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Published by Reuters Olympics vs. COVID TOKYO (Reuters) -Olympic host city Tokyo entered a new state of emergency on Monday, less than two weeks before the Games begin amid worries about whether the measures can stem a rise in COVID-19 cases. Organisers last week announced that spectators would be banned from nearly all venues. Spectators from abroad were already banned months ago, and officials are now asking residents to watch the Games on TV to keep the movement of people, which could spread contagion, to a minimum. Opinion polls have consistently shown the Japanese public is concerned about going ahead with the Games during the pandemic. Prime Mininster Yoshihide Suga’s handling of the pandemic – including an initially slow vaccination rollout – has eroded his support. The issue is especially sensitive ahead of a national election and a ruling party leadership race due later this year. “We would ask people to support athletes from home,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on a Sunday TV programme. The Games, postponed from last year because of the pandemic, run from July 23 to August 8, while the state of emergency – the capital’s fourth – lasts until August 22, shortly before the Paralympics begin. The government and organisers had long seen the Games as a chance to display Japan’s recovery from a devastating 2011 earthquake and nuclear crisis. On Saturday, the governor of Fukushima prefecture, site of the nuclear disaster, said spectators would also be banned from softball and baseball games there, reversing an earlier decision. RISING TOKYO INFECTIONS World No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic said on Sunday he was “50-50” about competing at the Tokyo Olympics following the organisers’ decision to ban fans from attending and limits on the number of people he can take to the Games. Some of the sport’s biggest names, including Rafa Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka, Nick Kyrgios, Serena Williams and Simona Halep have already said that they will skip the Games. Japan has recorded more than 815,440 COVID-19 cases and nearly 15,000 deaths. Recent rises in Tokyo have been particularly worrisome amid a vaccination rollout that got off to a slow start and has faced supply glitches after speeding up. Only about 28% of the population has received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. Tokyo recorded 502 new cases on Sunday, the 23rd straight day of week-on-week gains, and experts worry that the public has grown weary of restrictions, mostly voluntary, on activities. The coronavirus curbs include asking restaurants to close early and to stop serving alcohol in exchange for a government subsidy, measures that have hit the eateries hard and caused many to complain of unfairness as the Games are set to go ahead. Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is also in charge of the pandemic response, sparked outrage when he suggested late on Thursday he would ask banks to put pressure on eateries that do not comply with the stricter measures. In an about-face, the government’s top spokesperson Kato said on Friday it had decided banks would not be asked to press restaurants and bars that do not follow the government request to stop serving alcohol under the emergency restrictions. On Monday, “Anyone but LDP or Komeito” was trending on Twitter, a reference to voting for political parties other than Suga’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party or its junior coalition partner, the Komeito, in the coming parliamentary election. “I’m not a restaurateur, but this administration that couldn’t come up with effective anti-coronavirus steps despite having a year to get ready for the Olympics… is no good,” said one angry Twitter user. (Reporting by Linda Sieg; Editing by Michael Perry and Gareth Jones) Olympics vs. Covid previously on Towleroad View the full article

Hungary gay and LGBTQ advocates staged a 30-foot high protest across from the nation’s parliament on Thursday, filling the landscape with a 10-meter heart displaying the Progress Pride flag on the same day the country’s latest anti-LGTQ legislation went into effect. Organized by Hatter Society, Hungary’s largest LGBTQ activist organization, the action was the first in what was described as a continued civil disobedience campaign against the Hungarian government’s efforts to criminalize and dehumanize LGBTQ people under Prime Minister Viktor Orban. “We think that the only path we can pursue is civil disobedience, and we will not change anything about our activities,” Hatter Society spokesperson Luca Dudits told the Associated Press. Advocacy group Amnesty International Hungary participated in Thursday’s demonstration as well, stating, “We protest at Hungary’s Parliament and stand with the 100,000 LGBTQ youth who will face the terrible consequences.” The law that went into effect Thursday outlaws showing content depicting homosexuality or trans identities to minors. It also requires government approval for an organization to hold an educational program discussing sexual orientation in Hungarian schools. “[The law] stigmatizes LGBTQ people and actually puts LGBTQ youth more … in danger of bullying and harassment in schools and in their families as well,” Dudits said. European Union officials continued their decrying of the homophobic and transphobic law in the leadup to its enacting Thursday. EU executive Commission head Ursula von der Leyen called the law a”disgrace” in a speech to the European Parliament Wednesday, stating, “This legislation uses the protection of children as an excuse to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation.” The EU adopted a resolution Thursday condemning Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ legislation “in the strongest possible terms” for its “intentional and premeditated example of the gradual dismantling of fundamental rights in Hungary.” Amnesty International Hungary director David Vig lauded the EU’s support for their fight. “We expect EU institutions to act firmly and the European Commission to start an infringement procedure,” Vig told the Associated Press. “This is in clear contradiction not just with EU values, but also with binding EU law and the commission’s LGBTQ strategy.” Hungary Gay: Previously on Towleroad Hungary Gay and LGBTQ Activists Protest Latest Anti-LGBTQ Law with 30-Foot Rainbow Heart Brian Bell July 10, 2021 Read More Dutch Prime Minister Tells Hungary’s Orban to Respect LGBT rights or leave EU Michael Goff June 25, 2021 Read More League Forbids Rainbow-lit Munich Stadium For Hungary Match to Protest Anti-Gay Laws. So Fans, Other Stadiums Put Rainbows Everywhere Brian Bell June 24, 2021 Read More Hungary LGBTQ Crisis: Leader Has Wiped Out Marriage, Adoption, Gender Rights; Now, Ties to Paedophilia, ‘Morally There is No Difference’ Umut Korkut, The Conversation June 18, 2021 Read More Hungary Bans Same-Sex Adoption, Passes Constitutional Amendment Defining ‘Family’ as ‘Man-Woman Marriage’ Days After Lawmaker is Busted in 25-Person Gay Orgy Andy Towle December 15, 2020 Read More Anti-LGBTQ Hungarian Lawmaker Resigns After Getting Busted at COVID Lockdown Orgy in Gay Nightclub Andy Towle December 1, 2020 Read More View the full article