Some Progress in SE Asia, but Turmoil in the West
#142
Welcome to Third Cultured, a newsletter about Queer people in diplomacy, politics, and war from the perspective of Kyle Borland (he/they). My goal is to highlight all the ways today is different (and not so) from yesterday.
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This edition:
Opinion Essay
A List of LGBTQ+ Wins
Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws/Violence in the US and around the world
Monkeypox and Gay/Bi Men’s Public Health
Opinion Essay
This past week saw a lot of highs and lows for Queer folks around the world.
On the progress side of things, Singapore government announced it will decriminalize gay sex, repealing British colonial-era 377A law. Under 377A, men who had sex with men faced upwards of two years in prison for “any act of gross indecency with another male person.” Activists have been pushing for this reform for years, and the prime minister’s announcement was welcome and makes Singapore’s critical move the latest step in Asia’s growing trend toward LGBTQ+ acceptance in India, Taiwan, Thailand, and most recently Vietnam.
“Private sexual behavior between consenting adults does not raise any law and order issue. There is no justification to prosecute people for it nor to make it a crime.”
– Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, outside the courthouse.
However, as we’re used to with LGBTQ+ milestones, it always comes with trade offs. Although Singapore effectively legalized homosexuality, it also promised to amend its constitution to enshrine the definition of marriage as traditional marriage, or as “between a man and a woman.” This “attempted balance” leaves Singaporean Queer activists with mixed feelings and frustrations about any future progress. They also cited the government’s decision to continue restricting LGBTQ film and media content to older audiences, despite the repeal off 377A.
On the other side of Eurasia, in the Balkans, Serbia is demonstrating just how engrained anti-Queer sentiments run in southeastern Europe.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the cancellation of EuroPride – a pan-European Pride event planned for September 12-18 in Belgrade – citing threats from right-wing extremists who’ve organized large anti-LGBTQ+ protests recently, as well as a brewing conflict with neighborhing Kosovo. The organizers of Serbia’s EuroPride made it clear they’ll still host the event and that the president didn’t have the power to cancel it unless the police banned the march, which wouldn’t effect the week-long fesitivites around the parade. Not to mention run contrary to the nation’s constitution and its ascension to the European Union. Still, we’ll have to keep an eye on the Balkans as we get closer to the EuroPride in mid-September.
Things aren’t much better on this side of the Atlantic. The anti-LGBTQ+ account Libs of TikTok riling up its followers to target Children’s Hospitals in DC, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon for providing gender-affirming care, claiming its child abuse and mutilation. Boston Children’s, in particular, cited "a large volume of hostile internet activity, phone calls, and harassing emails including threats of violence toward our clinicians and staff.”
Unfortunately, the harrassment and violence is expanding. Moms for Liberty, a group dedicated to banning Queer-related books nationwide, called for LGBTQ+ students to be separated into different classrooms, “like kids with autism or Down Syndrome. GOP candidates declared that stoning gay people to death is “totally just.” In South Florida, an “emotionally disturbed man” brought a grenade into a popular gay bar and was only stopped by a former Marine tackling him until police arrived. Another man was arrested in DC’s gayborhood, Dupont Circle, for threatening to shoot gay people.
In Mississippi, the murder of a prominent Queer activist has shaken the LGBT+ Ole Miss community to its core. According to the police, the alleged killer had a relationship with the victim, but that hasn’t calmed the fears of the local Queer community as the victim’s body is still missing in the surrounding rural counties.
These attacks are getting more bold and frequent. We got lucky several times in just the past week that a bystander was able to stop a potentially disastruous event, but that’s not sustainable security. Keep an eye out for each other during this new normal.
Stay safe and healthy, beautiful people.
As always, thanks for reading.
Kyle (@kgborland)
A List of LGBTQ+ Wins
1,043 LGBTQ elected officials currently serving, rose by 5.8% (Victory Institute)
Brooklyn Wright Is Using Tech to Create a Financially Abundant Black Queer Community (Tagg Magazine)
California adds Georgia to its travel ban list due to trans female athlete ban (Bay Area Reporter)
Community rallies & raises over $133K for library that got defunded over LGBTQ books (LGBTQ Nation)
Federal judge temporarily blocks DeSantis' ‘Stop-WOKE’ law (Politico)
‘Finally.’ In small towns beyond Charlotte, despite resistance, LGBTQ Pride abounds (Charlotte Observer)
Finnish Designer Tackling Gender Performance and Queer History (PAPER)
Gay Afghan forced to watch Taliban behead his father ‘learned how to feel proud’ after escaping (Pink News)
GOP candidate said it’s “totally just” to stone gay people to death (LGBTQ Nation)
LGBT migrants receiving ‘humanitarian parole’ at California port of entry (Border Report)
Olympic rugby gold medalist Ellia Green comes out as trans (LGBTQ Nation)
Pink Dollars: A look at the LGBTQ community’s impact on the economy (Dallas Voice)
Resurrecting the Forgotten Art of the AIDS Era (NYTimes)
Uncovering the Queer Histories of Workers’ Movements (Hyperallergic)
Transgender girls allowed to play girls’ sports in Utah, judge rules (WaPo)
When it comes to LGBTQ acceptance, female athletes are years ahead of the men. (Upworthy)
Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws/Violence in the US & around the world
100+ LGBTQ-themed books in a Florida school district labeled with advisory warning (Washington Blade)
After their daughters were beat by a girl in sports, Utah parents triggered investigation into whether she was transgender (Deseret News)
Christian camp director told to denounce his transgender son or lose job (LGBTQ Nation)
Don’t Sacrifice Taiwan in the Fight for LGBT Rights (Foreign Policy)
DeSantis’ war on LGBTQ+ people: FL school district now requires teachers to out LGBTQ students because of “Don’t Say Gay” (LGBTQ Nation); Christian school tells parents gay and transgender students must 'leave immediately' (USA Today); FL state attorney sues after Governor suspends him over pro-trans public statements (LGBTQ Nation); FL’s LGBTQ Teachers Struggle to Navigate So-Called 'Don't Say Gay' Law (Time)
For years, Black trans women have been told their life expectancy is 35 years. That’s false. (19th News)
From critical race theory bans to anti-LGBTQ rules: Will conservatives transform California schools? (SF Chronicle)
Gay man from Qatar sounds alarm about coverage of the World Cup and LGBT oppression. (Outsports)
Georgia's top Republicans divided on same-sex marriage (Axios)
How the idea of a “transgender contagion” went viral—and caused untold harm (MIT Tech Review)
Irish Gay Man Brutally Attacked Following Birthday Celebration (The Advocate)
Some Texans departing the state over social laws (Axios)
Teacher’s viral TikTok shows just how much work it takes to comply with state’s new book law (LGBTQ Nation)
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Why is far-right ideology taking hold in LGBT+ communities? (Salon)
Monkeypox and Gay/Bi Men’s Public Health
17,431 cases in the US and 47,652 cases around the world (CDC)
26% of MPX cases in the US are among Black Americans (Black Wall Street Times)
Half of gay and bi men have reduced their sexual activity because of monkeypox (Queerty)
How the U.S. is stretching the monkeypox vaccine supply (WaPo)
Inside the US monkeypox crisis — and the mistakes that made it worse (WaPo)
LGBT Adults Are More Likely to Experience Mental Health Hardships, but Less Likely To Get Needed Help (Good Men Project)
LGBTQ advocates say the government is missing communities of color in its monkeypox response (Politico)
Prisons and jails are ‘potentially high-risk’ for monkeypox but won’t fall under a vaccine mandate (19th News)
Queer bars are stepping up in the fight against monkeypox (NPR)
US to provide 50,000 monkeypox vaccines for Pride and other events with high attendance by gay men (NBC News)
What it’s like navigating the monkeypox crisis as a Black queer man (The Grio)