The Free

1,300 million Indians get Right to have Gay Sex

Today 1.3 billion people in India can now have gay sex without risking prison. A British law from 1860 has finally been struck down.

Campaigners celebrate as India decriminalises homosexualitelebrations erupt in India after landmark gay rights ruling – video

by Michael Safi, the Guardian, in Delhi. Celebrations erupted in India after the supreme court unanimously ruled to decriminalise homosexual sex in a landmark judgment for gay rights.

A five-judge bench at the country’s highest court ruled that a 160-year-old law banning sex “against the order of nature” amounted to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and was unconstitutional. The judgment, after 24 years of legal challenges, triggered elation among LGBT Indians and their allies across the country who held all-night parties in nightclubs in major cities.

In Mumbai, people marched carrying a giant rainbow banner; in Bangalore they draped themselves in the LBGT flag and let off scores of balloons. In Delhi’s luxury Lalit hotel, run by one of the activists who fought Thursday’s case, and home to one of the city’s furtively gay-friendly nightclubs, staff danced in the lobby.

“Criminalising carnal intercourse under section 377 Indian penal code is irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary,” said the chief justice, Dipak Misra, in his decision, announced at about 11.30am on Thursday.

DESiblitz> Cultural (article updated due to legalisation victory)

What Legalising Gay Rights in India really means

Gay rights in India is not just a legal issue but one that challenges its culture and values. Continue reading “1,300 million Indians get Right to have Gay Sex”

FIRST EVICTIONS BEGIN! Climate Solidarity Alert: occupied #Hambacher Forest

PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT 06.09.18

TREEHOUSES BEING EVICTED, TREES CUT,

TODAY MARKS DAY X

https://hambachforest.org/blog/ The polices forces of NRW have currently begun the eviction of treehouses in the Hambach Forest occupation. They will now be violently removing activists and destroying the infrastructure of the occupation, in order to prepare for RWEs continued clearing of the 12.000 year old Hambach Forest.

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In this way Herbert Reul (CDU), interior minister of the state of Northrhine-Westphalia, is actively attacking climate justice and democratic civil rights, in support of fossil-fuel giant RWE and the coal-lobby, clearly showing the corruption inherent in the capitalist system.

With the eviction of the first tree houses, the Hambach Forest occupation, alongside several action-alliances (including Ende Gelände, Aktion Unterholz, and Buirer Für Buir) are calling out: Day X is here, and a new phase of the struggle has begun.

In the next days, while RWE employees, with support from the hired soldiers of the German state, attempt to evict the occupation, hundreds of people will join the forest struggle, in order to protect the climate justice protest-camp, and there are many ways to take part. See the text “How do I become active?” for more information. Continue reading “FIRST EVICTIONS BEGIN! Climate Solidarity Alert: occupied #Hambacher Forest”

#FreeSarahAndSean: Criminalisation of Life-savers Continues

via Enough is Enough! Originally by Ioanna Schuppert

Seán, Sarah and Nassos have now been in custody for over two weeks. They have been arrested because of their work with refugees on Lesvos.

For Seán, this mainly includes search and rescue of and shoreline response to migrant boats arriving from Turkey – essentially ensuring that people do not die or come to serious harm on this crossing.

Sarah also played a large role in Search and Rescue on Lesvos, but she is also a very important spokesperson for this issue and has raised a lot of money through public speaking, including, for example at TedX and Harvard University.

Sarah is a refugee herself, and gained a lot of public attention when, during her own crossing from Turkey in 2015, the boat broke down and she, along with three other people, jumped into the water and helped bring it to shore, saving the lives of 20 people. Continue reading “#FreeSarahAndSean: Criminalisation of Life-savers Continues”

free downloads .. New Zines and Anarchist Pamphlets in Aug.’18..

via Enough is Enough! Originally published by Sprout Distro.

Here’s our (Sprout Distro) monthly round-up of anarchist zines and pamphlets published over the past month. If you have suggestions for titles to include next month, please get in touch. Previous months of these posts are available here.

All previously featured zines are available on Archive.org. As usual, we encourage folks to print these out, share them with friends or random people on the street, and have face-to-face conversations..

Zines Published in August 2018 Continue reading “free downloads .. New Zines and Anarchist Pamphlets in Aug.’18..”

Spain stops selling bombs to Saudi Arabia

Yemeni rescue workers search for body parts amid the rubble of a destroyed building following a Saudi airstrike. see also: Yemen: Arms sales pass $3 billion as daily Massacres continue. Spanish Firefighter halts Arms Loading and is Punished

Dear Kitty. Some blog

This 11 May 2018 video says about itself:

Children buried: Saudi strike in Yemen produces heartbreaking images
Six civilians are dead and another injured in Yemen after an airstrike said to be carried out by the Saudi-led coalition hit a family home. The rescue efforts produced dramatic and jarring images of children trapped under the rubble. RT America’s Dan Cohen has this report. WARNING: GRAPHIC FOOTAGE.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

Spain stops delivery of bombs to Saudi Arabia because of war in Yemen
Spain has halted the supply of bombs to Saudi Arabia because of concerns about their use in Yemen. The Spanish Ministry of Defense confirms the news to Spanish media, but does not publish any details.
Spain signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia in 2015 on the sale of 400 laser-controlled bombs. 9.2 million euros were paid for this. The Spanish government…

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