by Elise

Brave were the marchers in this year’s Pride Parades in Warsaw, Poland; Riga, Latvia; and Split, Croatia. Heavy police protection was required at each march. While the Roman Catholic Church’s anti-Queer stand remains strong, an openly Gay man and a Transsexual person were voted into Poland’s Parliament in 2011 and a number of Croatia’s government ministers marched in the parade in Split.

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The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, a U.S. alliance of Queer anti-violence groups, reports that 2011 witnessed the highest rate of GLBT people murdered. Transgender women account for 40% of those murdered. Encouragingly, however, when Queer people of color are the victims, hate crimes charges are more likely attached to the original charges.

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The American Psychological Association’s proposal to include Intersex individuals, who are people born with atypical sex anatomy, in the upcoming edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also known as the DSM, used by mental health professionals worldwide, is drawing much criticism. The British Psychological Association objects to the unnecessary medicalisation of natural behaviors. They contend that much of the difficulties Intersex people experience are caused by social conditions, which are what need to be righted.