Japan granted 93 foreigners permission to bring their same-sex spouse
At least 93 foreigners residing in Japan were granted permission to bring their same-sex spouses to the country under a special visa between 2013 and 2020, the first such government survey showed Friday. The spouse of the foreigner with residential status, both from countries where same-sex marriage is recognized, was permitted to stay in Japan […]
Turkey detains students and supporters over LGBT flags
Police in Turkey detained dozens of people who assembled outside a courthouse Friday in a show of solidarity with 12 students who were taken into custody for unfurling rainbow flags, according to Turkish news reports. The detentions came amid growing government intolerance toward the LGBT community. Students and faculty at Istanbul’s prestigious Bogazici University have […]
Chechnya’s Horrific ‘Gay Purge’: A 4-Year Timeline of Abduction, Torture and Murder
April 1, 2021, marks four years since the world at large was first made aware of Chechnya’s gay purge — atrocities committed against LGBTQ people within the Russian republic’s borders, a horrific, ongoing stratagem of abduction, detainment, torture and murder. Gradually rebuked by Western governments over the years as first-hand accounts began to emerge, Chechnya’s […]
From Rights To Jobs—LBGTQ+ Liberation In The Arab World
Before the Beirut Port blast last August that killed hundreds and destroyed entire neighborhoods, Lebanon’s economy was already under enormous pressure due to long-standing political challenges and the Covid pandemic. Amid all of this, Lebanon’s LGBTQ+ community has been particularly hard hit. Social entrepreneurs like Tarek Zeidan are building a better economic future for Lebanon […]
‘Beautiful and fierce’: Voguing balls let LGBT Chinese shine
Leather, glitter, stilettos and a strut — voguing, the underground dance phenomenon, has seized Beijing and given China’s LGBT community a “playground” to celebrate their identities. Sashaying down the runway clad in fake-fur, mile-high wigs and dramatic makeup, performers flaunted poses for an ecstatic audience, powered by a pounding house music soundtrack. Hundreds of young […]
Defiant MP skewers LGB Alliance for spewing ‘nonsense, fake news and misinformation’ around conversion therapy
Jamie Stone, a Scottish Liberal Democrat MP, lambasted the high-decibel anti-trans lobbying group for “masquerading as LGBT+ allies”, a sentiment similarly expressed by top Pride organisers and trade unions. He told PinkNews how the group sent him a “horrific” email that said that banning trans conversion therapy for youth would “would criminalise therapists who want […]
Elite Nursing School to Offer Certification in Trans Health Care
The Columbia School of Nursing in New York is ready to offer a new certificate to its students, one that’s the first of its kind. The Certificate in Professional Achievement in Transgender/Gender Non-Binary Health Care will be available for nurse practitioners who want to better learn how to treat trans patients this September. Laura Kelly, […]
GHANA POLICE ARRESTS 22 LGBT+ IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUALS
LGBT Rights Ghana, an organization that recently sparked a storm after opening a shelter and safe space for gender and sexual minorities in the West African nation has revealed that 22 individuals were arrested at a birthday gathering. According to their Instagram page, Ghana Police Services arrested 22 LGBTIQ persons who were attending a birthday […]
LGBTQ students file class-action lawsuit against Department of Education
Lucas Wilson said he received conversion therapy from a student club called Band of Brothers at Liberty University from 2008 to 2012, when he was an undergraduate student. Wilson, now 30, said when he visited campus prior to enrolling, he saw an ad for “struggling with same-sex attraction.” “The biggest factor in why I chose […]
“Still labelled ‘others’, Nepal’s LGBTQIA+ people pin hopes on census “
“Who are you?” is probably the easiest and the most difficult question to answer, depending on how one chooses to explain. For always, society has shaped individuals to answer the question based on their family ties and societal status. While that has been the truth before, people today prefer to shape their own identity for […]
Popular young Chinese internet celebrity announces she is transgender
Abbily, a popular 19-year-old internet celebrity has attracted attention and support – by announcing that she is transgender. “Now, I’m officially a girl…” the star wrote on Sina Weibo on Sunday in a post that has received support from Chinese netizens and people of her fan community. In the Sunday post she revealed some details […]
Uzbekistan police blame victim in violent attack on pro-LGBT activist
Police in Uzbekistan say they are investigating the savage beating of an activist who has been advocating for the decriminalization of same-sex relationships. It is not likely they will try very hard, however. The assault, which took place late at night on March 28, has left Miraziz Bazarov with a broken leg, a cranial fracture […]
Vatican’s gay blessing ban stokes fear among African LGBT Catholics
The Vatican’s recent decree banning Catholic priests from blessing same-sex marriages has stoked fear among the LGBT community in countries across Africa, where gay people are routinely discriminated against or even arrested because of harsh laws criminalizing same-sex activity. Nigeria is one place with such a law on the books. If a person is found […]
Meet the Jamaican refugee who now runs the community centre that took her in
Toronto’s Church-Wellesley neighbourhood, bustling and even ebullient in better days, has survived more than a year of COVID-19 lockdown measures, but not without loss. Though a few of The Village’s boarded-up storefronts have been infused with vibrancy thanks to local muralists commissioned by Church-Wellesley’s BIA, its nevertheless difficult not to notice the toll the pandemic […]
‘Loving parents’ can consent to puberty blockers on their child’s behalf, High Court says in landmark ruling
The High Court has ruled that a “loving parent” can consent to a child taking puberty blockers, in part reversing last year’s decision in the Keira Bell case. On 1 December, 2020, the High Court ruled that transgender children under the age of 16 must understand the implications both of puberty blockers and of potentially […]
Israel Election: The anti-LGBTQ Lawmaker Who May Help Form Netanyahu’s Coalition
Israeli election results came as surprise to the far-right Religious Zionism party. The party, which is composed of three lists, ended up receiving six Knesset seats after teetering on the verge of the electoral threshold. Lucky number six was Avigdor (Avi) Maoz, head of Noam, a party for “normal people” in Israel. Noam sees itself […]
Time for Hong Kong to protect its LGBT community from discrimination
A Japanese court recently ruled that the state’s failure to recognise same-sex marriage was unconstitutional – a landmark verdict that came after decades of arduous campaigning. In Hong Kong, meanwhile, a recently widowed gay man is mounting a legal case to have his relationship with his deceased partner recognised. If successful, this could pave the […]
Majority of Republicans support same-sex marriage for the first time
A majority within all partisan groups, including Republicans, now support same-sex marriage, according to a poll from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released on Tuesday. In 2019, less than half of those who identify as Republican — 47 percent — backed gay marriage, but the survey indicates that number rose to 51 percent last […]
Thailand Has Three Paths to Recognizing Same-Sex Partnerships
Thailand markets itself as a liberal destination for LGBTQ people and earns billions of tourist dollars from it, yet the nation still doesn’t recognize same-sex unions. That could change as soon as this year. After nearly a decade, the country now has three potential paths toward recognizing same-sex partnerships, short of full marriage — a […]
Legal experts launch China’s first non-profit foundation dedicated to offering legal aid to LGBTQ community
China’s first non-profit foundation dedicated to training legal talents and offering legal aid to the LGBTQ community was launched on Tuesday by three Chinese lawyers and a law professor. According to the founders, one major reason they wanted to start the non-profit is because many members of the LGBTQ community in China, which has more […]
LGBT groups seeking equality law in Japan before Olympics
Activists submitted a petition with over 106,000 signatures to Japan’s ruling party Thursday, calling for an LGBT equality law to be enacted before the Tokyo Games, saying Japan as host nation should live up to the Olympic charter banning gender and sexual discrimination. Their action came on the day the Olympic torch relay began in […]
TAIWAN PEOPLE’S PARTY COMES UNDER FIRE FOR TIES TO ANTI-GAY GROUP
THE TAIWAN People’s Party (TPP), which was formed by Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je in 2019, has been hit with a round of criticism due to the party’s ties with the Greater Taipei Stability Power Alliance (GTSPA). The GTSPA is an anti-gay group that played a key role in organizing the 2018 national referendum against gay […]
Germany bans surgeries on intersex babies, but loopholes feared
Germany has banned unnecessary surgeries on babies who are born intersex, neither clearly male or female, but critics warned on Friday that the new law could easily be sidestepped by doctors and parents. Lawmakers in the Bundestag parliament voted late on Thursday to join several European countries in banning cosmetic operations that seek to ensure […]
Turkey detains students and supporters over LGBTQ flags
Police in Turkey detained dozens of people who assembled outside a courthouse Friday in a show of solidarity with 12 students who were taken into custody for unfurling rainbow flags, according to Turkish news reports. The detentions came amid growing government intolerance toward the LGBT community. Students and faculty at Istanbul’s prestigious Bogazici University have […]
FIFA threatens sanctions for Mexico after anti-gay chant reemerges
FIFA has officially opened an investigation after anti-gay chants were audible during the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying match between Mexico and the Dominican Republic on March 18. Potential sanctions range from a fine charged to the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) to forfeiture of the three points obtained from the 4-1 El Tri win. “FIFA can confirm […]
Double isolation of LGBT migrants
LGBTIQ activists and asylum seekers are starring in a documentary which for the first time gives LGBTIQ migrants a voice to tell their stories. “These migrants not only face racism from general society but also feel isolated from their own community for being gay because it is not accepted in their culture,” MGRM member and […]
Gay Egyptian Man Describes Plight Of Egyptian LGBT Community Through His Own Personal Story
“It was an ordinary Thursday, and I was taking to him on a dating app. I became slightly suspicious when he insisted we meet at his house on the edge of one of the slums in the city, and the more he insisted the more suspicious I became… I [nevertheless] came over, and within less […]
Israel Elections: What is the Religious Zionist Party’s agenda?
The Knesset debut of the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionist Party (RZP), which includes the far-right Kahanist Otzma Yehudit Party and the anti-LGBT Noam Party, has caused not a little anguish on the Left. RZP secured six seats and 225,000 votes in the election, giving it a significant representation, and hopes of greater ideological influence in putting […]
Rachel Levine Becomes First Transgender Person Confirmed By Senate
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed the nomination of Rachel Levine, President Joe Biden’s pick as assistant secretary of health. Levine is the first transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate as a presidential appointee. Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, joined Democrats in confirming Levine’s appointment. Levine […]
New £50 note featuring Alan Turing to enter circulation in June
A new £50 note featuring Alan Turing, the scientist best known for his codebreaking work during the second world war, has been unveiled by the Bank of England and will go into circulation on 23 June, the date of his birth. The Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, was due to reveal the design, which […]