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Gender & Sexual Solidarity: News & Updates

RRN Case Update
RRN Case Update: RRN 2019 - urgent human rights cases
August 22, 2019
RRN case summaries at a glance
On behalf of our 190 Rapid Response Network members, IRTF volunteers write and send six letters each month to government officials in southern Mexico, Colombia, and Central America (with copies to officials in the US). Who is being targeted? indigenous and Afro-descendant leaders, labor organizers, LGBTI rights defenders, women’s rights defenders, journalists, environmental defenders, and others. By signing our names to these crucial letters, human rights crimes are brought to light, perpetrators are brought to justice and lives are spared. Our solidarity is more important than ever. Together, our voices do make a difference.
PDF icon 2019_08_rrn_letters_summary_generic.pdf
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News Article
LGBT+ murders at 'alarming' levels in Latin America - study
August 8, 2019

BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Four LGBT+ people are murdered every day in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to “alarming” new research released on Thursday by a regional network of gay rights groups.

At least 1,300 LGBT+ people have been murdered in the region in the past five years, with Colombia, Mexico and Honduras accounting for nearly 90 percent of all deaths, according to data collected by the network of 10 groups.

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News Article
Ecuador has first same-sex marriage, following court ruling
July 18, 2019

A lesbian couple has married in Ecuador in the first same-sex wedding since a landmark ruling last month by the country's highest court.

Michelle Avilés and Alexandra Chávez were wed Thursday at the civil registry office in the coastal city of Guayaquil. They say they will have a party to celebrate the occasion in November.

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News Article
Anti-corruption advocate on her way to become Bogota’s first LGBT mayor: polls
July 8, 2019

One of Colombia’s leading anti-corruption advocates is on her way to become the first gay mayor of the capital Bogota, according to multiple public opinion polls.

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News Article
Transgender woman who had been in ICE custody dies in El Paso after falling ill
June 6, 2019
The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have complained to federal agencies about the treatment of gay and transgender detainees at the New Mexico facility where the Salvadoran woman was held.
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News Article
The Other Americans: Guatemala, Influenced by the United States, Pursues Ultra-Conservative Family Law
May 22, 2019
The law openly defines a family as being made up of a “father and mother with children,” places all responsibility for sexual education on the parents, and defines sexual diversity as “incompatible with human biology.” The proposed definition of a family as a heterosexual couple has led to fears of discrimination against single-parent households. “The law will affect single mothers who have been abandoned or whose partners have migrated, or [single women who have] adopted a child,” Dávila says. “The law will mean that the state no longer recognizes [a single mother] as a family.” The United Nations’ High Commission on Human Rights called the law “regressive.”
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News Article
Honduran transgender woman freed after a year in US detention
April 19, 2019
Nicole García Aguilar was granted asylum in October but was held another seven months while ICE appealed
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RRN Letter
RRN Letter: El Salvador 3/23/2019
March 23, 2019
attacks against LGBTI rights leaders Andrea Ayala and Barbara Romero of ESMULES (Salvadoran Lesbian Women’s Space for Diversity) in San Salvador.
PDF icon 2019_03_23_im-defensores_esmules_el_salvador_letter.pdf
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RRN Letter
RRN Letter: Colombia 3/22/2019
March 22, 2019
assassination of LGBTI rights defender Liliana Holguín, age 40, and her nephew (unnamed), on February 26 as they were traveling by motorbike from Guáramo to Caucasia in the Bajo Cauca region of Antioquia Department. Persons on another motorbike approached them and fired several gunshots, killing them both.
PDF icon 2019_03_22_jfc_colombia_letter.pdf
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News Article
Most LGBTQ are Cyberbullied. Here’s How to Stay Safe Online
March 19, 2019

 vpnMentor conducted a survey in which they asked 695 LGBTQ+ people worldwide about their experiences online as they relate to their sexual orientation and gender identity. The results – referenced throughout this article – illuminated the unique challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community.

Here are some of the key findings:+

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