Fridae

The Indian federal government has asked the Supreme Court to modify its landmark ruling that accepted transgender people as a socially and economically backward caste eligible to various affirmative action accorded to other marginalized sections of society

Arguably Singapore’s most high-profile, some say only, human rights lawyer, M Ravi takes on cases that don’t usually pay well, if at all. 

Hillary Clinton's fine speech in Geneva on LGBT rights saw the US playing catch-up to initiatives of a dozen other Western countries. As activists, we welcome the US to the process. But dawn is not yet breaking everywhere. There are many time zones. Douglas Sanders contemplates the time lag for Asia.

When queried by France, UK, and other countries, the Singapore delegate at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva reiterates that the Singapore police will not take action "against consenting adult males... unless their conduct breaks other laws, for instance laws against indecent public behaviour or paedophilia."

George Hwang attended and spoke at the First International Conference on Human Rights in Southeast Asia held recently in Bangkok where he heard many stories of the struggles of sexual minorities, and challenges readers to be special and brave.

Pioneer gay group People Like Us and other civil society groups in Singapore have submitted reports on the country's human rights track record ahead of Singapore's first review by the UN as part of a periodic review of all UN member states.

Just a month after crashing the ILGA Asia conference in Surabaya, members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI)  forced their way past police and stormed a human rights training program intended for transgender individuals at a hotel in Depok, West Java last Friday.