LGBT rights

Instead of a binding referendum or a vote in Parliament, Australia is holding a nonbinding, voluntary, postal plebiscite to determine whether Australians support same-sex marriage legalization. For many young Australians, who support marriage equality by large margins, a vote that seems designed to limit their participation is having the opposite effect.

“We don’t see one concrete fact either about hackers or about some secret probes into election meddling in almost every Western country, or on the issue of accusations of rights abuses of LGBT representatives in Chechnya,” Sergei Lavrov told journalists.

More than 100 gay men in Chechnya have been arrested and tortured, and some were killed by police, a local report says.

There’s some opposition, including from a Massachusetts anti-gay organization. But supporters in Taiwan say they have the endorsement of a bipartisan group of almost half of parliament. And marriage equality has the backing of President Tsai Ing-wen, who campaigned on the issue.

Barack Obama ended the policy of preventing gay, lesbian and bisexual soldiers from serving openly in the military. For many, it was too little, too late. But remembering what it did could make our future decisions better.