Undoing 4 years of ‘damage’: LGBTQ advocates on Biden’s first 100 days
Finn Cooper, who lives in Cincinnati, volunteered for the Michigan Democratic Party to call voters in the swing state on behalf of the Biden-Harris presidential campaign in the months leading up to the election. Cooper, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, said they supported Joe Biden’s message on LGBTQ rights. “I thought he seemed like a good […]
Court could force Honduras to stop ‘social cleansing’ of trans people
International LGBT+ advocates are waiting anxiously for the verdict of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which monitors human rights in the western hemisphe. The top tribunal was prompted to intervene last year in Honduras, the country with world’s highest rate of trans homicides. Experts put the average life expectancy of transgender women at just […]
Gay refugee ‘ambushed’ by homophobe and left with broken leg: ‘I feel like the world has rejected me’
As Canary Murungi walked on foot to the shops in the Kakuma Refugee Camp at 11am, a fellow refugee from Sudan spotted him, he told PinkNews. “He ambushed me,” the 24-year-old said, “and questioned why I am a homosexual. He then violently pushed me, causing me to reinjure my right leg.” Medics at the camp’s […]
LGBTI refugees denied asylum by Home Affairs bigotry
A report released on Thursday by several civil society organisations has found evidence that LGBT refugees are being denied asylum in South Africa despite being, “… eligible for protection under international and domestic law”, GroundUp reports. The authors of the report surveyed denial letters for 67 asylum applicants who had applied for asylum on the […]
Donald Trump’s cruel ban on trans people joining the military is officially over
Pentagon policies that allow trans folk to serve in the US military went into effect Thursday (April 30), finally undoing Donald Trump’s cruel and unnecessary ban. It was the upshot of a tug-of-war between administrations and a year of litigation but in 2019, the former president’s abrupt ban formally went into effect. Closing the ranks […]
Russian LGBT Activist On Trial For ‘Pornography’ Launches Hunger Strike
A Russian LGBT activist and artist has declared a hunger strike to protest the proceedings of her closed-door trial on pornography charges. Yulia Tsvetkova’s trial began on April 12 after a nearly 1 1/2-year investigation, during which time she has been fined for spreading LGBT “propaganda” and put under house arrest in the city of […]
Gender-affirming care leads to better mental health among trans people
Transgender people who are able to receive gender-affirming surgery reported improved mental health outcomes, according to a new study published Wednesday. The study, published in JAMA Surgery found that overall, gender-affirming surgery was associated with a 42 percent reduction in psychological distress in transgender individuals, a 44 percent reduction in suicidal thoughts and a 35 […]
Gay Ugandan refugee’s odyssey to Vancouver chronicled in film
“We’re not rescuing. We’re not saving. We’re walking in solidarity with them.” So says Rainbow Refugee’s Chris Morrisey in Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams new film Someone Like Me chronicling of a group of Vancouver strangers who come together to sponsor Drake, a gay refugee fleeing persecution in Uganda. “This is her life’s mission […]
Support for gay marriage doubles in Romania
A new study has shown that Romanians are increasingly more tolerant towards LGBTI rights – with 43 percent saying that they support a legal form of same-sex union in Romania, either as civil unions or marriage. That number has doubled since 2016, when a citizens’ initiative to alter the Romanian constitution to explicitly reference marriage […]
Hate crime crisis | Lucky Motshabi is 7th LGBTIQ+ person murdered
The LGBTIQ+ hate crime body count continues to rise with the murder of Lucky Motshabi in Limpopo. Yet, the government offers no plan of action. On Friday, OUT LGBT Well-being reported that the body of Lucky Kleinboy Motshabi was found in a field in the town of Dennilton on 24 April. He was naked with […]
LGBTQ protestors vogue through the streets as part of massive national strike in Colombia
As protests rock Colombia this week over tax reforms, LGBTQ people have led sizeable contingents through the streets nationwide. Video posted to multiple social media sites showed queer activists vogueing their way to justice as part of a national strike yesterday that shut the country down. Trans women dancing in a plaza were met by […]
‘Laughing-stock’ Polish town revokes ‘LGBT-free’ status so it can keep lucrative EU grants
The small community of Kraśnik in eastern Poland was among the first in the country to sign a public declaration against LGBT+ rights in May 2019. The document declared the town “free from LGBT+ ideology” and promised to combat “homopropaganda” and the “sexualisation of children”. But the town’s mayor rapidly realised that actions have consequences […]
Judge orders himself to speak to a psychologist to ‘understand same-sex relationships better’ before ruling
A high court judge in India has ordered himself to undergo an education session with a psychologist on same-sex relationships before ruling on a case relating to a lesbian couple. The young couple, aged 20 and 22, fled to Chennai from their homes in Madurai to be together after their parents forbid their relationship, seeking […]
ACTIVISTS TO PROTEST LATHAM’S ANTI-LGBT BILLS IN SYDNEY ON JUNE 5
The next protest against One Nation MP Mark Latham’s anti-LGBTQI bills is scheduled for June 5, at the Town Hall in Sydney. The protests against the bills are building momentum, with a steady amount of pressure being applied by April Holcombe, co-convenor of Community Action for Rainbow Rights (CARR) and the CARR group itself, against […]
Father arrested while testifying against anti-trans health ban in Arkansas
Chris Attig was arrested while testifying against HB 1570 in the Arkansas House on March 9. When their speech went 30 seconds over the allotted two minutes, Attig’s mic was cut, and police escorted them from the building. Attig says they stayed in jail for several hours before being released, and that they face a […]
Lithuanian artist uses homophobic messages to raise money for LGBT causes
A Lithuanian artist has raised over $6,000 for LGBT groups by selling a digital collage of homophobic messages that were sent to a member of parliament who champions gay rights causes. The black-and-white artwork by Erikas Malisauskas, titled “Hate Speech Cloud”, consists of 400 offensive messages bundled together in the stylised shape of a cloud. […]
Chechnya Grants State Protection to ‘Kidnapped’ Gay Men – Reports
Authorities in Russia’s republic of Chechnya have granted state protection to two gay men facing threats of familial “honor killings” after they were forcibly returned to their home region, the MBKh Media news website reported Thursday. Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isayev had fled Chechnya for Nizhny Novgorod northeast of Moscow last summer after they were […]
Brazilian musician shines light on intersection of sexuality and Judaism
Brazil is a diverse and complex country. For 32-year-old Assucena Assucena, who is trans and Jewish (of Moroccan and Sephardic descent), that complexity is intensified. To be Jewish in Brazil already means that you’re one of an estimated 120,000 Jews living in a predominantly Catholic country with a deep history of antisemitism. But to be […]
Russian Man On Pornography Charge For Sharing Rammstein Clip
A court in northwestern Russia is set to deliver its verdict on April 28 in the case against an activist accused of “distributing pornography” for sharing a video by the German rock band Rammstein in 2014. Amnesty International called the case against Andrei Borovikov, who faces three years in prison if convicted, as “utterly absurd,” […]
Opponents force referendum on Swiss same-sex marriage
Swiss voters will get final say on whether same-sex couples can marry after opponents gathered enough signatures to force a binding referendum on a 2020 law allowing them to wed. That legislation also allowed transgender people to change their legal gender with a declaration, in a major change for a country that has lagged other […]
Anti-LGBT+ discrimination damages Eastern Europe’s economic growth
Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people costs Eastern European countries almost 2% a year in economic growth, a coalition of dozens of global companies promoting LGBT+ inclusion said on Tuesday. Hungary, Poland, Romania and Ukraine are losing billions of dollars each year due to the lack of equal workplace rights for LGBT+ people […]
Black Gay Man in Critical Condition After Cop Shot Him Multiple Times
A 32-year-old Black gay man is in critical condition after being shot multiple times by a police officer in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Isaiah Brown was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher on April 21 due to a family dispute when a Virginia sheriff’s deputy shot him. According to 911 audio and body camera footage […]
Tokyo 2020 chief visits LGBTQ centre to emphasise diversity
Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto visited Japan’s first permanent LGBTQ centre on Tuesday and emphasised Tokyo Olympic organisers’ commitment to facilitating the public’s understanding of issues surrounding sexual minorities. Her visit to Pride House Tokyo Legacy, Japan’s first permanent centre for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, follows a series of gaffes by organising […]
Scottish election 2021: Douglas Ross attacked for historic comments on gay marriage during TV leaders’ debate
The Scottish Conservative leader was asked about his position on equal marriage in Tuesday night’s debate following a report in the Daily Record that he, while a councillor in Moray in 2014, had said he would have voted against the legislation had he been an MSP. Told the legislation had made former Scottish Tory leader […]
Bangladesh: Verdict Due Soon in Killing of Gay Rights Activists
A verdict is expected soon for eight suspects charged with murder over the killing of two Bangladeshi gay-rights activists who were hacked to death in a Dhaka apartment five years ago, officials said. But the work they did advocating for the sexual minority all but perished along with them, according to fellow campaigners. “The social […]
Cameroonian LGBT activist champions imprisoned transgender women
Coming from Cameroon where letting it be known that she was a lesbian could lead to prison time, activist and social media influencer Bandy Kiki struggled to adjust to her newfound safety after emigrating to Britain a decade ago. Homosexuality is a criminal offence in Cameroon, punishable by up to five years in prison. “I […]
Long road to motherhood: Lesbians fight for IVF in Europe
LONDON, April 26 (Openly) – It took Leonie Plastina and her wife Sonja years of careful research – poring over LGBT+ rights laws and private medical costs in various European countries – to fulfil their dream of having children. The Swiss couple consider themselves lucky – Sonja conceived in their first round of in-vitro fertilisation […]
Project lifts the voices of Eswatini’s LGBT people
Voices of Eswatini, a new project from Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities (ESGM) and All Out, amplifies the voices of the small but strong LGBT community in a tiny kingdom in southern Africa where same-sex relations are illegal. Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Eswatini under the colonial-era Roman-Dutch common law that is still applied […]
UK government disbands LGBT advisory panel after members quit in protest
The UK government has disbanded an LGBTQ advisory panel after three of its members resigned in protest. Established under former Prime Minister Theresa May as part of the government’s LGBT Action Plan, the panel was intended to advise government ministers on “on issues and policies concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.” However, BBC News […]
Sagi Berman to come out as Israeli top-flight soccer’s first transgender referee
Israeli Premier League soccer referee Sagi Berman will come out publicly as transgender at a Tuesday press conference. She is the league’s first-ever transgender referee. Berman, 27, has been transitioning over the past several months, now goes by Sapir, and uses female gender pronouns. Berman has been known as one of the league’s top referees, […]