Pope Francis recently gave his first interview since the death of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.
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While speaking to the Associated Press,
Francis said that while the Catholic Church views homosexuality as a "sin," being gay is not a "crime.".
Francis thinks distinguishing between the two is important and feels the Catholic Church should do what it can to end laws that criminalize homosexuality in some countries.
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Associated Press reports that around
67 countries or jurisdictions around the world criminalize consensual same-sex relationships.
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In America, over a dozen states continue to have anti-sodomy laws despite the Supreme Court declaring them unconstitutional in 2003.
We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity, Pope Francis, via Associated Press.
His historic statement should send a message to world leaders and millions of Catholics around the world: LGBTQ people deserve to live in a world without violence and condemnation, and more kindness and understanding, Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, via Associated Press.
The 86-year-old pope went on to address his health, saying, "I'm in good health for my age.
I'm normal.".
Francis has been forced to use a wheelchair recently due to issues with his knee
The Pope has updated the church's rules for dealing with sexual abuse, expanding its scope to include lay Catholic leaders and spelling out that both minors and.. Sky News
An independent commission has reported that more than 4,800 children were abused within the Catholic Church in Portugal but warned that figure could be much higher.
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Pope Francis was discharged on Saturday from the Rome hospital where he was treated for bronchitis, quipping to journalists before being driven away: “I'm still alive.”
Credit: euronews (in English) Duration: 00:35Published
In the first images of the Pope since his admission to hospital on Wednesday, Francis is seen baptising a newborn baby at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he was being treated for bronchitis.
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Pope Francis who was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday is likely to be discharged on Saturday.
#PopeFrancis #Rome #Vatican
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Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu is likely to be released from the Patiala jail on April 1, said his counsel HPS Varma on Friday.The 59-year-old was serving a.. IndiaTimes
The amendments proposed in the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on Wednesday, will negate the impact of a landmark.. IndiaTimes
The amendments proposed in the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on Wednesday, will negate the impact of a landmark.. IndiaTimes
The mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence was effectively "gaslit" by the Daily Mail, the High Court has been told - as Prince Harry made a brief.. Sky News
Paul O'Grady has been remembered as "one of the greatest drag artists the UK has ever seen" at the LGBTQ+ cabaret club that helped him rise to fame as Lily.. Sky News
Uganda to Make It a Crime , to Identify as LGBTQ.
NPR reports that on March 22, lawmakers in Uganda voted to outlaw identifying as LGBTQ+.
Only two out of close to 400 representatives voted against the anti-homosexuality bill.
While same-sex acts were already unlawful in the country, the new legislation takes it much further.
If enacted, someone who has sex with an
HIV-positive person, deemed "aggravated homosexuality," can be put to death.
Advocate groups or anyone who identifies as LGBTQ+ can also be jailed and punished.
The bill, which represents some of the most anti-LGBTQ legislation on the planet, has been criticized by activists and civil rights groups.
The LGBTQI community
has basically been told, you
can't raise your head, you can't
be seen, you can't be heard, Richard Lusimbo, Ugandan LGBTQ activist, via NPR.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act passed by the Ugandan Parliament yesterday would undermine fundamental human rights of all Ugandans and could reverse gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We urge the Ugandan Government to strongly reconsider the implementation of this legislation, Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, via Twitter.
If signed into law by the president, it will render lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Uganda criminals simply for existing,
for being who they are. , Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, via statement.
It could provide carte blanche for the systematic violation of nearly all of their human rights and serve to incite people against each other, Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, via statement.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is expected to sign the bill into law
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Ugandan lawmakers on Tuesday approved some of the world’s harshest anti-Gay laws, making some crimes punishable by death and imposing up to 20 years in prison for people identifying as LGBTQ+.
#UgandaLGBTQLaws #AntiLGBTQLaws #Uganda
Arkansas Passes Law That, Restricts Transgender Students' , Access to Bathrooms .
On March 21, Arkansas Governor
Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill banning
transgender students from using restrooms that
differ from the sex on their birth certificates.
On March 21, Arkansas Governor
Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill banning
transgender students from using restrooms that
differ from the sex on their birth certificates.
CNN reports that the new law represents
the latest GOP-led effort to limit
the rights of LGBTQ students in schools. .
The bill applies to restrooms,
locker rooms, changing rooms and
shower rooms in public and charter schools.
Failing to comply with the new law, which applies to
pre-K through 12th grade, can result in $1,000 fines
for superintendents, teachers and principals.
The bill also requires schools to provide
accommodations for those who would be
prohibited from using the facilities under the new law.
However, the law specifies that
those accommodations must not include , “access to a restroom or changing area that is designated for use by
members of the opposite sex to an individual while members of
the opposite sex of the individual are present or may be present.”.
The governor has said she will sign laws
that focus on protecting and educating
our kids, not indoctrinating them, and
believes our schools are no place
for the radical left’s woke agenda, Alexa Henning, Spokesperson for Sanders, via CNN.
Arkansas isn’t going to rewrite
the rules of biology just to please
a handful of far-left advocates, Alexa Henning, Spokesperson for Sanders, via CNN.
Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, the executive director of GLSEN, an
advocacy group for LGBTQ students, argues that the new law uses , “trans and nonbinary kids as political pawns.".
Enforcing these bills would be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming for schools and extraordinarily invasive toward transgender students, Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, the executive director of GLSEN, via CNN
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