Conservative Justices Thomas and Alito Suggest Supreme Court Should ‘Fix’ Its Ruling That Legalized Gay Marriage
Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by fellow conservative Justice Samuel Alito, argued in a Monday statement that the landmark 2015 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide was improperly decided and suggested the court should “fix” the decision. The statement, written by Thomas and joined by Alito, was attached to a decision from the top […]
Transgender Sonorans, Allies Celebrate ‘Historic’ Passage Of Identity Measure
A measure to allow transgender Sonorans to easily modify official documents to reflect their gender identity has been approved. After a brief presentation from its sponsor and no floor debate, the Sonoran Congress approved the measure Thursday. Fernanda Velarde, founder of Sonora Trans — one of several groups pushing for the reform — praised the […]
Jacinda Ardern pledges gay conversion therapy ban if re-elected
Jacinda Ardern’s Labour party has committed to banning gay conversion therapy if re-elected in New Zealand’s 17 October election. In an interview with Express magazine, the 40-year-old Labour leader said she was moved to oppose the practice after watching a Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie. “I still remember watching the film Latter Days at the film festival […]
An often ‘isolating’ experience: Students launch trans mentorship program
A new student-run trans mentorship program has launched at UBC. Fourth-year students Alex Gonzalez and Kip Chow, along with a few other students from the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, have launched the faculty-sponsored Trans Mentorship Program. With about 30 students signing up as either mentors or mentees, Gonzalez said he created this initiative as an […]
‘I don’t want to lie’: Gay pioneer stands in Myanmar election
Outraged over ongoing discrimination in Myanmar, Myo Min Tun decided to stand as the first openly gay election candidate in a country where same-sex relations are illegal. His decision to enter the political fray came after transgender friends told him how they had suffered police harassment. The officers allegedly forced them to remove their bras […]
Hungary PM urges gays to ‘leave our children alone’
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Sunday that homosexuals should “leave our children alone” when asked about a children’s book containing gay characters that was publicly shredded by a far-right politician. “Hungary has laws pertaining to homosexuality, the basis of which is an exceptionally tolerant and patient approach,” Orban said during a regular interview on […]
Plovdiv Attacks Highlight Bulgaria’s Unsolved Homophobia Problem
Videos and witness reports show that a few days ago, in the very centre of Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second city, groups of teenagers attacked other youngsters of the same age based on their appearance and suspected homosexuality. The assaults on Sunday, September 27, which included people aged as young as 14 and 15, was, according to […]
Gay men in Russia with surrogate children warned they face arrest
Russian authorities have warned of the arrest of gay men who have fathered children to surrogate mothers, firing what appears to be another salvo across the bow of LGBT+ rights. Commenting on a long-running criminal case to state media, a source in the country’s Investigative Committee equated LGBT+ surrogacy to baby trafficking. It was an […]
Eight Australian sports commit to implementing inclusion measures for transgender athletes
Governing bodies of eight sports in Australia have committed to implementing governance that supports a greater level of inclusion for transgender and gender diverse athletes. At a launch held at Sydney Cricket Ground, the Australian Football League, Hockey Australia, Netball Australia, Rugby Australia, Tennis Australia, Touch Football Australia, UniSport Australia and Water Polo Australia unveiled […]
This South Korean Pastor ‘Blessed’ a Queer Festival. He’s Now Being Investigated.
These days, Pastor Lee Dong-whan of the Glory Jeil Church doesn’t prepare for Sunday sermons or report to work at his church in Suwon, South Korea. Instead, he goes up an hour north to Seoul to stay with some colleagues who are researchers in church and social reform. They have some office space in a […]
Kyrgyzstan: Dirty tricks come to fore at final election hurdle
The final days of Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary election have seen a deployment of sinister dirty tricks that raise the suspicion that security services may be helping engineer the outcome. A short film that circulated widely through messaging apps on September 29 featured secretly filmed video images of two male alumni of the American University of Central […]
When politicians use hate speech, political violence increases
Politicians deepen existing divides when they use inflammatory language, such as hate speech, and this makes their societies more likely to experience political violence and terrorism. That’s the conclusion from a study I recently did on the connection between political rhetoric and actual violence. President Donald Trump is not the only world leader who is […]
Canada reintroduces bill to ban LGBT+ conversion therapy
Canada’s Liberal Party has reintroduced a bill to parliament that if passed will criminalise LGBT+ conversion therapy in the country. LGBT+ conversion therapy is defined as any practice that is designed to repress or reduce non-heterosexual sexual attraction or behaviours in a person, or to change someone’s gender identity to one that matches their sex […]
LGBT people nearly four times more likely to be victims of violent crime
LGBT people are nearly four times more likely than non-LGBT people to experience violent victimization, including rape, sexual assault, and aggravated or simple assault, according to a new study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. In addition, LGBT people are more likely to experience violence both by someone well-known to the victim […]
Cook Islands defers decision on decriminalising gay sex
As a child, Sonya Apa Temata was surrounded by unconditional love. The human rights advocate’s mother, Tuakana Apa Temata, was her number one supporter: “Her acceptance of my sexual orientation and that of my two brothers allowed us to be who we are, and to love whom we wanted to be,” Sonya, who identifies as […]
Egyptian police are using Grindr to hunt and imprison queer people
Fake dating profiles are being used by security forces in Egypt to entrap LGBT+ people and subject them to horrifying abuses in prison, a new report has found. According to Human Rights Watch, the government in Egypt is specifically targeting the LGBT+ community using social media and apps such as Grindr to “clean the streets” […]
Insufficient support to legalize gay marriage in Curaçao
“The bill proposal to make a marriage between two people of the same sex possible cannot count on sufficient support in parliament,” says Member of Parliament for coalition partner MAN, Giselle Mc William. This is the reason why she does not propose the bill proposal to be discussed in the central committee of the Curaçao […]
The Respectable Indian Queer Unmasked
In 2018 the Supreme Court decriminalised consensual same-sex relations between two adults in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India. The judgement was deemed pathbreaking and celebrated as a historic milestone for queer liberation in India. All queers are equal; but some queers are more equal than the rest. Section 377 had varying impacts on […]
LGBT+ marriage: To secure equality in civil rights, family law must also be reformed
The recent comments of the Solicitor General about the unacceptability of marriage-equality in Indian culture in court proceedings challenging Hindu marriage law attracted great controversy. Unfortunately, the comments distract from the substance of the challenge and need to contextualise it in Indian family law. Since the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships in 2018, there has been […]
New Polish minister for education and science thinks LGBT+ people ‘aren’t equal to normal people’
On Wednesday, Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki presented his newly reshuffled cabinet, giving the position of minister for education and science to Przemyslaw Czarnek. In June this year, Czarnek said in a live TV broadcast: “Let us defend the family against this kind of corruption, depravity, absolutely immoral behaviour, let us defend us against the […]
New study examines pathways into poverty for LGBTQ adults
A new report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law provides an exploration of common pathways into and prolonging poverty among a diverse population of low-income LGBTQ people in California An analysis of interviews with 93 low-income LGBTQ people in Los Angeles County and Kern County revealed common entry points into poverty, including […]
No One Wants To Testify’: Gruesome Murder Case Highlights Vulnerability Of Russia’s Transgender Population
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — In June, a high school student discovered a decapitated and dismembered body in a swimming hole on the Mga River just outside St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city. Using the serial numbers of Irish-made breast implants found on the body, police identified the victim as 23-year-old Jamshid Hatamjonov, a transgender sex […]
Australia’s fa’afafine community is growing, and they want their voices heard
Latoya Hoeg had an upbringing some kids can only dream of. Rather than struggling to fit in as a boy, her Samoan family embraced her differences. “I was an effeminate person,” Latoya explains. “I was just being me, and my family back in Samoa, when I spoke, they just went, ‘fa’afafine!’” Fa’afafine means the mannerisms […]
Cayman LGBTQ Foundation: ‘It’s time to live and let live’
Cayman’s LGBTQIA+ residents and allies gathered at Central Terrace Saturday evening in support of the newest organisation to join the community cause and to celebrate the expansion of same-sex partnership rights. More than 120 Caymanians and residents purchased tickets for the first fundraiser of the Cayman LGBTQ Foundation, established earlier this year by Noel Cayasso-Smith. […]
Transgender People Still Criminalized in 13 UN Member States, Report Finds
At least 13 United Nations member states still criminalize transgender people, while others use morality and indecency laws to crack down on the trans community, a report showed on Wednesday. Nigeria, Oman and Lebanon are among the nations with explicit anti-trans laws, according to the latest Trans Legal Mapping Report by LGBT+ rights group ILGA […]
2020 LGBT Pride parade in Taipei to celebrate self-identity
Taipei, Sept. 28 (CNA) The theme of this year’s LGBT Pride parade in Taipei, one of the largest in East Asia, will be “Beauty, My Own Way” to celebrate people being true to themselves rather than conforming to society’s gender expectations, the organizers said Monday. The parade, which saw 200,000 people march through the streets […]
After ambassadors push Poland to protect LGBT rights, its leaders push back: ‘Nobody needs to teach us tolerance’
WARSAW, POLAND — Polish leaders on Monday rejected suggestions that LGBT people are deprived of any of their rights in the country, after an open letter from 50 ambassadors and international representatives cited a need to work for “non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual acceptance.” The ambassadors’ appeal, made in an open letter published Sunday, comes as […]
Gay woman who was attacked after being unlawfully deported to Uganda wins court case against Home Office
A gay woman who was unlawfully deported from the UK to Uganda where she had been gang-raped has won in a court case against the Home Office, in a ruling that could pave the way for thousands of similar challenges. The 27-year-old was brought back to the UK last year under High Court orders after […]
Drag queens to grace Vogue magazine cover in Brazil
MEXICO CITY (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A pair of drag queens will grace the October cover of Vogue in Brazil, the magazine said on Monday, marking a landmark for the iconic fashion publication in a nation where openly gay and trans people face violence and discrimination. Grammy-nominated singer Pabllo Vittar and rapper Gloria Groove will […]
Gender equality in Japan gets a push from young activists
Ayano Sakurai believes that the Japanese government’s policy on gender equality needs more feedback from people of her generation who face wide-ranging gender-related challenges in their daily lives. Sakurai, 25, saw an opportunity when the government solicited public comments on a draft of ideas for its forthcoming basic plan on promoting gender equality. As the […]