Pride 🏳️‍🌈

July 7, 2023 - Extending Pride

We’ll be back with a regular news link and blurb filled newsletter next week. I’m thrilled that Emily Smith, a rising senior at Bard College, joined me in today’s special edition. On that note a shout out to Dave H.

Team Interruptrr is taking some time off this week, for the 4th of July holiday. We had planned to write a lede about Pride last Friday. Given the big news about Prigozhin and his Wagner Group’s march on Moscow, we shelved it. We definitely didn’t want to ignore it. That’s happened for too long. 

Growing up, (in the 80s - Gen X rules, yes this is Elmira), there was a lot of stigma attached to sexual preferences. You didn’t admit you were gay. Forget talking about sexual identity. It’s good to see progress on both fronts. Many countries have repealed laws that criminalize homosexuality. A large number have enacted laws that make gay marriage legal (34 countries). We’re more conscious about pronouns.

Yet, while we take two steps forward, we are also witnessing the resistance to LGBTQ+ rights, not just in the United States, but around the world. Those in the LGBTQ+ community continue to face discrimination, repression, and, increasingly, imprisonment. 

Sixty-four countries still have laws that outlaw gay sex, most in the Middle East and Africa. This past year, Uganda joined Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Yemen (among others) in passing legislation that punishes homosexuality by death. In the recent Turkish election, LGBTQ+ became a flashpoint as the country’s conservative president took a page out of the GOP handbook to scaremonger voters into believing that their way of life was under assault. Just recently, the US Supreme Court ruled that a business has the right, under the first amendment, to refuse to offer services to LGBTQ+ individuals. 

This newsletter and the project around it is focused on recognizing female expertise and pushing to include our voices and perspectives in op-eds, policymaking, and governance. It is about expanding the platform to enrich discussions and perspectives, in order to get to better solutions — to the enormous challenges we face worldwide.

There is nothing more important than recognizing LGBTQ+ rights and fighting against those who want to stay in the dark rather than move forward. On that note, we wanted to share with you a number of links about LGBTQ+ rights worldwide  — and what you can do to push it in the right direction.

— Elmira & Emily

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General

Check out this terrific piece about the changing landscape of LGBTQ+ rights worldwide (it’s from 2021, but still relevant). And, yes, we know the authors are men. (CFR) 

The global war on gay rights. (Ms.) 

US

Move over NY Philharmonic, the International Pride Orchestra has arrived. (SFIST)

The voice of the NYC subway is a 66-year-old trans woman named Bernie Wagenblast. (Them.us)  

Across the US, there used to be more than 200 lesbian bars, but today the number is down to less than 30. Elina Street and Erica Rose made a documentary about it for Pride 2021 called "The Lesbian Bar Project." (NBC News) You can stream it on Roku.

Best Pride albums in 2023, so far. (Billboard) 

Looking to do some shopping? And show the small minded that you are eager to support LGBTQ+ individuals, check out these queer businesses.

Africa

Where African countries stand in their struggle toward more inclusive LGBTQ+ laws. (PBS Newshour) 

Why do LGBTQ+ rights face so much opposition in Africa? (DW) 

Support Uganda’s LGBTQ+ community through Outright International, The Rainbow Fund, and Let’s Walk Uganda, which provides support to the homeless as well as provides HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. 

Asia

The 12 most LGBTQ+ friendly countries in Asia. (Yahoo) 

Taiwan is the only country in Asia that allows gay marriage. In this piece, Ruth Pollard talks about the colonial legacy of LGBTQ+ repression in Asia, and the efforts to reverse it. (Bloomberg) 

The Americas

Is Latin America over the rainbow? There seems to be a move to increased tolerance to LGBTQ+ rights in Latin America. How true is that? (LSE) 

Mothers of LGBTQ+  join forces in Latin America to eliminate prejudicial laws and enforce laws that ban violence and discrimination. (AP) 

Middle East

In Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been on the attack against LGBTQ+ individuals. (The Guardian) 

The devastating earthquake in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria left a number of LGBTQ+ individuals homeless. Here is a fund that supports them. 

Finally, on Turkey, if you’re able to find it, this Turkish documentary, My Child, is a look at parents who have joined the Turkish LGBTQ+ advocacy movement. It is truly moving.

Moroccan director, Maryam Touzani, hopes that her latest film will spark a healthy debate on LGBTQ+ rights. (Al Monitor) 

This is the reality of life for LGBTQ+ people in Qatar. (Time) 

Europe

Kyiv hosted Ukraine’s first ever LGBTQ+ film festival, amid war. (NYT) 

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is known for being vehemently anti-LGBTQ+. His homophobia is pushing Ukraine to grant more rights to homosexuals. (Foreign Policy) 

Outright International has a special emergency fund for the LGBTQ+ community in Ukraine. 

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Editorial Team

Elmira Bayrasli - Editor-in-Chief

Editors:

• Samantha Felman

• Anouk Jouffret

• Pin-Shan Lai

• Catherine Lovizio

• Noa Schmid

• Emily Smith