LGBT People Fleeing Harassment in Iran Find Life No Easier in Turkey
For hundreds of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Iranians who fled their homeland because of persecution for who they are, moving to Turkey was not a significant improvement. Sexual and gender minorities say constant harassment and discrimination experienced in the host nation is forcing many of them to seek relocation to a third country. A.R. […]
How a Canadian court system officially ended misgendering in the courtroom
For trans people, navigating the judicial system can feel daunting at the best of times, and unsafe at worst. If you have to present in court, how can you be sure your identity will be respected? Courts in British Columbia are enacting changes to ensure trans inclusion—and ending misgendering—within the judicial system is a reality. […]
Cameroon: Abuses of LGBTQ People Increasing in Cameroon
Human Rights Watch said in a report this week that LGBTQ people are suffering a fresh wave of persecution in Cameroon, where same-sex relations are illegal. The group said in February, police detained 12 youths in the eastern town of Bertoua for homosexuality, beat them and locked them in a police station. They were released […]
Kyrgyzstan: National-patriots attack women’s rights rally
Women’s rights campaigners in Kyrgyzstan’s capital were assaulted by dozens of self-styled traditionalists on April 14 while holding a rally to call on the government to do more to combat gender-based violence. Police did not intervene. The demonstration held outside the Interior Ministry headquarters was another event reflecting the upswell of indignation provoked by last […]
Thai LGBT couple speak out against Indonesia’s online bullying
Twenty-nine-year-old Jasmine, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect her privacy, moved to northern Thailand last year to be with her boyfriend, a 60-year-old American. As a trans woman, Jasmine, feared coming back to Indonesia after suffering bullying from her peers while growing up. “My friends called me banci or bencong [a slur akin […]
Women, Girls and LGBT Fight for Rights in Myanmar: “We Have to Win This Time”
In early February, women, girls and members of the LGBT community hit the streets of Yangon, Mandalay and other cities throughout Myanmar to protest the country’s military takeover. Protesters—many of them young women—have continued to marched, beat pans and hang their undergarments (known as htamein) in creative and colorful protest, not just against the dictatorship, […]
Sex ed rules passed in Arizona would require parents to sign off on LGBT discussions
Arizona has passed new sex education rules that would require parents to sign off on their children learning about LGBT issues. It “requires the school governing board to develop procedures by which parents will be notified in advance, and given the opportunity to opt their children into, any instruction regarding sexuality, gender identity or gender […]
Tunisian LGBT rights group provides vital services during pandemic
The Tunisian LGBT rights group Mawjoudin (Arabic for “We Exist”) has been providing vital services to vulnerable community members through the COVID-19 pandemic, according to its just-released annual newsletter. Mawjoudin was founded in 2014 by feminist and LGBTQI+ activists to advocate for sexual minorities and fight discrimination based on sexual orientation, sex, gender, and gender […]
Promising Guyanese designer found murdered in Trinidad
Police in Trinidad and Tobago are investigating the murder of 27-year-old Guyanese-born fashion designer, Marc Anthony Singh. The youth who moved to Trinidad several years ago, was found stabbed to death in his apartment in the community of El Dorado on Tuesday evening. Reports out of Trinidad state that Singh who was a member of […]
Transgender and Non-Binary Youth Influencers Launch Book Collection with Kids Media Disrupter A Kids Book About
CHICAGO, April 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — While many teens took e-learning as an opportunity to level-up their gaming skills, a group of young people chose instead to write a collection of books about their lives. The GenderCool Project, a storytelling campaign turned global movement led by 18 young people known as the “Champions,” has teamed […]
‘I want to show the pride’: photo essay of the Two Spirit Indigenous people
When Monique “Muffie” Mousseau was in the fourth grade she got expelled from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic school on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota. Her classmates didn’t like the beaded moccasins her grandmother made for her and the two braids she sported, which were held together by hand-beaded hair ties. “I […]
Alba Party candidate condemned for ‘dangerous and irresponsible’ lie Stonewall wants to lower age of consent
A Scottish Alba Party parliamentary candidate has been condemned for spreading the ‘dangerous and irresponsible’ lie that Stonewall wants to lower the age of consent to 10-years-old. Margaret Lynch, the Central Scotland candidate for Alex Salmond’s recently-formed Alba party, made the comments at the party’s Women’s Conference on Saturday (10 April). Lynch made the untrue […]
Fury at UNHCR as burned Kakuma LGBTQIA+ refugee dies
Activists slam the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) after Kakuma Camp LGBTQIA+ refugee and human rights defender Chriton ‘Trinidad’ Atuhwera dies from burns sustained in a homophobic attack. The 22-year-old had been in critical condition in an ill-equipped hospital for weeks after he was burned when a petrol bomb was thrown into a group of LGBTQIA+ […]
Biden scrambles to create Plan B on LGBT rights as Equality Act meets resistance
President Joe Biden vowed on the campaign trail to pass a law protecting LGBTQ Americans from discrimination within his first 100 days in office. But with the Senate’s backing for the Equality Act seen as unlikely, he may already have opted for Plan B. Biden covered key parts of the civil rights bill — which […]
Judge to decide if gay couple who tied the knot in 1974 will have marriage validated
Nearly five decades after they tied the knot, a gay Winnipeg couple is still fighting to have their marriage registered by the Manitoba government. “We’re dealing with irrational prejudice here,” said Chris Vogel, who married his love Richard North in 1974. “I mean, we fell in love. We settled down. We’ve lived happily ever after.” […]
The Man on a Mission to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage in China
The wedding in the spring of 2016 was unlike any China had ever witnessed — two men stood shoulder to shoulder in matching purple tuxedos, professing love and promising to spend their lives together. In China, where same-sex marriage is illegal, photographs of the symbolic union between Sun Wenlin and his partner Hu Mingliang invited […]
Mexican Netflix street vendor star ‘Lady Tacos’ eyes jump to political stage
After Mexico City’s ‘Lady Tacos de Canasta,’ a street vendor featured in a Netflix series, stood up to police who she said harassed her on the street, she decided to take her fight for worker and LGBT rights to a bigger stage. The 36-year-old, who goes by the name of Marven and identifies as Mexico’s […]
Anti-LGBT+ groups are now pushing voter suppression and anti-vax conspiracy theories
In an unsurprising development, a cluster of right-wing groups that actively campaign for anti-trans bills are also backing voter suppression and anti-vaccine conspiracies. New restrictions that could see tougher limits on early voter registration and voting by mail are now “at the heart of the right’s strategy to keep donors and voters engaged as Trump […]
Brunel Museum seeks LGBTQ+ engineers to change perceptions
The Brunel Museum is looking to work with engineers who identify as LGBTQ+ to help change perceptions of what makes an engineer. The museum plans to create a series of films to coincide with London Pride, which is due to take place between 11 and 12 of September. Museum director Katherine McAlpine explained that the […]
Putin Officially Bans Same-Sex Marriage In Russia And Stops Transgender People Adopting
Russian president Vladimir Putin has put a ban on same-sex marriage and transgender adoptions, in a huge blow for LGBTQ+ rights. Putin officially changed the country’s constitution on a number of issues earlier this week, following a national referendum in which 77% of people in Russia voted in favour of the ban in July 2020. […]
Backlash in Iran after academic calls for ‘removing gays’ from Tehran
Activists launched a petition against an Iranian academic and theatre director who was slammed for making homophobic remarks in an outrageous rant against the Iran’s LGBTQ+ community. Last month, Ghotboddin Sadegh told Online Art that the neighbourhood around Tehran City Theater had become “very shameful” because “turned into a place for thugs, offenders, and homosexuals […]
After Going ‘Free of L.G.B.T.,’ a Polish Town Pays a Price
When local councilors adopted a resolution two years ago declaring their small town in southeastern Poland “free of L.G.B.T.,” the mayor didn’t see much harm in what appeared to be a symbolic and legally pointless gesture. Today, he’s scrambling to contain the damage. What initially seemed a cost-free sop to conservatives in the rural and […]
Sick vandals deface LGBT+ centre with transphobic graffiti amid Spanish fight for trans rights
An LGBT+ centre in Madrid has been vandalised with homophobic and transphobic graffiti as tensions rise over a new “trans law” in Spain. Prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s ruling socialist party has been accused of blocking a new gender-recognition law, which was put forward by far-left minority coalition partner United We Can. Delays to the new […]
Majlis Podcast: Uzbekistan In The Spotlight For The Wrong Reasons
Since 2016, when Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov, died, the authorities have been working to change the image the country inherited from Karimov as a chronic rights abuser. There have been some signs of progress but starting in late February, things began to fall apart. A group trying to register as an opposition party was […]
Angry LGBTQI+ community demands justice following brutal murder
As Human Rights Month ended, Sphamandla Khoza’s family learnt that he was killed in an alleged hate crime which sparked outrage, calls for justice and marches. Last week, the 34-year-old’s body was discovered in a ditch near his home in Ntuzuma. Khoza’s throat was slit and he was stabbed multiple times. His death was suspected […]
LGBTQ Members Face Threats in Iraqi Kurdistan
The plight of Iraq’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning or queer (LGBTQ) community returned to the spotlight last week when Kurdish security forces in Sulaymaniyah reportedly arrested several gay men. The government denied targeting the group, saying its operation was rather to crack down on prostitution. Members of the community told VOA the arrests […]
LBQ Womxn in Uganda: a plea for equal access to health
Freedom and Roam Uganda, a lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) organisation, is about to publish a book urging Ugandan human rights and health-care rights advocates to incorporate acceptance of sexual and gender diversity in their work. he book “Queering SRHR: A Guide for LBQ Womxn” highlights lessons learned about how health services, health care and […]
Germany bans surgery on intersex infants
Last month, German lawmakers voted to ban unnecessary surgeries on babies born with intersex characteristics. The legislation was officially adopted on March 25. While it makes Germany only the third country to end these unnecessary procedures, intersex rights organizations like the Organisation Intersex International (OII) Germany, OII Europe, and Intergeschlechtliche Menschen want more. From them.: […]
Intersex Kids Are Getting Caught in the GOP’s War on Trans Health Care
Republicans across the country have spent the better part of 2021 trying to cut off transgender children’s access to gender-affirming health care. Some have falsely compared it to child abuse, “genital mutilation,” and even Nazi war crimes. But for children born with intersex traits, or in a body that differs from social expectations about “boys” […]
Panel of Japan’s ruling LDP to seek early passage of law on LGBT understanding
A ruling party committee said Thursday that it will aim to enact a law to promote understanding of sexual minorities during the ongoing session of the Diet, set to end in June. A draft outline of the bill, presented at a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Special Mission Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender […]