Hundreds gathered to celebrate Wiltshire's first Pride event, LGBTQ athletes face discrimination in Australia, and Indonesia proposes a ban on LGBTQ journalism.
Hundreds To Celebrate First Pride Event in Wiltshire, UK
Wiltshire, a town in the U.K., is gearing up to host their first Pride event, Calne Pride, with around 500 people set to attend.
Organizers told the BBC that they hope the event will “bring local people together.”
According to BBC Radio Wiltshire, there have been calls for a Pride event in the town for years. The town’s council attempted to host the first parade last year but could not get a committee together.
“Putting on an event like this is something I hope makes Calne a better place,” said Jessica Doidge, the lead organizer of the event.
"The vibe I get is it’s such a good community and people are proud of where they’re from,” said Doidge.
Young LGBTQ Athletes Face Discrimination
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A study conducted by Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia found that more than half of LGBTQ young people in Australia have witnessed discrimination in community-based sports and 40% have reported personal experiences of being discriminated against.
Ryan Storr, the study’s author, told Pink News that even though small strides are being made in the sporting industry to be more inclusive, the “rates of experiencing and witnessing homophobia in sport for gay men have barely shifted in recent years.”
The study analyzed data from over 1,000 LGBTQ young people across Australia.
“This research clearly indicates that discrimination stops LGBTIQA+ young people from playing sport, and when they do play, they often have to endure ongoing discrimination,” said Storr.
Indonesia Proposes Ban On LGBTQ Journalism
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Indonesia’s parliament has proposed revisions to their broadcast law that would ban investigative journalism and LGBTQ content.
According to Pink News, the revision aims to ban displaying LGBTQ or “negative behavior or lifestyles that potentially harm the public,” including violence.
The Indonesia Press Council told Reuters that the plans would have a serious impact on press freedom.
“Indonesia’s press law says there must not be any censorship or banning of journalism. So this is contradictory. The impact on press freedom is very serious,” said Arif Zulkifli, the head of the council’s law and legislation division.
Other commentators said that if the bill becomes law, there will “be no press independence.”
“It will mean that we, as journalists, will no longer be able to reveal important stories, such as corruption, nepotism and environmental crimes,” said Bayu Wardhana, the head of the association of independent journalists.
There is no national sodomy law in Indonesia, and private consensual homosexual acts are not prohibited. However, same-sex activity is against the law in the province of Aceh and the gender expression of trans people is illegal and comes with harsh sentences to anyone convicted.
