Saturday 28 February 2015

Malta Today: [WATCH] ‘The norm is changing’: schools to address needs of transgender students

During a gender diversity-themed seminar, educational professionals were urged to remain sensitive to the needs of transgender students, as empowered by the Gender Identity Act.

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/50093/watch_the_norm_is_changing_schools_to_address_needs_of_transgender_students#.VPHC3XxbfaJ

26 February 2015, 3:16pm by Teodor Reljic


MGRM Coordinator Gabi Calleja: "More than a quarter of transgender students find the scholastic experience problematic". Photo by Ray Attard


Schools will have to adapt to realities of gender variance, with both administrative and pedagogical staff being now legally empowered to clamp down on all forms of gender discrimination.

This was brought up during a seminar organised by the Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM), entitled ‘Inclusion of Trans and Intersex Persons through Legislation and Policy’ and held at the Victoria Hotel in Sliema on Thursday.

Wall Street Journal: Molecule Shows Ability to Block AIDS Virus

Approach has yet to be tested in humans but could lead to new treatments and a vaccine
http://www.wsj.com/articles/study-identifies-potential-vaccine-like-protection-against-hiv-1424260802?mod=e2fb

[Click here for the video.]

A new study could lead to the first step in new treatments for patients with AIDS and an alternative to a vaccine against HIV. Scripps Institute’s Michael Farzan explains. Photo: AP

By BETSY MCKAY, Updated Feb. 18, 2015 3:29 p.m. ET, 74 COMMENTS

Scientists have engineered a molecule they say can block infection with the virus that causes AIDS, a discovery that potentially could lead to a new therapy for patients as well as an alternative to a vaccine.

Researchers have been trying for three decades to develop an effective vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS. They are also searching for a way to cure infected people. But the ever-evolving virus has eluded them.

Sunday 15 February 2015

Youtube: Sergei Polunin, "Take Me to Church" by Hozier, Directed by David LaChapelle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-tW0CkvdDI



Sergei Polunin
"Take me to Church" by Hozier
Directed by David LaChapelle
Choreography by Jade Hale-Christofi

Saturday 14 February 2015

Pink News: This advice by Freud on how to cure a gay child might surprise you

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/02/12/this-advice-by-freud-on-how-to-cure-a-gay-child-may-surprise-you/2/
12th February 2015, 4:17 PM, LAST UPDATED ON 13TH FEBRUARY
by Joseph Patrick McCormick

Some assume positions on controversial issues such as gay “cure” therapies evolve over time. This letter from Sigmund Freud written in 1935 may debunk that.


The famed father of psychoanalysis an amazing and eloquent response to one parent’s concerns over having a gay child.

Pink News: SHOCKING images show Islamic State throwing gay men to death

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/01/16/shocking-images-show-islamic-state-throwing-gay-men-to-death/
16th January 2015, 11:54 PM

WARNING: The content and imagery within this article is extremely disturbing.

The Islamic State (ISIS) has released shocking images showing the execution of two men for being gay. Some of the images are too disturbing to be reproduced on PinkNews, even with a warning.
PROMOTED

The images begin with a photograph of a crowd gathered next to a large building in the Iraqi city of Mosul.


In a caption, the man was described as having been convicted by an Islamic court of the practices of the “people of Lot”, sodomy.


Monday 9 February 2015

MGRM: Inclusion of Trans and Intersex Persons through Legislation and Policy

8.2.2015 by Colette Farrugia Bennett, Malta Gay Rights Movement

​Seminar

‘Inclusion of Trans and Intersex Persons through Legislation and Policy’

Thursday 26th February 2015, 9am to 2pm

The Victoria Hotel, Sliema



On Thursday 26th February 2015 the Malta Gay Rights Movement will be organising a seminar entitled ‘Inclusion of Trans and Intersex Persons through Legislation and Policy’ as part of the EU funded Grundtvig Project ‘Queer Pathways into Diversity’ which MGRM is participating in with another five European partners. The seminar will be taking place at The Victoria Hotel, Gorg Borg Olivier Street, Sliema.

Malta Today: ‘Gender identity law to break down walls of discrimination’ - Helena Dalli

Civil Liberties Minister says that gender identity law won't lead to people capriciously choosing to change their legally recognized gender

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/49208/gender_identity_law_to_break_down_walls_of_discrimination__helena_dalli#.VNj5ueZbfaJ
3 February 2015, 8:58pm by Tim Diacono

Equal Opportunities Minister Helena Dalli

A law aimed at protecting the rights of trans, gender queer and intersex people to their self-determined identity will help “break down the walls of discrimination and inequality”, Civil Liberties Helena Dalli said.

“This law isn’t about the rights of trans-people, intersex people and gender queer people but about human rights,” Dalli said during a second reading of the Bill in Parliament. “We will not be giving these people special rights but equal rights. We want to ensure that everyone has the same rights and access to the same opportunities.”

Malta Today: Male, Female or X: the new gender options on identification documents

Government to allow the possibility of not declaring gender on ID cards and passports
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/49185/male_female_or_x_the_new_gender_options_on_identification_documents#.VNj5teZbfaK
3 February 2015, 11:28am by Miriam Dalli


Although ‘male’ and ‘female’ will remain the only sexes recognised by the laws of Malta, the government is set to allow individuals to choose not to declare their sex or gender identity on identification documents through the introduction of an ‘X’ marker.

The decision comes in wake of the Gender Identity Bill tabled in parliament and a consultation process that followed during which an internal discussion took place on how the current ‘male’ and ‘female’ binary possibilities could be addressed on identification documents.