Scotland prepares for historic parliamentary vote on equal marriage – The Scottish Parliament will hold a crucial debate and vote on Scotland’s equal marriage legislation today. The Stage One vote on the country’s same-sex marriage bill is in many respects the most important vote because it will reveal for the first time whether a majority of MSPs supporting introducing equal marriage, or whether they will reject the bill.
Today (20th November) is international Trans day of Remembrance, commemorating those killed by transphobia worldwide – 238 this year alone. Memorial services are planned worldwide, including one this evening in London (GMB event: Putting the T back in LGBT conference and vigil 20.11.13 contact Carl Banks gmbshout@hotmail.co.uk) Schools OUT UK’s Andrew Dobbin has written a piece looking at some Trans issues from an employment and educational viewpoint
Andrew Scott, who plays arch-nemesis Moriarty on the hit BBC series, has come out as “a gay person” in a low-key interview with The Independent. Oddly enough, the recent spate of antigay attitudes in Russia spurred on the low-key coming out in the interview. Though the interview covers his career and how Sherlock has changed it, he’s heavily promoting an upcoming BBC drama called Legacy which required him to do a Russian accent. To prepare, he studied videos of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that stopped when Putin introduced antigay legislation. As Scott tells it, “being a gay person, I switched to Rudolf Nureyev videos instead.”
Reclaiming dancehall from the homophobes – A new generation of gay Londoners are getting down to hardcore Jamaican sounds. Dancehall’s old guard are losing ground to newer artists with no time for such prejudices, and a fresh generation of gay DJs and clubbers have started looking beyond the outdated narrative that dancehall = homophobic.
History Resource: The Radical Activist who Took on AIDS (BBC World Service) Peter Staley was one of the ACT UP activists whose campaigns helped to turn AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Their story is told in the Oscar-nominated documentary How To Survive A Plague.
Bangladesh officially recognizes hijra as separate gender – A third gender will recognize hijra, often seen as similar to trans or intersex people, in all official government documents.
Schools OUT UK Pink Promotion – Press Release: 10 Years since Section 28: Promote Pink Against Prejudice. Schools Out is running a ‘Pink Promotion’ to commemorate the 10 year anniversary since the repeal of Section 28 by urging everyone, particularly those involved in education, to wear pink on the 18th November 2013.Schools Out has chosen the colour pink for the 10 year anniversary as pink is associated with diversity and the LGBT community since it was reclaimed from its use to identify homosexual men under Nazi Germany. Pink therefore also embodies opposition to Section 28.
Through Her Eyes – a film about transphobia. Lily Padma and Team are a small team of transgender volunteers working very long hours alongside normal jobs to produce a short film, and linked campaign. Their aim is to create a greater sense of empathy and understanding towards the trans* community; they want to reduce the number of young trans* individuals who have had to live through abuse and discrimination, as they have.
USA – Teen who set fire to Berkeley student cites homophobia. The Alameda County District Attorney in California has charged 16-year-old Richard Thomas for a hate crime, along with aggravated mayhem and felony assault, for setting fire to 18-year-old Berkeley student Luke “Sasha” Fleischman on an AC Transit bus on 3rd November.
Peter Tatchell Foundation:Urge LGBTI equality in Commonwealth – 12 noon to 2pm, Wednesday 13 November Commonwealth HQ, Marlborough House. Corner of Pall Mall and St James’s Street, London SW1Y 5HX. Wednesday’s protest is timed to take place just two days before the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) opens in Sri Lanka. It is jointly sponsored by the Kaleidoscope Trust, the Peter Tatchell Foundation and the African LGBTI Out & Proud Diamond Group.
