Femen take their tops off for LGBT rights at the Vatican

A blog about human rights in their many forms.

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Pope Benedict XVI may have gotten an eyeful on Sunday while he gave his weekly address, as four members of Femen, the Ukrainian, topless protest group, interrupted prayers at St. Peter's square to protest the Church's stance on same-sex adoption.

With bare breasts that read "Shut Up" and "In Gay We Trust," the women were quickly detained by Vatican police, but not before one observer attempted to bash the protesters with an umbrella, according to RT.

The Church reiterated its opposition to adoption for same sex couples this week, after a court in Italy ruled in favor of it in a landmark case.

Pope Benedict said that gay couples do not have the "right" do adopt, reports Reuters, and Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano ran an editorial on Sunday reinforcing the Church's position.

More from GlobalPost: Analysis: The topless revolution is here

The members of Femen reportedly screamed "Homophobes shut up," interrupting the pope and gaining an angry response from his audience, before they were all arrested.

While they began as a women's rights protest group that focused on government corruption, human trafficking and sex slavery, Femen has taken up a number of different causes, most recently LGBT rights.

For more of GlobalPost's reporting on LGBT issues around the world, check out our Special Report "The Rainbow Struggle: A Global Battle Over Gay Rights."

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/rights/femen-take-their-tops-lgbt-rights-at-the-vatican

Today, there are ongoing struggles for human rights in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the Americas and every corner of the world. When we talk about rights today, we rarely think of just how many there are, and how often they’re infringed upon or taken away. It’s easy to forget that the rights many take for granted are the very same others die fighting for.

The arc of the modern human rights movement is born of the aftermath of World War II with the formation of the United Nations General Assembly and its adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This is a reported blog dedicated to highlighting these basic human rights, how they are defined, why they are needed and who are the people struggling to uphold them. The blog is also a way for us to provide GlobalPost’s in-depth reporting and foundation-supported Special Reports — on rights relating to labor, gender, sexuality, the environment, the Internet, children, speech and assembly, and more — with steady updates, insights and analysis worth sharing. This is a blog called RIGHTS, but the story telling here about those rights are not intended as advocacy and will always stay true to GlobalPost’s reporting standards of fairness, accuracy and independence.

Alex Pearlman

GlobalPost web producer for 'Special Reports.' read more

Kevin Douglas Grant

GlobalPost deputy editor for 'Special Reports.' read more

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