Ghana’s president in tight spot over anti-LGBT law
Opposition lawmakers in Ghana are pushing President Nana Akufo-Addo into a tight spot by promoting an anti-LGBT law widely condemned by critics for undermining rights but applauded by many Ghanaians. Gay sex is already illegal in the highly religious West African nation, but while discrimination against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people is common, […]
Rights defenders tell details of queer girl’s abduction by Chechen law enforcers
The “Russian LGBT Network”* is concerned about the fate of the girl who was abducted a year ago by Chechen law enforcers, and is going to appeal against the decision of the Chechen Supreme Court (SC), which has found the investigator’s refusal to investigate the abduction as legitimate. The refusal to investigate the abduction case […]
Homophobic Ghanaian ‘Family Values’ Bill is Odious and Beggars Belief
Sometimes the human capacity for cruelty takes my breath away. A recently proposed bill on “sexual rights” and “family values” in Ghana is a case study in extreme cruelty. Ghanaian MPs are considering legislation that is so onerous it beggars belief. And I do not say this lightly. Russia, Nigeria, Uganda and Hungary have all […]
Amid continued criminalisation, Uganda endorses LGBT access for HIV treatment
Despite ongoing criminalization of men who have sex with men and transgender people, the government of Uganda is attempting to include them in national plans for the reduction of HIV and AIDS, a contradiction activists say continues to impede the fight against the epidemic. The Ugandan government has set an ambitious target of reducing new […]
LGBT+ students ‘scared’ after campus pride flag replaced with Confederate symbols
A rainbow pride flag was removed from a religious centre at the campus of Virginia Tech university and replaced with confederate flags, an incident that has left LGBT+ students in fear and shock. The incident took place at Wesley Centre, a Methodist campus ministry inside the university in the state of Virginia. The pride flag […]
Meet trans beauty queen Nguyen Huong Giang, Vietnamese Miss International Queen winner and advocate for LGBT rights
Nguyen made waves again in 2018 when she was crowned the first Vietnamese winner of the prestigious Miss International Queen, the world’s biggest annual beauty pageant for transgender women held in Pattaya, Thailand. She radiated pride and joy in her fiery red fishtail gown, and humbly shared her wishes to empower other Vietnamese trans people […]
Video Captures Vicious Homophobic Attack in Cameroon
A brutal attack on two transgender women in Cameroon occurred just weeks after a court ordered the women, Shakiro and Patricia, released from prison pending their appeal of a five-year sentence on arbitrary “homosexuality” charges. The attack is a stark reminder that whether or not they are behind bars, transgender people in Cameroon are not […]
Russian MP who wants gays to be ‘sterilised’ and kept in shelters like cats slapped down by human rights council
Anti-LGBT+ Russian MP Vitaly Milonov has been reprimanded by the country’s Human Rights Council after he called for gays to be “sterilised” and kept in shelters like cats. Milonov, a notoriously homophobic member of the State Duma and the original proponent of Russia’s so-called “gay propaganda law“, made the comments while responding on TikTok to […]
Bosnian Religious Group to Protest Against Sarajevo LGBT Pride
Vjera Narod Drzava (Faith People State), a recently-founded Muslim political campaign group, has announced that it will stage an “anti-LGBTIQ” protest during the Sarajevo Pride parade on Saturday. The group called on Muslims and Christians to “join us against this plague”. “The Bible, like the Quran, condemns homosexuality!” it said in a Facebook post on […]
Pride Uganda Will Happen Despite COVID-19 and Homophobia
Outright International has shared a document that they believe will highlight Countries that either celebrate or have a semblance of Pride celebration around the world. According to a statement released by the organization, “Pride is the most visible symbol of the global movement for LGBTIQ equality, celebrating progress, affirming the existence of LGBTIQ people, and […]
South Korea: Lawmakers must seize chance to pass landmark anti-discrimination act
Responding to the introduction of yet another bill that seeks to forbid discrimination across South Korean society, including on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, Suki Chung, East Asia Campaigner at Amnesty International, said: “The introduction of this anti-discrimination bill, combined with existing draft laws on the matter, represents a historic opportunity for South […]
Dozens Protest Against Planned LGBT Event In Kazakhstan’s Aqtobe
AQTOBE, Kazakhstan — More than 100 people have protested in Kazakhstan’s northwestern city of Aqtobe against an event planned by LGBT activists. The protesters said at the August 8 rally that they would hand a petition to the local authorities requesting them “not to allow representatives of a movement that propagates values contradicting our traditions […]
US Census starts asking sexual orientation, gender identity questions
The U.S. Census Bureau announced Thursday that its Household Pulse Survey is now asking respondents their sexual orientation and gender identity in addition to their sex. The questions are part of Phase 3.2 of the survey, the latest update to an experimental data collection effort to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on American […]
Amsterdam substitutes ‘Pride Walk’ for canal parade in 25th anniversary of Gay Pride
Amsterdam capped a month of events commemorating the 25th anniversary of its first Gay Pride festival with a “Pride Walk” through the city’s historic centre on Saturday that drew around 10,000 participants carrying flags and an enormous rainbow banner. Usually one of the biggest events of the year in Amsterdam, the festival has traditionally ended […]
Argentina Goes Further To Protect LGBTQ Rights With New Law On Trans Employment
NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to reporter Daniel Politi in Buenos Aires about new Argentine laws designed to help trans people find employment. LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: For years, Argentina has been at the forefront of legislation protecting and expanding LGBTQ rights. It was the first country in Latin America to legalize both same-sex marriage and adoption. […]
Indonesia’s trans women pushed to the brink during COVID pandemic
After catching the coronavirus, Jenny Mikha was faced with a choice: go out on the streets to find food, and infect more people, or starve. Like many of Indonesia’s marginalised and stigmatised waria (transgender women), Ms Mikha didn’t have a family network to support her while she was sick last month. It was only thanks […]
‘Team LGBTQ’ earns 32 medals at Tokyo Olympics
As the torch goes out at Japan National Stadium in Meiji-Jingu Park, the end has arrived for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games— dubbed “the rainbow Olympics” by some for the record number of LGBTQ competitors. At least 182 out athletes from approximately 30 nations attended the Tokyo Games, more than three times the number of […]
US expands citizenship for children born abroad in win for same-sex couples
The US says children born abroad using assisted reproductive technology can now qualify for citizenship, in a move seen as a win for same-sex couples. To be eligible before, babies born overseas needed to be genetically related to the American parent. The change follows lawsuits from couples whose children were born using surrogates and other […]
British diver Tom Daley says sports has ‘a lot further to go’ on LGBTQ acceptance
British diver Tom Daley says he is proud to be able to inspire other people as an openly gay athlete, but he is quick to add that global sports still has a long way to go to achieve acceptance and embrace diversity. “Of course it’s come a long way, but there’s still a lot further […]
Along With COVID-19, EU Faces a More Fundamental Battle
Hungary’s growing list of European Union worries includes controversial LGBT legislation and potentially hacking the phones of journalists, rights activists and political opponents. Poland has rebuffed a ruling by the bloc’s highest court, claiming its own constitution has precedence over the EU laws it vowed to follow when it joined the club in 2004, although […]
How A Gay Community Helped The CDC Spot A COVID Outbreak — And Learn More About Delta
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a lot of ways to pick up on COVID-19 outbreaks, but those methods often take awhile to bear fruit. Not so with the Provincetown, Mass., cluster that started around July Fourth weekend. “We triggered the investigation as people were getting symptomatic,” says Demetre Daskalakis, a deputy incident […]
Amsterdam ‘stumbling stones’ commemorate gay victims of Nazis
More than 75 years after they were murdered in the gas chambers or shot, gay victims of Nazi persecution were remembered with “stumbling stones” laid in Amsterdam this week. The Netherlands has about 8,500 Stolpersteine, (stumbling stones), the brass memorial plaques embedded in the street that call on passers-by to remember individual victims of the […]
American Medical Association says sex should be removed from birth certificates
The American Medical Association (AMA) says that sex should be removed as a legal designation on the public part of birth certificates. The group says including the information can lead to stigmatization of transgender and nonbinary people when they register for school or sports, request or file government documents, get married, or apply for a […]
LGBTQ Family Featured in Grocery Store Advertisement Forced to Leave Russia Due to Hate
In July, Alina and her girlfriend, Ksyusha ,wanted to show that, like any other family, they have favorite dishes and cooking habits. Joined by Alina’s mom and sister, they appeared in an advertisement for Russian grocery store chain VkusVill (translates like TasteVille). They expected people to see them as family members who love one another, […]
IOC Investigates Anti-LGBT Slurs Against Olympic Athletes on Russian TV
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is investigating two Russian state-run TV channels over talk shows that disparaged the lifestyles of a transgender and a gay athlete as “perversion” and “abomination,” the BBC has reported. Two of Russia’s most popular channels, Rossiya and Channel One, dedicated several of their late-July talk shows to transgender New Zealand […]
Why it matters that Tucker Carlson is broadcasting from Hungary this week
This week, America’s most watched cable news host is broadcasting from an authoritarian state — not to criticize its leadership but to praise it. Fox’s Tucker Carlson is currently in Budapest, airing his show from Hungary’s capital city. In his Monday monologue, Carlson told his listeners that they should pay attention to Hungary “if you […]
Ghana court drops case against 21 LGBT+ activists
HO, Ghana, Aug 5 (Reuters) – A court in Ghana dismissed a case against 21 Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+) activists on Thursday, ruling there was not enough evidence to prove they had gathered unlawfully, a prosecutor in the case said. “What this means is that they cannot be brought back to court on […]
Pride in London cancelled because of Covid restrictions
This year’s Pride in London parade has been cancelled because of social-distancing measures, organisers have announced. More than 35,000 people had been expected to attend the flagship LGBT+ event, which had been postponed from June to 11 September. Executive director Christopher Joell-Deshields said risk assessments had shown the parade could not be held while meeting […]
Russian LGBT family from Vkusvill ad leaves country after death threats
MOSCOW, Aug 4 (Reuters) – A Russian family with gay members that featured in an advert for a high-end food retailer has left the country after receiving hateful homophobic messages online including death threats. Footage published by journalist and YouTuber Karen Shainyan showed the family, in which the mother, Yuma, and her adult daughter, Alina, […]
Chinese Social Media Nationalists Attack LGBTQ Film Festival Run By Foreign Consulates
Nationalist users on Chinese social media platform Weibo have attacked foreign consulates in the southern capital of Guangzhou for seeking to “bring down China” with an LGBTQ film festival jointly hosted by 17 foreign governments. Such users say they have flooded the platform’s censors with reports that posts about the festival are politically problematic, seeking […]