Mounir Baatour, founder of the Tunisian Liberal Party, recently announced his candidacy for president, vowing to bring about justice and equality in the Muslim-majority, North African nation. But no political parties have responded negatively to my announcement. Law of the Tunisian criminal justice system defines homosexuality as a crime and penalizes people convicted of being homosexual with up to three years in prison. Both elections are expected to involve fierce competition among several Islamic and secular groups, including two of the most powerful political parties in the country — the Islamic Ennahda Party and the secular Nidaa Tounes party. Some experts say that Baatour is a marginal candidate and therefore his sexuality is not viewed as a major issue by many Tunisian voters. Despite Baatour's low chances of winning, some gay advocacy groups have expressed concerns that his nomination could enrage extremist groups in the country and thus put the LGBTQ community in danger.
'Representation matters': Photo of black gay couple kissing goes viral
There's No Such Thing as a 'Gay Gene,' Large Genome Study Finds
Rather, they argue, our sexual preferences are influenced by a complex mix of our genes, environment, and life experiences. In total, just over , people were included. The researchers performed a type of analysis known as a genome-wide association study. In this study, that variable was whether a person had reported ever having sex with someone of the same sex. That means that these genetic markers were found often enough in people with a history of same-sex behavior that they could be a relevant contributor. But if even someone had all these markers at birth, the authors estimated, they would be less than 1 percent more likely to someday report same-sex behavior than someone born without them. There are likely thousands of other common genetic markers that might affect sexuality, they noted.
Ugandan LGBT activists subjected to ‘forced anal exams’ after gay sex arrests
The machine intelligence tested in the research, which was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and first reported in the Economist , was based on a sample of more than 35, facial images that men and women publicly posted on a US dating website. The data also identified certain trends, including that gay men had narrower jaws, longer noses and larger foreheads than straight men, and that gay women had larger jaws and smaller foreheads compared to straight women. While the findings have clear limits when it comes to gender and sexuality — people of color were not included in the study, and there was no consideration of transgender or bisexual people — the implications for artificial intelligence AI are vast and alarming. More frighteningly, governments that continue to prosecute LGBT people could hypothetically use the technology to out and target populations. That means building this kind of software and publicizing it is itself controversial given concerns that it could encourage harmful applications.
Just a few days ago, Tyler Hightower had only 40 Twitter followers. Now, he said his Apple Watch won't stop buzzing to alert him about replies people are leaving to a photo of him and his boyfriend sharing a kiss. The black, gay, and happy gworls are out here! Posting this because representation matters.