Gay choked
Teenagers fined for choking gay student on London Underground
We recently surveyed thousands of adolescent Australians about their experiences of strangulation (or choking) during sex and found more than half (57%) reported being strangled by a partner during sex. About half (51%) said they had strangled their partner during sex.
For some people, strangulation is a high-risk but acceptable part of consensual sex, and it is important not to stigmatise people who use it.
But strangulation carries significant risks and harms to those who life it, including the possibility of serious injury or even death, sometimes months after the event.
Participants most commonly reported first becoming aware of strangulation during sex when they were around 16–18 years old (29%), or during early adulthood, 19–21 years (24%).
People also reported they were exposed to information about or depictions of strangulation during sex through various sources, most commonly via pornography (61%), but also through movies (40%), friends (32%), social media (31%) and discussions with current or potential partners (29%).
Rates highest among gender-diverse people
We surveyed 4,702 Australians aged between 18 and 35 who had previously had a sexual experience.
Programs
What is the LGBTQ+ “panic” defense?
The LGBTQ+ “panic” defense is a legal tactic wherein defendants charged with violent crimes weaponize their victim’s real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity/expression to reduce or evade criminal liability. It is not a freestanding defense to criminal liability. Rather, the defense is a legal tactic that bolsters other defenses, such as insanity, provocation, or self-defense. When a defendant uses the LGBTQ+ “panic” defense, they argue that their violent actions are both explained and excused by their victim’s authentic or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. The goal of this plan is to employ homophobia and transphobia to persuade a jury into fully or partially acquitting the defendant. Whether or not this appeal to bigotry is successful in court, every time a defendant invokes the LGBTQ+ “panic” defense, they reinforce the dangerous and discredited doctrine that LGBTQ+ lives are worth less than others.
Matthew Shepard’s murder trial is one of the most recognized cases featuring the LGTBQ+ “panic” defense. In 1998, two men brutally beat the 21-year-old college student
For many gay men in conservative Chechnya, living in anxiety for their lives is commonplace
— -- They call themselves survivors. Two Chechen men who agreed to share their story say they have been forced into hiding and their lives are in danger simply because they are gay.
They say they are so terrified, even with a place in a secret safe dwelling outside of Moscow, that they asked ABC News' “Nightline” not to unveil their identities so they can participate, without fear of reprisal, the details of their lives in the shadows. All interviews are translated from Russian.
The two men, who we have chosen to call “Danill” and “Dimitry,” spoke with ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Terry Moran and said they fled Chechnya because authorities were rounding up and arresting male lover people.
“Because the rounding up of homosexuals had begun,” Danill said. “And it was a brand-new level of rounding up.”
Bigotry against LGBT people in Russia has been on the rise in recent years. Human Rights Watch has collected disturbing images of men allegedly being choked, lost and violated -- targeted, they declare, because of their sexuality -- and repressive government policies have fueled the hatred.
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