Trans people waiting years for gender healthcare as demand surges
When British tattoo artist Eva Echo found the courage to come out as transgender, she quickly sought specialist medical care to help her transition. More than four years later, she is still waiting for her first appointment. Echo, who is part of a potential legal challenge to England’s National Health Service (NHS) over waiting times, […]
Tokyo governor plans to introduce de facto same-sex marriage next year
Tokyo Metropolitan government will start a system that effectively allows same-sex marriage in Japan’s capital in the next fiscal year from April, Japan’s Kyodo news wire reported Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike as saying on Tuesday. The local government for the city with a population of 14 million plans to introduce “same-sex partnership” after its local […]
‘Love is love:’ Chile legalizes same-sex marriage in historic vote
Chile’s Congress passed a law to legalize same-sex marriage on Tuesday, in a milestone for the conservative South American nation after a decade-long legal battle and with the country delicately poised ahead of a crossroads election this month. “Today is a historic day, our country has approved same-sex marriage, one more step forward in terms […]
Banksy pledges work to help save ‘LGBT cultural heritage site’
A stencil used by artist Bansky to paint the side of a former jail – described as an ‘LGBT cultural heritage site’ – is to go up for sale, with proceeds supporting the building’s transformation into an arts centre. The stencil was used by the anonymous artist in March to create a piece which depicts […]
Argentina made history by legally recognising non-binary people, but now they’re left ‘in limbo’
Argentina made history in July as the first country in Latin America to legally recognise non-binary people – but people issued with documents showing their gender as ‘X’ say they have been left in a legal limbo. Non-binary people in Argentina trying to access essential public services, like their COVID vaccinations, health insurance, tax records […]
Thai court’s marriage ruling riles LGBTQ activists
A statement in which Thailand’s Constitutional Court has argued that permitting same-sex marriage in the country would violate the “natural order” has angered LGBTQ activists and rights advocates. Last month the country’s highest court ruled that a clause in Thailand’s latest military-drafted constitution that states that marriage can only be contracted between a man and […]
Church in Wales could elect UK’s first female and first out gay archbishop
Cherry Vann, the Bishop of Monmouth, is in the running to be elected the Church in Wales’ first lesbian archbishop. Following the retirement of John Davies, the election for a new archbishop of Wales has made history on multiple counts. As well as there being a lesbian in the running, half of the six candidates […]
MAC plans gay marriage for Chinese
Same-sex marriages involving a Chinese spouse might soon be recognized, as the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it plans to amend cross-strait regulations to conform with an amendment looking to recognize all international same-sex marriages. Although marriage equality was legalized in 2019, the law only allows for marriages in which both partners are from […]
Victoria bans religious schools from sacking staff for being LGBT
The Victorian government has passed laws banning religious schools from sacking or refusing to hire staff based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The state parliament’s upper house passed the Equal Opportunity (Religious Exceptions) Amendment Bill, 22 votes to 12 on Friday. The bill bans religious organisations and schools from “discriminating against an employee […]
Anti-LGBT+ hate group appeals to Supreme Court to stop people calling it a hate group
An anti-LGBT+ hate group has asked the US Supreme Court to allow it to sue the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to overturn its hate group status. D James Kennedy Ministries, also known as Coral Ridge Ministries Media, is an evangelical Christian media organisation, founded in 1974, which broadcasts a weekly TV show. The organisation has […]
“I’m Proud to Be Trans—but For Now Want to Feel Invisible MY CHOICE”
After years of distance between myself and my hometown of Amityville, Long Island, I returned in the spring for my cousin’s birthday. But this time, I had a new look. I was a month post-op top surgery, a gender-affirming procedure for transgender men and non-binary individuals, which results in a flat chest. My beard had finally begun […]
On This Gay Day: The Bisexual Pride flag was unveiled for the first time
The Bisexual Pride flag with it’s three stripes of pink, lavender, and blue, was unveiled for the first time on this day in 1998. The flag was designed by Michael Page from Florida, who is also one of the people behind the establishment of Celebrate Bisexuality Day. The flag made it’s debut at the first […]
Watch Botswana’s queer community rejoice as cruel bid to re-criminalise gay sex fails
The LGBT+ community in Botswana, and indeed around the world, breathed a huge sigh of relief on Monday (29 November) after the country’s Court of Appeal upheld the 2019 ruling that decriminalised gay sex. Now, in a touching video shared on Twitter by Openly, you can watch the immediate aftermath of members of Botswana’s LGBT+ […]
Lewis Hamilton condemns ‘terrifying’ LGBTQ+ laws before Saudi Arabian GP
Lewis Hamilton has said he is not comfortable competing in Saudi Arabia given its repressive laws regarding the LGBTQ+ community. Speaking before this weekend’s grand prix in Jeddah, Hamilton described the laws as “terrifying” and once more called on Formula One to do more to address human rights issues in the countries it visits. On […]
Why Viktor Orbán is fighting a war against ‘LGBT ideology’
‘Do you support the unrestricted presentation of sexual media content that influences the development of underage children?’ In a national referendum likely to be held in the spring, Hungarians will be asked this question and others about the ‘promotion of gender reassignment’ to children, the holding of sexual orientation classes without parental consent, and whether […]
Court seeks interpretation over transgender ID suit
The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday sought a constitutional interpretation regarding a lawsuit filed by a transgender woman seeking to change the gender identification on her ID card. The court halted the suit filed by Taipei resident Wu Yu-hsun (吳宇萱), who was seeking an administrative ruling on her application to alter the gender on […]
Could Denmark be on the verge of having its first LGBT PM? The bookies certainly think so
It won’t be a big deal should Konservative leader Søren Pape Poulsen become this country’s first gay prime minister – or at least not by Nordic standards. Per-Kristian Foss was the first LGBT world leader when he briefly served as Norwegian PM in 2002, deputising for Kjell Magne Bondevik during one of his bouts of […]
Former Owner of Moscow Gay Club Brings BK’s Russian-Speaking Queer Community Together
Three years ago this week, Leo Allenby arrived in New York, leaving Russia after an attack left him with injuries so severe he required surgery. As the owner of a gay club in Moscow, Allenby had been the subject of incessant threats. When he was finally physically attacked, the police refused to do anything about […]
As anti-LGBTI abuses worsen in Cameroon, even the government admits it
Cameroon says lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people are increasingly becoming victims of violence and brutality. The central African state’s government made the comment this week after Human Rights Watch reported degrading treatment of LGBTI people and called on Cameroon to hold perpetrators accountable. About 15 people are shouting and beating a person they […]
Ghana’s Anti-LGBTQ Bill Risks Hurting Its Democratic Credentials
(Bloomberg) — When it comes to cracking down on the LGBTQ community, not much separates Ghana’s two main political parties. A lawmaker from the ruling party has joined seven opposition legislators to sponsor a bill to punish LGBTQ people with jail time, legalize discrimination and force anyone who knows someone is gay to report that […]
China’s queer internet is being erased
For Mei, logging into the WeChat account for his queer student society was habitual, like eating or sleeping. For six years, he helped run one of China’s most prominent groups. But on July 6, he signed in with trepidation; he’d heard that other societies’ profiles on the social messaging platform had been censored, and were […]
Bisexual goddess and anti-Nazi fighter Josephine Baker given one of France’s highest honours
French-American cabaret star and civil rights activist Josephine Baker has become the first Black woman to enter the Panthéon, nearly 50 years after her death. The bisexual icon is the sixth woman to be honoured in the mausoleum of revered historical figures in Paris, and one of only three Black people, with author Alexandre Dumas […]
Chile lawmakers set to approve same-sex marriage bill
Santiago (AFP) – Chile’s parliament is set to approve a long-awaited bill to legalize same-sex marriage Tuesday, joining just a handful of countries in majority Catholic Latin America with similar laws. The bill will also enable married same-sex couples to adopt children. Chile, which legalized same-sex civil unions in 2015, has been awaiting this bill since 2017, when […]
Same-sex couple fights for right to marry in India
NEW DELHI – Swept up in a whirlwind romance after meeting at a Bollywood party in Mumbai, Saattvic and Gaurav Bhatti dreamed of celebrating their love with a typical big, fat Indian wedding. Seven years on, it remains a dream. Same-sex marriages are illegal in India despite the Supreme Court scrapping a colonial-era ban on gay sex in […]
Qatar 2022 chief says fans from LGBT community are ‘welcome’
The chief executive of Qatar 2022 has attempted to assure football fans from the LGBT community they will be welcomed at next year’s World Cup in the country. The Gulf state, which will host the global showpiece tournament in November and December 2022, has laws against same-sex relationships. Australia international Josh Cavallo, who is openly […]
Five LGBTQ & two-spirit Native American people who are making the world a better place
As Native American Heritage Month comes to a close, we wanted to honor some of the many LGBTQ and two-spirit Native American people working every day to make the world a better place. Here are five LGBTQ and two-spirit Native American people you should know about. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS) made history in 2018 as […]
Anti-LGBTQ bill doesn’t criminalise intersex — Sam George
Samuel Nartey George, the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, and lead Sponsor of the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, has refuted claims that the Bill intends to criminalise intersex persons. Intersex means an individual whose sexual anatomy or chromosomes do not fit the traditional markets of males and females. Mr […]
Hungary’s parliament approves referendum on LGBT issues
Hungary’s parliament authorized the government Tuesday to call a national referendum on LGBT issues, the latest in a series of steps by the country’s nationalist leaders that critics say are intended to limit minority rights. Lawmakers from the governing Fidesz party approved four referendum questions pertaining to sex education programs in schools and the availability […]
Chile makes history with election of first-ever trans person to its legislature
Chile has made history by electing the first-ever transgender official to its legislature during the 2021 parliamentary elections. Emilia Schneider, a transgender woman and activist, received 26,000 votes on 21 November. She will be sworn into the Chamber of Deputies in March 2022, which is the lower chamber of the country’s National Congress, to represent […]
Rural town elects Bangladesh’s first transgender mayor
A small town in Bangladesh has elected the country’s first transgender mayor after the 45-year-old independent candidate beat her ruling party rival in a landslide, officials said Monday. The South Asian nation is home to an estimated 1.5 million transgender people, who face rampant discrimination and violence and are often forced to live by begging […]