Support For Marriage Equality Has Flattened in U.S

A new Pew Research Center poll shows little movement since 2017 on the issue.

www.advocate.com/politics/2019/5/17/support-marriage-equality-has-flattened-us

Watch LIVE: House Debates and Votes on the ‘Equality Act’

The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to take a vote on the Equality Act, which would enshrine LGBT protections under existing civil rights laws.

The post Watch LIVE: House Debates and Votes on the ‘Equality Act’ appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Watch LIVE: House Debates and Votes on the ‘Equality Act’

12 Golden Age of Gay Sex Photos At the New York Piers In the ’70s-’80s

www.advocate.com/books/2019/5/17/12-golden-age-gay-sex-photos-new-york-piers-70s-80s

U.S. Sanctions Chechen Officials Responsible for Torture and Detention of Gay Men

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday sanctioned several Chechen officials and a law enforcement agency in relation to a new wave of persecution of gay men in the southern Russian Republic: Abuzayed Vismuradov, the Terek Special Rapid Response Team (a special division of first responders), Sergey Leonidovich Kossiev, Ruslan Geremeyev.

Radio Free Europe reports: ‘The individuals targeted were sanctioned under the 2012 Magnitsky Act. That law, and a wider one passed four years later, gives U.S. officials the authority to sanction people and entities for human rights abuses in Russia and around the world. The Russian Embassy in Washington said that the U.S. sanctions would be met with “reciprocal measures,” according to the state-run TASS news agency.’

From the Treasury Department:

Today, OFAC also designated Abuzayed Vismuradov (Vismuradov) for being responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation, or to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections, in Russia.  As the commander of the Terek Special Rapid Response Team in the Chechen Republic, Vismuradov was in charge of an operation that illegally detained and tortured individuals on the basis of their actual or perceived LGBTI status.

OFAC also designated the Terek Special Rapid Response Team for being responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation, or to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections, in Russia.  Fighters of the Terek Special Response Team detained and tortured persons they believed to be LGBTI, sometimes after the individuals were lured to meetings using social media.

Sergey Leonidovich Kossiev (Kossiev) is also being designated by OFAC for being responsible for extrajudicial killing, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections, in Russia.  As the head of the Corrective Colony 7 (IK-7) penal colony in the Republic of Karelia, Kossiev oversaw and participated in the beatings and abuse of prisoners.  Kossiev oversaw and participated in the beatings and abuse of prisoners, and attempted to conceal the evidence of such abuse.

Finally, OFAC is designating Ruslan Geremeyev (Geremeyev) for acting as an agent of or on behalf of Head of Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov in a matter relating to extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic election in Russia.  OFAC designated Ramzan Kadyrov pursuant to the Magnitsky Act on December 20, 2017.  Geremeyev is a former deputy commander of the Sever Battalion in Chechnya, which is considered part of Kadyrov’s personal guard. Russian investigators twice tried to bring charges against Geremeyev as the possible organizer of Boris Nemtsov’s murder, but were blocked by the head of the Investigations Committee.

At least 23 men were detained between December and April, according to the Russia LGBT Network.

HRW reported: ‘Human Rights Watch interviewed four men who were detained for between three and 20 days, between December 2018 and February 2019, at the Grozny Internal Affairs Department compound. Police officials there kicked them with booted feet, beat them sticks and polypropylene pipes, and tortured three of the four with electric shocks. One was raped with a stick. The men’s accounts are consistent with a crime report filed on January 29 with Russia’s chief investigative agency by the Russian LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Network, a prominent LGBT rights group, which stated that in December and January, police in Grozny, Chechnya’s capital, rounded up and abused 14 men. The report suggested that the true scope of detentions was broader.’

The men told Human Rights Watch that police took their cell phones and then ordered them under torture to identify other gay men, sometimes with photographs. One man told the group that police outed him to his family and then urged them to kill him. They also demanded cash ransom for their releases.

Interviewees offered matching descriptions of their captors and the facilities in which they were tortured, said they were denied food and water and forced to shave facial hair and the heads of other inmates.

HRW added: “Police officers also humiliated them by probing into the details of their lives, using homophobic slurs, exposing them as gay to other inmates, and forcing them to undress. Police also forced several of the presumed gay inmates to clean the toilet and wash floors and doors along a corridor, making it clear to them and the other inmates that the gay detainees were given ‘women’s work’ as a form of humiliation. Two of the interviewees said they were held mostly in a large cell with some 40 other inmates on the fourth floor of a building on the police department compound. During their time in confinement, they encountered five other inmates detained and subjected to cruel and degrading treatment because of their presumed sexual orientation.”

Chechen authorities have denied the new wave of persecution and Russian authorities have not commented.

The post U.S. Sanctions Chechen Officials Responsible for Torture and Detention of Gay Men appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

U.S. Sanctions Chechen Officials Responsible for Torture and Detention of Gay Men

HRC Equidad CL reconoce a las principales empresas en Chile comprometidas adoptar la inclusión LGBT

La Fundación HRC en asociación con Fundación Iguales, el grupo de defensa de derechos LGBT más grande de Chile, dio a conocer el Informe HRC Equidad 2019, una evaluación primera en su tipo que evalúa las políticas y mejores prácticas de inclusión LGBT en las principales empresas chilenas.

En el informe inaugural, 15 compañías obtuvieron las calificaciones más altas y recibieron la designación “Mejor Lugares para Trabajar LGBT” de la Fundación HRC, sellando así su compromiso con la igualdad LGBT y la adopción de políticas vitales de inclusión LGBT y prácticas para el personal. La encuesta con establecida en Chile, se basa en el Índice de Igualdad Corporativa (CEI) de HRC, la principal herramienta de evaluación comparativa de políticas y prácticas corporativas inclusivas de personas LGBTQ, es el primer programa de HRC en América del Sur y el segundo en América Latina seguido del exitoso modelo de Equidad MX en México.

Este año, HRC Equidad CL evaluó la inclusión LGBT en los centros laborales en más de 30 empresas en todo el país.

Organizado por la firma global Deloitte, HRC estuvo acompañado hoy por líderes corporativos y representantes de las principales empresas reconocidas por sus esfuerzos continuos por crear una cultura corporativa inclusiva y compromiso para ser parte de HRC Equidad CL. La encuesta evalúa a compañías y empresas multinacionales a través de tres pilares básicos de inclusión LGBT:

• Adopción de políticas de no discriminación;
• Creación de grupos de empleados o consejos de diversidad; y
• Participación en actividades públicas para apoyar la inclusión LGBT.

“Los resultados de la encuesta Equidad CL 2019 muestran el creciente compromiso de las principales empresas chilenas hacia una mayor inclusión LGBT en los centros laborales de todo el país”, dijo Beck Bailey, director interino del Programa de Igualdad en el Centro Laboral de HRC. “Promover la inclusión LGBT y espacios acogedores es un valor corporativo fundamental que brinda centros de trabajo justos para los colaboradores LGBT y una ventaja comercial competitiva. Felicitamos a las empresas galardonadas por su liderazgo y determinación de invertir en la inclusión LGBT y fomentar mejores centros laborales para todos en Chile”.

“Estamos muy orgullosos de haber alcanzado el máximo puntaje en Equidad CL y ser reconocidos como una de las empresas en Chile que garantiza un entorno amigable para las personas LGBT”, expresó Matías Verdugo, gerente general de Empresas SB. “Esto nos anima y  compromete a seguir fomentando espacios laborales libres de sesgos y discriminación, y contribuir positivamente a un país que respeta las diferencias porque comprende el valor de la diversidad”.

“Ha sido un honor tener en Chile un instrumento tan valioso como Equidad CL”, dijo Emilio Maldonado, socio implementador de HRC Equidad CL. “Poder reconocer a las empresas que han decidido ser espacios seguros para sus trabajadores LGBT no solo nos llena de orgullo, sino que además creemos que esto motivará a otras compañías a hacer los cambios necesarios para promover este tipo de espacios, adoptando políticas e iniciativas para conseguir esos cambios culturales”.

HRC se enorgullece de reconocer a Accenture Chile, Bayer Chile, Deloitte Chile, Empresas SB, IBM de Chile, J.P. Morgan, McKinsey & Company Chile, Procter & Gamble Chile, SAP, Scotiabank, Sodexo Inversiones, Boston Consulting Group, Uber Chile, Walmart Chile y Page Group para celebrar la inclusión de LGBT en el lugar de trabajo.

HRC Equidad CL recientemente desarrolló un nuevo manual de negocios en español diseñado para ayudar a los empleados LGBT y sus aliados a entablar un diálogo con los principales líderes sobre prácticas de trabajo LGBT. Este recurso es especialmente útil para los empleadores de América Latina que se esfuerzan por crear entornos acogedores invirtiendo en la inclusión LGBT.

A través de sus alianzas con organizaciones locales, HRC está liderando los esfuerzos para promover la inclusión e igualdad LGBT en los centros laborales de EE. UU., México y Chile, que impactan las vidas y carreras profesionales de más de 30.6 millones de empleados en todo el mundo.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-equidad-cl-reconoce-a-las-principales-empresas-en-chile?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

12 LGBTQ Podcasts You Should Be Listening To

www.advocate.com/media/2019/5/17/12-lgbtq-podcasts-you-should-be-listening