Mexico punished again for homophobic chant, will play more World Cup qualifiers without fans
Mexico’s men’s national soccer team will be forced to play two more World Cup qualifiers in empty stadiums after its fans continued yelling an anti-gay slur at matches in October. FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, previously sanctioned Mexico for the infamous “p***” chant. In June, it announced that the team’s first two home World Cup qualifiers would be […]
Penn State students condemn message of Milo Yiannopoulos’ ‘Pray the Gay Away’ event
“Pray the Gay Away.” These words, plastered on large posters above the face of British alt-right political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, greeted visitors at Penn State’s HUB-Robeson Center on Oct. 25 — and again on Thursday. Featured in prominent display cases in the HUB, tacked to poster boards, announcement forums and walls throughout campus buildings, and […]
Stitching gender and untold stories
New Delhi, Nov 3 He goes back a few decades a time when as a child he could not take his eyes off whenever his older sisters stitched diverse patterns with multiple coloured threads. He says the finished garment would ‘say’ a lot to him things tough for a child to express. “I would never […]
The Better Lives Project to educate on intersex variations
The Better Lives Project has been launched to educate midwives and parents about the needs of children born with variations of sex characteristics. Intersex is the umbrella term used for people with variations of sex characteristics. The project is a joint initiative of Working it Out and Intersex Peer Support Australia and is funded by […]
‘The Taliban has a kill list’ for the Afghan LGBT community, NGO says
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan at the end of August the persecution of the country’s LGBT+ community has ramped up, forcing many to live in hiding, fearing for their lives. “We now know for sure the Taliban has a ‘kill list’,” said the head of the Rainbow Railroad, a Canadian NGO helping under-threat […]
Supreme Court turns down Northern California Catholic hospital appeal over transgender patient
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is declining to wade into a case involving transgender rights and leaving in place a lower court decision against a Catholic hospital that wouldn’t allow a transgender man to have a hysterectomy there. The high court turned away the case Monday without comment, as is typical. Three conservative justices — […]
‘I feel invisible’: The challenges of being trans in Nigeria
Tom Kola was five years old when he realised he was a boy. But it took more than two decades and a move halfway across the world before he would have an official document to prove it. Growing up in Nigeria, Tom did not have the language to articulate his trans identity. But he understood […]
Watch: Activists in Poland are fighting back against so-called ‘LGBT-free zones’
So-called ‘LGBT-free’ zones have made Poland the laughing stock of Europe. But it’s no joke for LGBTQ+ people who face physical attack and verbal abuse – even from their own president. Activists are now leading a fightback that is showing signs of success.
LGBTQ Activists Create Día de Muertos Altar To Honor Trans Victims Who Died While in ICE Custody
As many of us sit down with friends and family to celebrate Día de Muertos, and honor those we’ve lost, it’s also an important reminder to honor those beyond our close circle and remember the many victims of violence and poverty around the world. That’s exactly what one group of activists recently did outside Immigration […]
‘I’m tired of feeling invisible’: Italian bill’s rejection leaves LGBT+ community in anger
For many in Italy’s LGBT+ community, the rejection of a bill meant to ban discrimination has been viewed as a step backwards on the already-fraught road to equality. Fabio Perna, a 33-year-old gay man living in the Northern Italian town of Rimini, said he was left feeling deeply distressed by the Italian Senate’s rejection of […]
LGBTQ Afghans, who were in ‘grave danger’ from the Taliban, evacuated to the UK
A flight of LGBT Afghans arrived in the UK, following a mission from the government and gay rights organizations to move them to safety, it was confirmed. Since the fall of Kabul on August 15, several governments, NGOs, and charities have been working on getting people out of Afghanistan who may be vulnerable under the […]
Hackers threaten to out Israeli LGBTQ dating site users
A hacking group calling itself Black Shadow threatened Sunday to reveal personal details of a million users of Israeli’s leading LGBTQ dating site, an attack some cyber experts linked to Iran. “If we have 1 Millions $ in our wallet in the next 48 hours, we will not leak this information and also we will […]
DUP councillor thinks conversion therapy ban is a ‘hoax’ that will push ‘neo Marxist utopia’
Colin Kennedy, a councillor for Ards and North Down Borough Council, spoke out a conversion therapy ban after the council passed a motion calling on Stormont to ban the discredited practice in Northern Ireland. Alliance councillor Connie Egan said a conversion therapy ban would be “a small but significant” step towards building a “more inclusive and welcoming” society for […]
Taliban say gay rights will not be respected under Islamic law
In a rare statement addressing LGBT rights, the Taliban said that their intended support for human rights did not include gay rights. Although Western powers want to avert a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan, they have refused to officially recognise the Taliban government. Haqmal said Afghanistan would allow women an education, although not in the same […]
Taiwan’s transgender community calls for more awareness
Taiwan’s transgender people say the society has become more tolerant and open-minded towards them, but they still face discrimination in various aspects of life, speaking at the third annual Taiwan Trans March held online on Friday. Transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from their assigned sex at birth. Due to […]
Critically queer: L Heidenreich explores transgender Mestiz@ history
As someone who identifies as genderqueer, Mestiz@, materialist, and Catholic, L Heidenreich brings a unique perspective to the study of history that is hard to find in most classrooms. “I loved my history classes growing up, but my family wasn’t in them,” said Heidenreich, an associate professor of history at Washington State University. “It wasn’t […]
Polish parliament debates anti-LGBT legislative proposal
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish lawmakers held an emotional debate Thursday on proposed legislation dubbed “Stop LGBT,” which would ban pride parades and other public gatherings deemed to “promote” same-sex relationships. The lawmakers are due to vote Friday on whether to reject or continue work on the proposal, which is a citizen’s legislative initiative that […]
Ghana’s law curbing LGBT rights sparks Anglican church rift
A proposed law in Ghana to toughen curbs on the LGBT community has triggered a rift between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the local Anglican church, which strongly supports the bill. Gay sex is illegal in highly religious and conservative Ghana, but the proposed law will criminalise even LGBTQ advocacy while imposing longer jail terms […]
The wins and woes of Hong Kong’s rainbow families – has city made progress on policy and law for LGBT community?
When a lesbian couple in Hong Kong broke up last year after nearly two decades together, they agreed it was crucial they both continued to play an equal role in the lives of their two young children. Securing shared custody would make dealing with many of the tasks that constantly pop up in the lives […]
Tunisia: Attack on Director of LGBT Group
Two police officers apparently brutally attacked the director of a Tunis-based LGBT rights group on October 21, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack on Badr Baabou took place against a backdrop of mounting abuses targeting LGBT activists by Tunisian security forces. Baabou, the director of Damj Association for Justice and Equality, told Human Rights Watch […]
United States Issues Its 1st Passport With ‘X’ Gender Marker
The United States has issued its first passport with an “X” gender designation — a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who don’t identify as male or female — and expects to be able to offer the option to nonbinary, intersex and gender-nonconforming people early next year, the State Department said Wednesday. The […]
Australian professional footballer Josh Cavallo comes out as gay
Australian footballer Josh Cavallo became on Wednesday the first current professional player to come out as openly gay. Cavallo currently plays for Adelaide United in Australia’s soccer league and has represented his country at the under-20 level. “I’m a footballer and I’m gay,” the 21-year-old player wrote on social media, adding that he no longer […]
‘Disgraceful’: Italy’s senate votes down anti-homophobic violence bill
Italy’s senate has killed off a bill that would have made violence against LGBT people and disabled people, as well as misogyny, a hate crime. The 315-member senate voted by 154 to 131 on Wednesday to block the debate on the law, named after the gay centre-left Democratic party (PD) legislator Alessandro Zan and previously […]
We’re being pressured into sex by some trans women’
One of the lesbian women I spoke to, 24-year-old Amy*, told me she experienced verbal abuse from her own girlfriend, a bisexual woman who wanted them to have a threesome with a trans woman. When Amy explained her reasons for not wanting to, her girlfriend became angry. “The first thing she called me was transphobic,” […]
Being LGBT in Portuguese schools
The LGBT community, as it is commonly called, is an acronym that encompasses some of the existing sexual orientations: lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals. However, the acronym has been growing and more and more other sexual orientations receive the validation they are due. To LGBT was added the letter I for intersex and Q for […]
Senegal imprisons 3 men for gay-bashing
Three young men who beat up suspected homosexuals on July 28 have been sentenced to prison in Senegal. The country’s homophobes aren’t happy about it. Prison sentences for gay-bashers are uncommon in African nations as well as in other countries with anti-homosexuality laws. More frequently, police simply ignore anti-gay violence or they arrest the victims, […]
Brazil’s anti-LGBTQ president claims COVID-19 vaccines cause AIDS
Brazil’s anti-LGBTQ President Jair Bolsonaro claimed that the COVID-19 vaccines cause AIDS in a video posted to social media, which Facebook and other platforms deleted days later because it violated their policies against coronavirus misinformation. Last Thursday, Bolsonaro claimed in one of his weekly live broadcasts to have seen reports from the U.K. that “suggest […]
Intersex people have been challenging ‘gender-normalizing surgery.’ Doctors are starting to listen
Bria Brown-King, 29, a Pennsylvania native, was raised as a girl. As Brown-King got older, however, they realized they were developing differently. “I didn’t have the feminizing puberty that the other girls in my class had,” said Brown-King, who was born with an enlarged clitoris and started to develop masculine traits during puberty, including facial […]
‘Lesbian couple today, gay men tomorrow’: Minister warns Dabur over Karva Chauth ad
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra warned Dabur India over the Karva Chauth advertisement showing two young women breaking fast. Mishra said he found the advertisement objectionable. The MP Home Minister said he ordered DGP to inform Dabur India to withdraw the advertisement. Speaking about reported violence at Ashram 3 sets, Mishra said scenes that […]
Restrictions on transgender student athletes’ participation in school sports signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott
Texas’ transgender student athletes will be restricted from playing on K-12 school sports teams that align with their gender identity under a bill Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law Monday. House Bill 25, authored by state Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, will require student athletes who compete in interscholastic competition to play on sports teams that […]