‘Nature embraces queer people’: inside the Kew show about the LGBTQ+ side of plants
The Ruizia mauritiana is a large green shrub with cascading leaves shaped like lovehearts. There’s one just off the main walkway through the magnificent Temperate House in London’s Kew Gardens, a Victorian marvel nearly 200 metres long. Among all the surrounding greenery, the plant looks unassuming – but examples of this specimen are extremely rare. […]
LGBTQ pride groups in northwestern Ontario call out Kenora MP’s silent treatment
LGBTQ pride groups in northwestern Ontario are calling for an urgent meeting with Conservative MP Eric Melillo over what they’re calling transphobic policy resolutions passed by the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC). The organizations, covering Thunder Bay to Kenora, issued a joint statement Tuesday in response to “the rise in transphobic rhetoric coming from certain […]
Appeals court upholds Tennessee and Kentucky bans on trans care for minors
A federal appeals court on Thursday allowed Tennessee and Kentucky to enforce laws banning gender-affirming medical care for minors, such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery. By a 2-1 vote, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by families of transgender children who had argued that the bans discriminated on […]
Russia: Trans woman forced into conversion therapy camp for nine months ‘had to castrate a pig’
As Russia continues to crack down on LGBTQ+ lives, one transgender woman has told PinkNews how she was forced to undergo conversion therapy, which involved “masculinity training”, and being ordered to castrate a pig. Before coming out, Ada Blakewell was inspired by stories of trans people who had shared their truth with their parents and […]
Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ law causing wave of rights abuses, activists say
The passage of one of the world’s harshest anti-gay laws by Uganda’s government has unleashed a torrent of abuse against LGBTQ people, mostly committed by private individuals, rights groups say. The Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), enacted in May, prescribes the death penalty for certain same-sex acts. At least six people have been charged under it, including two accused […]
Integrating LGBTI citizens could add $360mn to economies of Serbia and North Macedonia
New reports from the World Bank released on September 26 suggest that implementing policies to enhance the social inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals could lead to more equitable and just societies while also benefiting the economies of North Macedonia and Serbia. The research estimates that integrating LGBTI people into the economy […]
LGBTQ+ family asking for £12,000 to flee ‘hostile’ state ‘before it’s too late’
A family are desperately trying to raise $15,000 to leave Texas as they claim it becomes “more hostile” to the LGBT+ community. They say they hate to leave the home they’ve had their whole lives but they “need to act fast before it’s too late.” The fundraiser, set up by mum-of-two Kara Duncan, hopes to raise the money […]
One magazine secretly built community in the ’50s. Now it’s celebrated in L.A.’s queer history festival
When One magazine published its first issue in January 1953, it became the first widely distributed gay publication in the United States. Created by One Inc., the gay rights organization founded the year before, the pioneering magazine is celebrating its trailblazing pages and its influential 14-year run with a new exhibit in Los Angeles. Starting Sunday […]
UN refugee agency slams Braverman’s LGBTQ+ asylum comments
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has hit back at UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s highly controversial comments on the international asylum system. Braverman faced heavy backlash this week when she publicly criticised the 1951 refugee convention, claiming it was no longer fit for purpose. Elsewhere in her speech, given at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington […]
Pan-Africanism: West African gathering will push for rights of LGBT French-speakers
Defenders of the human rights of French-speaking African sexual and gender minorities will meet in Ivory Coast in November to coordinate and strengthen efforts on behalf of LGBTQ rights throughout French-speaking Africa. Fierté Afrique Francophone is inviting all defenders of sexual and gender minority rights in French-speaking Africa to come to Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, this November […]
Uganda’s anti-gay law has turned camps into prisons for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers
Uganda is home to the largest refugee population in Africa – and the third largest in the world – and has been widely praised for its progressive policies, which allow asylum seekers to work, start businesses, and move freely. However, a new law imposing harsher penalties on the country’s sexual minorities has made life harder […]
US judge throws out Texas ban on drag acts, calls it unconstitutional
Sept 26 (Reuters) – A federal judge in Texas ruled on Tuesday that the state’s new law limiting public drag performances was an unconstitutional restriction on speech and he permanently forbid enforcement of it. “Not all people will like or condone certain performances,” U.S. District Judge David Hittner wrote. “This is no different than a […]
Queer film in Africa is rising – even in countries with the harshest anti-LGBTIQ+ laws
A recent book, Queer Bodies in African Films, studies the growing LGBTIQ+ output from film-makers around the continent, from Morocco to South Africa. In the process it analyses what queerness is and means within the context of African countries. Its author, Gibson Ncube, is a lecturer and scholar who focuses his research on queerness in […]
Court demands answers on chief rabbi’s hate speech against LGBTQ, Reform Jews
The Supreme Court ordered the government on Tuesday to explain why it has not taken disciplinary action against Jerusalem Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar for comments he made against Reform Jews, the LGBTQ community, and the Women of the Wall movement. The court order came after the Reform Movement, Women of the Wall, and the […]
Slovakia Campaign Rhetoric Raises LGBTQ Concern
A year after a homophobic double murder, Slovakia’s LGBTQ community is concerned about the increase in hate speech ahead of elections on Saturday in a country where gay people have few legal rights. Former prime minister Robert Fico, whose left-wing Smer-SD party is set to win the parliamentary vote, is infamous for his frequent verbal […]
Stefanos Kasselakis wants to become Greece’s first openly LGBTQ+ prime minister
Greek-American entrepreneur Stefanos Kasselakis has become the leader of Greece’s opposition left-wing party – and has his sights set on becoming the country’s first openly LGBTQ+ prime minister. The 35-year-old former Goldman Sachs trader and shipping executive was elected leader of Syriza on Sunday (24 September), despite having no previous experience of being an MP […]
France vows ‘firm response’ to homophobic chants at Ligue 1 football match
During Sunday’s match between bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille groups of fans chanted lines such as “Marseille are faggots” and “we will hang them by the balls, but sadly they don’t have any”. The chants – which did not appear targeted at individual players or fans – went on for close to 15 minutes, […]
Australian Human Rights Committee Set to Deny Lesbian Group’s Request to Hold Event for ‘Lesbian-Born-Females’ Only
The Australian Human Rights Commission appears set to bar a lesbian group from hosting an event exclusively for “lesbians born female” after at least 14 activist organizations spoke out against the event, warning it could isolate trans women. The Lesbian Action Group, based in Melbourne, had asked for a temporary five-year exemption under the country’s […]
Nadra resumes registration of transgender persons
The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) on Monday resumed the registration of transgender persons, almost three months after it had halted the process. Following the May 2023 ruling of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) against the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018, Nadra had halted the ‘X’ National Identity Card […]
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bills to bolster protections for LGBTQ people
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several bills over the weekend aimed at bolstering the state’s protections for LGBTQ people, after issuing a controversial veto that was criticized by advocates. The new laws include legislation that focuses on support for LGBTQ youth. One law sets timelines for required cultural competency training for public school teachers and […]
Appellate court bans gay book again after govt appeal
PUTRAJAYA (Sept 25): The Court of Appeal on Monday (Sept 25) reimposed the ban on a 2013 publication titled “Gay is Okay! A Christian Perspective” that was ordered by the Home Ministry in 2020, after the High Court had on Feb 22, 2022 lifted the prohibition on the book. This follows a majority 2-1 decision […]
Poland: Donald Tusk promises new laws for ‘victimised’ LGBTQ+ community
During a meeting in the northwest town of Pia, Tusk said that his party has two bills prepared that would benefit LGBTQ+ Poles – one to make it easier for trans people in Poland to self-identify and a second to legally recognise same-sex civil partnerships. The Civic Platform (PO) leader’s declaration came after a secondary school senior asked […]
An annual survey from the Census Bureau aims for better data on the LGBTQ+ population
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST: What is your current gender? And what best represents how you think of yourself? Gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual – or do you prefer a different term? Those are some of the kinds of survey questions the Census Bureau wants to test next year. It’s part of a long-running push for better statistics about […]
No harassment of LGBT community will be allowed, says Anwar
PETALING JAYA: The government will not condone excessive action or harassment against those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. However, he added in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in New York on Saturday (Sept 23) that Malaysia will never recognise LGBT rights. “Muslims and non-Muslims alike, […]
OPINION: Protecting undocumented immigrants and Dreamers is a queer rights issue
In 2012, an undocumented immigrant from Indonesia named Rio Djiwandana began his studies at Georgetown University. During his first semester, he enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Then President Barack Obama had just launched DACA, which temporarily prevented the deportation of immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. These young […]
China fuels global surge in mpox cases as LGBTQ+ stigma hampers response
China is fuelling a global surge in mpox cases, accounting for the majority of new cases reported in September, according to the World Health Organization. The number of weekly cases reported globally increased by 328% in the week to 10 September, data shows. Most of that rise came from China, where more than 500 new […]
Turkey Targets LGBTQ Community as Erdogan Touts Family Values
As the Turkish government has stepped up its pledges to protect family values, members of the LGBTQ community in the country say they increasingly feel targeted. During his United Nations General Assembly speech in New York, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan argued that “the institution of the family” was under attack. “Defending family and [the] […]
‘The state says our kids don’t exist’ – how LGBT life is changing in Italy
Italian authorities are bringing in new measures targeting LGBT families and making it harder for them to have children. Many same-sex parents feel that a new law, which would make it illegal to have surrogacy abroad, is a personal attack against them. “We have two options: to stay in Italy and face prison, or to […]
Attendees of march against LGBTQ education don’t represent all Muslims, says professor
Some of the protesters at this week’s march against LGBTQ-inclusive education in Halifax were noted to be wearing visible signs of their Muslim faith. But Syed Adnan Hussain, an associate professor of religion at Saint Mary’s University, says objecting to LGBTQ rights has little to do with core Islamic beliefs. He says there’s no explicit […]
Transgender athletes are STILL being allowed to run in UK women’s races, six months after being banned, through a loophole in the rules… as rival runners ‘fear death threats’ if they speak out
Transgender athletes are still able to run in the female category of UK women’s races almost six months after a ban was introduced to prevent them from doing so. The strict clampdown by UK Athletics was introduced in March but a glaring loophole in the rules, which were brought into effect to deny those who […]