Camille is a twentysomething working in the LGBT nonprofit industry. She runs an LGBT news blog at gaywrites.org.
Russia’s lower house of Parliament this week passed two bills condemned by Amnesty International for stifling fundamental human rights, including the right to free expression. First off, the State Duma passed a bill outlawing actions perceived as “offending religious feelings.” That’s right: if your behavior offends a person of faith, you could do jail time: The bill stipulated that “public actions expressing clear disrespect for society and committed with the goal of offending religious feelings of the faithful” would be punishable with jail terms of up to three years in prison as well as fines of up to AU$9700. … Public desecration of religious objects or books are also punishable by fines of up to AU$6500. The government won’t hesitate to admit what sparked such a specific bill: the feminist performance group Pussy Riot’s infamous public performances from last year, which openly denounced the Russian government and landed the band members in jail. Apparently Russia’s still mad about that one: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Ever since the Boy Scouts of America voted to partially rescind its discriminatory policy and allow gay youth into the organization, things have been rocky between scouting troops and the churches that often sponsor them. In the latest turn of events, the Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution Wednesday “expressing its disappointment” in the BSA’s new policy — and throwing their support behind churches that decide to drop their ties to the Boy Scouts as a result: [Click headline for more…] Read more
I know what you’re going to say: we really shouldn’t dignify Charisma with press coverage and pageviews. The Christian “news service” is dripping with bigotry, intolerance, and just plain misinformation about any issue you can name. But when I read that Charisma news editor Jennifer LeClaire wrote that openly gay basketball player Jason Collins would make more of a difference in the world if he “renounced homosexuality,” I got too mad to ignore it. [Click headline for more…] Read more
When it comes to acceptance of LGBT people, the United States is far from being the most tolerant country in the world. According to a report released last week by the Pew Research Center, attitudes about homosexuality in society vary widely based on geography — but less by religion than you might expect. Pew asked more than 37,000 participants in 39 countries whether “homosexuality should be accepted or rejected by society,” and found widespread geographical differences in responses. [Click headline for more…] Read more
