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Most Americans now count LGBT people as relatives, friends or co-workers, and support for LGBT rights is increasingly becoming the norm in the United States. As our country’s public attitudes shift, religious perspectives on LGBT rights are explored by journalists whose reporting contributes to the evolving understanding of sexuality and faith in society.
But LGBT people do not enjoy the same rights globally. Seventy-eight countries criminalize homosexual acts; the death penalty is on the books in seven. In countries where sexual minorities face discrimination or violence, the media often does not report voices calling for tolerance—even those coming from influential religious leaders.
The continued repression of LGBT people is an international crisis, exacerbated by the lack of dialogue that prevents common ground and mutual understanding.
In a series of public events titled "Faith, Freedom, Sexuality & Silence," presented by the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute and the Pulitzer Center, award-winning journalists and Pulitzer Center grantees will discuss their reporting on LGBT issues internationally, focusing on the influence of religion on public attitudes toward LGBT people. The goal of these events is to build greater awareness within our own communities of the importance of sustained engagement between religious communities, LGBT rights advocates, and the public, and the role of journalists in promoting this dialogue globally.
The "Faith, Freedom, Sexuality & Silence" series:
We Are Kuchus: Investigating the roots of homophobia in Uganda
Photojournalist Daniella Zalcman
Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014
Crackdown in the New Russia: LGBT rights in Russia and Crimea
Journalist Nora Fitzgerald and photojournalist Misha Friedman
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Shame: HIV/AIDS and the Church in Jamaica
Writer and poet Kwame Dawes and photojournalist and filmmaker Andre Lambertson
Thursday, July 16, 2015
India’s Third Gender: Transgendered Women in Hindu Society
Journalist Michael E. Hayden and photojournalist Sami Siva
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
All events will be held at the
Newseum
Knight Conference Center,
555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001