This secret lesbian couple organised the first-ever White House meeting on LGBT+ rights, changing the path of equality forever
When Jean O’Leary, co-executive director of the National Gay Task Force, was asked by writer Eric Marcus how she managed to get a meeting at the White House, she recalled: “I had a lot of contacts with the White House, actually. Our main contact was Midge Costanza, who I had worked with… we had built […]
Lawyers will now have to specify pronouns in courts in British Columbia
Lawyers, witnesses, defendents, and other individuals in court proceedings in British Columbia will now have to specify a gendered title – Mr., Ms., Mx., or “Counsel” – to ensure that the court addresses them correctly. “I would do a better job for my client, if I’m not thinking about being misgendered,” said Vancouver lawyer Lisa […]
Heroes of 2020: People Who Made a Difference
In Poland, it was not one man or woman but an entire movement of women that has been a force for the better this year. Formed this year, and the biggest protest movement in the country in decades, its main protagonists are tens of thousands of women across towns and villages all over Poland who […]
Uganda charges leading lawyer for LGBT rights with money laundering
Nicholas Opiyo, one of Uganda’s most prominent human rights lawyers, has been charged with money laundering. Opiyo, known for representing LGBTQ+ people, appeared before magistrates in Kampala on Thursday and was remanded in custody until 28 December. The case has been forwarded to the anti-corruption court. It’s alleged that Opiyo, executive director of rights group […]
Judge Rules in Favor of Los Angeles LGBT Center in Diversity Training Suit
A federal judge granted a temporary injunction to the Los Angeles LGBT Center and other gay rights organizations that claimed Donald Trump’s executive order banning some types of diversity training conducted by federal contractors violated their free speech, it was announced Thursday. The judge ruled that the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights to conduct diversity training […]
People think it’s too easy for trans kids to get treatment. My daughter’s experience says otherwise
My daughter came out as trans in October. Since then, we’ve been trying to get her the healthcare she needs to feel confident, happy, and safe. It hasn’t been easy. No doubt, this revelation will leave some readers confused, or even angry. When you tell people that you’re trying to help your trans child get […]
Dozens of anti-gay groups are making money off Amazon’s charity platform
More than 40 anti-LGBTQ organizations are skirting AmazonSmile’s ban on promoting hatred and intolerance, according to a new report. Amazon’s charity platform is allowing dozens of anti-LGBTQ organizations to receive donations, according to a report published Tuesday by U.K.-based political activist group openDemocracy. Launched in 2013, the AmazonSmile program allows users to select a nonprofit […]
Rejected by her family, this woman has been ‘Queer Santa’ for 22 years
For the past 22 years, Linda Warren has called herself “Queer Santa.” Each December, the 77-year-old woman suits up in a classic Santa Claus outfit for an elaborate gift-giving operation in Denver, where she distributes gifts to LGBTQ youths who feel rejected by their families. Their sense of isolation and abandonment, she said, is heightened […]
Furious parents hold terrifying protest outside school after finding out principal is gay
Furious parents held a protest outside a school in Medan, Indonesia demanding that the principal resign after he was outed as gay on social media.Dozens of parents gathered outside the school on Wednesday (23 December) holding placards that read: “Protect our children, don’t wait for victims,” according to Kumparan.One parent told local reporters that the […]
Polish homophobes shamelessly vandalise rainbow benches designed to ‘colour this grey reality’
Rainbow benches in the Polish town of Kielce have been vandalised after widespread opposition to their installation. Fifteen benches were due to be installed throughout Kielce throughout 2020 as part of a participatory budget, an initiative that gives citizens the opportunity to create projects in the city using state funds. However, the rainbow design – […]
Uganda detains leading lawyer for LGBT rights on money-laundering charges
Security agencies in Uganda have arrested a prominent human rights lawyer over alleged money laundering. Nicholas Opiyo, known for representing LGBTQ+ people, was arrested in a restaurant in the capital, Kampala, on Tuesday by plainclothes security and financial intelligence officers. Opiyo, executive director of rights organisation Chapter Four Uganda, was seized along with three other […]
People from LGBT community suffering from stress
Members of sexual minorities — LGBT community — have said they were facing more mental stress due to the crisis created by COVID-19. They spoke of the plight in a programme ‘Challenges and Next Step Related to the Impacts of COVID-19 on LGBT Community’ organised by Blue Diamond Society, Pokhara. On the occasion, Programme Manager […]
10 major LGBT+ victories that prove 2020 wasn’t a total write-off
If you can bring yourself to look back at 2020, it’s hard not to write it all off as a screaming trashfire ejected straight from the bowels of hell. It’s incredible to think that a year that began with an entire burning continent and an impending World War Three could possibly have got worse, but […]
Are COVID-19 vaccines safe for people living with HIV?
As the first COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out around the world, HIV/AIDS experts and advocates have sought to reassure those living with HIV that they can safely get the coronavirus vaccination. Some countries have recommended that HIV-positive people should be given priority for vaccination against COVID-19 once the most at-risk groups – the elderly and […]
Norwegian Methodist Church issues apology to LGBT community
On 21 December, 2020, this historic statement was published on the Methodist Church’s website: “The Methodist Church in Norway admits and apologizes for the condemning attitudes and actions that have inflicted insults, harm and suffering on LGBT+ people instead of dignity”. It added: “This is contrary to the gospel of God’s unconditional grace and love. […]
The Godmothers: Five transgender women give back to society
Nammane, Summane, a temporary shelter and NGO for abandoned children rescued from the streets, will be inaugurated on Wednesday. It’s the first home of its kind in Karnataka because it has been started by five transgender women to provide shelter and free education to rescued children. ‘Nammane, Summane’ is located in Gangondanahalli near Tumkur Toll […]
From queer to queer’: How locals are supporting LGBTQ asylum seekers in Denmark
LGBT Asylum is an NGO whose aim is to offer support and counselling for LGBT+ asylum applicants in Denmark. It was formed in 2012, when the country allowed LGBT+ people to ask for asylum under the UN Refugee Convention, which states that asylum may be granted to a person who has a well-founded fear of […]
Greek LGBTQ+ rights: ‘It was a lynching. No other way to describe it’
Days after his death in the heart of Athens, the image of Zak Kostopoulos began to appear across the city centre, on buildings and nondescript office blocks, the marble steps of neoclassical mansions, walls and columns. On Gladstonos Street there were also words, some sprayed, some stencilled, some handwritten, but all amounting to the same […]
Beijing LGBT Center holds training forum for graduate students to work as better consulting psychologists
The Beijing LGBT Center held a workshop on Thursday at Beijing Normal University for more than 100 graduate students majoring in consulting psychology so that these future consulting psychologists could better serve the LGBTQ community by learning more about it. Beijing Normal University’s consulting psychology department is recognized as one of the best psychology departments […]
Washington DC bans gay & trans “panic” defenses in criminal cases
Defense attorneys have also argued the same theory when it comes to crimes against transgender people, saying that when their clients discovered their sexual partner was transgender, they panicked or flew into a rage and couldn’t be held accountable for their actions. While the self-defense ploy was commonly accepted for decades, some states have started […]
Canadian lawmakers vote for non-binary gender option on citizenship cards in ‘respect of basic human rights’
“We want this resolution to remind all our LGBTQ2+ citizens that you are embraced in our community and your Métis government, and we are proud of who you are,” Chartrand added. The Manitoba Metis Federation cabinet, which governs the region of Manitoba in Canada, passed a unanimous resolution to introduce non-binary options and said that […]
LGBTQ advocates sue Trump administration over strict, new asylum rules
“The Trump administration is pretending to follow the law, but actually it is changing the rules,” said Jennifer Pizer, an attorney with Lambda Legal. “The new rules say it has to be by government or by officials working like police acting at the discretion of the government in court persecuting, that’s ridiculous.” Pizer says her […]
Boris Johnson appoints evangelical anti-LGBT+ MP as religious freedom envoy
Boris Johnson has sparked serious concern with the appointment of Fiona Bruce MP as his new envoy for freedom of religion and belief. It was announced on Sunday (20 December) that Bruce, a staunch Christian and member of the Evangelical Alliance, will work on behalf of the government to promote the UK’s stance on “religious […]
French teens protest after transgender classmate’s suicide
About 100 teenagers rallied in northern France on Friday to pay homage to a transgender student who killed herself this week after facing tensions with school officials for wearing a skirt to class, a case that has drawn online indignation and national attention to the issue of gender identity. The students held a sit-in and […]
Facing Intersecting Crises: LGBTIQ+ Resilience in Fiji
The climate justice conversation lacks sufficient representation and voices from marginalized groups, such as people living with disabilities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people; and migrants and refugees. An intersectional approach to the impacts of environmental and climate crises is imperative to highlight how different marginalized groups define, relate, and respond to […]
Over 370 international spiritual leaders call for ban on LGBT ‘conversion’ therapy
Over 370 international spiritual leaders have urged a global ban on LBGT+ “conversion” therapy that claims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. “We can recognise that certain religious teachings have, through the ages, been misused to cause deep pain and offense to those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex…This […]
Argentina to add more transgender people to labor force
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — (AP) — Angeles Rojas strides down the hall of the Argentine state bank, passed portraits on the walls of past bank presidents who may have been shocked to see a young transgender person on its workforce. The 23-year-old joined the human resources department of Banco Nación, Argentina’s leading state bank, this […]
Switzerland parliament approves same-sex marriage
GENEVA: Switzerland’s parliament approved a bill Friday allowing same-sex couples to marry, finally bringing the small Alpine nation into line with much of Europe on gay rights. But the Swiss themselves will have the final say on the matter as the Christian, ultra-conservative Federal Democratic Union party has announced that it will ask for the […]
Love killer: How the Covid-19 pandemic has left the world a more violent place for the LGBTQ community
The organization (The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) found that while there had been considerable progress providing legal protection for lesbian, gay and bisexual people, there were continuing issues in many countries. The most extreme punishment – the death penalty – stil exists in Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria (the 12 northern states […]
Homophobia Is Not an Asian Value. It’s Time for the East to Reconnect to Its Own Traditions of Tolerance
Tan Seng Kee, a 62-year-old retired doctor and LGBTQ+ activist, recently filed a motion in Singapore’s High Court, asking it to order the city-state’s cabinet to revoke a colonial-era law that could imprison men for up to two years for engaging in consensual sex. Asian critics of homosexuality have long argued that it is a […]