This Gay Man Escaped From Afghanistan. America Has Abandoned Him in a ‘Terrifying’ Limbo.
C says all he can see are tall buildings surrounding him. “It feels like I have escaped death, but now I am in a prison,” he told The Daily Beast through a translator. “I am in a boundary surrounded by four walls, not allowed to go anywhere.” C is 26, gay, originally from Kabul, and has been […]
“Jury awards $4 million to Missouri transgender student “
A Kansas City-area school district must pay a transgender student $4 million after it refused to let him use the boys’ restrooms or locker rooms, a Jackson County jury decided. The jury on Monday found the Blue Springs school district had discriminated against the student, NBC affiliate KSHB-TV reported. The school district said in a […]
Idaho: Methodist church replaces image of founding fathers with female bishop wearing LGBT scarf
A Methodist church in Boise, Idaho, has sparked controversy by replacing a vast stained glass window that depicted founding fathers Robert E Lee, George Washington, and Abe Lincoln, with an image of Leontine Kelly, the first black female bishop in the United States wearing an LGBT rainbow scarf. Officials at the Cathedral of the Rockies, a […]
E.U. members must recognize familial ties of same-sex couples and their children, top court rules
Children of same-sex couples recognized in one European Union country should be recognized by all members to guarantee their free movement, the European Union’s top court ruled Tuesday, giving a boost to the rights of same-sex parents across the continent. The case was sparked by Bulgaria’s refusal of citizenship to the infant daughter of a […]
Factbox: Chile’s presidential candidates on mining, pensions and LGBT rights
SANTIAGO, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Chile will go to the polls to elect a new president on Sunday, a stark choice between leftist former student protest leader Gabriel Boric and ultra-conservative Jose Antonio Kast. After a fragmented first-round vote, both candidates have shifted towards the center to attract moderate voters, though still offer wildly different views for […]
Barbados can ‘wipe the slate’ on LGBT+ rights as a newly-christened republic, campaigners say
In November, Barbados removed Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state and welcomed in president Sandra Mason in a historic ceremony which broke the nation’s ties with the British monarchy. Prime minister Mia Mottley also announced during the ceremony that Rihanna would be made a member of the Order of National Heroes. Before the […]
France’s parliament has voted to ban gay ‘conversion’ practices
France’s parliament has voted to ban so-called conversion therapy, joining a handful of countries that have taken steps to outlaw practices that seek to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Under the French legislation, people offering LGBTIQ+ conversion therapy could be jailed for up to two years and fined 30,000 euros ($47,500 AUD), […]
Liberia’s LGBTQ Community Faces Enormous Challenges
Being a lesbian or gay man is a non-issue. Being harmed because of who we are, is a huge issue,” Lorna Dias, Executive Coordinator of the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, said more than six years ago. Dias’ lamentation, which was provoked by the unceasing attacks, harassment, and intimidation members of her community endured […]
Senegalese lawmakers draft tougher laws against LGBT
A group of Senegalese lawmakers has drafted a law that would tighten already repressive laws against same-sex relations, lengthening potential jail terms for those convicted of LGBT+ activities, one of the legislators said on Monday. Gay sex is already punishable by up to five years in prison in Senegal, where arrests and prosecutions have risen […]
Vatican office apologises for hurting Catholic LGBTQ community
A Vatican department has apologised for “causing pain to the entire LGBTQ community” by removing from its website a link to resource material from a Catholic gay rights advocacy group. The website of the Synod of Bishops, which is organising a two-year global consultative process ahead of a major meeting in Rome in 2023, issued […]
Analysis: Hungary’s Orban banking on anti-LGBT campaign in tough re-election bid
Prime Minister Viktor Orban is casting himself as the defender of traditional Hungarian values against “LGBT ideology” for the 2022 election in which his party may be vulnerable for the first time to a newly united opposition. Identity politics, especially a hardline anti-immgration line, and disarray among Orban’s centrist and liberal-left rivals proved instrumental in […]
‘A safe place.’ For LGBT asylum seekers, a new shot at life
The church volunteers assembled furniture and hung decorations in the newly renovated apartment building. They laid out nearly every necessity, down to the bath towels, bed linens, cooking supplies and televisions. Over Thanksgiving weekend, the first residents of the home in Worcester, Massachusetts moved in: three gay men seeking asylum in the U.S. “I don’t […]
Sindh becomes first province in Pakistan to reserve seats for transgender, people of determination in local councils
Karachi: Sindh has become the first province in the country to reserve one per cent seats each for people of determination and members of the transgender community in local government councils. The proposal to reserve seats for the special persons and transgender people was formalised as the Sindh Assembly in a chaotic session passed into […]
Inclusion and Criminalisation – the two sides of the LGBTQ+ debate in Ghana
Kofi is a respectable, married man with two children. He also describes himself, however, as a “man having sex with a man” (MSM). No one in his community suspects that he has been exposed to HIV, but he tested positive and has been going to the clinic for his antiretroviral drugs on a regular basis. […]
Al-Azhar rhetoric alarms LGBTQ community
Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s highest religious authority, has warned against media content that “normalizes” homosexuality. The warning came in a Dec. 5 tweet on Al-Azhar’s official Twitter account that condemned homosexuality as “obscene ” and “reprehensible.” It also described homosexuality as “moral decadence,” noting that it “goes against the teachings of religions.” A day earlier, on Dec. 4, Al-Azhar slammed […]
Iran arrests lesbian for ‘supporting homosexuality’
The 6G Iranian and Lesbian and Transgender Network reported Tuesday on its website that an Iranian lesbian named Sarah was arrested in the province of West Azerbaijan while seeking to cross the border into Turkey. The Islamic Republic’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrested Sarah in November and, according to the pro-Iran Tasnim news agency, individuals were […]
Does victorian morality hold India’s legality of same-sex marriage at bay?
As the legality of same-sex marriage gets approval in Latin America’s Chile, the 31st such country in the world, the stand of a diverse country like India is still not clear as the long-pending subject is lying in court while the LGBTQ community says that the country is still following the Victorian law introduced by […]
Thousands urge Polish MP to kill horrific LGBT+ ‘promotion’ bill that would ban Pride
The bill has been pushed by the conservative Life and Family Foundation, which recently lobbied successfully for a restriction on abortion rights. It was introduced as a citizen’s legislative initiative, which can be submitted to the Polish parliament if it receives signatures from at least 100,000 citizens. Activists have confirmed that over 400 Catholic churches […]
Tunisia: LGBT activist’s assault seen as a pattern by police
A prominent LGBTQ activist in Tunisia has reported that two men, one dressed in police uniform, threw him to the ground, beat and kicked him during an assault they said was punishment for his “insulting” attempts to file complaints against officers for the previous mistreatment. “This was not the first time that I had been […]
How dismantling Roe v Wade could imperil other ‘core, basic human rights’
Constitutional scholars in the US said a litany of rights, from same-sex marriage and sex to birth control and in vitro fertilization, could come into question if the country’s highest court moves to overrule or weaken Roe v Wade. The supreme court last week heard arguments in the case Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, […]
Gay Indian-American to Become Top LGBTQ+ White House Staffer
Gautam Raghavan, a gay Indian-American, will be the highest-ranking out member of the White House staff when he advances to director of the Office of Presidential Personnel. Raghavan has been deputy director since President Joe Biden took office, but he will move up now that the director, Catherine Russell, is going to UNICEF to become […]
LGBTQ Community in Tunisia Forcibly Outed to Public, Face Police Brutality: Activists
Tunisian LGBTQ activists are demanding change after a series of brutal attacks and harassment campaigns. The Associated Press interviewed activists in the North African country, including Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality President Badr Baabou. He was subjected to an attack in October by a police officer and an accomplice, in which he was thrown […]
Transgender and intersex rights are human rights
As South Africa marked International Human Rights Day on 10 December, activists called on the government to escalate efforts to promote legal gender recognition and end intersex genital mutilation. “As long as transgender and intersex persons are unable to exercise their human rights, South Africans cannot claim to be a Constitutional democracy,” said Iranti Executive […]
LGBTQ+ Iranians Are Suffering and Dying While the World Yawns
Observing Human Rights Day every year on December 10 may pass people by without a moment’s thought — another unnecessary day which no one is aware of and which goes by unnoticed. Yet, Human Rights Day marks the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights In 1948. An inspiration […]
Tunisia: LGBT activist’s assault by police seen as a pattern
TUNIS, Tunisia — A prominent LGBTQ activist in Tunisia has reported that two men, one dressed in police uniform, threw him to the ground, beat and kicked him during an assault they said was punishment for his “insulting” attempts to file complaints against officers for previous mistreatment. “This was not the first time that I […]
There could be twice as many LGBT adults in US than previously estimated, report says
At least 20 million adults in the U.S. could be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to a new report released by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The report, released Thursday, analyzes data from the Census Bureau. It says approximately 8% of respondents to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey said they were lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. That’s […]
Chile’s Pinera signs historic same-sex marriage bill into law
SANTIAGO, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Chile’s center-right President Sebastián Piñera signed into law a bill legalizing same-sex marriage on Thursday, days after it was approved by Congress in a historic vote. The law “puts all love relationships between two people on an equal footing,” Piñera said at a ceremony at La Moneda government palace together […]
New Zealand passes law making it easier to change sex on birth certificates
New Zealand’s rainbow community will be allowed to change the sex recorded on their birth certificates without providing evidence of a medical procedure, after a bill to recognise the right for gender minorities to self-identify passed into law. “Today is a proud day in Aotearoa’s history,” internal affairs minister Jan Tinetti said. “Parliament has voted in […]
“As Chile legalises same-sex marriage, where in Europe is making the most progress on LGBT rights? “
Chileans have been celebrating after their Congress approved equal marriage yesterday. Votes by politicians were overwhelmingly in favour of the legislation, with the Senate voting 21-8 in favour and the Chamber of Deputies voting 82-20 in favour of same-sex unions. After the vote in the chamber, several deputies hugged, including some from opposing parties. Outside […]
There is nothing to cure’: Senators back ban on LGBT ‘conversion therapy’
France’s Senate has overwhelmingly voted in favour of a ban on so-called LGBT conversion therapy. The bill was approved at its first reading on Tuesday, with 305 voting in favour and 28 against. Under the new law, citizens can be punished with prison sentences and fines for attempting to change the sexual orientation or gender […]