Throughout the world, persons who are identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and\/or transgender (LGBT) often face pervasive discrimination which sometimes includes state-sanctioned violence and the possibility of execution. Laws that punish people for who they are or are perceived to be create a deep culture of hatred that can place LGBT people and their allies in grave risk. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Russia, the host of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, imposed a series of draconian restrictions prohibiting positive expressions about LGBT people. The new law coincides with brutal treatment by police of those protesting the restrictions and widespread arrest of activists.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Uganda\u2019s laws, made significantly more draconian in late February 2014, criminalize homosexual sex acts, with life sentences imposed for repeat \u201coffenders.\u201d Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has blamed his country\u2019s economic problems on LGBT people and has increased political oppression, beating and arresting LGBT citizens. <\/b>Nigeria passed a law providing a 10-year prison sentence for anyone who promotes gay rights, associates with LGBT organizations, or publically displays their same-sex relationship. In Iran and Saudi Arabia, a conviction for a non-heterosexual sexual activity frequently results in a swift, public execution. In December of 2011, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report detailing hate-motivated bias, torture, detention, discrimination and even death suffered by LGBT people across the world, finding “that violence against LGBT persons tends to be especially vicious compared to other bias-motivated crimes.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs believes that:<\/b><\/p>\n The Community Relations Field should:<\/b><\/p>\n Abstentions:<\/strong> Throughout the world, persons who are identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and\/or transgender (LGBT) often face pervasive discrimination which sometimes includes state-sanctioned violence and the possibility of execution. Laws that punish people for who they are or are perceived to be create a deep culture of hatred that can place LGBT people and their allies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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Orthodox Union<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"