Issue #7 Thursday, 24 November 2022
Dear Subscriber,
Welcome to the 7th issue of the LGBT Great News Digest, a short briefing on the 5 LGBT+ news stories you need to know about right now.
The LGBT Great Team |
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| 5 LGBT+ News Stories from Around the World |
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| 1. Gunman kills 5 and injures 25 at LGBT+ nightclub in Colorado |
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On 19 November 2022, a 22-year-old gunman entered Club Q, an LGBT+ club in Colorado, and opened fire, killing at least 5 people and injuring 25 others. The shooting started minutes before midnight and the suspect was detained at 12:02 AM, just when the calendar turned to Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). ______
Our View: This incident is reminiscent of the Orlando shooting in a gay club in 2016, where 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded. 2022 has already seen 32 trans and gender non-conforming people fatally killed in the US.
23 years have passed since the first TDOR, a day to commemorate the countless lives lost to transphobic violence and murders. The trans community is one which needs our full attention, protection and support. |
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| 2. Belgium bans conversion therapy |
| On 18 November 2022, the Federal Bicameral Parliament of Belgium approved a ban on conversion therapy, as reported by the State Secretary for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunity and Diversity, Sarah Schlitz. Conversion therapy consists of practices which aim to change, suppress or eliminate the sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression of LGBT+ people. ______ Our View: Conversion therapies are wrong and should be banned immediately. Belgium's move highlights a growing push to stop conversation therapies by some other nations.
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| 3. FIFA threatens to sanction players if they wear OneLove armbands |
| FIFA threatened to issue a yellow card to players who wear OneLove armbands during the football World Cup games, just hours before the second day's kick off. The football governing body fines teams for taking political stances, but on-field sanctions of this sort are a rarity. _____ Our View: This move from FIFA comes at an extremely vulnerable time for the LGBT+ community, following the mass shooting in Colorado. Rather than standing in solidarity, FIFA has signalled that LGBT+ identities are too ‘political’ to be supported on the football pitch, denying basic freedom of speech and expression to the football players.
As Ginetta Sagan accurately said ‘Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor’, and in FIFA’s case, the organisation is clearly complicit in upholding the anti-LGBT+ sentiment that Qatar propounds.
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| 4. Interior Minister describes LGBT+ rights as ‘propaganda of a terrorist organisation’ |
| On 12 November 2022, Suleyman Soylu, the Turkish Interior Minister, delivered a denigrating speech deeming LGBT+ rights as ‘propaganda of a terrorist organisation’ in the province of Bilecik to members of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party. According to Duvar, a Turkish newspaper, Soylu said that LGBT+ identities are ‘cultural terrorism’ and ‘lacks all values’. _____ Our View: The Turkish government is on a staunchly regressive path when it comes to LGBT+ identities, depicted through the bigoted sentiments routinely expressed by its party officials. On 22 October 2022, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of the nation, in reference to the LGBT+ community, said, ‘Let’s protect our nation together against the onslaught of deviant and perverted currents’.
Such statements completely invalidate LGBT+ identities and incite hatred toward the community.
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| 5. Talent survey finds LGBT+ employees are less satisfied with their jobs and company benefits |
| _____ Our View: The results of this survey serve as another reminder to organisations that their LGBT+ workers are disproportionately dissatisfied at work. Creating safe spaces, LGBT+ awareness and curating organisational policies to incorporate LGBT+ employees, are some of the fundamental steps in creating an inclusive, productive and flourishing environment.
To find out more about how to support your LGBT+ employees, click here.
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Disclaimer The information contained in this newsletter is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by LGBT Great and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the newsletter or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in the newsletter for any purpose. All the quotations in the news are presented as originally published. LGBT Great does not necessarily share the views of the quoted authors and is not responsible for the accuracy of the information or quality of the analysis provided by them. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. |
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