Lesbian penguins are this mating season’s hot new couple
Mating season is underway for the Gentoo penguins at the London’s Sea Life aquarium, and two lesbian penguin couples have already got together. The two couples – Marmalade and Chickpea and Marama and Rocky – have begun courting by bringing pebbles to each other as gifts, which will later be used to build their nests. […]
‘It’s discrimination’: Beach resort issues ban on transgender people
The local LGBT community slammed a local resort over alleged discrimination in its Facebook post announcing a ban on transgender people. The management of Isla Reta Beach Resort issued the ban in a brief statement on Facebook on May 12, arguing that it has no facilities to accommodate transgender individuals’ demands. “We inform to the […]
Former foster child abandoned for being gay ‘wouldn’t be alive’ if not for his two dads
A former foster child adopted by two fathers after being abandoned for his sexuality has urged Congress not to stand in the way of loving LGBT+ families like his. On Wednesday (12 May) Weston Charles-Gallo, a former youth ambassador for the Human Rights Campaign, bravely testified in support of the bipartisan Every Child Deserves a […]
Warsaw to run shelter for LGBT+ people
Warsaw will open an intervention hostel for LGBT+ people who have become homeless. The establishment of the hostel comes at a time when the Polish state has been accused of fostering an environment of intolerance towards sexual minorities. The United Right coalition, which holds power in Poland, has faced accusations of scapegoating LGBT people, and […]
HELL ON EARTH Inside Indonesia’s horrific exorcisms, rapes and electroshock torture to ‘cure’ LGBT people and ‘pray away the gay’
EXORCISMS have largely been confined to the history books – but they’re a grim modern-day reality in Indonesia. Many made to have the “treatment” don’t even have anything wrong with them, but are told they’re possessed by demonic spirits because they’re LGBT. Islamic exorcisms, or “ruqyah”, have come under renewed scrutiny in the Southeast Asian […]
Cameroonian transgender women convicted of ‘attempted homosexuality’
A local social media celebrity known as Shakiro, who also is identified as Loic Njeukam, and Patricia, also identified as Roland Mouthe, were arrested on Feb. 8. Human rights activists say their detention is part of the growing criminalization of sexual minorities and transgender people in Cameroon. The two received the maximum sentence of five […]
U.K. to ban LGBTQ conversion therapy and provide more support
Britain will move to ban conversion therapy and provide more support to those in the LGBTQ community who have undergone the treatment, as part of its post-pandemic government agenda. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government said measures would be brought forward to prevent these “abhorrent practices which can cause mental and physical harm,” starting with a […]
2021 is worst year for gay and trans rights in ‘war’ on LGBT+ Americans
In less than five months, 2021 has become the “worst year” in recent history for LGBT+ rights in the United States, with dozens of gay and transgender rights-related bills passed by state legislatures, a leading advocacy group said on Tuesday. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) said that 18 “anti-LGBTQ” state bills were signed into law […]
German churches bless same-sex couples in defiance of Vatican
A church in Germany has held the first of several historic Masses across the country to bless homosexual couples in the coming week, in defiance of a Vatican decree clarifying that such blessings are banned in the Catholic Church. “The heavens were open,” Munich priest Wolfgang Rothe said, visibly moved after blessings before an altar […]
Japan’s Ruling Party LGBT Bill Falls Short
Over the past six years, activists in Japan have pressed the Diet, the national parliament, to introduce a nondiscrimination law that protects the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Japan currently does not have any national legislation protecting LGBT people from discrimination, and a recent study puts Japan next to last in […]
U.S. Lutheran Church Elects its First Openly Transgender Bishop
A pastor in California became the first openly transgender person to be elevated to the role of bishop in a major American Christian denomination when they were elected on Saturday to lead a synod in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Rev. Megan Rohrer was elected to a six-year term as bishop of the […]
White House Reverses Trump Ban on LGBT Health-Care Protection
The federal government will begin enforcing protections for LGBT Americans in health care again, reversing a ban put in place by the Trump administration, the Health and Human Services Department said Monday. The decision to do so was made in light of the Supreme Court’s findingin Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that LGBT people […]
Poland’s left questions police textbook that lists LGBT as social pathology
=The Left (Lewica), Poland’s left-wing opposition grouping alliance in parliament, has asked the police chief to explain why a new textbook for police officers titled “Social pathologies, selected problems” lists the transgender and LGBT community among social pathologies. “Apart from such social pathologies like drug addiction and beggary, the textbook also speaks about the LGBT […]
Catholic School District in Canada Mandates ‘LGBT’ Pride Month Awareness and Staff Training
BURLINGTON, Ontario — While a Catholic school district in Ontario failed to pass a proposal to fly the rainbow-colored LGBT Pride Flag outside schools in June, the school board changed the proposal to say that staff should “raise awareness around Pride Month.” The board mandated staff training on the issue to encourage “shared understanding” and […]
Long Eaton school reports chaplain to terrorist watchdog for LGBT sermon
A Christian school in Long Eaton reported its chaplain to the Government’s anti-terror watchdog after he suggested his students should ‘make up their own minds’ on LGBT teachings. Reverend Dr Bernard Randall, 48, had been working as the chaplain at Trent College when he was reported to ‘Prevent’, a programme which seeks to prevent people […]
UN Condemns Ugandan Bill to Criminalize Same-Sex Relations
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is calling on Uganda to amend a bill to ban same-sex relations that it says would violate human rights standards and undermine public health. The bill passed by the Ugandan Parliament this past week, but not yet final, has been under development since 2015 […]
Gay man brutally murdered and beheaded by family in Iran in ‘honour killing’
Alireza Fazeli-Monfared, 20, was reportedly murdered by his brother and cousins on Tuesday (4 May) after they discovered the Iranian military exempted him from service because of “sexual depravities”. At around 7pm on Tuesday evening, Alireza spoke to his mother on the phone for the last time, his best friend Aghil Abyat told Iran Wire. […]
Prospects dim for passage of LGBTQ rights bill in Senate
Controlling Congress and the White House for the first time in a decade, Democrats were hopeful this would be the year they finally secured civil rights protections for LGBTQ Americans. Then came a new debate over women’s and girls sports. Legislation that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of […]
U.S. Supports Transgender Health Clinics in India
The United States supports and advocates for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) people everywhere. In India — where transgender people are medically underserved and frequently encounter bias, discrimination and violence — the U.S. proudly supports communities working to open health clinics that provide India’s transgender community with access […]
Lesbian mothers flood German courts with demands for parenting rights
When Inga celebrated the birth of her first child with her wife Jenny, the last thing she expected in her bid to be recognised as the baby’s second mother was a criminal record check – so she went to court to change the law. In Germany, only the biological mother is legally recognised as a […]
Trans men mocked and denied entry to Egypt by border guards because they ‘do not look female’
Or Mizan and Titi Katan, both from Haifa, Israel, were travelling to Egypt for a five-day holiday in the Ras a-Satan resort in the Sinai peninsula when they were stopped at the border, according to The Times of Israel. At the border, guards took issue with Mizan and Katan’s passports, which incorrectly identify them as […]
Silicon Valley Not Immune To Anti-LGBTQ Violence
Three years ago, San Jose lawmakers voted to fly a rainbow flag over Chick-Fil-A—an effort to proclaim LGBTQ residents were welcome in one of the world’s most progressive cities. But not everyone shares that sentiment. “I was walking my dog, had my hair down but was wearing my normal boy clothes and someone drove up […]
Iran’s anti-LGBT military law blamed for murder of gay man
Three men murdered 20-year-old Alireza “Ali” Fazeli-Monfared on Tuesday in the Iranian city of Ahvaz allegedly because they learned the Iranian military exempted him due to “moral and sexual depravities such as transsexualism.” Iranian news organizations outside of the Islamic Republic reported on Friday and Saturday about the anti-gay and anti-transgender murder of Fazeli-Monfared after […]
In hiding, Ghana’s queer activists keep up the fight
More than two months after fleeing “unprecedented” threats of violence, members of the queer rights organisation LGBT+ Rights Ghana are still in hiding. “It is very challenging. It takes a lot of toll,” says Alex Kofi Donkor, founder and director of the organisation. “The experiences of the past weeks haven’t been easy … I can […]
Trans Teens Are Being Denied the Essential Treatment They’re Legally Entitled To
Young people in England and Wales with gender dysphoria are being left “in limbo” and unable to access time-sensitive puberty blocker medication, VICE World News has been told. A recent court ruling makes it clear that under-16s can receive time-sensitive puberty blocker medication with parental consent, but many are still not receiving treatment they are […]
Lesbian parents in Germany move court for equal rights
When Inga celebrated the birth of her first child with her wife Jenny, the last thing she expected in her bid to be recognised as the baby’s second mother was a criminal record check. So, Inga went to court to change the law. In Germany, only the biological mother is legally recognised as a parent […]
President of Tonga LGBT Rights Group Murdered
Media reports indicate Tonga Leitis Association President Polikalepo Kefu was killed near their home in Lapaha, a village on the island of Tongatapu on which the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa is located. Deputy Tonga Police Commissioner Tevita Vailea on Monday in a statement said authorities have charged a 27-year-old man with murder. “This is a […]
Croatian court backs same-sex adoption in new LGBT+ win
A Croatian court has ruled that same-sex partners can now adopt children, backing a gay couple in their five-year fight for the right to family life, the government said on Thursday. Zagreb’s Administrative Court ruled on April 21 that same-sex couples should not face discrimination in state adoption, the Rainbow Families Association (RFA), an LGBT+ […]
Taiwan court ruling on Macau citizen opens door to international same-sex marriages
A high court on Thursday (May 6) ruled that same-sex marriage between a Taiwanese citizen and a Macau national should be recognized in Taiwan, opening the door to marriages with others who come from countries where same-sex marriage is illegal. On Thursday, the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled that the Household Registration office must allow […]
Outpouring of grief after alleged murder of leading Tongan LGBTQI activist
Police in Tonga are investigating the death of one of the country’s leading LGBTQI+ activists after his body was found on a beach near his home in Tongatapu, Tonga’s main island. A 27-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Polikalepo Kefu, 41. Kefu, who was affectionately known as “Poli”, was the president of […]