Taiwan gets on its bike to showcase how it is a beacon for LGBT+ rights
Taiwan’s LGBT+ community is celebrating their status as a beacon for LGBT+ rights in Asia by launching a charity bike ride. The first Asia Rainbow Ride is possible because the country has managed to control the COVID-19 virus. And it will form part of Pride month in October when the country will become one of […]
Poland LGBT protests: Three charged with hanging rainbow flags off statues
Three people accused of hanging LGBT rainbow flags off statues in Warsaw have been arrested and charged. Polish police charged them with desecrating monuments and offending religious feelings. Activists protesting against the anti-LGBT policies of President Andrzej Duda hung the flags off statues of Jesus Christ, the astronomer Copernicus and the Warsaw mermaid. Prime Minister […]
Russia: Reject Anti-LGBT ‘Traditional Values’ Bill
A draft bill before Russia’s parliament would significantly affect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, Human Rights Watch said today. Among the proposed amendments to the family code are changes to the legal gender recognition rights for transgender people that will negatively affect their ability to marry and raise children. The […]
Polish minister says the entire country should become ‘an LGBT-free zone’
As part of the LGBTQ+ community, I am petrified by what is happening in Poland right now. 2 hours and 25 minutes is the time it would take to fly from the UK to Poland. Within that time, you would travel from the UK, where LGBTQ+ rights are protected by law, to a country where […]
In search of his lost love, 90-year-old man comes out as gay
Kenneth Felts didn’t plan on coming out to the world. In fact, he didn’t plan on coming out to anyone until the coronavirus pandemic struck. The 90-year-old Colorado man’s decades-long search for a former partner named Phillip ended in him coming out online – and gaining national attention – nearly 60 years after his brief […]
Nigerian’s first lesbian love story goes online to beat film censors
Two naked women lie in bed, stroking each other’s hair and talking about coming out to their parents in Nigeria, where they could be jailed for 14 years for having a lesbian relationship. The trailer for Nigeria’s first lesbian feature film, “Ife” – which means love in the Yoruba language – has been watched thousands […]
Gay billionaire Peter Thiel funded campaign of anti-LGBT+ Republican for US senate
Gay billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel funded the campaign of an anti-LGBT+ Republican running for US senate in Kansas. Kansas US senate candidate Kris Kobach lost the GOP primary to representative Roger Marshall, a less divisive Republican, on Tuesday, 4 August, despite an influx of cash from the gay PayPal billionaire. According to Recode, Thiel […]
Tunisia: Homosexuality Convictions Upheld
A Tunisian appeals court on July 28, 2020 upheld the conviction of two men accused of sodomy but reduced their sentence to one year in prison, Human Rights Watch said today. This conviction contradicts the rights to privacy and nondiscrimination under international law, which are also enshrined in Tunisia’s 2014 constitution. In June, police arrested […]
New Zealand adds gender-neutral title for voters ahead of polls
New Zealand authorities have added the gender neutral title Mx for voters who do not identify as male or female, seeking to boost LGBT+ participation in next month’s election. Nearly 1,000 people have chosen the gender neutral title since ‘Mx’ was added to voter sign-up forms alongside the existing Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms and ‘other’, […]
Nigerian singer Simi apologizes for anti-LGBT comments
The singer, who made the comments in March on her YouTube show “Stoopid Sessions”, has now retracted her words, but members of the community are not letting it slide just yet. On the show, Simi said homosexuality is unnatural and went further to shame LGBTQ+ folks. However, her comments met with a lot of backlash […]
Lesbian student sues Chinese publisher for describing homosexuality as ‘a mental disorder’ in a textbook
A Chinese university student has sued a publisher for producing a textbook that classifies homosexuality as a ‘sexual physiological disorder’. The lesbian woman, 23, also brought a lawsuit against a major e-commerce website for selling the mental health schoolbook, according to local media. This case, the first of its kind in mainland China, was reportedly […]
Fact check: “Clovergender” is an alt-right hoax
Posts on social media claim that people identifying as “Clovergender” are attempting to justify pedophilia. This damaging claim stems from an alt-right hoax intended to slur members of the LGBT community. According to one of the posts, the premise of the term “clovergender” is that “a person is a younger age at heart and therefore […]
Relief eludes transgender gharanas of Bhopal
Their income has dried up due to COVID-19 restrictions. “They came for men and women but not us,” lamented Devi Singh, 30, from the Mangalwara gharana [family] of Bhopal’s transgender community. Sitting at a haveli in the old city, she pines to return to work soon — collecting donations door-to-door — but for the lockdown […]
In America’s summer of discontent, a transgender doctor becomes a flashpoint
In Johannesburg, three decades ago, the homophobes were out in force: bible-thumpers trying to save our souls; right-wingers with their AWB swastikas. Last week, too, there were missionaries galore, with bibles and salvation brochures; giant pickup trucks, with gun racks and Trump 2020 signs, revving their engines at us, and in some cases shouting ‘queer!’ […]
This Lesbian Policewoman Couple in Gujarat Fought for Their Right to Be Together
Gujarat’s Mahisagar – known for the discovery of dinosaur eggs and fossils in the 1980s – in the news once again, this time for a courageous story of same-sex love. Two female police constables who had moved the court seeking protection from their parents secured a favourable order, with the judge instructing the district SP […]
Edinburgh’s Lord Provost writes to Mayor of Krakow seeking clarification on LGBT+ rights
THE Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Frank Ross, has written to the Mayor of Krakow asking him to clarify the Polish city’s opposition to homophobia and LGBT+ oppression. Last year Edinburgh City Council renewed its “partnership agreement” with Krakow, an arrangement dating back to 1994 in which the two cities cooperate in areas including culture, monument […]
Racist, anti-abortion group plans in-person “straight pride” event in a U.S. COVID-19 hotspot
The so-called National Straight Pride Coalition (NSPC) is planning an event in Modesto, California for August 29, 2020—in the middle of the ongoing coronavirus epidemic—even though their 2019 event only drew dozens of attendees and 250 counter-protesters. NSPC’s organizers told ABC 10 that the second annual Stanislaus County Straight Pride event is meant to be […]
Italy is one step closer to protecting LGBT+ people with a new bill, if the far-right doesn’t tear it down first
Although Italy approved same-sex civil unions in 2016, the country still lags behind other European countries in enacting measures against homotransphobia. In fact, 24 years after then-MP Nichi Vendola first proposed an anti-homophobia bill, there is still no specific legislation safeguarding the equal treatment of LGBTQ+ people. In a country where the number of hate […]
LGBT+ domestic abuse centre named for Stonewall pioneers Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera opens
London’s The Outside Project has opened a new LGBT+ domestic abuse refuge, named for transgender pioneers Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. The grassroots organisation, which in 2018 opened the UK’s first LGBT+ homeless shelter and community centre, announced the Star Refuge on Monday (July 27). The domestic-abuse refuge is named to commemorate the 50th […]
LGBT youth ‘robbed’ by coronavirus, says head of suicide-prevention org The Trevor Project
The coronavirus pandemic has “robbed” LGBT+ youth – who already had a higher risk of mental-health problems – of support, the head of The Trevor Project has written. Writing for the World Economic Forum, Amit Paley, the CEO of youth suicide-prevention organisation The Trevor Project, called for better data to understand the impacts of the […]
EU blocks funding for six towns that declared themselves ‘LGBT-Free Zones’
The European Union has denied funding to six Polish towns that declared themselves to be “LGBT-Free Zones.” In announcing the decision on Thursday, the European Commission said it was affirming that the union stands for equality for all people. “EU values and fundamental rights must be respected by Member States and state authorities,” European Commissioner […]
Cayman Islands fail to pass domestic partnership, making full marriage equality more likely
The Cayman Islands have failed to pass a Domestic Partnership Bill – but that makes full marriage equality more likely. As GSN reported last week, the Domestic Partnership Bill fell a long way short of same-sex marriage. It only offered basic next of kin rights to partners who register. However, even that proved too much […]
Builders will start work on this new £2.4million LGBT+ center for Manchester next week
Builders are to start work creating a bespoke £2.4million LGBT+ center for Manchester, the northern capital of LGBT+ Britain. And TV writer and producer Russell T Davies will get them going by breaking ground on the project on Thursday (6 August). In June, demolition workers smashed down the old center, which was the first of […]
Cameroon: Lesbian love affair ends in death, but who was the killer?
The drama unfolded on July 30 in the city of Bertoua in eastern Cameroon when two young lesbians met in private at a family home. The women, identified here by the pseudonyms Jopa and Hifa, had been together romantically for quite a while without any disruptions. They met on July 30 in Hifa’s room where […]
How Latino dads are using TikTok to connect with their children
Wearing a sultry look on his face and a long, curly gray wig, Genaro Rangel pulled his fake hair out of a ponytail and whipped it dramatically over his shoulders. “¡Qué pasó!” exclaimed Rangel, a burly, mustachioed handyman, as he yanked off the wig in his Santa Ana dining room. “It’s me!” His daughter, Wendy, […]
El Salvador police sentenced in nation’s first trans murder convictions
A court in El Salvador has sentenced three police officers to 20-year prison sentences for the murder of a transgender woman, the nation’s first convictions in a homicide case involving a trans victim. The verdict was a welcome development in the conservative Central American country, where gay and trans people face rampant discrimination and abuse, […]
‘Don’t come back, they’ll kill you for being gay’
For years Mohamed’s family tried to make him more like other boys – tougher, more “masculine”. They even sent him to have a female spirit driven out with hallucinogenic drugs. Eventually, writes Layla Mahmood, they decided to kill him. The heat enveloped 20-year-old Mohamed, as he zig-zagged through the alleyways of Hargeisa. It was around […]
Sri Lankan poll candidate under fire for homophobic remarks
Rights activists have condemned a former Catholic parliamentarian and candidate for Sri Lanka’s Aug. 5 parliamentary election for his comments on the LGBT community. In an online interview on July 27, Kavinda Jayawardana said he is a Catholic and the Church strongly condemns homosexuality. He said homosexuality is a mental disorder and he does not […]
‘I wish they killed you’: trauma of Syrian LGBT+ rape survivors
Stigmatised gay, bisexual and transgender Syrian refugees who survived sexual violence in war are struggling to get medical or mental health care, human rights groups said on Wednesday. More than 40 LGBT+ survivors in Lebanon told Human Rights Watch that they were raped, sexually harassed and had their genitals burned by government forces and armed […]
Thai students rally over gender rights, uniforms and haircut rules
Dozens of students rallied in Thailand on Wednesday to demand from the government greater gender rights and an end to what they called outdated curriculum and discriminatory rules on uniforms and haircuts. Onlookers in Bangkok cheered and applauded as students of mixed ages carrying placards and banners and rainbow flags, fans and umbrellas marched to […]