New Jersey becomes first state to have certified LGBTQ+-owned businesses
Something tasty is always being served inside the kitchen at Cavany Foods on Grand Street in Jersey City. Owner and chef Alejandro Fummayor says he has a passion for cooking. “When I’m cooking it’s like another level. You forget everything. Stress is out,” Fummayor said. And now, with a new certification under his business belt, […]
Two men jailed after criticizing prime minister for not being anti-gay enough
In Senegal, Africa, two men have been jailed for “spreading false news” that the new prime minister there tolerates homosexuality. Activist Bah Diakhate and Imam Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndao were jailed for three months and fined the equivalent of $165 each. The pair were angered when Ousmane Sonko — recently elected prime minister after Senegal […]
Homo momos in Kathmandu: this travel company offers tours off the straight road
T-shirts usually come in sizes like M and XL. However, Queermandu’s t-shirts come in sizes Twink and Bear. Queermandu, a brand new LGBTQ+ tour company in Kathmandu, isn’t shy about wearing its queerness on its sleeve. The names of its t-shirt sizes play with body types popular on gay dating apps. The names of their […]
Turkey’s top court rules in favor of LGBT activist in landmark hate speech case
Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled in favor of a LGBT activist, declaring that a lower court’s refusal to block homophobic content targeting her was a violation of her rights, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported. Efruz Kaya, a civil society employee represented by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), had requested an access ban […]
My life as an LGBTQ asylum seeker in the UK
Back in my home country I was persecuted and tortured. They not only attacked my identity as an LGBTQIA+ person, but my very existence as a human being. Because of what happened to me, I had to flee my home and leave everything behind. My life before was a very dark place. I was openly […]
Biden campaign launches Pride Month push as allies work to shore up LGBTQ support
President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is launching an effort at the start of National Pride Month to try to shore up support from LGBTQ voters. The campaign plans to have a presence this month at more than 200 Pride events in 23 states, including all of the battleground states, and to launch a paid media […]
Zackie Achmat Concedes Defeat, Warns of Anti-Democratic Forces
Zackie Achmat, South Africa’s first out queer independent candidate to stand in a national election, will not be going to Parliament after failing to garner enough votes. “The IEC has declared me a loser, and I fully accept that result,” Achmat said in a video on Saturday, thanking the people who voted for him. The longtime activist, […]
Pride revelers in Sao Paulo reclaim Brazil’s national symbols
The iconic yellow and green of Brazil’s flag mixed with a sea of rainbow-colored tutus, hand fans and drag queen hairdos at Sunday’s LGBTQ+ pride parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Toronto unveils the world’s longest rainbow in celebration of Pride
Toronto just unveiled what is being dubbed the longest rainbow in the world, stretching out at just under 2,000 feet, or 600 meters. The rainbow is an art installation by renowned queer artist Travis Myers called “The Long Walk to Equality” and was unveiled by many notable figures in the LGBTQ+ community – including Canada’s Drag Race […]
Science alone can’t solve fairness debate on transgender athletes, says expert endocrinologist and UW professor
In recent years, debate has gripped society regarding whether it is fair to allow transgender women to participate in women’s sports. One University of Washington professor believes an answer to the debate cannot be found in science or simple biology. According to Dr. Bradley Anawalt, the science of whether transgender women have an advantage in sports […]
The Independent Pride List 2024: the LGBT+ people making change happen
Britain is proud to be viewed as an accepting and inclusive nation, never better seen than during its annual Pride celebrations. Yet support must be year round in order to make positive changes in laws and attitudes to ensure the country is an inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive. In an election year in which trans […]
Johannesburg LGBT+ Pride marches on despite U.S. terrorism warning
Thousands of people took part in Johannesburg’s first LGBT+ Pride march since the COVID-19 pandemic on Saturday despite U.S. warnings of a possible terrorist attack in the area. Marchers sang, cheered and waved flags in Pride colours amid a heavy police presence. The event went ahead without any disturbances. On Wednesday, the U.S. government said […]
Seoul’s LGBT community gathers for annual festival despite protest
The annual Seoul Queer Culture Festival was held in the South Korean capital on Saturday despite previous issues in securing a venue and protests against the LGBT community’s pride celebrations. “Our message to South Korean society at large this year is to affirm LGBTQ people,” said festival chief organiser Yang Sun-woo. The city authorities had […]
The Independent Pride List 2024: the LGBT+ people making change happen
Britain is proud to be viewed as an accepting and inclusive nation, never better seen than during its annual Pride celebrations. Yet support must be year round in order to make positive changes in laws and attitudes to ensure the country is an inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive. In an election year in […]
Thai LGBT community start Pride Month ahead of marriage equality bill readings
Rainbow flags filled the streets of Bangkok on Saturday at the start of Pride Month as Thailand inches closer to recognising same-sex marriages. Thousands of LGBTQ+ revellers and activists gathered for a parade through the capital’s street as signs and placards with “Love wins” slogans were displayed across the city. “This year’s pride parade can […]
‘We exist’: S. Korea’s first LGBTQ councillor tackles inclusion
South Korea’s first openly gay legislator may have cracked the ruling party’s rainbow ceiling but admits there is a long way to go to make the country’s politics inclusive. In a milestone celebrated by the LGBTQ community, Cha Hae-young was elected to the Mapo district council on June 1, 2022 — the same day as […]
After a quarter century, Thailand’s LGBTQ Pride Parade is seen as a popular and political success
Thailand kicked off its celebration of the LGBTQ+ community’s Pride Month with a parade Saturday, as the country is on course to become the first nation in Southeast Asia to legalize marriage equality. The annual Bangkok Pride Parade Can filled one side of a major thoroughfare with a colorful parade for several hours in one […]
Biden State Department Spending Millions on Foreign LGBTQ Events as ‘Pride Month’ Approaches
The State Department is funding an array of LGBTQI+ pride events across the globe ahead of June, some of which include events focused on children, federal grant records show. President Joe Biden’s State Department is bankrolling a gay film festival, an LGBTQI+ community conference, and other pride events in Australia, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria […]
Thousands march in a subdued Jerusalem gay pride parade
Jerusalem on Thursday held its annual gay pride parade under heavy security and with a subdued vibe, given the solemn mood in Israel after months of war. LGBTQ supporters marched the streets of Jerusalem carrying rainbow flags, Israeli flags and yellow ribbons, a symbol for hostages still held in Gaza. Absent were the vibrant cheers […]
Decriminalizing Gay Sex: A Universal Human Rights Imperative
In April, Dominica became the latest country to decriminalize consensual same-sex conduct. A local court ruled that provisions banning “buggery” and “serious indecency,” understood to criminalize gay sex, were unconstitutional. The ruling is historic for Dominica because it finally cast off a colonial legal relic that had been an obstacle to full equality for sexual and gender minorities. But beyond this Eastern Caribbean […]
The moral victory of Georgians against ‘Russian law’
Tbilisi (AsiaNews) – Young activists and students opposed to the law on the ‘transparency of foreign influences’, definitively approved by the Tbilisi parliament over President Salome Zurabišvili’s veto, have been gathering around the palace since early morning to express their protest; but instead of the tones of civil war, an air of popular victory could […]
One-third of world still criminalises consensual same-sex acts: report
The LGBTQ community faces “relentless opposition” across the globe despite some progress, said a report published on Thursday by an international advocacy group, with one-third of the world still criminalising same-sex acts. Sixty-two of the United Nations’ 193 member states have laws punishing consensual same-sex relations, while the death penalty exists in some form in a […]
In the ‘gay capital’ of Asia, Chinese LGBTQ+ emigres look to build a new life
BANGKOK, Thailand — In 2019, business was booming for Owen Zhu. He was one year into his new career in real estate, showing Bangkok properties to Chinese investors. Then the pandemic halted travel and spending. Even now, Chinese buyers are slow to return. The exception has been one group that has since become Zhu’s specialty: LGBTQ+ clients looking to […]
Head of Russian LGBT group detained for leading an ‘extremist organisation’
Police have raided the home of an LGBT activist in the city of Samara in Russia’s Volga region after opening a case into his involvement with an “extremist organisation”, human rights nonprofit OVD-Info reported on Wednesday. Artyom Fokin, the president of local LGBT group Irida, was detained and taken in for further questioning after police […]
Uganda anti-LGBTQ+ law threatens HIV gains as patients fear arrest
NAIROBI – Hoping to avoid the police, Alexy set off one night to get his monthly antiretroviral treatment (ART) from a clinic just east of the Ugandan capital that he knew treated gay men like himself. But shortly after a nurse began administering the life-saving HIV/AIDS treatment to the 28-year-old, police arrived at the door. Both were […]
Pope apologises over reported homophobic slur
Pope Francis has apologised following reports that he used extremely derogatory language towards gay men. A statement from the Vatican said the Pope did not mean to offend anyone and apologised to those who were “hurt by the use of a word”. At the Italian Bishops’ Conference, the pope reportedly said gay men should not be allowed […]
Revealed: how a US far-right group is influencing anti-gay policies in Africa
A long-standing US anti-pornography campaigning group has advised, promoted and endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ activists and politicians in Uganda, including a governing party member who endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ laws by saying gays “should be castrated”, and a virulently homophobic founder of a “militaristic” Christian boys camp. The revelations about Washington DC-based National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and its […]
Where do the UK’s political parties stand on self-ID for trans people?
As campaigning for the UK general election hots up, concerns are being raised by the trans community on several key issues, including conversion therapy, self-ID and the rise in the number of hate crimes. As several countries, including New Zealand, Switzerland and Ireland, have introduced self-ID – allowing trans people to change their sex legally […]
Gay men in France are facing wave of attacks after being lured into hook-ups
A new report details a wave of attacks on gay men in France carried out by young perpetrators using hook-up apps to lure their victims before assaulting and robbing them. The report from the Fondation Jean Jaurès adds to data collected in a survey last year by French investigative site Mediapart. The Mediapart survey counted […]
Active Court Cases that Will Influence the State of LGBTQ+ Rights
As the LGBTQ+ community continues to face discriminatory legislation across the country, there are also a number of active court cases making their way through the court system that seek to either roll back these anti-equality laws or expand LGBTQ+ protections. In addition, anti-equality state attorneys general and anti-equality organizations are challenging non-discrimination rules issued […]