News on Social Issues

21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards - Cocktail Reception

2010-03-13T18:31:54Z

NEW YORK - MARCH 13: Jill and Bobby Zarinl attend the 21st annual GLAAD Media awards cocktail reception at Marriot Marquis on March 13, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Rob Loud/Cynthia Nixon and Joy Behar have been honored for their gay advocacy; ABC takes top prize at GLAAD Media Awards</div><div><p> <p>Cynthia Nixon and Joy Behar were honored for ...

ABC, Lifetime among winners of GLAAD Media Awards

2010-03-14T04:30:27Z

<div id="subtitle">Lifetime film, 'Rachel Maddow Show,' 'Brothers & Sisters' among GLAAD Media Award winners</div><div><p>Joy Behar, Cynthia Nixon and the Youido Institute and polling 3,049 adults nationwide, found that 83.1 percent of respondents supported the death penalty as a deterrent to crime.</p><p>O...

Cynthia Nixon receives award from gay organization

2010-03-13T22:45:14Z

<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gay media group GLAAD honored the TV series "Brothers & Sisters" and singled-out actress Cynthia Nixon for her work at a Saturday night gala highlighting gay marriage rights.</p><p>"We are bringi...

Ahead of visit, Obama reconsiders Indonesia military

2010-03-13T22:15:32Z

<div><p>The United States is looking to break a taboo and train an elite Indonesian force linked to past abuses, as President Barack Obama courts the world's largest Muslim-majority nation with a visit.</p><p>With its moderate form of Islam and democratization since the 1990s, Indonesia is increasingly seen in ...

Shanghai's openness offers hope to China's gays

2010-03-13T21:15:58Z

<div><p>In a shabby hall in a working-class area of Shanghai, dozens of men slow dance to a ballad, enjoying a few hours in the company of other homosexuals before going home -- many to their wives.</p><p>Every weekend evening, men of all ages pay seven yuan (one dollar) to waltz, rumba and be themselves -- no small feat in China, where homosexuals still face crushing social and fami...

Lesbian sgt. discharged after police tell military

2010-03-13T19:00:24Z

<div id="subtitle">Lesbian Air Force sergeant discharged after SD police see marriage license and tell military</div><div><p>Jene Newsome played by the rules as an Air Force sergeant: She never told anyone in the military she was a lesbian. The 28-year-old's honorable discharge under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy came only after police officers in NEW YORK - MARCH 13: Host Alan Cumming attends the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards at The New York Marriott Marquis on March 13, 2010 in New...

US 'concerned' at Bahai persecution in Iran: official

2010-03-13T11:15:14Z

<div><p>The United States is "increasingly concerned" over the persecution of the Bahai and other religious minorities in Iran, a State Department spokesman said Friday.</p><p>"The United States is increasingly concerned about the Iran's ongoing persecution of Bahais and other religious minority c...

Gay Republicans Refuse To Hold Roy Ashburn Accountable

2010-03-13T06:45:09Z

<div id="subtitle">Gay Republicans not willing to call out Senator Roy Ashburn on his long anti-gay record</div><div><p> <p>Five days after Republican California Senator Roy Ashburn admitted he's gay, the nation's two largest gay GOP groups have kept mostly silent on the issue, neither willing to call out the senator on his long anti-gay r...

Residents From Red Road Flats March In Support Of Asylum Seekers

2010-03-13T06:30:28Z

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MARCH 13: Local people hold a rally from the Red Road flats in memory of three Russian asylum seekers on March 13, 2010 in Glasgow, Scotland. Around 200 people marched to the city’s George Square, from the flats in the Springburn area, where the asylum seekers apparently jumped to their deaths on March 7. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/U.N. meeting to assess progress in advancing the fight for women's equality that ended Friday had a dramatically different slant than a similar session held five years ago: This time, the United States was not trying to make an anti-abortion declaration a crucial theme.</p><p>Much of the 2005 meeting to take stock of what countries had done to im...

U.S. criticizes Iran for religious persecution

2010-03-12T20:45:15Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States voiced growing concern on Friday about Iran's "ongoing persecution" of religious minorities, including Baha'is, and called on Tehran to protect human rights at home.</p><p>State Department spokesman US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a vibrant plea to give equal rights to women around the world.</p><p>"The subjugation of women is a direct threat to the security of the United States," the chief US diplomat told an international women's conference which closed Friday at

Mexico defends army courts after US rights report

2010-03-12T19:15:29Z

<div id="subtitle">Mexico defends military courts, army abuses cited in US human rights report</div><div><p>Mexico defended its military courts system on Thursday after a U.S. human rights report cited reports of alleged abuses by the army and a lack of investigation in many of the cases.</p><p>The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a vibrant appeal Friday to give equal rights to women around the world.</p><p>"The subjugation of women is a direct threat to the security of the United States," the chief US diplomat said at an international women's conference which closed ...

China slams US on human rights, yuan

2010-03-12T12:15:48Z

<div><p>China on Friday slammed US criticism of its human rights and currency policies, alleging a campaign of defamation as relations between the two giant powers took a new lurch for the worse.</p><p>China rejected a tough US State Department report on its rights record, and took aim at President Ba...

UN expert slams 'horrific' abuse in North Korea

2010-03-12T10:16:07Z

<div><p>A UN rights expert has accused North Korea's regime of turning the country "into one big prison," saying widespread abuses by Pyongyang put it in a class of its own.</p><p>In a report due to be examined at the MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia indignantly dismissed U.S. criticism of its human rights record on Friday, saying the United States was guilty of its own abuses from Afghanistan to "the streets of America."</p><...