Australian sex therapist and men’s rights advocate Bettina Arndt criticizes recent changes in Australia’s enforcement of rape laws prompted by a report of the Australian Law Reform Commission that found the system was failing to hold “those who use sexual violence to account.” She points out that this intensified push to prosecute has resulted in […]
The Confessional Remains Secret, Even in Cases of Child Abuse
The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that any requirement for churches to report confessions of child sexual abuse made to clergy is unconstitutional under the religious freedom protections of the First Amendment. The case in question concerns a lawsuit against the Mormon (LDS) Church by children of a deceased Border Patrol agent who abused them […]
School Board Sued for Blocking Gay-Straight Alliance
After the King George County School Board repeatedly changed rules to block a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club from forming at the King George Middle School in Virginia, the ACLU has filed a federal lawsuit against the School Board and the principal of the middle school. The suit alleges that officials changed the rules to stop […]
Same-Sex Marriage Remains at the Center of Global Queer Politics
While it’s true that not all queer populations value the right to marriage equally, it continues to be a sociopolitical scene from which LGBTQ+ freedoms are promoted around the world. Countries constantly shift their stance on the issue, some protecting or pursuing its legalization, others doing everything in their power to make it go away. […]
Elon Musk and his Defense of AI-Generated Nudes
Elon Musk’s xAI has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Minnesota’s first-in-the-nation law banning AI “nudification” technology, which creates fake nude images of real people without their consent. While Musk and his company claim to support preventing the non-consensual distribution of AI-generated intimate images, they argue that the law is overly broad and unconstitutional because it […]
Court Decisions in Canada Affect Sex Crimes
Two recent court decisions from Canada highlight just how different that country is from U.S. jurisprudence when it comes to sex offenses. Whereas U.S. courts routinely sentence those convicted of sex offenses involving minors to decades in prison, Canadian courts have shown themselves far more willing to consider nuance and the circumstances of the defendant. […]
Penile Plethysmography Ruled Inadmissible
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of South Carolina has ruled that penile plethysmography lacks sufficient scientific support to be used as a reliable indicator of likely future recidivism in sex offenders. Among its many flaws, the court cited a lack of standardized metrics among different labs, poor test-retest consistency, inconsistent test materials, and […]
Sexual Newspeak: The Consequences of Semantics on Gender and Sexual Minorities
The Malaysian government has officially replaced the term “LGBT” with “deviant culture” (Malay: “budaya songsang”) in its public communications and educational materials, framing LGBTQ+ identities as out of sync with the country’s religious and cultural values. Human rights advocates argue that this new terminology further stigmatizes LGBTQ+ people and reinforces discrimination. And, as related to […]
Nepal’s Supreme Court Mandates Marriage Equality
In some good news for LGBTQ+ rights, the Supreme Court of Nepal has ruled in favor of marriage equality. They have issued a binding directive order ensuring equal marriage rights for gender and sexual minorities. The Supreme Court issued an interim ruling in 2023 recognizing same-sex marriage. However, the Nepali government has had a mixed […]
Weaponizing Accusations of Child Abuse: The Pete Buttigieg Case
Pete Buttigieg, former United States Secretary of Transportation and a very vocal member of the Democratic Party, is speaking out about what he considers to be “the ugliest thing that has happened to [him] since [his] career in service began.” He was recently temporarily separated from his four-year-old twins after an anonymous false report to […]