1) All that Glitters isn’t Gold
This week courts in the UK lifted a travel ban on one hit wonder “glam rock” star Gary Glitter, who has now been convicted twice of pedophilia-related charges (possession of child pornography and molestation of minors in Vietnam). Glitter is know for such 70’s musical gems as the uncomfortably titled “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah); he was placed under a travel ban in 2008, when he returned to the UK after serving a two year prison sentence in Vietnam for committing sex crimes against two girls under the age of 12. Glitter’s travel ban has now expired and he is once again free to travel abroad. Will we be seeing Gary at Sawanabumi Airport? He’s surely been thouroughly blacklisted from Vietnam at this point. Parents beware: this man is a danger to your children and good music alike.
3) Transgender Rights
In the UK, a transgender female police officer with over 20 years of dedicated military service to her name has threatened to quit the force, after being informed that she could not transfer her old military pension (accrued before her sex reassignment surgery in Thailand in 2007) to the police force, because the pension is in a man’s name.
Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, who last week made waves when he expanded state gambling laws, has signed H.3810. The act, titled “An Act Relative to Gender Identity” protects transgender individuals from discrimination in housing, education, employment, and credit. Has Massachusetts now outranked Thailand (a country notoriously tolerant of transsexuals, but still harboring deep-seated legal prejudices against them) in sexual tolerance?
3) Tasmanian Brothel Bans
In the Australian state of Tasmania, disability rights groups are claiming that Tasmanian laws passed in 2005, banning brothels in the state, have made it highly difficult for disabled individuals to access their right to hire the services of prostitutes. Advocacy groups have reported that forcing prostitutes to be self-employed has made it considerably more difficult for disabled individuals to access sex workers who are certifiably healthy, professional, and suited for their particular needs; the laws have also endangered disabled individuals’ right to sexual privacy, as the anti-brothel laws make it difficult to conceal sessions with sex workers from family members who oversee their personal finances.
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