12 simple tips for anyone using Grindr to keep your mind, body and soul safe.

Govt to study reinstitution of special committee to empower Syariah Court
Source: https://www.thesundaily.my/local/govt-to-st...court-FF3456016



KUALA LUMPUR: The government is planning to reinstitute the Special Committee to Empower Syariah Court that seeks to uphold the country’s syariah judiciary holistically.

Minister in the Prime Minister Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri (pix) said the committee was first formed in 2017, but it was dissolved following the change of government after the 14th General Election.

“Besides, the administration and procedures are being streamlined through the development of Syariah Court Practice Directive, Syariah Court Procedure and standard operating procedures to be adopted by Syariah Court,” he said during Ministers’ Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat, today.

He was replying to the question raised by Tan Sri Noh Omar (BN-Tanjong Karang) on whether the government plans to set up a committee to restructure the administration and procedures used by Syariah Court so as to improve the service and integrity of the institution.

Zulkifli said before a restructuring exercise can be implemented, approvals must be obtained from the heads of Islam in each state (Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultans and Raja) and state government’s religious authorities. — Bernama

---

Added on

Finger-crossed that the royalties will reject the proposed restructuring. The fact that muslims have to be subjected by two differents laws is so screwed up.

The Global Divide on Homosexuality Persists



Despite major changes in laws and norms surrounding the issue of same-sex marriage and the rights of LGBT people around the world, public opinion on the acceptance of homosexuality in society remains sharply divided by country, region and economic development.



As it was in 2013, when the question was last asked, attitudes on the acceptance of homosexuality are shaped by the country in which people live. Those in Western Europe and the Americas are generally more accepting of homosexuality than are those in Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. And publics in the Asia-Pacific region generally are split. This is a function not only of economic development of nations, but also religious and political attitudes.

But even with these sharp divides, views are changing in many of the countries that have been surveyed since 2002, when Pew Research Center first began asking this question. In many nations, there has been an increasing acceptance of homosexuality, including in the United States, where 72% say it should be accepted, compared with just 49% as recently as 2007.

Read the rest of the report here: https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/06/...ality-persists/

---

Added on
Malaysia has not been surveyed in this edition of the report, however in 2013's report Malaysia fared slightly better than Indonesians.

This post has been edited by internaldisputes: Aug 14 2020, 01:32 PM

Nah, the fact that there are multiple suspects mean that they already planned the crime beforehand.

Let's not blame the victim.

ShanghaiPRIDE halts its 12-year ride over 'safety'
Source: https://malaysia.yahoo.com/news/shanghaipri...-072137965.html



China's longest-running LGBTQ group, ShanghaiPRIDE, has said it is stopping all its activities and events "to protect the safety of all involved".

The Shanghai-based group holds an annual festival that aims to raise awareness for China's gay community, as well as running a series of social and cultural events through the year.

But in a statement on Thursday night posted on its official account on social media platform WeChat, organisers said they were "cancelling all upcoming activities and taking a break from scheduling any future events."

One of the co-founders, Charlene Liu, later said that "the decision was difficult to make but we have to protect the safety of all involved".

"It's been a great 12-year-ride and we are honoured and proud to have traveled this journey of raising awareness and promoting diversity for the LGBTQ community," she wrote in a separate statement.

Founded in 2009, the Shanghai group is the nation's longest-running Pride event and held its twelfth annual Pride festival in June, including forums, a Pride run, Rainbow Bike Ride and a series of film screenings.

Its website lists partners for this year as including the Consulate-Generals in Shanghai of Australia, British, Canada, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, while corporate sponsors include US computing giant Microsoft.

But in recent years the LGBTQ community has been facing extra pressure in China.

Online content in socially-conservative China is subject to heavy and often arbitrarily applied censorship, especially content depicting LGBT people.

In recent years, censors have muted discussions on social media, banned homosexuality in films and even prevented the sale of rainbow-themed items online.

Demands to make gay marriage legal have not been met despite growing support and an overhaul of the marriage law earlier this year.

Homosexuality was only decriminalised in China in 1997 and was classified as a mental illness until as recently as 2001.

ShanghaiPRIDE had already postponed a series of earlier events this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But future events including a Pride Festival, a series of forums, and a Red Ribbon charity dinner in December, will all be cancelled.

---

Added on

China starting cracking down on LGBT over there.

I don't know how we could offer a unique perspectiv compared to websites considering we are a bunch of strangers to you.

But assuming you are not trolling, yeah it exists. You can discover yours if you stick a finger in your butt. Make sure to use some lube. Have fun.

China just approved HIV-preventing drug Truvada for PrEP use
Source: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/08/17/china...on-unaids-lgbt/



China has finally approved the HIV-preventing drug Truvada for PrEP use after a lengthy campaign by activists.

When taken daily, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) prevents people from contracting HIV through condomless sex, with studies suggesting that it is 99 per cent effective at preventing the transmission of HIV.

PrEP is sold by biopharmaceutical company Gilead under the name Truvada, and China has finally approved its use as a HIV-prevention technique.

According to UNAIDS, the United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS, 44 per cent of new HIV infections in Asia and the Pacific region last year were in queer men.

China’s decision to approve Truvada for PrEP use will provide queer men with a new HIV prevention method in the country.

The country is currently developing a strategy to roll out PrEP nationwide following pilot projects in six cities in 2018 that provided the drug on a temporary basis.

China has followed in the footsteps of other countries in the region such as Australia, Cambodia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to implement PrEP.

The next step is to scale up the PrEP implementation and ensure that it is affordable and accessible for all those who need it.

The country’s decision to approve Truvada for PrEP use has been applauded by UNAIDS.

“UNAIDS commends the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China for approving Truvada for PrEP use,” said Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS regional director for Asia and the Pacific.

“This is an important step in addressing what has been a critical gap in HIV prevention.

Activists hope the important move will lead to a decline in new infections.

“The next step is to scale up the PrEP implementation and ensure that it is affordable and accessible for all those who need it,” he added.

“UNAIDS hopes that this approval paves the way for negotiations on affordable pricing and we expect China will see the declines in new infections that we have observed in countries that have added PrEP to their HIV prevention services.”

PrEP has helped to revolutionise safe sex for queer people across the world by significantly reducing the risk of contracting HIV, particularly during condomless sex.

While the drug reduces the risk of contracting HIV, it is not infallible, and it does not prevent the transmission of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

The drug has been rolled out in numerous countries in recent years in an effort to stop the spread of HIV.

Czech Republic in danger of following in the homophobic, transphobic footsteps of Poland and Hungary, campaigner warns
Source: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/08/17/czech...adela-horakova/



An equal marriage campaigner in the Czech Republic has warned that the country could follow in the footsteps of Poland and Hungary in embracing anti-LGBT+ hatred.

After years of progress towards equality across Europe, LGBT+ campaigners across the continent have faced a bruising few years – with politicians in Poland openly stoking anti-LGBT+ hatred to their own ends, while in Hungary the right-wing government led by Viktor Orban is legally erasing recognition of transgender people.

In the Czech Republic, campaigners are also fearful of a backslide on the issue.

Although registered partnerships are legal in the Czech Republic the country does not permit same-sex marriage or joint adoption by same-sex couples. Politicians have largely rejected calls for progress on the issues, while polling indicates that less than half of the population supports change.

In an interview with Radio Prague International, equal marriage campaigner Adéla Horáková warned about the danger of politicians tapping into homophobic rhetoric as a “pure calculation” to benefit themselves, as seen in Poland.

The campaigner, from Jsme fér (We Are Fair), said: “We are not Poland and Hungary, but there’s a real danger we might be walking down that path.

“If you look at some of the statements, for example, from some of the politicians from the Civic Democrats, acclaiming and congratulating the politics that Kaczynski is doing.

“For example, [Alexandr Vondra, MEP for the conservative Civil Democrats] is hailing their style. He knows very well what they are doing. He knows the hatred they are spreading, he knows the muzzling of democracy, or the deconstruction of democracy, they are doing, and knowing this he still calls their style ‘good conservative politics’.

“He’s certainly not the only one who is either admiring the style of Orban and Kaczynski or silently supporting it and maybe hoping to follow.

“So there is a very real danger we might be walking in the same direction and we need to very quickly, and very clearly, say that this is not where we’re going.”

Horáková continued: “We need to ask our politicians and hold them accountable for not making role models out of these countries.

“We can be civil, we can be neighbours, we certainly need to cooperate, but we need to say very clearly that this is not the direction in which we’re going.”

The central European country sits on a striking legal dividing line on the issue of LGBT+ rights in Europe – bordered by Germany and Austria, which permit equal marriage, as well as Poland and Slovakia, which emphatically do not.



No former Warsaw Pact countries to the east of the Czech Republic have adopted equal marriage, while nearly all of western Europe with the exception of Italy and Switzerland have.

Horáková said that the current situation in the Czech Republic, however, is mostly one of indifference towards LGBT+ people.

She said: “It is often not a real respect, which is what we would need and want, but maybe an uneducated indifference, which we sometimes call tolerance – I’m not so sure if that’s the right word.

“But I would say that maybe uneducated indifference is a good place to start, on the way to respect.”

QUEER MALAYSIA: GAY MEN ON LIFE AND LOVE IN A COUNTRY WHERE HOMOSEXUALITY IS OUTLAWED
Source: https://attitude.co.uk/article/queer-malays...outlawed/23618/

Same-sex sex relations might be illegal in Malaysia, but LGBTQ people will continue living - and loving.

Liam Campbell has spent the past five years meeting local LGBTQ people in cities around the world, photographing them and gathering their stories to publish in Elska, the magazine he founded.

His latest journey - featured in the Attitude September issue, out now to download and to order globally - took him to Malaysia, a country where same-sex sexual relations remain illegal, and where he was surprised to find a thriving queer community regardless.

Inside this month's issue, we find out more about the lives and loves of these men whose very identities remain outlawed - and you can get an exclusive preview below...

Jules



"I am cynical about life [for gay people here]. I don’t think things will change.

"Some Malaysians are ignorant. They hold onto the beliefs they have, and while I hope they won’t use those beliefs to hurt anyone, that’s not the case.

"As the power of religion grows in this country, I personally don’t think Malaysia will accept the LGBTQ community any time soon.

"I hope in the future I can go to a new place, get a new identity, start a new life and live my life to the fullest."

Muizz



"I was approaching 30 and was frankly tired of the disappointing merry-go-round of gay dating. The euphoria of sex and self-discovery in my twenties had begun to wane. I didn’t know where to go when the party ended.

"Growing up gay was hard enough, but growing older while gay was terrifying."

Azraai



"We were together for two years and six months. We practically grew up together, trying to learn from each other and everything.

"I was his first actual boy love, and he was my first actual lover.

"Everything went downhill when he decided that he just didn’t like boys any more, and that’s when I decided I needed to go ham with alcohol."

J-Son



"We all came from different places, different stories and different lives. Yet, we all are living on the same planet. Different yet the same.

"We have all gone through the same emotions made up by same colour of blood, flesh and bones.

"Yet, our diversity and authenticity make us perfect together, different yet the same."

Gems



"I am feeling kind of lonely. I want a date. The clicking sound of my phone was accompanied by app notifications, messages upon messages coming in, pouring like water.

"The phrase ‘trans man’ was visible in my profile, and the bio sounded too good to be true for some. ‘No, I don’t have a dick. Don’t ask.’

---

Added on
These guys are so courageous to come out and share their stories.

Any creative queers out there please grab this opportunity.

Gay artist flies giant rainbow flag in Russia to send a message to Vladimir Putin
Source: https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/life/gay-artist-...vladimir-putin/



Alexander Donskoy, the former mayor of Arkhangelsk, made headlines when he lifted dozens of rainbow-coloured balloons in Manezhnaya Square.

It was a direct response to President Vladimir Putin, who recently criticised foreign embassies for hanging rainbow flags outside their buildings for Pride Month. Russian politician Ekaterina Lakhova thought it “indirectly” promoted homosexuality in children.

After a flag was raised outside the US embassy in June, Putin said it “revealed something about the people that work there,” adding: “It’s no big deal though. We have spoken about this many times, and our position is clear.

“Yes, we passed a law banning the propaganda of homosexuality among minors. So what? Let people grow up, become adults and then decide their own destinies.”

Speaking to Novaya Gazeta – the publication who first broke news of Chechnya’s abominable ‘gay purge’ – Donskoy said he hoped it would send a clear message to Putin, who is notorious for his conservative stance on LGBTQ+ rights.

In June 2013, the president introduced the “gay propaganda” law to uphold “traditional values,” which bans the promotion of “nontraditional sexual relations to minors” including Pride parades. It has also caused an increase in homophobic violence and has been used to jail LGBTQ+ people.

According to The Moscow Times, Donskoy’s demonstration, which he called ‘LGBT Over The Kremlin,’ was also flown to highlight the destruction of his art gallery in the centre of Moscow, for which authorities have no suspects.

The artist, who served as the mayor of Arkhangelsk between 2005 and 2008, came out as gay in 2017 and has repeatedly used his platform to protest and raise awareness of Putin’s crimes against the LGBTQ+ community.

Earlier this year, Donskoy caused controversy with four giant paintings of the politician in central Istanbul, “to draw attention to how Putin is taken in Russia: like a superhero.”

At the time, he said he will take his art to “countries of Western democracy” to show that “Russian people considers sanctions against Putin like sanctions against themselves,” calling himself an “ambassador of peace”.

---

Added on
Putin seems very confused with his own stance on LGBT. He doesn't mind LGBT in adults but he's concerned about the kids.

Donald Trump thinks he’s the ‘most pro-gay president in American history’
Source: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/08/20/donal...ichard-grenell/



Donald Trump thinks he’s the “most pro-gay president in American history”, but his administration has so far launched 168 attacks against the LGBT+ community.

On Thursday, August 20, the Log Cabin Republicans, the largest group of LGBT+ conservatives in the US, released a video claiming that Donald Trump was the “most pro-gay president in American history”.

The video features Richard Grenell, who was the first of very few gay officials in the Trump administration, and who departed from his role as acting Director of National Intelligence after a few months.

Grenell claimed that he could “prove” that Trump was an LGBT+ ally, but the majority of the video was propped up with criticism of Joe Biden’s voting record in the 1990s.

He said: “President Trump has done more to advance the rights of gays and lesbians in three years than Joe Biden did in 40+ years in Washington.”

However, Grenell did not give any detail on how he’d made this comparison, and conveniently forgot about Biden’s extensive record on supporting LGBT+ rights and his comprehensive LGBT+ policy plan.

The only concrete examples that Grenell could give of Trump being pro-LGBT+ were his own appointment as acting Director of National Intelligence, and Trump’s supposed “historic campaign to decriminalise homosexuality around the world“.

Although much-touted by gay Trump supporters, there is little evidence that any such US-led campaign has ever existed beyond an initial press release.

Grenell finished the video by repeating: “Gay people don’t have to vote Democrat, because Donald Trump is the most pro-gay president in American history.”

Trump retweeted the Log Cabin Republicans’ video, and wrote: “My great honor!!!”

Far from being “pro-gay”, Donald Trump and his administration have relentlessly attacked the LGBT+ community.

GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project has recorded 168 attacks on the LGBT+ community in the 1308 days Donald Trump has been in office, averaging out at slightly less than one regressive action every week.

The Trump administration has banned transgender people from serving in the military, actively supported discrimination against LGBT+ people in employment, services and healthcare and erased LGBT+ resources, data and language from government websites.

In June, Trump’s Republican Party announced that it would be leaving its 2016 party platform unchanged, meaning that the GOP will continue to officially support the reversal of marriage equality.

On June 12, 2020, the fourth anniversary of the Pulse massacre, the Trump administration cruelly erased precious healthcare protections for trans patients, although luckily the rollback was temporarily blocked by a federal judge this week.

The White House also failed to officially recognise Pride Month for yet again in 2020, in stark contrast to the Obama administration.

Trump’s re-election campaign has published no policies whatsoever on LGBT+ issues – though he is raising funds by selling rainbow ‘Make America Great Again’ t-shirts.

Siti Kasim bebas tuduhan halang tugas pegawai Jawi
Source: https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/539461



Mahkamah Majistret Kuala Lumpur melepaskan dan membebaskan peguam Siti Kasim daripada tuduhan menghalang tugas penjawat awam dalam serbuan yang dilakukan oleh Jabatan Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (Jawi) pada satu acara transgender pada 2016.

Majistret Tawfiq Affandy Chin pagi ini memutuskan bahawa pihak pendakwaan gagal membuktikan kes prima facie terhadap aktivis itu, atau nama sebenarnya Siti Zabedah Kasim.

Pada 23 Jun 2017, Siti mengaku tidak bersalah dan memohon dibicarakan atas pertuduhan di bawah Seksyen 186 Kanun Keseksaan, yang berkaitan dengan 'menghalang penjawat awam menjalankan tugasnya di Mahkamah Majistret Kuala Lumpur.

Serbuan tersebut dilakukan pada satu acara transgender pada April 2016 di Hotel Renaissance, Kuala Lumpur di mana Siti Kasim hadir sebagai tetamu.

---

Added on
Hopefully this will deter JAWI from acting like gangsters in the future.

This post has been edited by internaldisputes: Aug 21 2020, 11:35 AM

God made us this way and there is no reason to be ashamed of who we are.

Great to hear that. I assume you're straight?

My guy here with the best response to this insane post getting thousands of shares.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/insanepeoplefacebo...to_this_insane/

Syed Saddiq's plan to make a youth-centric political party was brushed aside by certain people simply because some of those involved are proponents of LGBT.

23 years since her death, this is how Princess Diana transformed global attitudes to HIV and AIDS



23 years ago, Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed.

A photograph of a dented car shuddered throughout the news wires on August 31, 1997, leaving billions reeling and in a death that drew out a complicated mix of anger and grief.

In the sense of loss that followed, a single moment of Diana would come to be left for the AIDS patients at London Middlesex Hospital.

For many of them, fear and dread had come to be expected from loved ones visiting them, if they came at all, or even the healthcare workers supporting them.

Indeed, a lack of understanding, as well as misinformation around a wily and devastating virus, had led to the deaths of countless LGBT+ people. Many feared that HIV could be passed from person to person by touch.

But seeing the outstretched, bare hand of a smiling Diana in 1987 was a moment that gave them, and many of the thousands living with HIV, hope.

‘I don’t doubt that had she lived she would have been a powerful ally in combatting HIV stigma.’

None of the 12 patients at Britain’s first purpose-built HIV/AIDS unit wanted to see her. They feared what becoming the subject of a press vastly hostile to people living with HIV would make of them.

Eventually one man, who was not far from death, agreed to meet Diana.

In front of the world’s media, Diana shook the hand of a man diagnosed with the illness.



A simple, bold act that came to capture how Diana would be remembered even now, 23 years after her death, as the wild card of a monarchy that rejected her, and someone as dynamic as they were glamorous.

[B]Diana declared to the press pen jockeying around her: [/B]“HIV does not make people dangerous to know.

“So you can shake their hand and give them a hug, heaven knows they need it.”

She was remembered by many top HIV groups and LGBT+ leaders as a pioneer who broke ranks to be there for one of the most vulnerable and marginalised groups of society.

Read more@https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/08/31/princ...spital-mildmay/

Love keeps on winning in Northern Ireland with same-sex couples finally able to marry in churches
Source: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/09/01/same-...-religion-love/



Same-sex couples can apply to have religious weddings in Northern Ireland from today (1 September), with ceremonies set to begin later this month.

Gay weddings began in Northern Ireland in February, but so far couples have only been allowed to undergo civil weddings – with a further wait for regulations to be amended to allow religious weddings and for the conversion of existing civil partnerships into marriages.

From 1 September, however, couples in Northern Ireland can also register for a religious wedding ceremony, bringing the region in line with Scotland, England and Wales.

Religious bodies can also choose to opt in to provide same-sex weddings from Tuesday. With a statutory 28-day waiting period, the earliest date for a same-sex religious wedding will be 29 September.

The reverend Chris Hudson, minister of All Souls Church in Belfast – a member of the Non-Subscribing Church of Ireland – welcomed the law change.

He said: “This is great news for couples who wish to celebrate their marriage in church, embraced by family, friends and the love of God.

“I have already been speaking to a number of couples who have been waiting for this day so they can finally have the church wedding that they have longed for.”

Patrick Corrigan of Love Equality said: “Today is a milestone for equality in Northern Ireland. After years of campaigning, same-sex couples of faith can finally register to marry in a church or other religious setting.

“In line with our campaign, we are pleased that the law will protect religious freedom, and that churches will neither be compelled nor prevented from offering wedding ceremonies to same-sex couples.

“This is an important issue for many couples in Northern Ireland, who have previously been prevented by law from marrying in their own church.”

Corrigan added: “We now urge the government to finish the job of marriage equality in Northern Ireland, by allowing couples in civil partnerships to convert to married status if they so wish.”

Couples in the rest of the UK are already permitted to convert civil partnerships into marriages, but the Northern Ireland Office has been slow to bring in the measure – meaning the 1,200 couples who had already entered civil partnerships before the introduction of same-sex marriage are currently unable to marry.