TAG: religious discourses

The 8th CSBR Sexuality Institute will take place from 9-16 February 2016 in Sri Lanka. Apply now!

Deadline for applications is 5 October 2015. Click here to learn more about the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies and to apply.

The UN Security Council debates gays and ISIS: Why this is a bad idea

By Scott Long I. Questions On August 18, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL or by its Arabic acronym, Da’ish) assaulted history. They beheaded an 82 year-old archaeologist, the resident expert on the ruins in the occupied city of Palmyra. Two days earlier, on August 16, Syrian government warplanes assaulted daily life; Assad’s pilots bombed a crowded […]

New issue of African Journal of History and Culture

The issue nº 8 brings articles on religion and development. Click here to access it.

Colonizing African Values: How the U.S. Christian Right is Transforming Sexual Politics in Africa

Uganda’s infamous 2009 Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would institute the death penalty for a new and surreal category of offenses dubbed “aggravated homosexuality,” captured international headlines for months. The human rights community and the Obama administration responded forcefully, the bill was tabled, and the story largely receded from U.S. headlines. But as the Rev. Dr. Kapya […]

Gay hanging in Iran: Atrocities and impersonations

I. Everybody on earth knows that last week a deal on Iran’s nuclear program was announced. Everybody also knows that this apparent step toward peace launched a new stage in an old war: of propaganda. Proponents praise the possibility of a historic opening. Opponents — who include Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Republican Party — warn […]

The challenges of a “progressive” Pope

by Juan Marco Vaggione Since his inauguration as the new pontiff, Bergoglio has generated new complexities for those of us who think that it is necessary to dismantle the religious imprints on the ethical and legal regulation of sexual order. The Catholic Church, under the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, has remained […]

The gay sex worker who defied sharia law in Banda Aceh to organize

Faisal Riza is a national organizer for the Organisasi Perubahan Sosial Indonesia (the Organization for Social Change, or OPSI) — an Indonesian human rights initiative focusing on the welfare of sex workers. Anna Marie Sterling JAKARTA, Indonesia — Faisal Riza started as a sex worker in one of the riskiest possible places for any kind of transgressive behavior: Aceh, a […]

The veil conflicts unabated

In Sexuality, Health and Human Rights (Corrêa, Parker and Petchesky, 2008) we have examined the early 2000’s French controversies, which led to the banning of the use of veils in 2004, as an illustration of the political problems deriving from the attachment to and application un- problematized conceptions of laicité in the following terms: “…the […]

Breaking House Rules: Hoodies, Hijabs, and Belonging in the Netherlands

With panoramic views of both the city and its harbor, the Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (OBA), proved to be an ideal place for me to take a break from working at either my home or office at Leiden University.

Pope Francis’ Call for Equal Pay for Equal Work: Toothless, But Promising

by Erin Matson Sadly, the more Pope Francis speaks, the more things stay the same. (Philip Chidell / Shutterstock.com) The patriarch of the world’s largest patriarchy has done it again. Pope Francis ruffled feathers once more Wednesday in an address on marriage and family by calling for an end to the gender wage gap. “Why […]

Pope Francis’ Remarks About Birth Control ‘Methods’ Offend Pro-Choice Catholics

by Martha Kempner January 21, 2015 – 1:15 pm Pope Francis, on his way home from his visit to the Philippines this week, raised eyebrows when he said that Catholics don’t have to have so many children: “Some think, excuse me if I use the word, that in order to be good Catholics, we have […]

Working Paper, No.5 – Pope’s visit to Brazil, by Washington Castilhos

In 2007, the Pope’s visit to Brazil mobilized groups in opposition to the Vatican’s moral dogmatism. In support of these groups, SPW, in close collaboration with CLAM, has produced short articles to illuminate the larger social and political context within which the Pope’s visit occurred. This series of articles comprises the SPW 5th Working Paper […]