Outraged because two young girls publicly were affectionate on the bus, a seventy-year-old threatened them with a knife and repeatedly insulted them by shouting “ugly lesbians, either stop it or I’ll put a knife in your belly”.
The serious instance of homophobia occured the other evening on the Amt bus number 13 from Corso Saffi to the terminus of via Turati, in Caricamento. At this point, thanks to both to passengers reporting the situation to the Police emergency number, to the Amt operations center, the woman was intercepted by a police car patrol.
The seventy-year-old, who already possessed a small criminal record, was reported on foot, but got away with a simple report for threats aggravated by the use of the knife (which was later found in the hands of an acquaintance, who was reported for aiding and abetting).
(Translated)
Indignata perchè due ragazzine si scambiavano pubblicamente carezze ed effusioni sul bus, una settantenne le ha minacciate con un coltello e offese in modo ripetuto gridando più volte “brutte lesbiche, o la smettete o vi pianto un coltello nella pancia”.
Il gravissimo fatto di omofobia è accaduto l’altra sera sul bus Amt numero 13 che da corso Saffi stava raggiungendo il capolinea di via Turati, a Caricamento: proprio qui grazie all’allarme lanciato al 112 da alcuni passeggeri e dalla centrale operativa di Amt la donna è stata intercettata da una pattuglia delle volanti della polizia.
La settantenne, con già alle spalle piccoli precedenti penali, è stata denunciata a piede libero, ma se l’è cavata con una semplice segnalazione per minacce aggravate dall’uso del coltello (poi rinvenuto nelle mani di un suo conoscente, per questo denunciato per favoreggiamento). (Original)
Anueta Madison-Vanderbuilt’s partner joined her with coffees while shopping in Cragieburn Coles on Thursday. The pair then exchanged a quick kiss. Immediately afterwards, Anueta heard a man complaining in a loud voice, “Calm down, calm down.”
She initially thought he was talking to his kids but then realised he meant the comments for her and her partner. When she asked the man about his response, he complained about his children seeing the kiss.
“I choose what I want my kids to see, when they grow up they can choose what they want.
“When I come to a shopping centre, I would like to see a nice calm environment.”
As the conversation continued, the man threatened the women and lunged at their phone.
“If you record it, I’ll actually wipe your phone out of your face, because I’m not in the mood today.
Natalí fears for her life and that of her mother. They live together in an apartment in the northern area [of La Florida] and she is certain that her neighbors want to evict them for her being lesbian. She has reported them for harassment and threats in court. For a month she has had a panic button that, she says, she has used on several occasions. “They physically and verbally assaulted us. They tell us that they want the apartment and that we must leave here,” she said.
Her 64-year-old mother was one of the first residents of the La Florida monoblock apartments and Natalí has lived there since she was born 35 years ago. According to her, in 2019 the harassment began. The final straw which resulted in her seeking justice was a neighbour threatening her with a firearm. “I got to my house and a neighbor came out, verbally abused me and told me I had to go. He pulled a gun from his waistband and put it to my head. My mum heard noises and opened the door. I took advantage of his distraction to escape and enter my house,” she recalled.
(Translated)
Natalí teme por su vida y la de su madre. Viven juntas en un departamento de zona norte y asegura que sus vecinos las quieren echar por lesbiana. Los denunció por hostigamiento y amenazas en la Justicia y desde hace un mes tiene un botón antipánico que, asegura, usó en varias oportunidades. “Nos agredieron física y verbalmente. Nos dicen que quieren el departamento y que nos vayamos de acá”, contó.
Su madre, de 64 años, fue una de las primeras adjudicatarias de los departamentos del monoblock de La Florida y Natalí vive ahí desde que nació, hace 35 años. Según contó, en 2019 empezaron los hostigamientos. El límite que la llevó a la Justicia fue la amenaza con un arma de fuego de parte de un vecino. “Llegué a mi casa y un vecino salió, me insultó y me dijo me tenía que ir. Saco un arma de su cintura y me la puso en la cabeza. Mi mamá escuchó ruidos y abrió la puerta. Yo aproveché su distracción para escapar y entrar”, recordó.
A lesbian couple and their family, who were featured in an advert for a Russian supermarket chain that led to a national scandal have fled the country after facing online abuse and death threats.
Mother Yuma, daughters Mila and Alina, and Alina’s girlfriend Ksyusha have said they were forced to leave Russia for Spain after they featured in an ad in which they said they enjoyed VkusVill’s onigiri rice balls and hummus.
“Unfortunately, due to the complicated situation with VkusVill, we have been left without work and without a home,” wrote daughter Mila on Instagram, posting a picture from a balcony in Spain.
“Right now me and my family very much need to get settled in Barcelona. It’s a difficult time for us and we need friends,” she continued. “Maybe the friends of your friends or their friends can help us start our new life in Barcelona.”
The ad met with a conservative backlash in Russia, which passed a law in 2013 banning “gay propaganda”. VkusVill quickly pulled the advertisement and replaced it with one that featured heterosexual families. It issued a public apology and said the original ad “hurt the feelings of a large number of our customers and employees”.
After the ad’s removal, the family said they were targeted by a hate campaign, culminating in the four women fleeing to Spain in order to ensure their safety.
Claudia had to leave El Salvador because her life was at risk. There she was in danger as a woman and as a lesbian – dual reasons to die she says. For this reason, she is now taking refuge in a country that constantly feels alien to her, although it protects her human rights. She is free, but she feels lonely. Given that, she hopes that in El Salvador LGBT people will not always have to give up something, everything, just to live without fear.
Claudia, who for security reasons prefers to remain anonymous, is an activist and human rights defender. In this interview, she talks about the implications of being an LGBT person in a country like El Salvador, where, among other things, hatred, violence and impunity reign. In addition, she explains how the actions of governments which, far from progressing, insist on going backwards, affect the LGBT community. And she explains what it means to live in a place where human rights aren’t an aspiration but a fact. That place, of course, is far, far from being El Salvador. …
What does it mean to belong to the LGBT + community in a country like El Salvador?
Death. That is what it means to be part of the LGTB community in El Salvador. …
Did your departure from the country have to do with your being a rights defender or your sexual orientation?
It was both. I can’t reveal many details, but it was the violence in El Salvador that forced me to leave. I’d continue the fight, but what would that cost? Perhaps my life? Saying: “No, enough is enough” was a super difficult decision, but it was because of crime, the lack of rights and, above all, because of the violence experienced by the LGBT community. There is a horrible widespread violence, in all aspects and in all sectors of the population.
Would you return to El Salvador?
Never.
Why not?
Because in El Salvador we are light years away from changing our mentality. We have nothing there. I don’t have a future in El Salvador. And I would not return to lose the freedom that I now have. I am a refugee woman. Two months after I arrived here, my brother was murdered in El Salvador. El Salvador hurt me a lot. I am proud to be a Salvadoran lesbian woman, very proud to tell everyone that I am from El Salvador. However, the living conditions that I have in this country I would not have there as an LGBT woman. I cannot do anything. And it is a very difficult situation because I love my country. I would like to be in my country and not here where I am, but there I have no guarantees of anything. (Translated)
Claudia tuvo que salir de El Salvador porque su vida estaba en riesgo. Aquí, corría peligro por ser mujer y por ser lesbiana. Eso le valdría, dice, estar muerta dos veces. Por eso, ahora se refugia en un país que, aunque le garantiza derechos humanos, no deja de parecerle ajeno. Es libre, pero se siente sola. Y, ante eso, anhela que en El Salvador las personas de la población LGBT+ no tengan que renunciar a algo, a todo, para poder vivir sin miedo.
Claudia, quien por seguridad prefiere mantener el anonimato, es activista y defensora de derechos humanos. En esta entrevista, habla de las implicaciones de ser población LGBT+ en un país como El Salvador, en el que, entre otras cosas, reinan el odio, la violencia y la impunidad. Además, explica cómo afectan a la comunidad LGBT+ las acciones de los gobiernos que, lejos de avanzar, se empeñan en retroceder. Y cuenta cómo se vive en un lugar en el que los derechos humanos dejan de ser una aspiración y se convierten en un hecho. Ese lugar, claro, está lejos, muy lejos de El Salvador….
¿Qué significa pertenecer a la comunidad LGBT+ en un país como El Salvador?
Muerte. Eso significa ser parte de la comunidad LGTB+ en El Salvador. …
¿Su salida del país tuvo que ver con que usted es defensora de derechos o con su orientación sexual?
Fueron las dos cosas. No puedo revelar muchos detalles, pero fue la violencia en El Salvador la que me sacó de ahí. Yo estaría en pie de lucha, ¿pero cuál sería el costo de eso? A lo mejor sería mi vida. Decir: “No, basta ya”, fue una decisión súper difícil, pero fue por la delincuencia, la falta de derechos y, sobre todo, por la violencia que se vive para la comunidad LGBT+. Hay una violencia generalizada horrible, en todos los aspectos y en todos los sectores de la población.
¿Regresaría a El Salvador?
Jamás.
¿Por qué no?
Porque en El Salvador estamos a años luz de cambiar de mentalidad. No tenemos nada en ese país. Yo no tengo un futuro en El Salvador. Y no regresaría a perder la libertad que ahora tengo. Soy una mujer refugiada, y a los dos meses de haber llegado acá, en El Salvador asesinaron a mi hermano. El Salvador me duele mucho. Yo estoy orgullosa de ser una mujer lesbiana salvadoreña, pero orgullosísima de decirle a todo el mundo que soy de El Salvador. Sin embargo, las condiciones de vida que tengo en este país no las podría tener allá siendo una mujer LGBT+. No puedo hacer nada. Y es una situación bien difícil porque yo amo mi país. Quisiera estar en mi país y no aquí donde estoy, pero allá no tengo garantías de nada.
In Arzano (in the metropolitan area of Naples) two young women aged 21 and 23 were allegedly first approached by a man who had seen them kissing in the car, who then verbally attacked them, slapping the younger woman.
Arcigay Napoli denounced the attack, explaining that they had received a letter from one of the two girls: “I am contacting you,” one of the two young women wrote, “because we need help. I was lucky enough to fall in love with a beautiful woman. We were in the car, in the usual alleyway below our house. An angry and hate filled man approached us, screaming at us. Despite my calm answer, while my girlfriend was starting the car to get away, the man slapped me twice, threatening to set fire to the car with us inside if we showed up again in the same place”. (Translated)
Ad Arzano (nell’area metropolitana di Napoli) due ragazze di 21 e 23 anni sarebbero state avvicinate da un signore che le aveva viste baciarsi in auto e successivamente le ha aggredite verbalmente schiaffeggiato poi la ragazza più giovane.
Lo denuncia Arcigay Napoli, spiegando di aver ricevuto una lettera da una delle due ragazze: «Vi contatto – ci scrive una delle due ragazze – perché abbiamo bisogno di aiuto. Ho avuto la fortuna di innamorarmi di una bellissima ragazza. Stavamo in auto, nel solito vicoletto sotto casa e un signore con tanto odio e rabbia si è avvicinato urlando contro di noi e nonostante la mia risposta pacata, mentre la mia ragazza stava facendo partire l’auto per allontanarci, il signore mi ha aggredito con due schiaffi, minacciando di dar fuoco all’auto con noi dentro se ci fossimo ripresentati nello stesso posto». (Original)
During a meeting of the College of Niterói City Council leaders, the discussion about the processing of a bill ended up at the police station. Annoyed, councilor Paulo Eduardo Gomes (PSOL) fired sexist and lesbophobic insults against Verônica Lima (PT), who is a lesbian and the first black woman to occupy a seat in the House. After that, he went after her and had to be restrained by colleagues. After the incident, this Wednesday (7 July), Lima filed a police report at the Police Service for Women (DEAM) in Niterói, a municipality neighboring Rio de Janeiro, for verbal abuse and illegal duress against the councilor. She now wants her colleague’s to be removed from his position on the House Ethics Committee. “He managed to make me cry, but I won’t shut up,” she told UOL.
The councilor said that, during the discussion, Gomes even made reference to her being a lesbian: “Want to be a man? Then I’ll treat you like a man.” According to her, the councilor got up from his chair, walked towards her and with an attack only prevented because he was restrained by colleagues. (Translated)
Durante uma reunião do colégio de líderes da Câmara de Niterói, a discussão sobre o trâmite de um projeto de lei foi parar na delegacia. Contrariado, o vereador Paulo Eduardo Gomes (PSOL) disparou ofensas machistas e lesbofóbicas contra Verônica Lima (PT), que é lésbica e a primeira negra a ocupar uma cadeira na Casa. Depois disso, ele partiu para cima dela e foi contido por colegas.
Após o ocorrido, nesta quarta-feira (7), Lima registrou um boletim de ocorrência na Delegacia de Atendimento à Mulher (DEAM) de Niterói, município vizinho ao Rio de Janeiro, por injúria e constrangimento ilegal contra o vereador. Ela agora quer a expulsão do colega do cargo na Comissão de Ética da Casa. “Ele conseguiu me fazer chorar, mas eu não vou me calar”, disse ela ao UOL.
A vereadora contou que, durante a discussão, Gomes chegou a dizer em referência a ela ser lésbica: “Quer ser homem? Então vou te tratar como homem”. Ainda segundo ela, o vereador se levantou da cadeira, caminhou em sua direção e só não a agrediu por ter sido contido por colegas.
The ad was initially posted to the company’s official website as well as other social media channels. The chain quickly pulled the ad after an intense backlash and replaced the lesbian family with another heterosexual family.
The family at the centre of the storm, Yuma and her daughters Mila and Alina, along with Alina’s fiancee Ksyusha, have reportedly faced ongoing harassment and threats. Mila told the BBC that her family had been subjected to homophobic abuse and “threats to murder my family”. She added that they had also received just as many messages of support. …
The advertisement was released with an 18+ warning label in an effort to fall in line with the “gay propaganda law,” which was signed into law by President Vladimir Putin in June 2013. The controversial law bans the “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations to minors.” Violators of the law can face heavy fines with organisations and businesses subject to fines of one million rubles and forced closures for up to 90 days.
Company Apologises, Pulls Ad The company released an apology on its official Facebook page, signed by the founder of VkusVill, Andrey Krivenko and many of his management team. The post said, “There was an article here that hurt the feelings of many of our customers, staff, partners and suppliers. We regret that this has happened and consider the publication to be our mistake, arising from a lack of professionalism on the part of the brand’s employees. The aim of our company is to help our customers have access to fresh and delicious produce and not to publish materials expressing political opinions or various points of view held by society. In no way did we wish to become a source of discord or hatred.”
The case ended with a fine of 700 euro – the bus driver had to pay a lot (or too little) for having nsulting a lesbian couple, in Ravenna in the autumn of 2019.
The two girls, after the serious and epeated insults, had reported the 50-year-old, who, when in front of the justice of the peace, chose to apologize and compensate the victims rather than go to trial.
The homophobic insults towards the lesbian couple As Corriere Romagna reports, the homophobic offenses against the two girls occurred at two different times. The first set of insults came in September two years ago, but it was the offense, or rather the threat, of 9 October that triggered the complaint. This is when the driver told them “I would burn you”. (Translated)
La vicenda si è conclusa con un risarcimento di 700 euro. Tanto (o troppo poco) ha dovuto pagare un autista di autobus, colpevole di aver insultato una coppia lesbica, nell’autunno del 2019, a Ravenna.
Le due ragazze, dopo i pesanti e ripetuti insulti, avevano denunciato il 50enne, che davanti al giudice di pace ha preferito scusarsi e risarcire le vittime anziché andare a processo.
Gli insulti omofobi verso la coppia lesbica Come riporta Corriere Romagna, le offese omofobe verso le due ragazze sono avvenute in due momenti diversi. La prima dose di insulti era arrivata a settembre di due anni fa. Ma è stata l’offesa, o meglio la minaccia, del 9 ottobre a far partire la denuncia, quando l’autista ha detto loro “Vi brucerei”.
A quel punto, infatti, una delle ragazze ha deciso di inviare un reclamo alla compagnia, Start Romagna. Fatte le dovute verifiche, la compagnia ha risposto che questo autista non era un loro dipendente. Ma la coppia voleva giustizia, e ha denunciato il fatto ai Carabinieri, i quali hanno identificato l’uomo, notificandogli l’avviso di garanzia. (Original)
The 56-year-old driver of a private transport company will stand trial on 3 June in Ravenna for threats he allegedly made on 9 October 2019 to two lesbian girls holding hands. “I would burn you” were the words he allegedly said to the couple as they passed a stop. This threat followed insults he said to the couple at the same place the previous September.
… At the end of the month, the young women first received a phone call from a man who claimed to be the driver in question and then, from the same number, the message “Withdraw the complaint”. This message became part of the alleged series of threats for which he was in court. (Translated)
A processo il 3 giugno davanti al giudice di pace di Ravenna l’autista 56enne di una compagnia privata di trasporti, imputato di minacce che avrebbe rivolto, il 9 ottobre 2019, a due ragazze lesbiche che si tenevano mano nella mano. «Vi brucerei», queste le parole pronunciate dall’uomo contro la coppia mentre transitava davanti a una fermata. Minaccia, che avrebbe fatto seguito a insulti lanciati dall’autista nel settembre precedente contro le due ragazze nel medesimo posto.
… A fine mese la giovane avrebbe ricevuto prima una telefonata da un uomo che diceva di essere l’autista in questione e poi, dallo stesso numero, il messaggio “Ritira la denuncia“. Messaggio entrato a far parte delle contestate minacce. (Original)
Born to a Moroccan father and an Italian mother, Malika did not imagine that she would find herself on the streets after coming out. She wrote to her parents, revealing that she fell in love with a girl, and coming out. This revelation made her parents angry and they forced her out of the family home without even her clothes.
The young woman reported the words of her mother. “If I see you, I’ll kill you. You are the bane of our family. I wish you a tumor, you are the shame of the family. I would rather have a ddaughter on drugs than a lesbian”, she told her daughter in anger. Once homeless, the police accompanied her to her parents’ house so that she retrieve her clothes but this did not go as planned, with her mother saying that she did not know her, on seeing her through the window.
(Translated)
Née de père marocain et de mère italienne, Malika était à mille lieues d’imaginer qu’elle allait se retrouver à la rue après son coming-out. Dans une correspondance adressée à ses parents, elle a révélé qu’elle est tombée amoureuse d’une fille, dévoilant ainsi son orientation sexuelle. Cette révélation a suscité l’indignation de ses parents. Ceux-ci n’hésiteront pas à la chasser du domicile familial sans ses vêtements.
La jeune femme rapporte les propos de sa mère. « Si je te vois, je te tue. Tu es le fléau de notre famille. Je te souhaite une tumeur, tu es la honte de la famille. Je préfèrerais une fille droguée que lesbienne », lui a-t-elle lancé, toute furieuse. Désormais à la rue, la police l’a accompagnée à la maison de ses parents pour qu’elle puisse prendre des vêtements à porter. Les choses ne se passeront pas comme prévu. Dès que sa mère l’a aperçue à travers la fenêtre, elle s’écria : « Je ne connais pas cette personne ».
In April 2019, an International Protection Officer (IPO) recommended that the woman – who has not been named – be denied asylum, arguing that her claim lacked credibility.
The woman said she forced into two separate marriages as a child in Zimbabwe at the ages of nine and 13. She claimed she was forced to flee her home country after her family found out that she was a lesbian, leading to threats of violence.
The woman subsequently brought judicial review proceedings in an effort to have the 2019 IPO recommendation overturned – however, Justice Tara Burns denied her request on Friday (22 January), The Irish Times reports.
In her appeal, the woman argued that her sexuality was a “core element” of her asylum claim and that the IPO had failed to determine her sexuality when it recommended that she be denied asylum.
Before making a recommendation on her asylum claim, the IPO asked her questions about her sexuality and found that she was not aware of any LGBT+ support groups in either Ireland or Zimbabwe.
It took moving to the UK for me to realise that homosexuality isn’t and shouldn’t ever be a crime.
Still, because of Cameroon’s attitudes to LGBTQ+ people, I’m not able to go back to my home country – even when I lost my mother to cervical cancer in 2017. We were very close so it felt heart-wrenching not to be able to attend her funeral.
When I publicly came out as a lesbian via social media in 2017, a high profile Cameroonian producer threatened to rape the spirit of lesbianism out of me if I ever set foot in my home country again.
The whole ordeal was traumatic but he wasn’t the only one to send abuse or death threats. Comment after comment seemingly shared the same sentiment – that it’s un-African to be gay – but I couldn’t disagree more.
In another anti-lesbian attack in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Constitución, two lesbians were attacked on Monday night after constant and long-standing hatrassment and threats. One of the assaulted lesbians lives on O’Brien Street and is a neighbor of the alleged aggressor.
He has always insulted her for her sexuality and made fun of her when he saw her hugging or walking hand in hand with her girlfriend in the neighborhood. Last Monday, faced with one of the usual insults, the couple responded. The man then retrieved a baseball bat from his house, and together with his friend, they chased and beat the women in the middle of the street.
The couple reached the corner of Santiago del Estero, trying to get help. A group of policemen who were traveling through the area heard the women’s screams and were able to arrest the 67-year-old man and an accomplice friend who was with him at the time of the savage beating. “He hit me because I am lesbian,” said the victim when she was helped by the police. The police immediately notified SAME, according to Infobae. (Translated)
Dos lesbianas fueron agredidas el lunes por la noche en un nuevo ataque lesboodiante en el barrio porteño de Constitución. Si bien este hecho legó a los medios, lo cierto es que las agresiones y amenazas son constantes y de larga data. Una de las lesbianas agredidas vive sobre la calle O’ Brien al 1.200 y es vecina del agresor.
Desde siempre, éste la insulta por su elección sexual y se burlara de ella cuando la veía abrazada o caminando de la mano de su novia por el barrio. El pasado lunes, ante una de las habituales agresiones, la pareja respondió. E hombre decidió entonces buscar un bate de beisbol de su casa, y junto a su amigo, las persiguieron y golpearon en plena calle.
Al llegar a la esquina de Santiago del Estero para pedir ayuda, un grupo de policías que recorría la zona escuchó los gritos de la mujer y pudo detener al hombre de 67 años y a un amigo cómplice que se encontraba con él en el momento de la feroz golpiza. “El me pegó porque soy torta”, relató la víctima al ser auxiliada por los efectivos, quienes inmediatamente dieron aviso al SAME, según consignó Infobae. (Original)
The writer and activist Sylwia Chutnik came out in June this year (2020). In the pages of the magazine “Replika” she stated that she is a lesbian. Now she has given another interview in which she says that she is afraid after having publicly stated her orientation.
Sylwia Chutnik fell victim to a homophobic attack Sylwia Chutnik is a writer, feminist and social activist. She is a 2008 laureate of the Polityka Passport in the Literature category. She was also nominated for the Nike Literary Award three times. She also graduated from Gender Studies at the University of Warsaw, and currently runs the MaMa Foundation dealing with maternal rights. As she admitted, her coming out was “so that all people who live in fear could feel better for a moment”.
Now in an interview with “Newsweek” she told about what happened right after her coming out. “I feel fear for my loved ones, even for my son. On Saturday I was traveling with a few people on the tram and there was also a big guy there. As soon as he got out and the door closed, he started screaming:” f *** f *** “. The first time I was challenged as a lesbian was by a group of kids my son’s age. There are plenty of such acts of aggression”, confirms Sylwia Chutnik. (Translated)
Pisarka i aktywistka Sylwia Chutnik w czerwcu tego roku dokonała coming outu. Na łamach magazynu “Replika” przyznała, że jest lesbijką. Teraz udzieliła kolejnego wywiadu, w którym opowiedziała o tym, czego boi się po publicznym określeniu swojej orientacji.
Sylwia Chutnik padła ofiarą homofobicznego ataku Sylwia Chutnik to pisarka, feministka i działaczka społeczna. Jest laureatką Paszportu Polityki w kategorii Literatura za rok 2008. Była także trzykrotnie nominowana do Nagrody Literackiej Nike. Ukończyła również Gender Studies na Uniwersytecie Warszawskim, a obecnie kieruje Fundacją MaMa, zajmującą się prawami matek. Jak sama przyznała, jej coming out był po to, “aby wszystkie osoby, które żyją w strachu, mogły choć przez chwilę poczuć się lepiej”.
Teraz w wywiadzie dla “Newsweeka” opowiedziała o tym, co wydarzyło się tuż po jej coming oucie. “Czuję strach o najbliższych, chociażby o syna. W sobotę jechałam z kilkoma osobami tramwajem i był tam też rosły facet. Jak tylko wysiadł i drzwi się zamknęły, zaczął wrzeszczeć: “j**** p*****”. A pierwszy zostałam wyzwana od lesb przez grupkẹ dzieciaków w wieku mojego syna. Takich aktów agresji jest mnóstwo” – przyznała Sylwia Chutnik. (Original)
Payal and Kanchan fell in love as they trained to become policewomen. But their love has faced resistance and they have faced threats, forcing them to go to court to seek protection from their own families, reports BBC Gujarati’s Bhargav Parikh.
When Payal met Kanchan, back in 2017, she had no idea she would fall in love with her fellow trainee. That year, India’s Supreme Court had ruled that gay sex was no longer a criminal offence, overturning a previous judgement that upheld a colonial-era law. But age-old customs and regressive attitudes survived, making it difficult for same-sex relationships to be accepted by larger society.
The women, both now 24, have been living together as a couple since 2018 in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and they know first hand what the discrimination feels like. Their love story was thrust into the limelight last month when they approached the high court.
“Our families are against our relationship. They are threatening us,” Payal said, adding that the two filed an application before the court, asking for police protection. The court ruled that the couple should be protected by armed guards.
Independent federal Politician Lucia Rojas has faced harassment and attacks since deciding to run for office in 2018.
She received the typical lesbophobic questions, threats and an attempt was made to break into her house, with items stolen from her car. Her accounts have also been hacked.
Attacks increased when she was elected an independent deputy, with cyberattacks ramping up in earnest when she was part of a feminist march in August 2019. She has received death threats and reported them, with the case closed without investigation.
The lesbian Berlin group Rad und Tat e.V. (RuT) and the group The Left: Queer report of an anti-lesbian attack on Saturday in the federal capital. According to RuT boss Ina Rosenthal, three young men threatened violence while shooting in Neukölln.
“Actually, yesterday I was looking forward to making a statement in front of the camera in the Schillerkiez about queer spaces during the Corona period and about lesbian visibility. But everything turned out quite differently,” said Rosenthal in a video published on Facebook on Sunday evening. “All of a sudden I found myself at the centre of anti lesbian and anti woman harassment. I was threatened with violence and experienced what it was like to be harassed in broad daylight.”
The men shouted “shit lesbian” and “I’ll flatten you” and blocked the shoot for an hour. The activists had called the police three times “until they finally came”. The incident was a “deliberately provoked attack” with the aim of restricting lesbian visibility. Rosenthal was particularly horrified that many passersby simply looked away – she says “Intervene if you see injustice.”
Daniel Bache, also one of three The Left: Queer spokespersons, also criticised the “hesitant” police reaction on Monday. In addition, it was clear from the behaviour of the perpetrators “that it was not a simple stupid childish prank”. He complained that there had been increased attacks on RuT’s rooms recently. “Openly visible, lesbian life obviously poses a particular threat to right-wing extremists and extremely conservative groups of different cultural and religious backgrounds,” said Bache. “Lesbian structures, which are already struggling with structural disadvantages, deserve our solidarity and above all political support, even beyond such incidents.”
(Translate)
Die lesbische Berliner Initiative Rad und Tat e.V. (RuT) und die Parteiorganisation Die Linke.queer berichten von einem lesbenfeindlichen Übergriff am Samstag in der Bundeshauptstadt. Laut RuT-Chefin Ina Rosenthal sollen ihr drei junge Männer bei einem Dreh in Neukölln Gewalt angedroht haben.
“Eigentlich hatte ich mich gestern darauf gefreut, vor laufender Kamera im Schillerkiez ein Statement abzugeben zu queeren Räumen in der Corona-Zeit und über lesbische Sichtbarkeit. Es sollte alles aber ganz anders kommen”, so Rosenthal in einem am Sonntagabend auf Facebook veröffentlichten Video. “Urplötzlich befand ich mich im Mittelpunkt von lesben- und frauenfeindlichen Beschimpfungen. Mir wurde Gewalt angedroht und ich musste erleben, wie es ist, am helllichen Tage angefeindet zu werden.”
Die Männer hätten “Scheißlesbe” oder “Ich mach dich platt” gerufen und eine Stunde lang den Dreh blockiert. Die Aktivist*innen hätten drei Mal die Polizei gerufen, “bis diese endlich kam”. Bei dem Vorfall habe es sich um einen “bewusst provozierten Angriff” gehandelt, der zum Ziel gehabt habe, lesbische Sichtbarkeit einzuschränken. Rosenthal zeigte sich besonders entsetzt darüber, dass viele Passanten einfach weggeschaut hätten. Daher forderte sie: “Mischt euch ein, wenn ihr Unrecht sieht.”
Der ebenfalls anwesende Daniel Bache, einer von drei Sprecher*innen von Die Linke.queer, kritisierte am Montag insbesondere die “zögerliche” Reaktion der Polizei. Außerdem sei aus dem Verhalten der Täter hervorgegangen, “dass es sich nicht um einen einfachen Dummejungenstreich handelte”. Er beklagte, dass es in letzter Zeit vermehrt zu Angriffen auf die Räume von RuT gekommen sei. “Offen sichtbares, lesbisches Leben stellt für rechtsextreme und extrem konservative Kreise verschiedener kultureller und religiöser Prägung offensichtlich eine besondere Bedrohung dar”, so Bache. “Lesbische Strukturen, die ohnehin mit strukturellen Benachteiligungen zu kämpfen haben, verdienen unsere Solidarität und vor allem politische Unterstützung, auch über solche Vorfälle hinaus.”
(Original)
Stacy Freyre, 49, was a supervisor earning $127,000 a year when her friendship with a married female cashier at a Universal City Studios restaurant in California became a romance in 2017, Freyre said in court papers.
The cashier, a mom of two, had already separated from her spouse, whom she had accused of domestic violence, according to Freyre’s legal filing.
But when the estranged husband, who also worked at the site, discovered the relationship, he flew into a rage, complained to the company, accosted his ex at work and allegedly threatened to harm Freyre, implying someone could shoot her kids, she charges. Freyre reported the threats to police.
Rather than deal with the threats, Universal City Studios, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, asked Freyre to apologize and make peace with the husband. Freyre was demoted from her supervisor post after she refused to end the relationship, according to an employment discrimination claim she recently filed NBCUniversal in California Federal Court seeking unspecified damages.
L-Support, a Berlin based organisation offering victim support for lesbian, bisexual and queer women, reported an increase in violence against lesbians and other same sex attracted women in their 2019 report:
38% increase in crimes reported (36 in 2019), 23 of which were homophobic crimes against lesbians in 2019
1/3 of the people L-Support speak to have experienced homophobic abuse at some point
Victim ages ranged from 18 to over 50, with most aged between 18 and 40.
Incidents reported included:
Aggressive verbal attacks (16)
Harassment (5)
Being spat on (2)
Threatened (5)
Physical assault and death threat (1)
The reports are limited, including because L-Support is a (largely) volunteer organisation which women cannot always access or contact.
Wenn du Fragen hast oder Beratung brauchst, erreichst du uns jeden Samstag und Sonntag von 17–19 Uhr unter 030 216 22 99 sowie jederzeit per Mail unter l-support@l-support.net.
Listening to Lesbians 