Namibia’s Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Same-sex couple
WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA — Namibia’s Supreme Court has ruled that a government ministry must reconsider a same-sex couple’s appeal for residence rights. Namibia Supreme Court Chief Justice Peter Shivute said Monday that the Ministry of Home Affairs should look again at an application for resident status from Mexican national Guillermo Delgado. Delgado, who is in a […]
A Gay Dating App is Helping to House Queer People Fleeing Ukraine.
Leave it to a gay dating app to help people forge unexpected connections. Romeo, a European equivalent to Grindr, has become something of a mutual aid hub for Ukrainians fleeing the country as the Russian invasion continues, as Queerty reported. Unlike Grindr and other similar apps, Romeo also allows users to join forum groups, and […]
New Television Campaign Spotlights Transgender Kids Finding Joy In Sports.
Have you ever met a transgender kid? That is the question The GenderCool Project asks in a national television campaign launching today. The high-energy 30 second spot features 11 transgender and non-binary kids ages 13 through 17 playing the team sports they love while talking about how participating in sports makes them feel. Known as […]
Edmonton Queer History Project launches historical website, walking tours and podcast.
Edmonton Queer History Project has launched new tools to help put a spotlight on the city’s rich LGBTQ stories, including a website, a downtown map, walking tours and a podcast. The initiatives took two years to complete. Japkaran Saroya, a member of the project who worked on the Pride historical timeline, told CBC’s Edmonton AM […]
Namibia: Gay Couple in Namibia Wins Partial Victory On Residency Application.
A gay Namibian-Mexican couple won a part of their case at Namibia’s Supreme Court on Monday after the ruling that the government had discriminated against their residency application because one of the couple is foreign-born. The court ordered the Home Affairs ministry to review Guillermo Delgado’s request for residency. He is in a couple with […]
‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill passes in Florida, goes to governor
Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature passed a bill Tuesday to forbid instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, rejecting a wave of criticism from Democrats that it marginalizes LGBTQ people. The proposal, which opponents have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, now moves to the desk of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who […]
This Woman Channeled Her Pandemic Anxiety Into A Campaign For LGBTQ Rights In Tokyo.
In December 2021, Tokyo’s governor, Yuriko Koike, announced that a “partnership system” that publicly recognizes the relationships of same-sex couples would be adopted in the city during the 2022 fiscal year. Same-sex marriages are not recognized in Japan, so they will not have the same legal standing as opposite-sex marriages, but same-sex couples will be […]
Benin: Police accused of violently attacking transgender woman.
Beninese authorities must launch a prompt, impartial and independent investigation into a violent attack against a transgender woman by police officers, Amnesty International said today. Nadia* told Amnesty International how she was taken to Pahou Police Station after being assaulted by residents of her neighbourhood in the city of Ouidah on 4 February. Instead of […]
Lesbian who faced having to adopt her own children wins right to be named mother.
A lesbian in South Africa will no longer have to adopt her own children to be recognised as their mother after a landmark court ruling. The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled against a piece of legislation which meant that, when children are conceived through insemination, only the person who carried them and their “husband” […]
Prominent LGBTQ non-profit loses millions in funding following NY state probe.
One of New York’s largest LGBTQ non-profits has lost $10 million in state funding after an investigation, first revealed by The Post, found it was mishandling the millions in taxpayer dollars it received each year. The LGBT Network of Long Island, helmed by prominent gay activist David Kilmnick who sources say long bragged about his […]
Russian Church Leader Appears to Blame Gay Pride Parades for Ukraine War
The head of Russia’s Orthodox Church appeared to blame liberal Western values — drawing particular attention to gay pride parades — for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in his Sunday sermon. President Vladimir Putin ordered the deadly “special operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 24 to “demilitarize and denazify” the pro-Western country after recognizing eastern Ukraine’s two breakaway […]
Republican Utah governor says he plans to VETO legislation banning transgender students from competing in youth sports
Utah Governor Spencer Cox said that he plans to veto legislation passed on Friday that would ban transgender student-athletes from competing in girls sports within the state. Without his support, Utah is unlikely to join the 11 other states, all Republican-led, that have recently enacted bans on transgender girls wanting to compete in school sports leagues that correspond […]
Schools must wake up to the needs of LGBT children
Despite the Supreme Court striking down the colonial-era law that criminalised homosexuality back in 2018, there still exists a deep-rooted social stigma against the LGBTQ community, keeping it socially isolated, and on several occasions blocking its access to much-needed legal aid and support, which could sometimes mean the difference between life and death. In a recent […]
“People Are Not Coming Back to the Closet”: The Fight for Ukraine Is Also a Fight for LGBTQ Rights
On the seventh day of the war, Olena Shevchenko posted a message of despair on Facebook. Shevchenko, who leads the LGBTQ organization Insight, was not just voicing the heartbreak of watching her city destroyed, feeling the bomb blasts in downtown Kyiv. Or fearing what the prospect of Russian occupation might mean for her and other […]
A message from a Russian LGBT+ activist
Working in human rights in Russia can give one a misleading sense of invincibility. Despite the dehumanising legislation and fact that the government sees enemies in its own citizens, human rights activists have learned to adapt and persevere. This is especially true for Russian LGBT+ activists, who grapple not only with legitimised state homophobia, but […]
We need more black gay men in the public sector
Do gay men face employment discrimination in the public sector? There are many views but little to no data related to this question. Many gay men report experiencing discrimination in hiring and on the job, and the quality of job protections in the public sector is mixed. No previous study has examined whether gay men […]
LGBTQ refugees fleeing Ukraine face discrimination in countries with anti-gay laws
Late on Thursday night, Viktória Radványi, communications director for Budapest Pride, drove with her girlfriend to the border between Hungary and Ukraine. They were picking up four LGBTQ refugees and taking them back to Budapest to provide them with safe housing, food and mental health resources. But Radványi isn’t part of any humanitarian group, nor […]
ABC’s James Longman on Russia Bringing Back the Iron Curtain
As Russian President Vladimir Putin presses hard on his invasion of Ukraine, the world is almost collectively turning against him, and that might be fine with Putin, who may be in the process of pulling down the Iron Curtain back down again and isolating his citizens. In an emergency session Wednesday, the United Nations voted […]
Mapping hate: The anti-LGBTQ2S+ history of Ottawa truck convoy organizers
Although participants of the so-called “Freedom Convoy” that descended upon Ottawa last month claimed it was a peaceful protest against COVID-19 restrictions, it was primarily organized by far-right activists. Many of the key organizers have also been linked to anti-LGBTQ2S+ activist groups and have expressed homophobic and transphobic views themselves. From Jan. 29 to Feb. […]
LGBTQ entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe call for more business support
At a business summit in Zimbabwe, LGBTQ entrepreneurs called for increased financial support for their businesses, as well as improved access to skills, loans, consultants, licensing and registration. Economic and structural injustices need to be addressed before the LGBTIQA+ community can be empowered, advocates have told a business summit in Zimbabwe. The recent Business Network […]
Queer Africans fleeing Ukraine face ‘grave danger’ even after reaching ‘so-called safe countries’
Queer African people fleeing Ukraine are facing “intersecting violence”, campaigners have warned. More than one million people have fled Ukraine since Russia declared war. However, not all refugees are being treated equally. There have been widespread reports of racism at the border against Black people, including African refugees, as well as other people of colour. Ukrainian border officials and the military have […]
Will Russia bring its war on LGBTQ people to Ukraine?
Zi Faámelu wants to escape the war in Ukraine, but her identity will not let her. The 31-year-old singer, who is transgender, has a passport that says she is male, the sex assigned to her at birth, and Ukraine has prohibited men of fighting age from leaving the country. That paradox has left Faámelu hunkered inside her […]
Turkey’s LGBT+ under increasing government pressure, report reveals
A recent report by the LGBT+ advocacy group KAOS GL has revealed that Turkey’s LGBT+ community is feeling increasingly threatened under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government. The report, “Despite Everything: LGBT+ Human Rights in 2021,” was based on data collected from 2007 to 2021 and documented human rights violations and discrimination against the LGBT+ community. According […]
Culture war around care for transgender kids heats up
The confrontation over gender-affirming care for transgender youth hit a boil this week as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doubled down on his call for state officials to investigate “transition care” for minors as “child abuse.” Driving the news: Even as Abbott’s team called the issue a political “winner,” major medical groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics condemned […]
‘What is the army afraid of?’ Indian government stops film inspired by gay soldier
NEW DELHI — For years, J. Suresh struggled with shame over his identity as a gay man, which he kept to himself. When he joined the “hyper straight world” of the Indian army in the late 1990s, his feelings only intensified. Worried that he’d be discovered and dishonorably discharged, Suresh retired from the military as a […]
COLOMBIA RECOGNIZES THE “NON-BINARY” GENDER ON ITS IDENTITY DOCUMENTS
Colombian justice ordered to include “non-binary” gender on identity documents in Colombia, documents so far only mentioning the categories “man” and “woman”, according to a judgment delivered Tuesday by the Constitutional Court. In its decision, making case law on a particular case, the Constitutional Court ordered “to include the non-binary category for the category of […]
Russian soldiers captured after being found hiding in basement by Ukraine LGBT+ activists
Members of an LGBT+ organisation in Ukraine captured a group of Russian soldiers they found hiding in their offices. Viktor Pylypenko told Israeli newspaper The Israel Hayom that he and his group had the soldiers in their office basement in the city of Kharkiv. Pylypenko is an LGBT+ activist and veteran who, after fighting in the Maidan Revolution, formed […]
Moroccan journalist supports Putin’s war on Ukraine praising homophobic stance of ‘Russian civilisation’
A Moroccan journalist is facing backlash from the gay community in the kingdom after he expressed support for Putin’s war on Ukraine, praising the Russian leader for his homophobic policies. Rachid Achachi, a self-styled Moroccan geopolitics expert, shared on his social media pictures from queer parades in New York set against photos of a church in […]
LGBT Ukrainians Fear They’re on Putin’s Kill List. Many Are Staying to Fight Anyway.
For years, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in Ukraine have fought to be recognized as equal members of society. But now, as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion imperils Ukraine’s very existence—and amid fears that LGBT activists are on a Russian kill list the U.S. intelligence community exposed in recent days—international organizations are working to […]
8-year-old transgender activist invited to State of the Union.
The Department of Family and Protective Services is investigating three cases that go against Governor Greg Abbott’s recent directive viewing gender-confirming care for kids as abuse. “DFPS is aware of three intakes meeting the description in the AG opinion and Governor’s directive. However, intakes may be physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, or […]