Heena Sharma Blog

Brazil's Supreme Court voted Thursday to criminalise homophobia, an important step for sexual minorities in one of the most dangerous countries for LGBT people in the world. The Supreme Federal Court (STF), which voted eight to three in favour of the measure, classified homophobia as a crime similar to racism, until Congress -- which is held by a conservative majority and is strongly influenced by evangelical churches -- passes a law specifically addressing such discrimination. Brazil now joins a growing number of countries in the typically conservative and Catholic-influenced Latin American region that have passed measures in favour of LGBT rights. "All prejudice is violence. All discrimination is a cause of suffering," said judge Carmen Luzia while voting in favour of the measure. "But I learned that some prejudices cause more suffering than others." According to the NGO Grupo Gay de Bahia, which has collected national statistics for the past fou...

Taiwan's parliament legalised same-sex marriage on Friday in a landmark first for Asia as the government survived a last-minute attempt by conservatives to pass watered-down legislation. Lawmakers comfortably passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to form "exclusive permanent unions" and another clause that would let them apply for a "marriage registration" with government agencies. The vote -- which took place on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia -- is a major victory for the island's LGBT community and it places the island at the vanguard of Asia's burgeoning gay rights movement. Thousands of gay rights supporters gathered outside parliament despite heavy downpours, waving rainbow flags, flashing victory signs and breaking into cheers as the news filtered out. In recent months conservatives had mobilised to rid the law of any reference to marriage, instead putting forward rival bills that offered somethin...

On Monday, the Lok Sabha passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016. In the eyes of transgender and gender non-binary activists, this is an act of doublespeak because the Bill, if it goes through the Rajya Sabha, will not only fail to protect the rights of transgender people in India, it will actively violate these rights. Activists from the community have condemned the passing of the Bill in its current form, and are calling on the government to withdraw it from consideration in the Rajya Sabha and instead pass the private member’s bill drafted by Tiruchi Siva in the Lok Sabha. Why should a community so vociferously oppose a Bill that is drafted in the name of the protection of its rights ? For those who celebrated the passing of the 2014 Supreme Court judgement affirming the rights of transgender people (colloquially called the NALSA Bill), the answer is obvious. Although the NALSA judgment was flawed in its own ways, it made some incredible str...

Students who are lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) are at a higher risk of self-harm when compared to heterosexual individuals, a recent study suggests. The research also shows that low self-esteem may explain the increased risk of self-harm in LGB students . Self-harm typically includes behaviour such as cutting, hair pulling, scratching, burning or non-lethal overdoses. "Young people's mental health is a national concern and this study confirms that lesbian , gay or bisexual young people have elevated rates of suicidality and self-harm compared with heterosexual youth. We know much less about how LGB young people seek help for their mental health problems, or what type of support would be effective," said Dr. Elizabeth McDermott, lead author of the study, which appeared in the journal of Archives of Suicide Research. Of the LGB students who completed an online questionnaire, 65 per cent had carried out non-suicidal self-harm over their lifetime compared ...

A colonial-era law that criminalizes homosexual sex is viewed by many as a blot on the idea of India as a liberal democracy Current Affairs News : Five judges on India’s Supreme Court are hearing a challenge to a law that criminalizes homosexual sex — Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, introduced by British colonial authorities in 1861 and kept on the books in independent India. The Indian government told the court, which began hearings last Tuesday, that it would leave it to the wisdom of the judges to decide whether Section 377 violates fundamental rights to life, liberty and personal security as long as it does not get into broader issues like marriage, inheritance and adoption. But these are inevitable. Menaka Guruswamy, a lawyer for the plaintiffs against Section 377, argued that it was love that needed to be “constitutionally recognized” and not just sex. Social media and newspapers are filled with conversations and reports about Section 377, but L.G.B.T. life i...