janeiro highlight breakdown of order

 A 16-year-old girl was reportedly raped by over 30 men in Rio de Janeiro, reports say. Two of the perpetrators posted a video and pictures of the attack on Twitter. A report in the Globe and Mail says:

“Before the accounts were suspended, the tweets racked up more than 550 likes and a deluge of replies with smiley faces and thumbs-up. Commenters using vulgar language celebrated the damage apparently inflicted on the girl’s genitalia and said she had no doubt ‘been asking for it.’ (…)

The rape occurred against a larger backdrop of what activists are calling an enabling environment in Brazil.

Hours before news of this case broke, the Brazilian Education Minister Mendonca Filho held a high-profile meeting with Alexandre Frota, an actor and reality television star who has repeatedly said he would have no qualms about having sex with a woman who did not consent.”

Asian Human Rights Commission calls for inquiry in the wake of the murder of Pakistan transgender activist 

Taking cognisance of routine violence against transgender people in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, and in the wake of the murder of transgender activist Alesha, the Asian Human Rights Commission has called for an independent enquiry into transphobic violence in the country. A statement on the organisation’s website reads:

“The provincial police should be prosecuted for their involvement in torture and harassment against transgender (people), and disciplinary action must be taken against the doctors and staff at Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar for not providing treatment to a transgender (person). The government must also immediately provide safety and security to all transgender rights defenders. The KPK police must be asked to arrest the gangs who are working in the pornographic business particularly of transgender (people), and the killers of Alesha. The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on situation of Human Rights Defenders.”

Alesha was kept waiting for treatment for over an hour at the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar and then taunted by hospital authorities because she was transgender.

Islamic idelogy body proposes husbands be allowed to ‘lightly beat’ wives

The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has proposed its own bill for the protection of women, in which it prescribes that husbands can ‘lightly beat’ their wives for certain kinds of ‘defiant’ behaviour, which it lists. The bill also proposes a ban on co-education institutions after primary education, women nurses taking care of male patients, women taking part in military combat and more. However, it says that a woman can join politics and marry without the permission of her parents.

The CII is a Constitutional body that gives recommendations to the country’s parliament based on Islamic laws. The parliament, however, is not obligated to accept these recommendations.

Amnesty International releases policy and research on protection of sex workers’ rights

Amnesty International published on May 26 its policy on protecting sex workers from human rights violations and four research reports on human rights abuses against sex workers in four countries – Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Norway and Argentina.

The research reveals that sex workers face horrific abuse the world over, even in countries like Norway, where they are popularly perceived to be safer. The research reveals law enforcement officials’ role in perpetrating this violence and shines a light on violence against male and transgender sex workers.

The organisation recommends full decriminalisation of sex work around the world.

In July 2015, a number of Hollywood celebrities had called on Amnesty to reject its plans to call for decriminalisation. The actors’ statement was condemned by a number of sex workers.

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Organised Religion Must Join the Fight Against Homophobia

Approaches based upon the raising of consciousness are increasingly having to confront a very powerful and, in many cases, seemingly intractable opponent: religion.

Approaches based upon the raising of consciousness are increasingly having to confront a very powerful and, in many cases, seemingly intractable opponent: religion.

A step in the right direction. EPA/Yoan Valat.

A step in the right direction. EPA/Yoan Valat.

Established in 2004, the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia seeks to raise global awareness of the discrimination which many millions of people continue to suffer simply on the grounds of their sexual orientation. It falls on May 17 – the date in 1990 when the World Health Organisation finally removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

The world has come a long way since then. But demolishing prejudice can rarely be achieved overnight, and in many parts of the world, homophobia, transphobia and biphobia are widespread and deeply entrenched.

Many campaigners argue that the keys to changing discriminatory attitudes towards sexual minorities are education and availability of positive role models. But for all the good they do, approaches based upon the raising of consciousness are increasingly having to confront a very powerful and, in many cases, seemingly intractable opponent: religion.

Prejudice based on religious belief is far harder to shift than the more conventional folkloric attitudes that have long provided shaky and unstable support to widespread homophobia.

A series of recent developments illustrate the extent to which parts of established churches and religious communities are increasingly targeting sexual minorities.

In January 2016, the Church of England held its bi-annual Primates meeting, in which the world’s 38 principal Anglican leaders met to discuss doctrinal and administrative matters. Despite (or perhaps because of) a perception that the Church of England has been leaning towards a liberal standpoint on the question of sexual minorities, the meeting became embroiled in a bitter row over the question of whether the church should accommodate homosexuality, same-sex marriage and the appointment of gay clergy.

The disagreement saw the head of the Ugandan Anglican church reject calls for an end to the victimisation of gays and lesbians, stating that homosexual practices are “incompatible with Scripture.”

The Catholic Church, too, has moved slowly. While Pope Francis has called for an end to unjust discrimination against gays and lesbians, he has also stated that the church will not change any of its official doctrines on homosexuality – and beyond the ostensibly liberal climate of the Vatican, leading Catholic clerics elsewhere have reasserted the need to remain steadfast on the question of sexual minorities.

As with the Anglican communion, certain wings of the Catholic church have been taking harsh conservative stands of late. In Malawi, Catholic bishops recently issued a pastoral letter in which they faulted the government’s moratorium aimed at stopping gay arrests under the Malawi Penal Code. The bishops expressed worry at the government’s “betrayal” of bowing to human rights campaigners and international actors on homosexuality.

Spreading the word

But lest anyone imagine that such prejudices are only to be found among congregations in the Southern Hemisphere, the recent and well-publicised series of legal attacks against sexual minorities in the US, often in the name of “religious freedom”, is a reminder that discrimination on grounds of sexual identity is a truly global phenomenon.

For years now, Christian conservative groups from the US have been extending their prejudices into the African continent. Prominent African religious leaders have been deployed to campaign against LGBT rights. Right-wing American Christian organisations have opened new offices and increased resources in Africa to expand operations. Their stated aim is typically to popularise their teaching and to advocate for the incorporation of “Christian views” in legislation and policies.

                                                                       Intolerance in Uganda has been fuelled by outside groups. EPA/Ronald Kabuubi

The most notorious example is its instigation and support of anti-homosexuality sentiment in Uganda, which has resulted in some of the African continent’s harshest homophobic laws.

Beyond Africa and the US, sexual minorities have long been persecuted in parts of the Middle East. Their suffering has reached a new and terrible low point in those areas controlled by the so-called Islamic State (IS), with reports detailing IS’s systematic executions of gay men in the towns and villages it has captured.

Humanity and inhumanity

The right to free expression of religion and conscience is a fundamental human right. The historical struggles for religious freedom across the world have exerted a profound influence upon human rights. We must all be free to hold (or not to hold) to a particular belief system from which we seek to derive meaning, inspiration and guidance.

But even as a human right, religious freedom does not extend to persecuting or enabling the persecution of others.

Many religious believers base their faith on very difficult and demanding values and commitments. It is extremely difficult to love one’s neighbour when neighbours have become a source of fear and hostility. It is extremely difficult for many to recognise those they deem “unfaithful and godless” as God’s children.

May 17 offers all of us, religious and non-religious alike, the opportunity to recognise the sheer inhumanity of discriminating against others simply because of who they love. In a world so dogged by suffering and oppression, the energy and commitment of many religious communities can be put to far better use.

The Conversation

Andrew Fagan, Co-Director of Postgraduate Studies, Human Rights Centre, University of Essex and Alan Msosa, PhD Student, University of Essex Human Rights Centre, University of Essex

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Gender Beat: Pay Gap Exists in Indian Offices; Global Survey Finds Anti-LGBT Views Prevail

A round-up of what’s happening in the worlds of gender and sexuality

A round-up of what’s happening in the worlds of gender and sexuality

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