‘Why are you attacking me? I’m great’: 8-year-old transgender girl asks lawmakers to oppose sports ban bill
During a marathon hearing Wednesday that lasted more than 10 hours, a transgender child pleaded with Texas House lawmakers to halt a bill that would prevent her from playing in sports with other girls. Sunny Bryant traveled with her mother, Rebekah, from Houston to join dozens of others testifying at the House Select Committee on […]
Tom Daley calls for Olympic ban on countries where being gay is punishable by death
British Olympic diver Tom Daley said that he will make it his “mission” to stop countries where homosexuality is punishable by death from competing in the Olympics. “I think it’s really important to try and create change, rather than just highlighting or shining a light on those things,” Daley, who is gay, said Wednesday while […]
China’s LGBT community caught up in Xi Jinping’s widening crackdowns on big tech, education and celebrities
On August 13 last year, the organisers of Shanghai’s long-running LGBT pride festival abruptly announced the event was being cancelled indefinitely without explanation. The news came as a shock to many as the event had run successfully, albeit quietly, for 11 years. In a brief statement on its website titled “the end of the rainbow” […]
LGBTQ+ bill criminalizes persons who promote sympathy for the act, not persons involved — Sam George insists
The lead proponent of the anti-LGBTQI+ Bill which is before Ghana’s Parliament, Sam George has explained that the bill does not criminalize homosexuals but those who promote sympathy for the act for other to engage in it. His explanation was to cure the mischief by the group of lawyers, academia and human rights persons who […]
Turkish court acquits students of organising 2019 gay pride march
Turkey has acquitted 19 people who had been prosecuted for organising and participating in a Pride march. A Turkish court had ruled that the students and academic did not commit any crime by holding the rally at their university campus in May 2019. The group had been charged with “refusing to disperse” after they were […]
Portugal to stamp out anti-gay prejudice in blood donations
Portugal’s parliament approved four bills Friday that enshrine in law the country’s rules and procedures on blood donations, amid reports people are being turned away due to their sexual orientation. The Portuguese Constitution forbids discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation, and discrimination in blood donations has been specifically prohibited in Portugal since 2010. But […]
Alice Nkom, Cameroon’s tireless defender of LGBTQ rights
Nkom’s cane is the only thing that betrays the age of this great lady, whom her young clients call “Mama”. At 76, Nkom may be Cameroon’s oldest female lawyer and defender of LGBTQ rights, but she has no intentions of retiring any day soon. “I have no reason to stop, I have one last fight […]
N.C. lieutenant governor faces calls to resign for calling LGBTQ people ‘filth’
Multiple North Carolina state representatives are demanding that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, resign after a video surfaced showing him describing the LGBTQ community as “filth.” The video, first shared by Right Wing Watch, a project of the progressive advocacy group People For the American Way, shows Robinson speaking at the Asbury Baptist Church […]
France moves closer to banning so-called gay conversion therapy
France’s parliament has unanimously backed proposed legislation that would ban so-called gay conversion therapy. The new law would introduce prison sentences and fines for people who attempt to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBT citizens. French lawmakers voted 115-0 on Tuesday night for the draft law proposed by members of President Emmanuel […]
How a US group with links to the far-right may have influenced a crackdown on Ghana’s LGBTQ community
Accra, Ghana (CNN)A safe house was the only place Joe felt protected enough to meet. Tucked away in a neighborhood of Accra, off Aflao Road, a group of Ghanaian gay activists use the house to gather in secret and provide shelter to LGBTQ people in need. Sitting on the corner of a couch in the […]
Russia rejects Council of Europe demand to repeal country’s so-called ‘gay propaganda law’ & accuses body of ‘abuse of power’
Russia has rejected calls from the Council of Europe’s Commission against Racism and Intolerance to repeal the country’s controversial ban on the dissemination of information about “non-traditional” sexualities among minors. Speaking to TASS news agency, Ivan Soltanovsky, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, called the commission’s demand an “abuse of power,” noting that […]
Outrage after gay woman diagnosed at Spanish hospital with ‘homosexuality’
A family and an LGBT collective in south-east Spain are demanding answers and an apology after a 19-year-old gay woman who visited a gynaecologist over a menstrual condition was diagnosed with “homosexuality”. On Monday the woman went to an appointment at the Reina Sofía hospital in the city of Murcia. After being examined she was […]
China’s LGBT community caught up in Xi Jinping’s widening crackdowns on big tech, education and celebrities
On August 13 last year, the organisers of Shanghai’s long-running LGBT pride festival abruptly announced the event was being cancelled indefinitely without explanation. The news came as a shock to many as the event had run successfully, albeit quietly, for 11 years. In a brief statement on its website titled “the end of the rainbow” […]
“LGBT-Free” Declarations Repealed In Poland: A Step Forward? Or A Cruel Game?
Last Monday, three Polish regional councils voted not to declare their provinces “LGBT-free zones” following the European Union’s threats to cut up to €126 million in funding to the local governments. This is a change for the Podkarpackie, Lubelskie, and Małopolskie regions, which first passed the resolutions, intended to “protect heterosexual family values,” in 2019. […]
We’ll campaign against you if you vote against the passage of anti-LGBTQI Bill – Petencost Church threaten MPs
The Church of Pentecost has vowed to campaign against parliamentarians should they fail to let the anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Bill passed into law with immediate effect. The Church believes the Members of Parliament (MPs) owe Ghanaians the moral duty to pass laws in the interest of the majority, hence, the Proper Sexual Rights […]
Kenya Banned This Gay Documentary — It Will Now Stream Across Africa
The Kenyan documentary about the life of a gay man navigating life in the conservative country I am Samuel was banned in Kenya in late September. While the documentary has been banned in the East African country, the film will be available to watch online across Africa starting October 14. The Kenya Film Classification Board […]
Carrie Johnson urges Tories to back transgender rights
Carrie Johnson has urged Conservatives to fight for the rights of transgender people, throwing her support behind a cause that has begun to increasingly divide the party. In her sole public appearance at Tory conference, the prime minister’s wife, who works as an environmental campaigner, said it was a “fact of life” that LGBT+ people […]
Librarians in Wyoming face criminal ‘obscenity’ charges for stocking LGBT+ books in teen sections
Prosecutors are reportedly considering whether to bring charges against Campbell County Public Library staff over their decision to stock young adult books about sex education and LGBT+ issues. The library, which is based in the city of Gillette, has faced protests and backlash in recent weeks over a number of books focusing on LGBT+ issues, […]
Cameroon: Law enforcement officials join workshop on protecting LGBTI people
The workshop was organized in response to a recommendation that Cameroon should “protect women, girls and all other vulnerable persons from all forms of violence”. That recommendation, which implied an obligation to fight against violence against LGBTI persons, was made during the most recent Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of human rights in Cameroon. The UPR […]
New Campaign ‘Proud AF’ Aims To Tackle Racism Among Gay, Bisexual And Transgender Men In Ireland
The Gay Project has launched a new campaign “#ProudAF”, aimed at reducing racism towards gay, bisexual and trans (GBTQI+) people of colour and travellers and in Ireland. The campaign hopes to address the barriers to inclusion that men of colour and travellers face within the queer community, through experience sharing and increased visibility across the […]
Ghana Anti-gay bill dangerous, proponents seek to promote hate
A professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, Kwame Karikari, has said the current anti-gay bill which is being promoted by Ningo Prampram lawmaker, Sam Nartey George and some of his colleague legislators, is dangerous because it seeks to promote hate for homosexuals in the country. In the view of Prof Karikari, gays and lesbians are […]
LivveHome to launch first-ever community kitchen run, operated by transgender people in Pune
Coming November 2021 Pune is all set to get its first-ever community kitchen staffed and operated entirely by transgender individuals. A visit to Pune, Maharashtra’s cultural and historical centre, is incomplete without sampling the city’s many restaurants and hotels’ unique cuisines. And very soon, Livve is gearing up to provide the first-ever community kitchen run […]
Art’s part in being African and queer
Three years ago the release of John Trengove’s Inxeba (The Wound) set tongues wagging in South Africa. The film, which portrays a troubled romantic relationship between two gay men against the backdrop of the highly regarded ulwaluko ceremony in which Xhosa boys are initiated into manhood, was met with a backlash from some conservative audiences who opposed […]
Education culture war finds a new target: Pride flags in classrooms
Pride flags, which were created to promote unity, are being called political and divisive in some schools across the country. A recent example: An Oregon school board on Tuesday banned educators from displaying the flags. “We don’t pay our teachers to push their political views on our students. That’s not their place,” a school board member […]
Breaking down China’s transgender barriers
HONG KONG — Huang Xi, the founder of mainland China’s only nonprofit organization offering psychological counseling to transgender people, is a rarity — a Chinese transgender woman living a fulfilling life. Huang, who was identified as male at birth in southern China in the 1980s, began to question her gender in kindergarten, but stayed in […]
Row looms over Tory conference invitation to gay lobbying group accused of transphobia
Senior Tories are concerned that their conference will be the latest to be overshadowed by a row over trans rights, after the party said it was standing by its decision to host a group accused of expressing anti-trans views. Several Conservative figures have called on the party to reverse its decision to offer a place at […]
Russia Proposes ‘Extremist’ Label for LGBT, Feminist, Child-Free Movements
Russia’s LGBT, radical feminist and child-free groups should be recognized as “extremist,” the chairman of an influential government commission said Wednesday. “LGBT ideology, radical feminism and child-free movements should be recognized as extremism — an extremist ideology,” the state-run TASS news agency cited Andrei Tsyganov, chairman of a commission for the protection of children at […]
Smoqua Queer Festival Rijeka: A Safe Space for Diversity
The fifth edition of the Smoqua Queer Festival Rijeka is set to celebrate diversity from October 7-9. Culture, art, and interesting content mixed with the advocation of rights for sexual minorities, citizens and visitors of Rijeka are once again in for a queer culture treat as the fifth edition of the Smoqua festival of queer […]
China to ban video games promoting ‘effeminate males,’ gay relationships, report says
China will reportedly ban video games that don’t promote “correct values” and “accurate understanding” of the country’s history and culture, a leaked internal document shows. That includes a ban on any portrayal of “effeminate males,” the promotion of same-sex relationships, and the showing of characters who have no “clear gender.” The leaked document comes from […]
Trump Republicans Have Found A New Authoritarian To Love In Hungary’s Orban
Having lost their leader in Washington, Donald Trump-supporting Republicans appear to have settled on a new authoritarianism-curious leader to admire: Hungary’s anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, anti-free press Viktor Orbán. From a full week of programming by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson from Budapest to a Conservative Political Action Conference event in Hungary next spring to a visit by […]