Fox News host suggests teaching kids about LGBTQ people is a sex crime
Fox News host Tucker Carlson unleashed a hateful tirade against LGBTQ people and their allies this week and suggested that teaching children about queer identities is a crime. According to the Fox News host, educating kids about any non-heteronormative identity equates to “children being used as props in the sexual fantasies of adults.”
Carlson showed clips of several teachers who had taken to social media to discuss their experiences teaching kids about what it means to be LGBTQ. One of the videos featured a teacher who said: “I have had multiple students come out to me, not just with their sexuality, but also with their gender identity. It’s one of the reasons I think it’s so important to be out and loud and proud, so that people feel comfortable coming to me and talking to me.”
Another video showed an elementary school teacher who said on TikTok that she explains to her students: “Some people are girls, some people are boys, some are both, some are neither.” According to Carlson, these comments were “utterly outside the bounds of what’s acceptable. It’s not a close call.”
Eight European countries to participate in diversity campaign during Qatar World Cup
Ten European football teams – the Netherlands, England, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales – will participate in a season-long “OneLove” campaign promoting inclusion and opposing discrimination.
Every country except Sweden and Norway has qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and each captain of these eight nations will wear a distinctive OneLove armband – which features a heart containing colors from all backgrounds – during the tournament.
The Netherlands FA, which is spearheading the campaign, chose the colours to represent all heritages, backgrounds, genders and sexual identities; the armband will be worn in Qatar where same-sex relationships are a criminal offense. Sweden and Norway will participate in the initiative during the upcoming Nations League matches, while England will also wear black armbands during both its UEFA Nations League matches to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
“This is an important message which suits the game of football: on the field everybody is equal and this should be the case in every place in society. With the OneLove band we express this message,” said Virgil van Dijk, the Netherlands captain. “On behalf of the Dutch team I have been wearing this band for quite a while now. It is good to see that other countries are joining this initiative.”
Thousands march in anti-LGBT demonstration in Istanbul
Several thousand people have taken part in an anti-LGBT demonstration in Istanbul. They called for LGBT associations to be closed down and displayed signs that read: “protect your family and your generation”, “Say no to society without gender”, and “Father + mother + baby = family”.
A speaker for the event, Kursat Mican, also claimed organisers received 150,000 signatures on a petition calling for a ban on what they called LGBT “propaganda” in social media, sports, arts and Netflix. An advert for the anti-LGBT march was also shown on television after gaining the approval of the country’s broadcasting council, which deemed it a “public interest”.
The country’s largest anti-LGBT demonstration was criticised by human rights organisations. ILGA Europe, an organisation fighting for LGBT equality in Europe and Central Asia, tweeted: “the Turkish state needs to uphold its constitutional obligation to protect all its citizens against hate and violence”. Meanwhile, Turkey’s Amnesty International office said public service announcements advertising the march violated Turkey’s non-discrimination principles.