August 23, 2016

Trans rights activist Hande Kader was raped and burned to death in Turkey

In Turkey, the LGBTQ community is mourning the loss of transgender rights activist and sex worker Hande Kader.

Kader's body was found raped and brutally burned on Aug. 12 in Istanbul and now activists across the world are demanding justice for her death and the greater violence inflicted upon the the LGBTQ community, BuzzFeed reported. According to Kader's friends, she was last seen in a client's car.

While homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey, according to BuzzFeed, discrimination and violence against the LGBTQ community is staggering.

Kader, who was 22 years old, was a big voice in bringing awareness to the violence against sex workers and the LGBTQ community in Turkey. She made multiple appearances throughout the country, like the Gay Pride parade in Istanbul in 2015, where police opened fire at protesters with rubber bullets and water cannons.

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Does it have to come to this in the US before people realize what is happening to transgender people?! Oh wait...

In the first eight months of 2016, the murders of 19 transgender people have been reported.

http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/8/11/these-are-trans-people-killed-2016#slide-0

August 8, 2016

Bill Maher: Trans equality must wait until after presidential election

THIS IS THE LGBT GROUP!

In his “New Rules” segment Friday night, Bill Maher called for “boutique issues” like transgender equality to be put on hold until after the “Armageddon” presidential election, Yahoo! TV reports.

The “Real Time” host said that defeating Trump must be the top priority.

“From now until Election Day, everything else — every issue, every fight, every cause — has to take a backseat to defeating Trump,” Maher said. “We all have our issues that are important to us, and so just to lead by example, let me say I will take my own close-to-the-heart pet cause — pot legalization — off the table. And you know me: I have seeds in my urine!”

Twitter wasn’t having it. Some called out his characterization of the issues liberals and progressive are fighting for, as well as the privileged lens through which he views them:

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Well, we have certainly heard this before. Even now we are being told we are being "selfish", I was told I was stupid and ushering in a Trump presidency, and "cultural issues" aren't important. A commenter to this article wrote:

Yes, after the election, then after the innaugaration, then after the first 100 days, then maybe after the mid term elections, then after the first manned trip to mars and the building of a colony on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system, then in 3535.....

Dr. King said: In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

August 6, 2016

Pride Uganda raided by police as LGBT activists arrested

A Pride event in Uganda has been broken up by police as at least two LGBT+ activists are arrested.

Pride Uganda tweeted that the small gathering in Kampala had been raided by police, as prominent LGBT+ activist Frank Mugisha also tweeted that he had been arrested.

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Adamantly homophobic Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni remained in office for a fifth term, as he won a general election earlier this year, amid accusations of corruption.

President Museveni signed the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill in February 2014. The law called for repeat offenders to be sentenced to 14 years in prison and to make it a criminal offence not to report someone for being gay.

However, the country’s Constitutional Court later struck down the bill, finding that the speaker of parliament acted illegally by moving ahead with a vote on the law despite at least three lawmakers objecting to a lack of quorum.

Despite this, it still remains illegal to be gay in Uganda.

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UGANDA LGBT BROTHERS AND SISTERS