Poland’s Jewish leaders deplore stigmatization of LGBTQ people
Jewish community leaders in Warsaw on Tuesday voiced their opposition to the “dehumanizing” language they say is being used against LGBTQ (lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender and queer) people in Poland’s presidential election campaign. Gay rights have been thrust into the spotlight during the campaign for the June 28 election. President Andrzej Duda, an ally of […]
How one Egyptian lesbian stood up to homophobia and paid the ultimate price
In 2017, Sarah Hegazi was arrested and said she was tortured for waving a rainbow gay pride flag at a concert in Cairo. Last weekend, the 30-year-old died by suicide in Canada. Hegazi’s friends reported her death, circulated a suicide note and shared an outpouring of messages of solidarity, grief and anger. Their mourning was […]
Romanian rights groups condemn ban on gender identity studies
Romanian human rights groups and universities on Wednesday condemned a blanket ban on gender identity studies voted through by lawmakers, which they said would legitimise discrimination against the country’s LGBT minority. Parliament passed the amendment to the education law on Tuesday, pushing Romania’s sexual politics onto the same authoritarian track as neighbouring Hungary and Poland. […]
LGBTQI+ youth still have a long way to go to be truly free in South Africa
This Youth Day, as much as we look back on that iconic moment in South Africa’s history that was the 1976 Soweto Uprising, where young men and women defied the apartheid system to fight against injustice, it’s important that we also look at the state in which our youth currently find themselves, especially LGBTQI+ youth. […]
Supreme Court LGBT Ruling Leaves Out 1 in 6 American Workers
The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision holding that employers can’t discriminate against workers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity has a glaring loophole: It doesn’t apply to small businesses that employ as many as one in six Americans. A 1960s-era ban on sex discrimination in the workplace was extended to millions of LGBT […]
How globalisation has transformed the fight for LGBTQ+ rights
Much progress has been made in attitudes towards sexual equality and gender identity – but in many places a dramatic backlash by conservative forces has followed. On a visit to Senegal in 2013, Barack Obama held a press conference with the Senegalese president Macky Sall. “Mr President,” asked an American journalist, “did you press President […]
Birdwatcher Christian Cooper was an LGBT pioneer at Marvel Comics
Birdwatcher Christian Cooper was thrust into the media spotlight last month following a racially-charged encounter he shared with a hysterical dog walker in Central Park, but years prior the 57-year-old was a pioneer behind the scenes at Marvel Comics. Between 1991 and 1999, Cooper worked as an editor and writer for the comic book giant […]
LGBT activists protest at Polish president’s campaign rally
About a hundred protesters held up banners at an election rally for the Polish president on Monday, after he said over the weekend that LGBT “ideology” was more destructive than communist doctrine, angering rights groups and opposition politicians. The rally in the eastern city of Lublin was attended by around 3,500 supporters of incumbent President […]
Is SpongeBob SquarePants gay? Tweet creates rainbow of speculation
Clearly, most people will know about SpongeBob, but do you think you should give a bit of basic info for the odd reader who has, say, been living in a pineapple under the sea for the past 21 years? Excellent idea. SpongeBob SquarePants is an award-winning cartoon series on the TV channel Nickelodeon. It was […]
Swiss women stage a mass scream to protest gender pay gap, domestic and anti-LGBT violence
Women across Switzerland have staged a mass screaming protest as part of demands for equal treatment and an end to violence at the hands of men. On Sunday (local time), thousands of marchers in Geneva and other Swiss cities screamed for a minute at 3:24pm — the time of day when women technically start working […]
In landmark ruling, Supreme Court bars discrimination against LGBT workers
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday delivered a watershed victory for LGBT rights and a defeat for President Donald Trump’s administration by ruling that a longstanding federal law barring workplace discrimination protects gay and transgender employees. The landmark 6-3 ruling represented the biggest moment for LGBT rights in the United States since the Supreme Court […]
Lesbian mothers recognized by Chilean court in historic verdict
This week, the Second Family Court of Chile ordered the Civil Registry Service to register a child on his birth certificate as the son of two women. “This is a historic triumph for diverse families; it is a further step in their recognition and protection. With this sentence, the State has ratified that same-sex couples […]
Pride events kick off in Shanghai with city run
More than 100 people took part in the Shanghai’s eighth annual Pride Run on Sunday, one of a series of events over nine days in China’s financial hub to raise public awareness for the LGBT community. Waving banners with rainbows on them and sticking temporary rainbow tattoos on their cheeks, participants ran two routes through […]
Health Care Advocates Push Back Against Trump’s Erasure of Transgender Rights
Health advocates representing American hospitals, medical groups, insurers and civil rights associations condemned the Trump administration on Saturday for rolling back protections for transgender patients, and for doing so amid a global pandemic. The new rule, long sought by conservatives and the religious right, narrows the legal definition of sex discrimination in the Affordable Care […]
Some of the Best Movies About Racism in America
We’ve been asked by friends, family, and readers to recommend movies about systemic racism, police brutality, and civic unrest that can help contextualize the current Black Lives Matter movement. After much consideration, we’ve decided to narrow down our twenty one favorites films dealing with racism in America. The reason we are sticking to the United […]
Boris Johnson Scraps Plans To Make Changing Gender Easier In Blow For Trans Rights
Boris Johnson has reportedly scrapped plans to make changing your gender easier, in a blow for trans rights. On the first day, Boris Johnson came to power plans to make changing your gender easier in the U.K. were kicked into the long grass, and today, The Sunday Times is reporting that according to a leaked […]
Polish election: Andrzej Duda says LGBT ‘ideology’ worse than communism
Polish President Andrzej Duda has called the promotion of LGBT rights an “ideology” more destructive than communism, in a campaign speech. He is an ally of the ruling nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS), and is seeking re-election on 28 June. He said his parents’ generation had struggled against communist ideology for 40 years and […]
Dutch government uncovers holiday camps for ‘conversion therapy’
In the Netherlands, 15 organisations and individuals offer so-called “conversion therapy” aiming to make gay people straight, the health ministry said, as it mulls a ban on the discredited practice which can cause severe mental health problems. The treatments sometime take place in holiday camps and workshops, the ministry said in a study commissioned after […]
For gay stars of banned condom ad, no let-up in Poland’s LGBT rights clampdown
For Jakub Kwiecinski, a ban by Poland’s public broadcaster on a condom advert featuring him and his husband has come as no surprise, but it does make him uneasy about what targets a government clampdown on LGBT rights will pick on next. The advert features both gay and straight couples, and broadcaster TVP told Reuters […]
Feminist publications Magdalene.co, Konde.co suffer cyberattacks
Online feminist publication Magdalene.co has suffered a series of cyberattacks over the past month, which has made it difficult for readers to access the website. “Hi friends, the Magdalene website often cannot be accessed because we have been experiencing a lot of attacks over the past month,” the Magdalene official Twitter account @the_magdalene wrote on […]
Neymar Jr to Face Homophobia Charges in Brazil
As French teams await for the resumption of the French Football league (Ligue 1), a Brazilian LGBT activist has filed a lawsuit against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward Neymar Jr for “homophobia and incitement to hatred.” The LGBT activist, Agripino Magalhaes, filed a complaint against the Brazilian footballer at the Sao Paulo prosecutor’s office after the […]
Gay Pride embraces its roots by teaming up with U.S. black activists
Floats, all-night parties and parades may be out, but the LGBTQ community is returning to its roots by teaming up with black activists for Pride month celebrations in the United States. While the coronavirus epidemic has forced the cancellation of traditional Pride events in June, U.S. gay groups are using virtual gatherings to amplify the […]
The best online LGBT exhibitions for pride month
With the Covid-19 pandemic still ongoing, hundreds of pride events have been cancelled across America. But the celebrations will continue online. There will be digital parties but also a range of online exhibitions that trace the history of pride, beyond the parade and rainbow flags. We’re all familiar with the rainbow flag, but where did […]
LGBT Activist Charged With Pornography for Body-Positive Vagina Drawings
Authorities in Far East Russia charged an LGBT rights activist with distributing pornography for posting drawings of vaginas on social media, the activist told Russian media Tuesday. Yulia Tsvetkova, 27, had been under house arrest from November to March in the remote city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur before authorities lifted her house arrest. Tsvetkova faces up to […]
Sex Work is Real Work, and it’s Time to Treat it That Way
Sex workers aren’t always a part of the conversation about police brutality, but they should be. Police regularly target, harass, and assault sex workers or people they think are sex workers, such as trans women of color. The police usually get away with the abuse because sex workers fear being arrested if they report. If […]
India: They’re putting the B in LGBT
Natasha was in her first year of college when she made a new female friend that she liked — a lot. “Up until that point, I was very much with guys and didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. A bunch of my friends began asking me if I liked her just as […]
Polish leader casts gays as the enemy in bid to revive campaign
Poland’s president stepped up a political attack against the LGBT community, portraying gay people as enemies in a bid to jump-start his stalled campaign for a second term in this month’s election. Returning to a tactic that the nationalist ruling Law & Justice Party has used to woo voters in the staunchly Catholic European Union […]
Hong Kong LGBT charter in planning stages
Plans to introduce a voluntary charter on discrimination against sexual minorities in Hong Kong are under way as officials look into existing policies adopted by neighboring governments. In a document sent to the Legislative Council, the constitutional and mainland affairs bureau said it has been drawing up a charter against sexual orientation and gender identity […]
JAPANESE REGION ANNOUNCES BAN ON OUTING LGBTQ PEOPLE AGAINST THEIR WILL
Japan is beginning to lag noticeably behind when it comes to LGBTQ rights such as adoption and marriage equality, but one region has taken a groundbreaking step forward by banning the outing of LGBTQ people against their will. Last week (3 June), the governor of Mie Prefecture, a region located on the south coast of […]
Saudi authorities beat blogger, demand he ‘confess’ being gay because he supports LGBT+ rights
Human rights campaigners have called on Saudi Arabia to release blogger Mohamad al-Bokari, who was detained after stating his support for LGBT+ rights. According to Human Rights Watch, al-Bokari was arrested on April 8 after an online Q&A in which he said: “Everyone has rights and should be able to practice them freely, including gay […]