Highlights from last week include – three Derby men guilty of gay hate crime, gay cleric threatening to sue the Church of England, rise in the number of women professors in the UK and more racial diversity on women’s magazines’ covers.
In the first prosecution of its kind since the Equality Act 2010 came into force, three men were found guilty of gay hate crime after handing out leaflets calling for homosexual people to be given the death sentence. Ihjaz Ali, 42, Kabir Ahmed, 28, and Razwan Javed, 27 had distributed a leaflet entitled ‘Death Penalty?’ arguing for using capital punishment to rid the society of homosexuality at a mosque and through letterboxes. All of them were charged for stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Conflict between religion and sexual orientation is not uncommon. Last week we also heard that a gay cleric, Jeffrey John, is considering suing the Church of England for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In 2003, Dr John was forced to step down from becoming Bishop of Reading because of his sexuality after protests from traditionalists. He was also a candidate for Bishop of Southwark in 2010 but was rejected, again because of his sexual orientation. The church declined to comment.
In a very significant piece of news, HESA (Higher Education Statistic Agency) figures showed a 4% increase in the number of women professors in the UK last year. However, they are still heavily outnumbered by men and make up just under 20% of those holding the senior post. The general secretary of the University and College Union, Sally Hunt, welcomed the increase in female professors but said there was “more to be done”.
Last, we came across an interesting blog post on how women’s magazines are breaking the mould by featuring more black and Asian cover stars. The latest cover that grabbed attention was that of Psychologies which featured British-born Indian actor Archie Panjabi. Though racial diversity on magazine covers is gaining more importance now, it is far from becoming a norm. Psychologies, for example, had featured only two black or Asian stars in the past.
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