Gay and lesbian rights blogs in social change
On Friday, September 16th, 2022, in response to a court’s ruling that the university cannot block the formation of a LGBTQIA+ group, New York’s Yeshiva University decided to temporarily suspend all undergraduate pupil activities and clubs. Yeshiva claims that permitting the formation of a Homosexual student organization would be “inconsistent with the school’s Torah values and the religious environment it seeks to maintain.”
How It Started
The LGBTQ+ group in ask is Yeshiva’s Pride Alliance, which was unofficially created in 2018. They were unofficial in the meaning that their support was low and their organization size was small— as all student groups are in the beginning. The student group describes itself as a supportive vacuum for all students, regardless of sexual orientation and gender, with the aim of allowing all members to feel secure, esteemed, and represented at Yeshiva.
It is understandable that one of the group’s goals was representation. In the modern day, it is extremely unlikely to uncover any major university without an instituted pride alliance group. Therefore, Yeshiva’s Parade Alliance group wanting that same, basic characteristic—of
Singapore’s government plans to repeal a colonial-era ban on sodomy, while strengthening constitutional safeguards to forestall movement toward marriage equality. However key, decriminalisation alone will have limited impact on most LGBTQ Singaporeans’ lives absent wider societal and legal changes.
In his 21 August 2022 National Day Rally speech—Singapore’s preeminent forum for grand political pronouncements—Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong declared that his People’s Action Party (PAP) administration would repeal portions of Section 377A of the colonial-legacy criminal code, rendering sodomy officially legal. The government declared its intent no longer to enforce the regulation in cases of consensual, private sex between adults fifteen years ago, albeit retaining the prerogative to investigate feasible violations of those criteria. Legal challenges noted the patent irregularity of retaining a law not to be used, thus sustaining the frisson of threat or a transform of heart. By now, especially on the heels of a three-case strive in the tall court that ended on appeal with a judgment all but daring parliament to legislate—amid anxious rumblings from religious conservatives—repeal of
Same-sex marriage: right or social change?
Disclaimer: some of these arguments regarding same-sex marriage are specific to Australia.
The same-sex marriage debate continues to hot up in Australia as the Liberal party stumbles around, torn from within and without. Plebecite? Postal vote? Parliamentary conscience vote? But all of this is a side-show to the core debate.
As a quick aside, it’s worth noting that anyone who uses the term ‘marriage equality’, rather than the neutral ‘same-sex marriage’, has made up their mind. After all, who could possibly be against ‘equality’, or against ‘equal rights’? But is this really an issue of equality? Is there such a thing as a ‘basic human right’ to get married? I think it’s more complex than that. As in many debates on big issues, the language and framing used is very important, and can itself shape the debate and therefore the outcome. Control the question; control the respond. When put to the people (as it would emerge to be), the debate over the exact wording of the question can become very important.
One thing that has been largely absent in the debate is a
Inclusive development: The impact of embracing sexual and gender minorities
EQOSOGI Report Insights
EQOSOGI, using a similar methodology to Women, Business and the Law, highlights how inclusive policies are linked to better economic outcomes. The EQOSOGI report scores the regulatory environment in each country based on the presence or absence of SOGIESC-specific laws, regulations, and policies, providing an overview of equality of opportunity for sexual and gender minorities across six indicator sets (Decriminalization, Access to Education, Access to Labor Markets, Access to Services and Social Protection, Civil and Political Inclusion, and Protection from Loathe Crimes). The report finds that, on average, the 64 countries studied propose low to moderate levels of equality of opportunity for sexual and gender minorities, highlighting an urgent need for reform.
Economic Correlations and Growth Outcomes
The intrinsic connections between equality of opportunity for sexual and gender minorities and development outcomes establish a compelling case for countries to design more inclusive policies. The describe finds that wealthier countries tend to be more inclusive
Is Gay Marriage a Genuinely Progressive Social Transformation?
On 22nd May 2015, many referendum voters in the Republic of Ireland made history: 62.07 % of them stated that they were in favour of legalising same-sex marriage. Yep, 62.07 % of voters in the Hibernian bastion of repressive Catholic theocracy since 1937. For so many actively campaigning for LGBTQ rights and combatting the oppressiveness of heteronormativity, the long-standing ideology that the ultimate life goal for society is heterosexual marriage with the goal of having children through the traditional nuclear family structure, this was a produce for celebration. Liberals had struck a progressive burst against bigoted bishops, dodgy deacons, and creepy cardinals – gays and lesbians no longer had to hide and express their love in the secure, private quarters of LGBTQ circles. They could now be free to legitimate their love in the wider public sphere. Hooray!
Now, from a left-wing perspective, isn’t the extension of gay marriage to lgbtq+ couples obviously a fine thing? Surely, I would have to be homophobic or a religious traditionalist to claim that there is something disconcerting about gay marriage and that