-
'In the Media' is available in your inbox as part of our our daily media briefing. Subscribe today.
* = Registration may be required to read the article
Tue, 28 Sep 2021
Ireland: Abortion rights rally calls on government to address gaps in care
The rally heard speakers from women's rights groups across the country, and protestors demanded that the government addresses gaps in care for abortion services across the country.
Irish Examiner
Ireland: ‘Having to take a religious oath to access the presidency is a glaring anachronism. A secular alternative has long been needed’
The state should not be placing non-believers in a position whether they either feel excluded from the presidency or forced into moral gymnastics to reconcile themselves with it, says Colin Murphy.
Independent.ie
Three Polish regions scrap anti-LGBT resolutions
Three Polish regions voted on Monday to scrap resolutions that declared them free of "LGBT ideology".
BBC
US: House passes a bill meant to counter Texas-style abortion bans
The US House of Representatives has approved a bill that Democrats say will protect a person's access to abortion.
NPR
Catholic protesters gather outside premiere of lesbian nun drama ‘Benedetta’
The New York Film Festival premiere of the upcoming Paul Verhoeven film Benedetta has been picketed by Catholic protesters.
NME
Australia: Bid by Catholic church to stop child sexual abuse case rejected by New South Wales supreme court
The Catholic church tried to stop a survivor suing it over the childhood abuse she suffered at the hands of a parish priest in northern New South Wales, despite its own records showing it knew the man was a paedophile but did nothing other than move him from parish to parish.
The Guardian
Afghanistan: Social media users delete profiles over fear of attack
Afghans have been deleting photos and tweets from their past - and many have turned away from social media altogether for fear of being targeted by Taliban forces.
BBC
Mon, 27 Sep 2021
Christian foster agency loses discrimination case
An evangelical Christian fostering agency has lost a court battle over its policy of refusing to allow gay parents to sign up as carers.
BBC
Government condemned over latest delay to conversion therapy ban
LGBT+ activists have expressed dismay after it emerged that the government's planned public consultation on conversion therapy has been delayed.
Pink News
Facebook still running adverts for ‘abortion pill reversal’
Facebook is still placing adverts for so-called "abortion pill reversal" a week after a report highlighted the platform had reaped more than £100,000 from advertising for the unproven medical procedure. Adverts shown in the UK were paid for by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.
iNews
BBC Arabic accused of ‘normalising Jew-hate’
BBC Arabic gave a platform to social media posts attacking "Zionist terrorism" and hailing the imagined destruction of Israel.
The Jewish Chronicle
‘Women will begin saying “no” to Jewish weddings’
Jewish courts' stance on get coercion is protecting abusive men, and we won't take it for long, says Miriam Shaviv.
The Jewish Chronicle
Swiss vote overwhelmingly for same-sex marriage in referendum
Official results showed the measure passed with 64.1% of voters in favour and won a majority in all of Switzerland's 26 cantons.
The Guardian
San Marino votes to legalise abortion in referendum
With all referendum polls counted, around 77% of voters backed the decision, while nearly 23% said no.
BBC
Italy: Catholic priest arrested for allegedly stealing church funds to pay for drug-fuelled orgies
A Roman Catholic priest has been arrested under suspicion of stealing over $117,000 in church funds to buy drugs for his gay sex parties.
Pink News
Mexican state of Sonora approves same-sex marriage
The congress of the Mexican state of Sonora voted on Thursday to legalise same-sex marriage, meaning that about three quarters of the country's regions have now made the practice legal.
Reuters*
Canada’s Catholic bishops apologise for abuses in residential schools
High-ranking Catholic bishops in Canada have officially apologised for their role in the country's notorious residential school system for the first time, after refusing to do so for years despite public pressure.
The Guardian
Taliban ban Helmand barbers from trimming beards
The Taliban have banned hairdressers in Afghanistan's Helmand province from shaving or trimming beards, saying it breaches their interpretation of Islamic law.
BBC
Boko Haram fighters defect en masse
An estimated 7,000 fighters are reported to have quit Boko Haram en masse in Nigeria.
The Times*
Fri, 24 Sep 2021
Ruling due in Christian fostering agency policy appeal
An evangelical Christian fostering agency that lost a High Court case over its policy of only placing children with heterosexual married couples will find out if it has won a Court of Appeal bid to overturn the decision.
Kent Live
Scotland becomes first country in world to embed LGBT education in school curriculum
Scotland has become the first country in the world to embed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inclusive education across the school curriculum.
The Scotsman*
Chef sued for discrimination after ‘telling Sikh to remove bangle’
A top chef is being sued for religious discrimination after allegedly telling a staff member to take off a traditional Sikh bangle as it 'could get stuck in a ladle'.
Metro
Call for government aid to tackle ‘significant and growing’ church repair costs
The Church of England's parish churches have a "significant and growing maintenance deficit", prompting calls for government intervention.
Evening Standard
Woman with Down’s syndrome loses UK abortion law case
Heidi Crowter challenged the Department of Health and Social Care over the Abortion Act 1967, which sets a 24-week time limit for abortions unless there is "substantial risk" of the child being "seriously handicapped".
The Guardian
Consultation launched on legalising assisted dying in Scotland
Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur has launched a consultation on legalising assisted dying in Scotland, saying a change in the law would allow the terminally ill to have a "peaceful, dignified death.
Holyrood
Northern Ireland-style parades commission on cards in wake of Orange Order marches
Scottish ministers are considering setting up a parades commission, similar to that in Northern Ireland, after dozens of Orange Order marches caused disruption in Glasgow.
The Times*
‘EastEnders helped me accept my sexuality as a Muslim lesbian – but I still can’t come out to my family’
"I know my family would almost certainly cut ties with me and throw me out if they knew my sexual orientation, which is why I don't talk about it with them."
Metro
Delays in accessing abortions in Ireland are violating women’s rights, says expert
Major human rights violations which are "embedded" in the 2018 abortion legislation must be addressed as part of a forthcoming review, a human rights expert has warned.
The Irish Times*
Restrictive abortion bill introduced in Florida mirrors controversial Texas law
A Republican Florida state lawmaker on Wednesday introduced a bill that is modelled after a strict Texas law prohibiting abortions after six weeks, drawing condemnation from supporters of abortion rights who fear such legislation might soon be introduced in other states.
CNN
Taliban official: Strict punishment, executions will return
One of the founders of the Taliban says the hard-line movement will once again carry out punishments like executions and amputations of hands, though perhaps not in public.
The Independent
Kenya bans 'blasphemous' film about gay lovers
Kenyan authorities have banned a documentary about two gay lovers, calling it "unacceptable and an affront to (the) culture and identity" of a deeply Christian country which has long criminalised homosexuality.
Mail Online
Thu, 23 Sep 2021
Christine Jardine MP: ‘Give people the right to die with dignity’
The time has come to re-examine a law that threatens criminal charges for families that support their loved one's choice to die with dignity, says Christine Jardine.
The Independent
Extremists using video-game chats to spread hate
Over three months, researchers found anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia on platforms, including DLive and Odysee, where users stream and chat about games such as Call of Duty and Minecraft.
BBC
Afghanistan: Second email data breach by MoD uncovered
A second data breach by the Ministry of Defence, potentially compromising the safety of Afghans who may be eligible to relocate to the UK, has been uncovered.
BBC
‘Zahra Joya: the Afghan reporter who fled the Taliban – and kept telling the truth about women’
As a child in Afghanistan, she pretended to be a boy in order to get an education, before starting her own women's news agency. Now living in Britain, her fight continues.
The Guardian
Ireland: Access to mother and baby homes redress scheme to be widened
Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman has moved to widen access to a redress scheme for survivors of mother and baby homes beyond the terms recommended by the commission of investigation.
The Irish Times*
Polish region scraps anti-LGBT motion after EU threatens to cut funds
A Polish province on Wednesday annulled a motion opposing "LGBT ideology" after the European Union threatened to pull funding, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Reuters*
Divided Swiss to vote on same-sex marriage
Swiss voters decide on Sunday whether to allow same-sex couples to wed and adopt children after a highly charged campaign pitted gay rights activists against conservative opponents in one of the last Western European countries to still ban gay marriage.
Reuters*
‘Turkey's top Islamic cleric moves centre stage, irking secularists’
The president, whose ruling AK Party is rooted in political Islam, has overturned decades-old restrictions imposed on religion by modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, placing Islam centre-stage in political life, says Daren Butler.
Reuters*
‘One in four Americans identify as Nones. Why are millions leaving organised religion?’
In a country founded on tales of devout worshippers willing to risk everything for religious freedom, from Puritans to Quakers to Mormons, surveys say the 'Nones' now account for about one in every four Americans.
NorthJersey.com
US: ‘These women say they were sexually abused by Southern Baptist leaders. Now they’re forcing a reckoning.’
An investigation of the church's handling of allegations is moving forward. Women have been telling their stories for years.
The Lily
Wed, 22 Sep 2021
BBC Radio Ulster ‘Thought for the Day’ given over to humanist commentator
Thought for the Day on Radio Ulster has been delivered by a humanist, in what is claimed to be an NI first.
News Letter
Oxford college run by former equalities head apologises for hosting Christian conference
An Oxford college run by the former head of the equalities watchdog has apologised to students for hosting a Christian conference.
The Telegraph*
‘Assisted dying is a modest and popular step’
Ministers should give parliamentary time to a bill which is not nearly as controversial as its opponents like to assert, says Daniel Finkelstein.
The Times*
'Support bill to scrap archaic requirement for school worship'
It cannot be right to tell children to pray to a God they don't believe in or sit in another room separated from their classmates, says Paul Kaufman.
Barking & Dagenham Post
‘My parents are making me feel guilty for loving someone outside my religion’
"From the beginning, I knew if the relationship blossomed into something more serious, the journey would be fraught with hardship, guilt, and a semblance of questioning where I stand not just with my culture, but my religion and family, too."
Yahoo!
Taliban ask to speak at UN General Assembly in New York
The Taliban have asked to address world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York City.
BBC
Biden calls on U.S. Supreme Court to protect abortion rights
President Joe Biden's administration urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday not to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalised abortion nationwide in an upcoming case concerning a restrictive Mississippi law.
Reuters*
‘Dump COVID vaccine religious exemptions. There is no Church of Moderna Disbelievers’
"What is a COVID-19 vaccine mandate worth if it includes exemptions for 'sincerely held religious beliefs'? Very little, if anything at all."
Los Angeles Times
Trans woman faces years in prison in Malaysia on charges for wearing women’s clothes
Thailand is being urged not to extradite a trans activist and businesswoman to her home country of Malaysia, where she could be imprisoned for years for wearing women's clothing.
Pink News
Disclaimer: Links are provided to external websites for information and in the interests of free exchange. We do not accept any responsibility for the content of those sites, nor does a link indicate approval or imply endorsement of those sites.
