Teacher reveals high price of coming out as gay in China
When he came out as gay, teacher Cui Le made local news headlines and was subject to censorship and surveillance by his university in southern China. It took years – and a move to New Zealand – before he felt ready to tell his story. Cui was working as a linguistics lecturer at the Guangdong […]
Israel: New government could bring real change for LGBT community
While many were disappointed at the sight of this bloated amalgam called Israel’s 35th government, maybe, just maybe it will be the one to actually take steps to improve LGBT rights in this country. Many Blue & White voters who were deeply disappointed by party leader Benny Gantz for breaking his promise not to join […]
Fact check: The LGBTQ community is not adding “P” to their acronym
Social media users have been sharing posts online that falsely imply the LGBTQ community is accepting of “pedosexuals”. There are different versions of the posts, but most refer to the claim that the community will add the letter P to the acronym LGBT. LGBTQ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning and/or […]
The Coronavirus Thrives on Hate
On May 1, just before social distancing rules were officially relaxed, a man went out to a few gay clubs in Seoul. He was later confirmed to have the novel coronavirus, promptly outed by Christian-backed media, and vilified nationwide as another careless, contaminated gay. By dint of being at the same club as Patient 66 […]
Dozens of LGBTQ Groups Denounce Racist Violence
Following a series of racist incidents and fatal police shootings targeting Black individuals, a coalition of leaders representing at least 75 LGBTQ organizations signed a joint statement denouncing racial violence and encouraging folks to step up and do their part in eradicating racism. The letter alluded to a series of recent incidents that have sparked […]
Gay people in Myanmar have adopted a secret language
Wednesday has just turned into Thursday in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, and pleasure-seekers are on the prowl in a glitzy neighbourhood. Drivers slow down to inspect sex workers waiting by the kerb. Three of them, all transgender women, chat brightly. Your correspondent tries to eavesdrop but even her translator cannot understand. Theresa, the most forthright […]
Pride, Juneteenth flags to be raised at Richmond City Hall
The Juneteenth and LGBT Pride flags will be raised at Richmond City Hall on Monday, June 1, in a ceremony that the public can view via Zoom here. The City of Richmond Diversity Celebration Month Flag Raising Ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. Featured speakers include Mayor Tom Butt, City Manager Laura Snideman, Councilmember […]
Widower’s U.S. court win secures social security benefits for LGBT+ couples
Gay and lesbian spouses in the United States can claim social security survivor’s benefits even if they were married for less than nine months, a federal court has ruled, overturning a requirement that left some widows and widowers homeless. The U.S. District Court for Arizona said that it was unconstitutional for the Social Security Administration […]
China’s same-sex couples heartened by property protection rights in new civil code
It was an ambush, said He Meili, a 51-year-old lesbian woman, describing how she met with her dead partner’s step-parents at a police station where they demanded she leave the apartment the couple had shared for 12 years. “It was that very moment at the police station when I truly felt the pain of not […]
Iraq, Iran outraged by rainbow flags, LGBT-tolerant poster
In Iraq and Iran, politicians stirred up homophobic disputes focusing on the May 17 celebration of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (Idahobit) and the May 15 celebration of the U.N.’s International Day of Families. In Iran, politicians and social media expressed outrage, while the conservative Mashreq News suggested that a government […]
Malaysian wins landmark right to challenge Muslim gay sex ban
Malaysia’s top court has given the go-ahead for a man to challenge an Islamic ban on sex “against the order of nature”, his lawyer said on Wednesday, in a test case for gay rights in the mostly Muslim country. LGBT+ rights groups say Islamic laws have been increasingly used to target the country’s gay community, […]
LGBT+ visibility builds acceptance, research finds
Americans are more likely to accept LGBT+ people if they see them portrayed in film, television and advertisements, said a survey released on Wednesday, findings that supporters say illustrate the benefits of visibility to the LGBT+ community. Nearly half of those who saw LGBT+ images in the media were more receptive of gay, lesbian, bisexual […]
Larry Kramer, Pioneering AIDS Activist And Writer, Dies At 84
Larry Kramer was one of the first activists against AIDS, back when the disease didn’t even have a name. In the early 1980s, Kramer witnessed hundreds, then thousands of gay men die before the government took action to stop the spread of HIV. He became a high-profile, high-volume, one-man crusade against the disease. Kramer died […]
A Polish gay couple took their rainbow face masks to an ‘LGBT-Free Zone’
Polish gay couple have taken their free rainbow face masks to the heart of one of the country’s ‘LGBT-Free Zones’. Towns and districts across Poland have declared themselves ‘LGBT-Free’ in the last year. But married YouTubers Jakub and Dawid Mycek-Kwiecinski have found a great way to fight back – with generosity. They started handing out […]
‘We were so ready’: LGBT refugees in Kenya live in fear as global resettlement is put on hold
After four years of waiting, he had the ticket booked: Nairobi, Frankfurt, Toronto. He had fled Uganda’s violent homophobia, survived in neighboring Kenya, where it’s only a little better, and allowed himself to fantasize about what he’d wear when he went out at night in Canada. “Some of us had sold our mattresses, you know. […]
Two Years in Prison for Gay Sex in Turkmenistan
In Turkmenistan, men who have sex with men continue to be arrested and imprisoned on sodomy charges. In mid-March independent media in the region reported the arrest of a popular entertainer as well as those of numerous other men who move in Turkmenistan’s show-business world. Some were able to secure their release. On May 7, […]
Zambian president pardons gay couple jailed for 15 years
Zambia’s president has pardoned a gay couple sentenced to 15 years in prison in November under colonial-era sodomy laws in a case that caused a diplomatic row with the United States. Japhet Chataba, 39, and Steven Sambo, 31, were among nearly 3,000 inmates pardoned by President Edgar Lungu last Friday to commemorate Africa Freedom Day, […]
Russia ‘Ready’ for New Comedy on Gay Activists’ 1970s Soviet Visit, Producer Says
Oscar-nominated Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky has announced a new television series based on the real-life story of a group of LGBT activists who visited the Soviet Union on a mistaken invitation. The comedic series will portray the Homosexuelle Aktion Westberlin (HAW) activists’ 1978 trip to Moscow after a high-ranking Soviet official mistook their gay liberation […]
Costa Rica Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
Costa Rica legalized same-sex marriage on Tuesday, becoming the first Central American country to do so and sparking an emotional response from rights campaigners as the first weddings were held overnight. Celebrations were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but a special program about LGBT rights was broadcast on public television and online after a […]
University of the Philippines’ COVID-19 chatbot operates with ‘gay speak’ function
You can tell today’s technology is improving when it’s taking on uniquely human nuances. Case in point: the University of the Philippines (UP) today announced that its Facebook messenger pandemic response chatbot Yani, which gives information on COVID-19, can now speak in beki or Filipino gay lingo. “LGBT slang or the Beki language option is […]
Marie Cau: First transgender mayor elected in France
A trans woman in France has won election in her local commune to become the country’s first openly transgender mayor. The council in Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes in northeastern France chose Marie Cau as its new mayor on Saturday. The 55-year-old ran on a platform of ecological sustainability and building the local economy. Speaking to the AFP news […]
Anti-LGBT+ church sued over historic child sex abuse and ‘protecting abusers’
An anti-LGBT+ California church is being sued for allegedly failing to protect two young boys from sexual abuse more than 30 years ago. Carl Epperson and Larry Spencer are suing the anti-LGBT+ CrossPoint Community Church in Modesto, California, for failing to protect them from sexual abuse as children. The men claim they were abused by […]
Leaked Zoom call reveals homophobia of Azerbaijan opposition politicians
A series of Zoom calls between senior members of the National Council of Democratic Forces, representing opposition parties in the Azerbaijani National Assembly, has revealed strong homophobic sentiment within the group, according to a Mako news report. Leaked between May 13 and 17, four videos expose conversations that focus on the issue of LBGT rights, […]
China’s LGBT activists step up push for gay marriage after official rejects change
China’s LGBT activists have stepped up their campaign to have same-sex unions legalised after a parliamentary official said the country “insisted on heterosexual marriage” only and dismissed public comments on the issue. The legislature began its annual meeting in Beijing on Friday and is expected to enact the country’s first civil code. It had sought […]
U.K. Contact Tracing App Could Endanger LGBT Human Rights
Contact tracing is going to become an inevitable reality as the world leaves lockdown. But, the longterm human rights implications of that for LGBT people and minorities could be “incredible,” experts are warning. For LGBT people in South Korea linked to a recent outbreak, and gay Ugandans facing persecution under the guise of COVID-19 rules–this […]
‘It means that I’m not limiting myself’: Being agender means living outside the gender binary
What is agender? For this arts worker, its meaning comes down to “not limiting” yourself to the perceived gender binary. The definition of agender in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is: “A person who has an internal sense of being neither male nor female nor some combination of male and female, or being a person whose gender […]
Anti-LGBT+ hate crime soars by over a third in France
Homophobic and transphobic hate crime has risen by 36% in France last year, according to police figures. The new stats show a total of 1,870 victims of homophobic or transphobic crimes who went to the police in 2019. However, LGBT+ hate crime charity SOS Homophobie says the real numbers are higher as many victims don’t […]
K-Quarantine: The Condemnation or Resurgence of LGBTQ Rights in South Korea
The United States and South Korea sit on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the successful containment of COVID-19. As South Korea enters its second wave of infections and the United States rides out a protest-ridden quarantine, a central debate has developed around public safety versus personal privacy, most notably in relation […]
Mexico City’s Casa Frida Offers Refuge to the LGBTQ Community During the Pandemic
Shelter-in-place measures limit coronavirus numbers, but they also expose the ugly side of staying at home. Calls to domestic violence hotlines have been up across the globe and in some places, LGBTQ individuals have reported family environments that are “psychologically damaging.” But in Mexico City, one group is working to ensure that its LGBTQ community […]
Christian Activist Calls For Violence Against Those Who Use Pandemic To Impose Socialism
Trump-loving radical right-wing activist Scott Lively warned listeners during an online Bible study yesterday that they need to establish a modern-day Underground Railroad for Christians to escape coming persecution and prepare to wage a violent revolution against those who seek to use the current COVID-19 pandemic to impose a socialist End Times “emerging Beast government” […]