Worldwide crackdowns, setbacks worry activists

In the United States and many other parts of the world, this is a worrisome time for LGBT activists, as the pace of civil rights victories has grown uneven and reports of anti-LGBT violence and persecution surface relentlessly.

In the past two months, there have been large-scale detentions of gay men in Nigeria and Bangladesh, and chilling accounts of roundups and torture of scores of gays in Chechnya. In Indonesia, a major police raid on a gay sauna was followed two days later by the public caning of two gay men.

More than 70 countries continue to criminalize gays’ sexual activity.

Taiwan is now on track to become the first territory in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, due to a May 24 court ruling. Worldwide, gay and lesbian couples can marry in only 22 of the world’s nearly 200 countries. No nation in Eastern Europe is among them, and there is only one in Africa: South Africa.

Collectively, recent developments have changed the way some lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists are viewing the annual Pride Month events in June. It’s usually a time of celebration, but this year InterPride, which helps organize Pride events worldwide, says people should participate “to tell the world that they will not be silent in the face of oppression.”

A large-scale Equality March is planned for June 11 in Washington, D.C. Its organizers say anti-LGBT rhetoric and continuing discrimination warrant a mass mobilization. Most U.S. states still lack statewide laws banning discrimination against LGBT people.

Among recent events that have alarmed LGBT and human rights activists:

In Indonesia, animosity toward the LGBT community has been whipped up by antigay comments from Cabinet ministers and other public figures. In the capital, Jakarta, police detained 141 men in a May raid on a gay gym and sauna.

In Bangladesh, authorities made 27 arrests in a May raid on a group of gay men at a community center near the capital, Dhaka.

In Nigeria, police arrested more than 50 young men celebrating a gay wedding in April. Nigerian law bans samesex marriage; violators can be punished by up to 14 years in prison.

In Moldova, President Igor Dodon spoke out against an LGBT parade organized in the capital city, and said he did not consider himself to be president of the Eastern European country’s gays.

In El Salvador, multiple killings of transgender women drew the attention of the U.N. human rights office, which urged authorities to investigate.