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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBanning homosexuality fosters hate crime and homophobia, says UN report
Men suspected of same-sex relationships in countries that outlaw them are subjected to examinations which amount to torture
Criminalising homosexuality amounts to torture in many of the 76 countries where same-sex relationships are outlawed, a United Nations report has declared.
Prof Juan Mendez, the organisations special rapporteur on torture, has called for decriminalisation in his latest submission to the UNs human rights council on the grounds that the bans which sometimes carry the death penalty legitimise homophobia and hate crimes.
In one of the strongest denunciations of laws that are enforced in many African, Asian and Middle Eastern states, Mendez, a former Argentinian political prisoner, urges governments to reconsider their statute books.
A clear link exists between the criminalisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons and homophobic and transphobic hate crimes, police abuse, community and family violence and stigmatisation, his report says.
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Seems like a "water is wet" type of story, the problem is it seems few are willing to speak up and condemn these things on a regular basis. We also see this is true in our own country (the US) especially when it comes to new laws regarding transgender rights, and even supposed liberals pitch a fit. We also see the continuing of attempts at laws to deny marriage equality, as well as the laws which currently exist in many states which actively and legally deny LGBT persons from employment and housing.
Hydra
(14,459 posts)When you give official sanctioning against a person, the greater mob of lesser humanity takes it as a signal to do their worst. And they do.
one_voice
(20,043 posts)The obvious staring people right in the face and they're still blind.
pampango
(24,692 posts)YoungDemCA
(5,714 posts)What are ya, some kind of Politically Correct Social Justice Warrior?
K&R to an important thread and issue.