Out in the World: 60 LGBTQ Afghan refugees arrive in Canada
The Canadian government has quietly relocated 60 LGBTQ Afghan refugees from Pakistan to the North American country. Afghan refugees flew out of Islamabad to Nova Scotia around April 30, according to gay Afghan American activist Nemat Sadat in a May 1 email announcing the resettlement effort. Most of the Afghan refugees were from a list […]
Home Office admits LGBTQI+ refugees could be persecuted if sent to Rwanda
The Home Office has admitted that lesbian, gay and bisexual refugees could be persecuted if sent to Rwanda – but still plans to fly them 4,000 miles to Kigali. The department’s equality impact assessment for the policy states there are “concerns” over the treatment of some LGBTQI+ people in the east African country, and that investigations point […]
Cameroon: Rising Violence Against LGBTI People.
Security forces in Cameroon are failing to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people from violent attacks and instead are arresting the victims, Human Rights Watch said today. There has been an uptick in violence and abuse against LGBTI people in Cameroon in 2022, according to a leading civil society group. Since March […]
Gender Queer’ to stay on school library shelf, Hudson Board of Education decides.
After months of discussion and debate, the Hudson City Schools Board of Education has decided to keep a popular LGBTQ+ book on the library shelves. Hudson students, parents and community members attended Monday nights meeting. As Interim-Superintendent Steven Farnsworth said he would like “Gender Queer” to remain on the shelves at Hudson High School, most […]
Kansas’ first transgender lawmaker reflects on ‘emotionally charged’ legislative session.
State Rep. Stephanie Byers of Wichita has endured a session in which Republicans tried to pass bills curbing rights of trans kids and a fellow lawmaker complained about sharing a restroom with her. The 2022 Kansas legislative session is wrapping up and for state Rep. Stephanie Byers, the state’s first openly transgender lawmaker, it has […]
Popular Indonesian podcast faces backlash over gay couple episode Popular Indonesian podcast faces backlash over gay couple episode.
A popular Joe Rogan-esque podcast in Indonesia is facing backlash and calls for boycott from the country’s conservatives over a recent episode featuring a gay married couple. Magician-turned-fitness enthusiast-turned-TV personality Deddy Corbuzier, who hosts one of the most popular podcasts in Indonesia called Close the Door, often invites guests from all walks of life — […]
Polish Court Rejects Case Against ‘LGBT-Free Zones’ Activist.
A court in the Polish city of Rzeszów has thrown out a case against Bartosz Staszewski, an LGBT rights activist who was being sued by the Niebylec commune for defamation. Niebylec, a village in southeastern Poland, is home to about 10,000 people. In 2019, along with dozens of communities across Poland, it passed a resolution […]
Labor commits to religious freedom and LGBTQ protections but no timeline.
Labor will seek to legislate a religious discrimination act and scrap the ability of schools to expel gay and transgender students at the same time should it win government, but won’t give a timeline for pursuing the issue in the next parliament. Tensions resurfaced in the Liberal Party on Sunday as Prime Minister Scott Morrison […]
Gay Village welcome for Commonwealth visitors from where homosexuality is a sin
Birmingham’s Gay Village will be a ‘place of welcome for everyone’ during the Commonwealth Games , Pride chief Lawrence Barton said today. Mr Barton – who chairs Southside BID – said the LGBTQ+ community would welcome the world ‘with open arms’ despite the harsh anti-LGBTQ+ laws which still exist in many Commonwealth countries. Over half of Commonwealth countries criminalise homosexuality – with some nations […]
Buttigieg on abortion-LGBTQ+ rights as new poll shows 64% support Roe
CHICAGO – U. S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg delivering remarks at a symposium at The University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics on Wednesday blasted Republicans for the reignited culture wars especially targeting women’s reproductive rights and Trans Americans. Buttigieg outlined the facts that on several issues of importance to everyday Americans, the GOP was unable […]
Writing poetry helped me realise I didn’t have to conform to gender norms
When Peter Scalpello started writing their debut poetry collection, they could never have known just how much they would discover about themselves along the way. Peter’s debut was published in March by Cipher Press, the queer UK-based publishing house that’s amplifying LGBT+ voices. Limbic is their latest find – Peter’s poetry explores chemsex, masculinity, queerness and sexual violence through the prism […]
Queer Nigerians protest proposed anti-trans ‘cross-dressing’ ban
Dozens of LGBTQ protesters gathered Sunday in the capital of Nigeria to oppose anti-trans legislators’ proposal to ban “cross-dressing”. The bill, which seeks to amend a 2013 act banning same-sex marriage, would result in queer people who dress outside of expected gender norms imprisoned for up to six months or slapped with a hefty fine. […]
Article: Russian Orthodox Church Under Threat Of EU Sanctions
The European Union is debating on imposing sanctions on Patriarch Kirill, the head of The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), also known as the Moscow Patriarchate, who leads about 100 million believers. The EU has accused him of supporting the war in Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin. The sanctions would entail an asset freeze and a […]
Federal judge leaves open possibility Alabama transgender medicine law could go into effect
A federal judge Friday afternoon floated the possibility that state law making medication for transgender youth illegal could go into effect on Sunday without a ruling on a motion from families of transgender youth and physicians seeking to block the law. But U.S. District Judge Liles C. Burke said he and his staff would be […]
Minister publishes update on work to disregard historic convictions of gay and bisexual men
The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, has published a progress report from the Working Group to examine the ‘Disregard of Convictions for Certain Qualifying Offences Related to Consensual Sexual Activity between Men’. The working group was established in March 2021 and consists of representatives from the Department of Justice, An Garda Síochána, the Irish Human […]
Biden taps 1st Black woman, LGBT White House press secretary
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday named Karine Jean-Pierre to be the next White House press secretary, the first Black woman and openly LGBTQ person to serve in the role. Incumbent Jen Psaki is set to leave the post next week. Jean-Pierre takes on the role as the White House faces an uphill battle […]
Obergefell was central to the Court’s landmark ruling on gay marriage. Now he’s terrified
In his draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito tries to limit the blast radius of his ruling by writing that abortion is fundamentally different from other privacy matters — like contraception and marriage equality — that have historically challenged the court. “The abortion right,” Alito writes, is “critically different from […]
Sydney’s Anglican Schools Livid Over Decree Against Gay Marriage
Schools have been left reeling after revelations a decree by the Sydney diocese was addressed to school leaders asking them to sign a document affirming, they believe marriage is between a man and a woman only. An “issue of consternation”, several principals have raised their concerns to the Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel over the 15-year-old statement […]
Trans Ukrainians being forced back into closet as cruel despot Putin’s bloodthirsty war rages on
LGBT+ Ukrainians have been living in fear and uncertainty ever since Russia launched its full scale invasion in February. Now, some are retreating into the closet in the face of anti-LGBT+ aggression, a prominent Ukrainian LGBT+ rights activist has revealed. Anna Leonova is director of Gay Alliance Ukraine, an advocacy group that works to support the community. She […]
LGBT Community Under Increased Threat In Colombian Port Town
Buenaventura, a major Afro-Colombian port city on Colombia’s western coast, has long been regarded as one of the country’s most dangerous cities. Armed groups would dismember victims and dispose of their remains in the nearby Pacific Ocean, which was where the “casas de pique” (Spanish for chop houses) operated. The conservative and machista, or male […]
Call for transnational gay spouse fix
Human rights and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups on Wednesday urged the government to expedite a proposed amendment to allow all transnational same-sex couples to register their marriage in Taiwan. Although Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage in 2019, the Ministry of the Interior has over the past two years followed a directive that prohibits same-sex couples from registering […]
From Ugandan Oppression To Detroit Freedom: One Gay Immigrant’s Story
Things were never great between Alistair Kiyingi and his father, but by 2017, they were getting worse, fast. In Kampala, Uganda, where his family lived, “there are not so many known homosexuals,” and it was becoming increasingly obvious Alistair was one of them. He’d been named and outed in a scurrilous online publication, and arrested […]
Australian sentenced to 12 years in prison for 1988 cliff-top murder of gay American Scott Johnson.
An Australian court sentenced a man to 12 years behind bars Tuesday over the murder of a gay American in Sydney three decades ago, in a case that highlighted a series of homophobic attacks from that era. Scott Phillip White, 51, had pleaded guilty to murdering U.S. mathematician Scott Johnson, whose body was found at […]
Greece: Letting police officers involved in brutal death of LGBTI activist off the hook sends chilling sign of impunity.
Reacting to today’s decision by the Athens Mixed Jury Court acquitting four police officers of involvement in the death of LGBTI activist Zak Kostopoulos, Glykeria Arapi, Director of Amnesty International Greece said: “It beggars belief that despite footage showing police using unnecessary force to arrest Zak while he lay dying on the ground, no officer […]
Queer Nigerians stage defiant protest as government tries to ban ‘crossdressing’.
Around 50 LGBT+ activists took to the streets of Abuja, Nigeria, to protest a reviled bill that would make “crossdressing” illegal. The bill, which seeks to amend a 2013 act banning same-sex marriage, would result in queer people who dress outside of expected gender norms imprisoned for up to six months or slapped with a […]
LGBTQ Agenda: 19 states plan laws to support trans kids.
LGBTQ lawmakers from 19 states have or will introduce laws to protect trans kids from civil and criminal penalties when seeking gender-affirming care. At a virtual press conference May 3 with representatives from several states, gay California Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced a coalition of LGBTQ legislators, health providers, and civil rights groups from […]
Anti-LGBTQ laws inspire many LGBTQ people to seek public office.
The avalanche of anti-LGBTQ laws before state legislatures this year is inspiring LGBTQ candidates to seek office. This is even happening in smaller cities and rural parts of the U.S. Some statehouses across the country are trying to limit conversations about sexuality and gender identity in schools or block gender-affirming care for trans children. But […]
Young queer people in regional SA find their voice through costume program.
Like many young queer people in regional South Australia, Levi Button has sometimes found it hard to express themself to friends and family. But a new program in one Riverland town is helping Levi and other LGBTQIA+ youth find their voice, even if it means they aren’t speaking. Riverland Youth Theatre’s There I Am program […]
Bosnia’s LGBT Community Hails ‘Historic’ Ruling Against Discrimination, Hate.
For all of Dina Bajraktarevic’s adult life, Bosnia-Herzegovina has had a law in place banning discrimination, including based on sexual orientation or gender identity. But the 25-year-old native of Tuzla, in northeastern Bosnia, has never felt protected, particularly when she was at her most vulnerable. On a visit to the gynecologist, for instance, after responding […]
‘Very scary’ leaked draft of abortion ruling could endanger LGBTQ decisions too.
A purported draft of what is believed to be the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling on whether to overturn a long-standing decision protecting the right to abortion not only indicates the court will overturn that decision — Roe v. Wade — but also that it is poised to overturn landmark pro-LGBT decisions. The draft, reported […]