Colonial Williamsburg adds gay and transgender reenactments
Colonial Williamsburg is bringing a slice of gay and transgender history to life this Fall. Starting in October, a new musical called Ladies of Llangollen will be featured, based on diary entries, letters, and poetry of two women who ran away from Ireland and eloped in Wales during the 18th century. The Colonial Williamsburg foundation […]
‘Love is not divisive’ – Vigil celebrates BYU’s LGBTQ community
More than 150 people gathered for a candlelit vigil in support of BYU’s LGBTQ community in Salt Lake City on Saturday night. The “Bury Your Weapons” vigil was organized in response to a speech given by Jeffrey Holland, in which he condemned BYU faculty and students who have advocated for LGBTQ issues on campus. Holland, […]
Motsoaledi frees gay Ugandan couple after arrest in KZN
Durban – Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi and the department’s director-general Livhuwani Makhode have released a Ugandan couple detained for being in South Africa illegally due to their sexual orientation. Motsoaledi and Makhode were ordered to release Herbert Mafadi and Luzake Musana last month after they approached the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg […]
Pro-Bejing Lawmakes Target Hong Kong Gay Gamers
Several pro-Beijing members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council are once again raising a furore over the upcoming Hong Kong Gay Games in November 2022, the first Gay Games ever to be held in Asia. Lawmaker Junius Ho, said the Games “on the surface [are] about equal opportunities…about inclusion. But it does not take a […]
Chinese school targets LGBTQ students with probe
A Chinese university appears to have asked its colleges to make lists of their LGBTQ+ students and report on their “state of mind,” a purported internal directive published online on Chinese and foreign social media platforms said. Shanghai University has not confirmed the request or responded to queries about its intention, but it has sparked […]
Conservative Christians genuinely believe that LGBT+ progress is a personal attack, study shows
Anti-LGBT+ conservative Christians in America genuinely believe that progress for LGBT+ rights and representation is an attack on their religion, a study has shown. Researchers at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, published their findings in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Through five studies over three years, researchers “examined the causes and consequences […]
Saturday begins with an anti-hate event; ends with 2 arrests at ‘straight pride’ rally
Modesto’s third straight pride rally was preceded Saturday morning with an anti-hate event and ended when a fight led to disbursement, road closures and two arrests. About 100 people gathered at 10 a.m. Saturday in Roosevelt Park for a Modesto Stands Against Hate event. It was put on by multiple organizations including MoPride and Stanislaus […]
‘A virtual death sentence’: Gay Afghans brace for uncertain future under Taliban
N, a 20-year-old student living in Afghanistan, is in hiding as she hopes for news that she and her family can leave the country. As a lesbian, she believes she will be targeted by the Taliban government. “They will kill us without sympathy,” she said, requesting that her full name and exact location not be […]
Ukrainian Police Clash With Far-Right Group At Odesa Pride March
Violent clashes broke out on August 28 between Ukrainian police and a far-right nationalist group trying to disrupt an annual LGBT Pride march in the port city of Odesa. Police detained at least 51 members of Tradition and Order, including the head of the ultra-nationalist group’s Odesa chapter. RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service reported Tradition and Order […]
The social media influencer as LGBTQ advocate
The diverse surfaces of the social media platforms have never been as eye-catching, intriguing and addictive as it is now in the convergent hands of the millennials and the Gen Z generation. Put in here and there by force of circumstance the equally TikTok-savvy, albeit vanishing, post- World War 2 generation baby boomers. The digital […]
Indian-American gay couples find new forms of union amid stigma
Excluded by traditional marriage ceremonies, Indian-American gay couples in the US are finding new and unique ways to solemnise their unions, reports Savita Patel. When Sameer Samudra and and Amit Gokhale decided to marry according to Hindu custom, the couple faced an unexpected hiccup: they couldn’t find a priest to do the ceremony. “We wanted […]
Catholic Medical Association joins lawsuit over HHS ‘transgender mandate’
The Philadelphia-based Catholic Medical Association Aug. 26 joined in a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s mandate that doctors and hospitals perform gender-transition procedures on any patient despite any moral or medical objections of the doctor or health care facility. “Biological identity must remain the basis for treating patients,” said Dr. Michael Parker, president of the […]
Lithuania’s second city continues court row around first LGBTQ+ pride
A court in Lithuania has ordered Kaunas municipality to allow holding the first LGBTQ+ pride event in the city. The municipality has appealed against the ruling adding suspense to the event planned for September 4, Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reports. The Kaunas municipality previously refused to approve a route for Kaunas Pride along the main […]
UK HOME OFFICE TELLS GAY AFGHAN THAT HE COULD BE SENT BACK TO AFGHANISTAN
An undocumented Afghan man living in the United Kingdom has been reportedly told by the Home Office that he may have to go back to Afghanistan. Ahmad, 29, arrived in the United Kingdom when he was 10 years old as an unaccompanied minor and was placed in foster care. However, for the past eight months […]
Brazil’s first transgender pastor: ‘All humans have flaws, being trans isn’t one of them’
Desperate calls from LGBTQ+ youths contemplating suicide or from their parents after they have made an attempt on their lives often punctuate Alexya Salvador’s day. When they do, she drops everything to talk. As a transgender woman, she recognises the anguish in their voices. “I feel their pain in my body because I went through […]
Moscow man abducted, taken to Chechnya and pressed for information on LGBTQ people, says Russian rights group
A man was abducted in Moscow, taken to Chechnya and then pressed for information on LGBTQ people in the region earlier this year, according to the Russian LGBT Network. On Wednesday, the group said that Ibragim Selimkhanov was approached by four Chechen-speaking men near a subway station in the Novogireyevo District on May 15. The […]
On Her Last Stop In Southeast Asia, VP Harris Emphasizes Human And Worker Rights
HANOI — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris turned her attention to issues surrounding worker rights and civil liberties Thursday as she closed out her visit to Southeast Asia, elevating activists in a region of the world known for its challenges and restrictions to human rights. In Vietnam, Harris participated in what her team billed as […]
People ‘anxious to go home’ to Poland amid anti-LGBT regime
Polish people living in Merseyside have revealed they are anxious about returning to their home country. Maciej, who lives in Southport, and Wiktoria, who lives in Liverpool, are two of countless LGBT+ Polish people who are fearful of the new anti-LGBT ideologies adopted in a number of municipalities in Poland. A number of ‘LGBT-free zones’ […]
School refusing to teach kids about LGBT+ lives should not be allowed to expand, says Ofsted
Talmud Torah London, a fee-paying boys primary school in North London that primarily serves the Orthodox Jewish community, applied to the Department for Education (DfE) for permission to expand its offering to years seven and eight. Government guidance for relationships and sex education (RSE) states that secondary (which covers years seven to 11) pupils must […]
Uruguay starts to dance again as pandemic subsides
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — After long months of illness, Uruguay is once again starting to dance. The government last week authorized ballrooms and event halls to open as the country’s COVID-19 death rate — once among the highest in the world per capita — has fallen sharply. Seventy percent of Uruguayans have received both doses […]
Iran president Raisi said homosexuality is ‘nothing but savagery’
The US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran noted in its Tuesday published fact sheet that “Iranian government officials engage in hate speech against the LGBTQ community, which encourages state and societal violence against individuals. For example, Ebrahim Raisi, who is now Iran’s president, said in 2014 (when he headed Iran’s judiciary) that homosexuality is […]
Majority of Swiss support gay marriage ahead of vote
According to a survey by Tamedia, 64% of the population said they plan to vote in favour of accepting the government’s amendment to Switzerland’s civil code allowing same-sex marriage, reported Le Matin. 35% said they planned to vote against the amendment, with only 1% undecided. Support for gay marriage was highest in French-speaking Switzerland (66%), […]
LGBTQ community of Nepal demand recognition
Kathmandu [Nepal], August 24 (ANI): Members of the LGBTQ community in Nepal gathered at Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu to observe Pride Day on Monday. Celebrated annually on the day of Gai Jatra, the pride parade brings thousands from sexual minority groups who have been asking for recognition in the Himalayan nation. Marking their day, […]
UK: Police to now use ‘rainbow coloured’ patrol cars to help the LGBT community
In a bid to encourage the LGBTQ+ community to lodge complaints of online hate crimes, the police in the United Kingdom have decided to paint their patrol cars in rainbow colours. The development apparently comes after complaints of increasing hate crimes against the transgender community. On August 10, a video was shared by the official […]
Gay, transgender conversion therapy ban initiative heads to Parliament
A citizens’ initiative to ban sexual orientation and gender identification conversion therapy in Finland reached the required 50,000 signatures on Monday, which means it will now be referred to Parliament for consideration. Supporters of the initiative said they want MPs to ban treatments and therapies aimed at converting gay and transgender people into cisgender heterosexuals. […]
Israel Will Now Let Gay Men Donate Blood
Israel has ended a restriction on blood donation that effectively prohibited gay men from donating blood. Until now, Israel had prohibited any man who had had same-sex relations over the past 12 months from giving blood. Now, the question’s wording will be changed to asking whether prospective donors have had “high risk sexual relations with […]
Discrimination against LGBTQ+ soldiers doesn’t stop just because a policy has been revoked
In 1969, former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau decriminalized “homosexuality” in Canadian civil society declaring “there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.” Yet, the Canadian Armed Forces was allowed to continue officially discriminating on the grounds of homosexuality until 1992. Using a little-known military law entitled, CFAO 19-20 Homosexuality, Sexual […]
Edinburgh student to launch city’s first lesbian bar with ‘no cis men’
An Edinburgh local has decided to open the first-ever bar for lesbians and queer women. While the capital already has bars for the LGBTQI+ community, Emily Frood, 23, wants to open the first-ever bar specifically for the lesbian community. Emily, who identifies as a non-binary trans lesbian, announced on social media that they were quitting […]
LGBTQ leader cries foul vs homophobic acts in Zambo
The President of the Lesbian Gay Bisexuals and Transgenders Federation of Zamboanga (LGBTFZ) cried foul against homophobic acts in the city as he called for increased advocacy and education on acceptance of their community members into society. This, after a gay person who was returning home last Sunday was sneered at by seven minors, one […]
Two LGBT marches held in Poland under heavy police security
Parades for LGBT rights took place under heavy police presence Saturday at the foot of Catholic Poland’s most revered monastery in Czestochowa, in the south, and in Gdansk, on the Baltic coast. The massive police presence, which included officers on horseback, was seen as the factor that prevented any clashes with far-right groups, which shouted […]