News
Huckabee urges conservatives to oppose Calif. trans law
Values Voter Summit features anti-LGBT attacks
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee opposes the California trans student law (Photo by David Ball; courtesy Wikimedia Commons).
A strong anti-LGBT sentiment pervaded the first night of an annual conference for conservatives in D.C. as Republican commentator Mike Huckabee railed against a pro-transgender student law in California to fire up his audience.
The former Arkansas governor urged attendees to oppose the School Success & Opportunity Act, which enables transgender students in California to participate in programs and athletics consistent with their gender identity, during his speech at the Values Voter Summit.
“So, Jerry Brown, the governor of California, this week signed a bill — by the same legislature that passed a bill that said if six-year-olds, who are biologically boys think that they are really girls, that they should be able to go to the girls restroom,” Huckabee said. “And if they’re 16 and they really — maybe you’re biologically all male but they identify as female, they should be able to go to the locker room with, shower with, and play on the sports teams of the girls. And, to those of us who believe that there is a difference between male and female, we would say ‘We have been told you’re on your own.'”
Huckabee continued to jab at the law by envisioning a scenario in which a transgender student would shower with boys on a sports term.
“And by the way, it is a good thing that that didn’t come up when I was in high school ’cause I’m pretty sure that every boy in my high school would have suddenly felt like that he was just a little more comfortable showering with the girls no matter how uncomfortable the girls might have been with it,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee concluded his tirade against the law by saying, “Is that not the craziest think you’ve ever heard?”
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, criticized Huckabee’s remarks.
“The School Success & Opportunity Act is simply about making all school programs accessible for all students,” Keisling said. “That’s all and Mr. Huckabee should be extremely supportive of that. This is about boys being in boy space and girls being in girl space, and everybody being able to participate.”
Keisling also said Huckabee was adding a sexual element to a law in a way that was inappropriate.
“Though Huckabee claims that he and all the teenage boys he grew up with were perverts, it is still inappropriate that he should be sexualizing six year olds this way in his comments,” Keisling said.
The California transgender student law has been targeted for repeal as anti-trans forces, in particular the groups Privacy for All Students, gather signatures to place the measure on the ballot for a referendum. Last week, the California State Republican Party endorsed an effort to reverse the law at its convention in Anaheim.
But trans people weren’t the only part of the LGBT community that Huckabee targeted during his speech. Huckabee also went after gay people by railing against what he said were the consequences for opponents of same-sex marriage in the growing number of states that have legalized same-sex marriage.
“For those of us who still believe that the biblical standard of marriage is the standard of marriage because it’s the only one that has lasted over the test of time, do you realize that for those of us for whom this is not a governmental issue and it’s not a political issue, it is a moral issue, it is a biblical issue, it’s a cultural issue, it’s a sociological issue, it’s a family issue, we’ve been pretty much told, ‘You’re on your own.'”
Huckabee brought up an incident in which a photographer was sued under a New Mexico anti-discrimination law for refusing to take a photo of a same-sex wedding ceremony and another incident in which he said a baker in Washington State was in trouble for refusing to make a cake for a gay couple’s wedding.
“The government told them, you better make the cake, or go out of business,” Huckabee said. “They said, ‘You’re on your own.”
Also on stage speaking out against marriage equality was former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, now president of the conservative think-tank The Heritage Foundation, who said the nation must resist the legalization of gay nuptials.”
“Marriage is the most foundational, cultural and economic institution in our society,” DeMint said. “Marriages between a man and a woman are by far the best environment to raise children and create responsible citizens.”
Perhaps foreseeing a day when the marriage issue would return to the Supreme Court, DeMint said, “States have regulated marriage to protect it, but there is nothing in our federal Constitution that gives Congress, the president or the Supreme Court the right to redefine or regulate marriage.”
These speakers took the stage after remarks against same-sex marriage by Ben Carson and anti-gay remarks from political commentator Sandy Rios. Also among the earlier speakers was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who, after being interrupted several times during his speech by protesters, later won the Values Voter Summit’s presidential straw poll by 42 percent.
Friday evening at the Values Voter Summit culminated with a panel on opposition to same-sex marriage, moderated by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, titled The Future of Marriage. The 1964 song “Chapel of Love” by the Dixie Cups played as the panel began.
Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, invoked the notion that opposition to same-sex marriage is similar to the civil rights movement of the 1960s as he defended those who would seek to defend “the truth that mothers and fathers are different and that children deserve the opportunity to have both.”
“On the other side of the debate is an attempt to deconstruct the very nature of reality, the very nature of what it means to be a human being, to be created male and female,” Brown said.
Brown attributed the lack of success of marriage equality legislation in Illinois that supporters kept from coming to a floor vote this summer, to a coalition of lawmakers that included black lawmakers who oppose same-sex marriage.
Jennifer Marshall, director of domestic studies for The Heritage Foundation, said a wave of “young recruits” has entered the anti-gay marriage movement following the Supreme Court decision against the Defense of Marriage Act.
“We will continue to give the unique status in law to the union between a man and a woman, the only union that can produce children as a monogamous, exclusive permanent relationship,” Marshall said. “We uphold this ideal in the interest of children, in the interest of coming together and in the interest of America’s future.”
Representing the young recruits in opposition to same-sex marriage was Ryan Anderson, a fellow in religion and free society at The Heritage Foundation, who said he’s gone to speak on college campuses on why “marriage matters.”
“Whenever a child is born, a mother will be close by, that’s a fact of biology,” Anderson said. “The question for culture and the question for law is will a father be close by, and if so, for how long?”
The marriage panel was originally scheduled for the Values Voter Summit earlier in the day, but was postponed until the evening. Darin Miller, a Family Research Council spokesperson, told the Blade it was postponed to accommodate lawmakers’ schedules so they could make it on time for votes on Capitol Hill.
Evan Wolfson, president of the LGBT group Freedom to Marry, responded to the remarks against same-sex marriage at the Values Voter Summit by saying they’re acting contrary to basic values.
“If they can’t value basic American values such as liberty and justice for all, and if they can’t value personal values such as the Golden Rule and loving your neighbor, and if they can’t value veracity, you’d think they’d at least value their own self-image enough to stop the rest of us from trying to come up with polite synonyms for ‘out-of-touchiness,'” Wolfson said.
Senegal
Senegalese lawmakers approve bill to further criminalize homosexuality
A dozen men arrested in February for ‘unnatural acts’
Senegalese lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill that would further criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations in the country.
The Associated Press notes the measure that Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko introduced in February would increase the penalty for anyone convicted of engaging in consensual same-sex sexual relations from one to five years in prison to five to 10 years. The AP further indicates the bill would prohibit the “promotion” or “financing” of homosexuality in the country.
The bill passed with near unanimous support. Only three of 135 MPs abstained.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is expected to sign the measure.
The National Assembly in 2021 rejected a bill that would have further criminalized homosexuality in Senegal.
Senegalese police last month arrested a dozen men and charged them with committing “unnatural acts.”
Malaysia
Malaysia blocks access to Grindr, other gay dating websites
Restrictions part of continued anti-LGBTQ crackdown
Malaysia has blocked access to Grindr, Blued, and other gay dating websites, and is now considering further steps to restrict their mobile application.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil on Feb. 25 said the government is pursuing legal measures to curb the availability of LGBTQ dating apps on Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
Fadzil, in a written parliamentary reply, said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has not received any requests to remove the mobile versions of Grindr and Blued from app stores, noting the challenges of regulating platforms owned by foreign companies.
“Control over applications on platforms such as Google Play and Apple Store is subject to regulations and policies set by the said platform providers, since both applications are owned by foreign companies operating outside of Malaysia,” Fadzil said. “This includes those that spread lewd or immoral content, exploitation, abuse, scams, exploiting children or threats towards public safety.”
Fadzil was responding to a question about whether the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission had worked with app store providers to block downloads of such apps.
The Washington Blade reached out to Google and Apple multiple times for comment but did not receive a response.
Malaysia has stepped up digital restrictions targeting the LGBTQ community as part of a broader crackdown on what authorities describe as “deviant” or immoral content. Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in the country under both civil and Sharia law.
Malaysia has proposed a Cyber Crime Bill that would expand the government’s legal powers to address the misuse of digital platforms, including the promotion of same-sex dating applications, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said. The bill would replace the Computer Crimes Act of 1997.
“We are disappointed in the decision to block access to Grindr in Malaysia and believe that online platform regulation should be proportionate and consistent with international human rights law,” a Grindr spokesperson told the Blade in an email.
“At Grindr, our mission is to help make a world where the lives of our global community are free, equal, and just,” added the spokesperson. “For many of our users, Grindr is often the primary way for them to connect, express themselves, and discover the world around them. In addition to serving as an important source of information, Grindr is committed to advancing the health and well-being of the community around the world and through our social impact initiative, Grindr for Equality, we partner with hundreds of advocates, community-based organizations, and public health agencies to support the global LGBTQ+ community.”
Grindr, based in California, is popular around the world. Blued, a China-based app that BlueCity operates, is one of the world’s largest social networking and dating platforms for gay men.
Blued did not respond to the Blade’s request for comment.
Online platforms ‘critical for LGBTQ people’
Malaysian authorities in May 2023 raided Swatch stores at shopping malls across the country and confiscated more than 160 rainbow-colored watches from the company’s Pride collection, saying the designs carried “LGBT connotations.” The raids, which the Home Affairs Ministry carried out, were widely criticized by advocacy groups.
Police last June opened an investigation into a closed-door LGBTQ sexual health workshop.
Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan said authorities were examining the event under the Penal Code for allegedly causing “disharmony or ill will” on religious grounds, as well as under the Communications and Multimedia Act, a law frequently used to police online speech. Critics said the investigation reflected growing government overreach and warned against the criminalization of public health initiatives aimed at marginalized communities. Activists cited this case as another example of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s crackdown on LGBTQ rights.
The Home Affairs Ministry in November 2020 banned the book “Gay Is OK! A Christian Perspective,” written by Pastor Oyoung and published by Gerakbudaya in 2013, saying it was likely to be “prejudicial to public order, morality and the public interest.” The Kuala Lumpur High Court later overturned the ban and ordered the respondents — then-Home Affairs Minister Hamzah Zainudin and the Malaysian government — to pay costs of 5,000 Malaysian ringgit ($1,276.81.)
A 2014 Human Rights Watch report documented widespread discrimination and abuse against transgender women in the country.
The report found that trans people face arrests under laws that effectively criminalize “cross-dressing,” along with harassment and abuse by police and religious authorities. It also described systemic discrimination in employment, health care, and education, leaving many trans women marginalized and vulnerable to violence and exploitation.
Thilaga Sulathireh, a founding member of Justice for Sisters, a Malaysian trans rights group, said restrictions on LGBTQ people’s freedom of expression through censorship have been an ongoing trend in Malaysia over the past decade.
Sulathireh said there have been increasing calls to curb what critics describe as “LGBT normalization” in films, books, and social media, which activists link to what they say is a harmful and inaccurate perception that LGBTQ people are immoral. Sulathireh added Grindr had been blocked in Malaysia for several years and that, as of last weekend, the app was no longer available on Google Play and the Apple App Store. Sulathireh said Justice for Sisters views the move as a serious violation of LGBTQ people’s rights to nondiscrimination, dignity, privacy, and freedom of expression.
“The blocking of LGBTQ related apps is part of the on-going and increasing trend of state sponsored discrimination against LGBTQ people in Malaysia,” Sulathireh told the Blade in an email. “In late February, the deputy minister in the prime minister’s (Religious Affairs) Department announced that the government is opting to replace references to LGBT persons with the term “budaya songsang” (deviant culture) and encouraged others to do the same to avoid LGBT normalization in all spaces, including social media. At the same time, called on members of the public to immediately report ‘suspicious activities, events or content.’”
Sulathireh told the Blade a deputy minister recently outlined a range of government-led initiatives targeting LGBTQ people in Malaysia.
According to Sulathireh, these include so-called “spiritual guidance camps.” Sulathireh said some participants, including those who identify as “ex-LGBT” or part of the “hijrah” community, have been encouraged to act as peer educators to reach other LGBTQ people.
Additional initiatives the deputy minister listed include academic Islamic conferences, state-level sermons coordinated by the state Islamic councils, and mosque-level programs. Sulathireh told the Blade the government presented a paper to the Council of Rulers outlining what officials described as the negative implications of legal gender recognition. Sulathireh said authorities have also established a multiagency committee to address issues involving Muslim LGBTQ people, promoted what they call “psychospiritual therapy,” and worked with police and the Communications and Multimedia Commission to monitor the promotion of LGBTQ-related activities online.
“The blocking of these apps and websites severely impacts all areas of LGBTQ people’s lives,” said Sulathireh. “These platforms have proven critical for LGBTQ people to find support, communities, access life-saving resources, information and services, love and intimacy. I think being able to find love, intimacy and connections is critical for LGBTQ’s self-acceptance, self-worth, health, and well-being.”
“The blocking makes it even more challenging for people to connect safely online and offline,” added Sulathireh. “People will become more isolated and all of these have a severe impact on LGBTQ’s mental health and well-being, which is already poor.”
Sulathireh said Justice for Sisters research and observations indicate many LGBTQ people in Malaysia already experience social media and digital spaces as hostile environments. As a result, many limit their use of these platforms and adopt higher levels of self-censorship. Sulathireh added the recent bans targeting LGBTQ visibility on digital platforms are also unfolding alongside a broader policy push to restrict social media access for children under 16.
“The state sponsored LGBTQ discrimination over the years has resulted in increasing discrimination by non-state actors and anti-rights groups with impunity,” Sulathireh said. “This ban will further entrench the culture of impunity against LGBTQ people.”
Nalini Elumalai, senior Malaysia program officer at ARTICLE 19, an international freedom of expression organization, said the blocking of dating apps is not occurring in isolation but is happening under the guise of public morality, digital censorship, and the enforcement of laws that undermine the rights of LGBTQ individuals in Malaysia.
Elumalai noted that Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Marhamah Rosli recently urged the public to refrain from using the term “LGBT” and instead describe it as “deviant culture” in an effort to combat normalization and reduce LGBTQ-related content on social media. Elumalai said blocking Grindr and Blued represents an ongoing attack on the LGBTQ community, particularly their rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and to be treated equally before the law without discrimination — protections guaranteed under Articles 8 and 10 of Malaysia’s Federal Constitution.
“The blocking of LGBTQI+ dating platforms appears to reflect a broader pattern in Malaysia where LGBTQI+-related expression and activities face heightened scrutiny and repression, particularly when they become visible online,” said Elumalai in a statement to the Blade.
Elumalai noted JEJAKA, a community-based organization had to cancel their “Glamping with Pride” event that was to have taken place on Jan. 17-18 because of safety concerns after it received death threats on social media.
“Ongoing repression of LGBTQI+ expression will further entrench systemic discrimination against marginalized groups, normalise inequality, and perpetuate division and hostility among the people in Malaysia,” said Elumalai. “Further, when one group is punished or prevented from expressing themselves freely online, others, including various online platforms, may also self-censor out of fear that they too could face scrutiny or penalties, even for legitimate expressions.”
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has not responded to the Blade’s request for comment.
Chile
Far-right Chilean President José Antonio Kast takes office
Former congressman opposes LGBTQ rights
Chilean President José Antonio Kast took office on Wednesday.
Kast — the far-right leader of the Republican Party who was a member of the country’s House of Deputies from 2002-2018 — defeated Jeannette Jara — a member of the Communist Party of Chile who was the former labor and social welfare minister in former President Gabriel Boric’s government — in last year’s presidential election.
The Chilean constitution prevented Boric from running for a second consecutive term.
The Washington Blade has previously reported Kast has expressed his opposition to gender-specific policies, comprehensive sex education, and reforms to Chile’s anti-discrimination laws. Kast has also publicly opposed the country’s marriage equality law that took effect on March 10, 2022, the day before Boric took office.
The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBTQ and intersex rights group known by the acronym Movilh, declared a “state of alert” after Kast’s election, “given this leader’s (Kast’s) public and political trajectory, characterized for decades by systematic opposition to laws and policies aimed at equality and nondiscrimination of LGBTIQ+ individuals.”
Argentine President Javier Milei, Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Christopher Landau, and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado are among those who attended Kast’s inauguration that took place in the Chilean Congress in Valparaíso.
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