Tag: Discrimination

All the latest breaking news on discrimination. Browse The THEGAYUK’s complete collection of features and commentary on discrimination against the LGBT+ community.

The Council of Europe is conducting a “fact-finding” mission of LGBT+ issues faced in Poland… Finally

After years of reports of how bad things have gotten for LGBT+ people in Poland, the Council of Europe, the continent’s “leading human rights organisation” is to send an investigation team on a “fact-finding” mission to find out about the issues facing LGBT+ people in the country.

LGBT+ people living in Poland have become increasingly targeted because of their sexuality and gender identity. The country recently reelected the EU’s most homophobic leader, Andrzej Duda, who, as part of his election strategy, used anti-LGBT+ rhetoric in his campaigning.

Polish MPs requested the mission

The mission, according to the Council of Europe has been organised after members of the Polish parliament requested it, after increasing attacks and discrimination against gay, lesbian, bi and transgender people.

The delegation, which will investigate on the 2nd and 3rd November will meet with various Polish authorities including: Hanna Gill- Piątek, Coordinator of the Parliamentary Intergroup on Cities, Krzysztof Śmiszek, Chairman of the Parliamentary Intergroup on Equal Rights of LGBT+ Community, Adam Bodnar, Commissioner for Human Rights, Anna Schmidt-Rodziewicz, Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment from the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social policy, and MEP Robert Biedroń, founder of the Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH).

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

Meetings with local and regional governments include Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw, Nina Gabryś, Chair of the Council for Equal Treatment of Krakow, Witold Kozlowski, Marshall of the voivodeship of Lesser Poland, Jaroslaw Stawiarski, Marshall of the voivodeship of Lublin, Paweł Okrasa, Mayor of Wieluń, Zygmunt Frankiewicz, President of the Association of Polish Cities, and Olgierd Geblewicz, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Union of the Provinces of the Republic of Poland.

Representatives of several NGOs, namely, Lambda Warsawa, Lublin Equality March Association, Love Does Not Exclude, Tęczowy Białystok, Trans-Fuzja and Atlas nienawiści have also been invited to meet with the Delegation.

Reminding governments of their responsibilities

The results of the fact-finding will be brought to the attention of the Congress and other bodies. They will also provide input for the Congress report on “the role and responsibilities of local governments in protecting LGBTI+ persons”.

The Council Of Europe has 47 members, 27 of which, including Poland are in the EU.

27th October 2020
165% increase in Sexual Orientation Discrimination cases
Since 2015 there has been a 165% rise in the number of sexual orientation discrimination cases brought against employers, according to new data from compliance training specialist DeltaNet International and the Ministry of Justice.

The study analysed over 120,000 discrimination cases that went to employment tribunals and included cases of sexual orientation, disability, race, age, gender and pregnancy-related complaints.

Almost 500 cases in the last year

Sexual orientation claims have increased 165% since 2015/16 to almost 500 cases in 2019/20.

The statistics show that discrimination has increased across 7 categories, with only discrimination on the basis of age declining in number of cases since 2015. The following points show the percentage increase in cases:
- Sexual orientation (+165%)
- Disability discrimination (+133%)
- Religion or belief discrimination (+131%)
- Race discrimination (+95%)
- Pregnancy discrimination (+87%)
- Sex discrimination (+15%)
- Age discrimination (-81%)
There has been a steady increase in the number of cases which involve discrimination on the basis of sexuality since 2015.

Jayne Harrison is Head of Employment Law at Richard Nelson LLP. Speaking of the study, she said,

“It has become far more accessible for employees to lodge sexual orientation discrimination cases. Tribunal fees were abolished on 26 July 2017 and since then tribunals have seen an increase year on year with claims being lodged as now an unhappy employee can use the tribunal system without it costing them anything.

“Previously the fees were around £1200 for an unfair dismissal case but much less (£390) for a wages claim/unlawful deduction. This seemed to act as a bar to potential litigants and one of the main reasons why the fees were abolished when they were challenged by the unions.”

Darren Hockley, MD at DeltaNet International, comments,

“As the data reveals, the best method of avoiding employment tribunals is to treat staff with fairness, dignity, and respect – and to follow clearly laid-out procedures.

“As employers, it’s important we offer training to those we trust in managerial positions on the basic requirements of employment law. Managers should know how to handle sexual orientation discrimination grievances respectfully and transparently and should be regularly updated about the businesses’ statutory and contractual requirements.

“Without this knowledge, it’s hard for staff members to remain fair and consistent, and this is when many organisations may find themselves in hot water.”

Over the number of cases involving discrimination on the basis of sexuality remains low compared to race, sex, or disability.

Other LGBT+ Discrimination Cases

A gender-fluid employee at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) was awarded £180,000 in compensation earlier this month after employment tribunal case against JLR on the basis of sexual orientation discrimination.

In a statement, JLR apologised to the employee, Mx Taylor and said they will continue to work on improvement in this area. Mx Taylor had worked for the company for over 20 years and presented as male before identifying as gender-fluid in 2017.

A transgender employee of Amazon is currently in the process of claiming against his employer after claiming he was denied promotion after announcing he was pregnant.

Under the non-discrimination law passed in 2010, a UK employer cannot discriminate against an employee on the basis of a number of protected characteristics including sexual orientation and gender reassignment.
26th October 2020
TODAY IN GAY | Priest comes out as gay and is fired immediately by the Vatican

Monsignor Krzystof Charamsa, who was 43 at the time, was fired by Vatican officials after coming out as gay and as having a partner. He had been a priest who worked in the Vatican’s doctrinal arm since 2003. He announced his sexuality in an interview with the Italian paper Corriere della Sera.

Charamsa held a press conference with his Spanish partner to announce his partnership and sexuality. Answering on why the Vatican decided to remove Charamsa from his post said that its decision was nothing to do with his coming out, but that giving an interview and planning a news conference was “grave and irresponsible”.

Speaking about the Church’s views on homosexuality and how the Church treats gay people he said their views were “inhuman”

Speaking about his treatment Charamsa said, “It’s time for the Church to open its eyes about gay Catholics and to understand that the solution it proposes to them – total abstinence from a life of love – is inhuman.”

In a statement about Charamsa’s announcement, the Vatican said,

“Msgr. Charamsa will certainly be unable to continue to carry out his previous work in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical universities, while the other aspects of his situation shall remain the competence of his diocesan Ordinary [local bishop].”

For all gay priests
Embed from Getty Images
Charamsa “dedicated” his coming out to all gay priests, adding, “I wish them happiness even if I know that most of them will not have the courage to make the gesture I have made today.”

3rd October 2020
TikTok is censoring LGBT+ words and phrases

One of the world’s largest social media platforms, the Chinese owned TikTok has admitted that it is blocking certain LGBT+ words and phrases like gay, lesbian and transgender a new report as shown.

The tech giant said that it had taken to banning words in various languages, like Russian, Estonian, Bosnian and Arabic. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) found that many terms had been “shadow-banned” where a post may not be officially removed, but it is hard for other users to find the content because it doesn’t show up in searches.

In September the ASPI wrote to TikTok to ask why various terms were shadow-banned. They created a list of terms, these included,

• #acab – English, an acronym for “all cops are bastards,” use of which began during the George Floyd protests in the United States

• #GayArab – English

• #гей – “Gay” in Russian

• #يلثم_سنجلا– “Gay” in Arabic

• #ялесбиянка – “I am a lesbian” in Russian

• #ягей – “I am gay” in Russian

• #gei – “Gay” in Estonian

• #gej – “Gay” in Bosnian

• #لوحتملايسنج – “Transgender” in Arabic

• #لوحتلا_يسنجلا – “Transgender/transitioning” in Arabic

TikTok said, that it was conforming to “relevant local laws” while other terms had been banned due to pornographic content.

However it seems as though TikTok is going above and beyond the law here as it’s not illegal to be gay or lesbian in Russia, Estonia or Bosnia.

Read their full statement:

“As part of our localised approach to moderation, some terms that the ASPI provided were partially restricted due to relevant local laws. Other terms were restricted because they were primarily used when looking for pornographic content, while the Thai phrases the ASPI supplied are either readily found when searched or do not appear to be hashtags that any TikTok users have added to their posts.

“We also identified, and fixed, an issue where some compound phrases in Arabic were being incorrectly moderated because part of the phrase may relate to pornography.

Separately, a couple of English phrases were incorrectly moderated, and we have resolved the error. We are currently conducting a review of those terms that were moderated in error and will look for ways to improve our processes to avoid similar issues in the future. In addition, we want to be crystal clear that TikTok strongly supports our LGBTQ creators around the world and is proud that LGBTQ content is among the most popular category on the platform with billions of views.”

Is social media stiftling freedom of expression?

Last year the Guardian newspaper found that TikTok’s local moderation had led to bans on any content that was deemed to be pro-LGBT+.

Many of the world’s largest social media companies have come under fire for banning or deleting users’ content.

For instance, Facebook uses an algorithm to check messages sent privately between users for sexualised content like photos.

In 2018 Facebook announced it’s “horrifying” policy on content that you could share about yourself on its platform.

Instagram falls foul of erasing men’s body particularly, with numerous users and brands finding their accounts deleted or the content shared removed.

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12th September 2020
Yep, Donald Trump’s office released a memo outlining how to spot a trans person

Donald Trump‘s administration allegedly sent out a memo, detailing how officials might spot a transgender person, in order to identify them if they were to try and gain access to Government-funded homelessness shelters. Specifically, the memo was looking to demonstrate how a federal employee might be able to determine if a person, standing in front of them, trying to gain access to a woman’s homelessness shelter, was a transgender woman or not.

In a highly controversial move, the memo included information which might help an employee determine a person’s biological sex rather than gender identity. It outlined features such as height, facial hair and whether the person in question had an Adam’s apple and characteristics which “when considered together, are indicative of a person’s biological sex”, according to Snopes.com.

According to the site, the memo was released in July 2020 and listed physical characteristics, “in order to identify incoming transgender people at federally funded homeless shelters”.

The memo was a 29-page documentary, titled, “Making Admission or Placement Determinations Based on Sex in Facilities Under Community Planning and Development Housing Programs.”

Read Snopes.com fact finding on their website.

24th July 2020
The EU’s most anti-LGBT+ leader has been reelected in Poland

In a blow to LGBT+ rights activists in Poland, Andrzej Duda from the far-right wing Law and Justice Party has won the presidential election. However, he only won the election with a tiny majority, with only 51.2 per cent of the votes.

Duda ran an electoral campaign which heavily vilified the LGBT+ community, calling it a “destructive” force.

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

The tiny majority is the tightest win Poland has ever had. Rafal Trzaskowski, the current major of Warsaw, who runs on a liberal platform narrowly lost with 48.8 per cent of the vote.

During Duda’s campaign, he signed one of the most anti-LGBT charters in the EU against what he calls the “LGBT Ideology”, which he said was “more destructive than communist indoctrination”.

Embed from Getty Images

The charter defends the “institution of marriage” which means that there is no acceptance of gay marriage.

He’ll also refuses to accept allowing gay couples to adopt children.

Poland has the worst LGBT+ rights for any EU country

Poland’s lags way behind its fellow EU countries when it comes to LGBT+ rights according to Rainbow-Europe.org. It has just a 15.8 per cent approval rating, compared to Malta which sits at the top with nearly 90 per cent approval. Neighbouring countries to Poland, Lituania, Belarus, Slovakia and the Czech Republic all fall well below 50 per cent on the scale.

13th July 2020
One in four LGBT+ people remain closeted at work

New research shows that 25 per cent of LGBT+ people remain closeted and nearly half are not fully open at their place of work as the majority of workers feel unsupported by their bosses.

Research from Accenture shows that a massive 86 per cent of LGBT+ employees feel unsupported by their workplace, leading to around a quarter of LGBT+ people to remain closeted.

The Accenture ‘Getting to Equal’ research, which surveyed more than 28,000 employees and business leaders across 26 countries, reveals that in the UK less than half (41%) of LGBT+ employees are fully open about their gender identity, expression, or sexual orientation at work. More worryingly, approximately one in four LGBT+ employees (26%) remain totally closeted.

“Perception gap” between bosses and LGBT+ employees

The research also reveals a significant perception gap between how UK business leaders perceive their workplace culture compared to LGBT+ employees. Globally, 68% of leaders feel that they create an empowering workplace environment where employees can be themselves, however, just 14% of LGBT+ employees currently feel fully supported by their employer when it comes to issues like gender expression and sexual orientation at work.

Globally, almost three quarters (71%) of LGBT+ employees say that seeing LGBT+ employees in leadership positions is vital to helping them thrive and that the outward support of their non-LGBT colleagues is important to their ability to enjoy being at work.

“It has never been more important to hear and understand the experiences of minority groups”

Rebecca Tully, Inclusion and Diversity lead at Accenture in the UK said: “At a time when we are acutely aware of ongoing social injustices, it has never been more important to hear and understand the experiences of minority groups. Though we don’t have all the answers, our research highlights the fundamental questions we need to be asking when it comes to making the workplace more inclusive for LGBT+ people. It’s important for leaders to act now and strive to create a culture where LGBT+ employees not only rise professionally, but also where they feel safe, supported and able to be themselves.”

As part of the research, Accenture has identified the top cultural issues businesses need to address now to start building a more inclusive workplace culture for LGBT+ employees and other minority groups: Getting To Equal 2020:Pride, Visible Growth; Invisible Fears.

26th June 2020
Gay Blood. ‘Delays might be justified if it applied to everyone’ not just gay and bi men

A campaign in Wales, which is aiming to give gay, bi and MSM (men who have sex with men) the right to donate blood in line with everyone else, is calling for reform.

The current law in Wales states that any man who has sexual relations with another man (gay, bisexual, MSM) must abstain from such sexual activity for a period of three months prior to donating blood.

This waiting time does not apply to heterosexual blood donors, regardless of how many sexual partners they’ve had.

Campaign Coordinator at Blood Equality Wales, Alexander Bryant-Evans had this to say,

“This could be respected as a justification, if it applied to everyone. Afterall, bloodborne pathogens such as HIV can and do infect people of all sexualities, gender and race.

“Yet on grounds of sexuality, only gay and bisexual men are subjected to this law of forced abstinence before donating blood.”

Blood Equality Wales believes this to be unfair, unjust and blatantly discriminatory. Their campaign is looking to challenge and change the law here in Wales around gay and bisexual (MSM) blood donation.

A fairer more modern approach is called for

Campaign Coordinator Arron Bevan-John says,

“Blood Equality Wales advocates the use of a fairer, more modern approach. Instead of a sweeping, generalised law targeting all gay and biseuxal men, we would like to see a more individualised approach implemented by the Welsh Government on the issue of blood donation.”

This approach would take the individual and their actions into account, as opposed to an automatic imposition of a deferral period purely because of the individual’s sexuality.

Ending abstinence for those who do not engage in high-risk sexual activity

kropekk_pl / Pixabay

Blood Equality Wales believes that this approach would allow more gay and bisexual men, who do not engage in high-risk sexual activity, to be able to freely donate blood without having to undergo a period of abstinence first.

The campaign has launched a petition on the Senedd’s official petition site.

16th June 2020
US Supreme Court rules that it is not lawful for employers to discriminate against LGBT+ people

In a landmark ruling, decided by a 6-3 vote, the US Supreme Court ruled overwhelmingly that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is a form of sex discrimination and therefore prohibited by the Civil Rights Act.

Voting in favour were Justices Gorsuch Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Chief Justice John Roberts.

This is a critical case for the USA, where more than half the states do not have explicit protection against discrimination for LGBT+ people.

The ruling comes at a time when the Trump administration has rolled back numerous advances in the protection of particularly trans people, including the Department of Health removing protection from discrimination for trans people in healthcare on Friday, 12 June 2020.

Photo by retzer_c / Stockpack / Pixabay

The Justice Department argued that Title VII doesn’t cover discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Embed from Getty Images
Executive Director of OutRight Action International, Jessica Stern, comments, “The Supreme Court stating explicitly that under the Civil Rights Act discrimination based on sex includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is a tremendous victory.

“The decision comes at a time when the Trump administration has been viciously attacking the rights of LGBTIQ people, in particular trans people. It will protect millions of Americans from discrimination in the workplace, and sends a powerful message – that political power-play can not erase basic human rights. This judgment will have implications for LGBTIQ people everywhere – governments and movements are inspired by each other, and landmark judgments are quoted by courts across the world. OutRight welcomes, and celebrates this ruling!”

15th June 2020
British gay film, Gods Own Country had its sex scenes removed on Amazon Prime

One of Britain’s most touching gay movies, God’s Own Country was gutted of its sex scenes and now some people are calling on Amazon Prime to be boycotted, however, it turns out that the cuts were made by the film’s distributor, not the streaming giant.

The film’s creator Francis Lee raised the alarm on Twitter, when it was noted by reviewers on the Amazon website that some of the sex scenes had been removed.

According to one of the reviews, at least two key scenes had been cut, one which included an oral sex scene and another which included an encounter with a third person.
Embed from Getty Images
Filmmaker Francis Lee initially took to Twitter to call for a boycott of Amazon Prime until he was given answers as to why the scenes were cut and that they weren’t showing the fil that he intended or made. He wrote,

Francis Lee@strawhousefilms Dear friends in USA, God’s Own Country appears to have been censored on @PrimeVideo (Amazon Prime). Until this is investigated please do not rent or buy on Amazon Prime. It is not the film I intended or made. I will report back

Dear friends in USA, God’s Own Country appears to have been censored on @PrimeVideo (Amazon Prime). Until this is investigated please do not rent or buy on Amazon Prime. It is not the film I intended or made. I will report back ❤️
— Francis Lee (@strawhousefilms) May 20, 2020

A few hours later he reported back, telling fans that after an investigation his film was not censored by Amazon Prime but by, he alleges, the US distributor, Samuel Goldwyn Films.

He claims that the distributor “butchered” the streaming version without consultation “to get more revenue”.

He added that Amazon Prime had been “incredibly supportive” in rectifying the issue.

Dear USA friends, after investigation God’s Own Country was not censored by @PrimeVideo (Amazon USA) but by the US distributor @GoldwynFilms who butchered the streaming version without consultation to get more ‘revenue’ .@PrimeVideo were incredibly supportive in rectifying 1/2 https://t.co/xDQP4ThaiK
— Francis Lee (@strawhousefilms) May 20, 2020

Samuel Goldwyn films are responsible for distributing hit films such as Fisherman’s Friends and Supersize Me.

THEGAYUK.com reached out to Samuel Goldwyn films for comment.

22nd May 2020
Singapore dismisses appeal to decriminalise homosexuality

Singapore’s High Court has dismissed a legal challenge to end a colonial-era law that criminalises sex between two consenting men, echoing another dismissal that took place in 2014.

Gay and bi men in Singapore will, for the time being, continue to live as “un-apprehended criminals” under Section 377A after the High Court dismissed a challenge to close out a colonial-era law that outlaws “acts of ‘gross indecency’ between men”, a law that has been imposed since the British colonisation of Singapore.

Although prosecutions are rare, any man who commits any act of ‘gross indecency’ with another man can be jailed for up to two years. This also extends to any man who abets, procures or attempts to procure such an act.

Speaking about the decision, Director of the Human Dignity Trust (HDT), Téa Braun said, “In declining to strike out this archaic and discriminatory law, the Court has reaffirmed that all gay men in Singapore are effectively un-apprehended criminals”.

Although Section 377A only targets gay men, activists in Singapore say that the culture of shame and homophobia it engenders casts a shadow of oppression over the whole lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans LGBT+ community.

The challenges were mounted by Johnson Ong Ming, a 43-year-old disc jockey and producer; 42-year-old Bryan Choong Chee Hoong, the former executive director of LGBT organisation Oogachaga; and Roy Tan Seng Kee, a 61-year-old retired medical doctor.

Against a backdrop of similar unsuccessful legal challenges in Singapore, the ruling today is particularly unwelcome, says HDT.

rihaij / Pixabay

In October 2014, the Singapore Court of Appeal declined to remove the country’s anti-gay law from the statute books and held that LGBT people would have to wait for reform of Section 377A to come through Parliament.

Following the historic and regionally significant September 2018 Indian Supreme Court ruling that decriminalised consensual same-sex sexual activity, and increasing levels of acceptance of LGBT people amongst Singaporeans, lawyers and activists were motivated to mount a fresh challenge to the discriminatory law.

“The ruling will also echo harmfully around Asia”

“This decision will be extremely disappointing for the plaintiffs and the wider LGBT community in Singapore, who had great hopes that new evidence presented to the Court would make it clear that these draconian laws cannot withstand proper constitutional scrutiny. The ruling will also echo harmfully around Asia, where millions of people are criminalised simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” added Braun.

30th March 2020