Posts tagged transsexual
Equality. Everywhere.
Monday, May 21st:
This morning, Ukraine attempted its very first gay pride in the capital of Kiev. Minutes after canceling due to safety concerns, this was the scene. Svyatoslav Sheremet, head of Гей-Форум Украины | Gay-Forum of Ukraine NGO, brutally beaten for who he is.
Share widely and imagine what they’d have done if Ukraine Pride had gone ahead as planned…
(Source: Daily Mail)
Last week, All Out’s Equality Moms truly hit the streets of Rio de Janeiro - opening a massive photo exhibition in Praça XV.
The portraits, highlighting dozens of strong mothers standing up against homophobia and transphobia in Rio, will travel to different communities within the city limits. While Brazil remains the most dangerous place in the world to be LGBT, their message resonates: “equality is a family value”
To learn more, check out our ongoing campaign at allout.org/maespelaigualdade and more photos on Facebook
BREAKING: OBAMA MAKES HISTORY
Friends and followers,
Today, President Barack Obama sat for an interview and publicly declared for the first time that he believes lesbian and gay people should have the right to marry.
This is an incredible, historic moment with huge implications for the US and the world. As many US states continue to ban marriage and 76 nations criminalize people because of who they love, President Obama has just stood up to boldly say that all love is equal.
This story is going to be told around the world and President Obama - and journalists on every continent – must know that millions are on his side. Will you help us make an example of Obama’s willingness to affirm equal love and show other world leaders that they can change their minds too? Please sign and share this card to President Obama. We want to deliver the world’s biggest Thank You card to the White House on Friday - we can’t do it without you:
With every bit of momentum gained, the backlash has been fierce. In North Carolina, just this week, Amendment 1 was passed with resounding support. If you haven’t heard about it, Amendment 1 not only defines marriage as between a man and a woman in the state constitution; it also bans civil unions.
Those who oppose marriage equality are throwing everything they’ve got to try and halt the momentum. While public support for marriage equality continues to grow across the country, these anti-love ballot measures continue to pass.
This is a brave statement, a moment to be celebrated in the long fight for equal recognition of all relationship in the US and around the world.
On Friday, we’ll deliver this card to the White House and send the message that standing up for love is the right thing to do – even when it’s hard.
Thanks for going All Out.
Best,
Andre, Guillaume, Hayley, Jasmin, Jeremy, Michael, Tile and Wesley
SOURCES:
ABC News: President Obama Affirms His Support for Same Sex Marriage
www.gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/president-obama-affirms-his-support-for-same-sex-marriage.html
New York Times: Obama Backs Same-Sex Marriage
www.thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/obama-likely-to-speak-about-same-sex-marriage-in-interview
New push for our friend Sergey, on trial in Saint Petersburg next week for “gay propaganda”. We’re asking celebrities and world leaders like Madonna, Ban Ki-Moon, Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin and Hillary Clinton to stand with Sergey too. Will you take a moment and share?
The fine for defying Russia’s anti-gay censorship law? Up to 500,000 rubles. His integrity? Priceless.
Stand with Sergey, and all other Russians defying the draconian “homosexual propaganda” law.
Sign now and share: http://www.allout.org/standwithsergey
Updated: Save Star Wars
Electronic Arts (EA), distributor of the highly popular Star Wars: The Old Republic video game - is the target of a boycott orchestrated by hateful anti-gay groups. Why? Because they had the courage to give players around the world the option of including a gay romance storyline in their interactive Star Wars game.
Right now, thousands of anti-gay letters are flooding Electronic Arts headquarters, threatening to push the company and its staff to the dark side (“Homos are ruining gaming!” wrote one boycotter. “I urge all parents to keep any EA games from their children to prevent them to be AIDS-spreading, Satan-loving scum,” wrote another).
But we can do something about it - if we channel the force for good. We may not agree with everything the company does, but firms like Electronic Arts should be rewarded when they do the right thing. And together we can help them stand their ground. Sign this urgent letter to Electronic Arts (EA) now, asking them to stay strong and resist the dark side. When 50,000 of us sign on, All Out members will make news by dressing as Star Wars characters and delivering your letters directly to Electronic Arts headquarters:
Video games - like books, magazines, TV and film - are enjoyed by hundreds of millions around the world, and the fictional characters in them often inspire us, and teach us about the world we live in. This is exactly why anti-gay hate groups are targeting them - because they know that the more LGBT people are represented as regular characters, the harder it will be to deny them equality in the real world.
Games from Electronic Arts (EA) reach 100 million players in 75 countres around the world. When a major company like this makes the effort to create gay role models for all players, gay and straight, we need to let them know that we’ve got their back - especially in the face of an organized hate campaign.
Sign now, and we’ll make sure company executives know the force is with them:
Thanks for going All Out.
Best,
Alberto, Andre, Erika, Flavia, Guillaume, Jasmin, Jeremy, Joseph, Oli, Tile and Wesley
SOURCES:
EA supports gay youth, haters pile on hate
www.ingame.msnbc.msn.com/technology/ingame/ea-supports-gay-youth-haters-pile-hate-125950
EA is the target of an anti-gay letter writing campaign
www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/04/05/ea-is-the-target-of-an-anti-gay-letter-writing-campaign
EA ‘harassed’ over gay video game characters
www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/04/05/ea-politically-harassed-over-gay-video-game-characters/
http://www.allout.org/thetimehascome.
On March 7, 2012, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivered a historic speech asking countries around the world to decriminalize same sex relationships, and end discrimination of LGBT people. The response at the UN? A handful of delegates stormed out of the meeting in protest. Watch this remixed version of Ban Ki-moon’s speech, and let us know what you think is so controversial about it.
Action Alert! Don’t let the homophobes drown out our voices:
We didn’t want you to see this but…
Since we launched this video to protest Russia’s new gay censorship law 4 days ago, thousands of people have left horrendous, hateful comments like “Die all of you, faggots!” and “Fags should go in the oven”.
Thanks to you, the video is having a huge impact and going viral with over 200,000 views1, but right now a minority of violently extreme voices are drowning us out on the page. The messages are so terrible that many Russian All Out members asked that we disable the comment feature - and for one day we did - but the All Out team just made the decision to open them back up and give you a chance to change the conversation.
It will take 30 seconds to log into YouTube (you can do it with your Gmail account), but it will really make a difference. Journalists and Russian lawmakers who see this viral video think the supporters of hate are ruling the day. Will you help us overwhelm the page with messages of equality from all around the world and share the emotional video with your friends and family:
Alberto, Andre, Erika, Flavia, Guillaume, Jasmin, Jeremy, Joseph, Oli, Tile and Wesley
PS - The Governor of St. Petersburg has still not signed the “gay gag rule” into law. You said “don’t go there” and it’s working - keep up the pressure by watching, commenting and spreading the word.
SOURCES:
1. Russia Gazette: LGBT community demands St. Petersburg governor veto “the law on homosexuality”
www.en.gazeta.ru/news/2012/03/01/a_4018205.shtml
2. Facebook: Photos from our global Day of Action
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.377889628905236.99154.169042736456594&type=1
3. Queerty: All Out Tells St. Petersburg Governor Not To Tarnish Tchaikovsky’s Legacy With Anti-Gay Bill
www.queerty.com/watch-allout-tells-st-petersburg-governor-not-to-tarnish-tchaikovskys-legacy-with-anti-gay-bill-20120301
In less than one week, lawmakers in St. Petersburg could silence millions - straight and gay - by making it a crime to read, write or even discuss anything “gay”. Calls and letters have rolled in from around the world, but it’s not enough. So with your help, we’re going to hit the Governor of St. Petersburg where it counts - in his wallet.
Russia recently announced that it wants to spend $11 billion dollars in five years to attract tourists from around the world. We need to let the Governor of St. Petersburg - one of the country’s biggest tourist destinations - know that WE WON’T GO THERE if he turns the town into a gloomy center of censorship and intolerance.
Governor Poltavchenko has the power to veto the bill. Will you take one minute to tell him “I won’t go there” if the bill passes and ask your friends and family to do the same? All Out members are already planning creative events at Russian embassies and consulates to deliver your message next week in a major international media spectacle that lawmakers in image-conscious St. Petersburg can not ignore:
www.allout.org/stpetersburg-dont-go
Conservatives in Saint Petersburg insist on passing the “gay gag rule,” believing they can ignore calls from world leaders and the country’s own international treaty obligations respecting freedom of expression. But Russia’s second largest city thrives on its reputation as Russia’s cosmopolitan “window to the west” to attract tourists from around the world. And this reputation can’t coexist with a new law that will muzzle artists, writers, musicians and regular citizens who live in- or visit - the city.
Imagine for a moment the new Saint Petersburg - where newly empowered “thought police” can fine you for any mention of the well known fact that famed Russian composer Tchaikovksy, a Saint Petersburg native, was gay. This law will censor millions of Russians, gay and straight - and silence any and all human rights organizations in Russia fighting for equal rights.
Will you take one minute to tell Governor Georgy Poltavchenko ”I won’t go there” if this bill passes then ask your friends to do the same now?
www.allout.org/stpetersburg-dont-go
Over the past few months over 250,000 people have joined All Out in denouncing the bill, and thousands of us have picked up the phone to call our foreign offices, pushing the US, UK, Germany, France, Australia and others to issue official condemnations. We have to keep up the pressure - now, more than ever.
We have less than a week before the final vote. Please take a moment to make it public that you “won’t go there” and ask your friends to do the same now: we’re organizing creative protests at Russian consulates in cities all over the world to deliver these signatures and urge the Governor of Saint Petersburg not to sign this bill into law.
www.allout.org/stpetersburg-dont-go
Thanks for going All Out.
Best,
Alberto, Andre, Erika, Flavia, Guillaume, Jasmin, Jeremy, Joseph, Oli, Tile, Wesley
SOURCES:
St. Petersburg: The Tourist Capital
www.themoscowtimes.com/beyond_moscow/stpetersburg.html
“Russia will spend over $11 billion on programs aimed at promoting tourism to Russia through 2018.”
www.themoscownews.com/russia/20110915/189047809.html
Russia: “Anti-Gay Propaganda Bill” Passes Second Reading
www.globalvoicesonline.org/2012/02/10/russia-anti-gay-propaganda-bill-passes-second-reading
Mothers petition St. Petersburg to drop anti-gay legislation
www.rt.com/news/prime-time/mothers-petition-gay-community
‘Gay propaganda’ law none of US business – Russian FM official
www.rt.com/politics/gay-propaganda-law-petersburg
