Texas attorney files complaint comparing judge’s pride flag to swastika
An openly gay Texas judge says she was forced to take down her rainbow pride flag and other colorful materials after a local defense attorney filed a complaint, comparing the symbol to a swastika and Confederate flag. Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez told NBC News that she was investigated by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct […]
One of Turkmenistan’s top showmen and entertainers has been arrested for the crime of being gay
A well-known actor has been arrested in Turkmenistan for the simple crime of being gay, local media reports claim. The man, who has not been named, was reportedly arrested last month along with his partner and a dozen other men on suspicion of homosexual activity. Gay sex is illegal in the central Asian country and […]
1 in 5 Russians Advocate ‘Eliminating’ LGBT Community – Poll
Almost one in five Russians believe that LGBT people should be “eliminated,” according to the results of a new independent Levada Center poll. The figures showed 18% of respondents giving the response, marking a slight softening in attitudes toward members of the LGBT community since 2015, when 21% advocated their “elimination.” Similarly, 32% said this […]
LGBT people in Japan worry getting coronavirus may result in outing
A 34-year-old man who lives with his same-sex partner in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, has chosen not to be open about his sexual orientation at his office. But he worries it may be revealed if he becomes infected with the virus as he would have to tell a public health center about his partner when asked […]
LGBTQ Orgs Say They’re in Deep Fundraising Trouble Because of Coronavirus
Garden State Equality had its lowest month of fundraising in four years, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ organization has found itself at the center of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. After New York, New Jersey has the second-most coronavirus cases of any U.S. state, with […]
Third of UK lesbian mothers experience homophobia from other parents
One in three lesbian mothers in Britain has experienced homophobia from other parents, while the same proportion have children who have been bullied for having two mums, according to a rare study of LGBT+ women published on Monday. The online survey by research firm Kantar of more than 1400 LGBT+ women – one of the […]
LGBT+ community pays tribute to Lyra McKee on first anniversary of her murder
On Saturday, April 18, the LGBT+ community paid tribute to writer Lyra McKee marking the first anniversary of the journalist’s death. Under the hashtag #WeStandWithLyra, the digital commemoration united people in remembrance and solidarity of the inspiring journalist. On April 18 2019, McKee was fatally shot by a dissident republican gunman while watching a riot […]
Helping others: Manado LGBT community raises funds for COVID-19 food aid
The members of an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community in Manado, North Sulawesi, have joined hands to raise funds and distribute relief aid to those affected by the local COVID-19 outbreak. “A friend told us about the condition of residents who had been hit hard by the epidemic. Some residents even asked us […]
The Growing Threat of Accelorationists Worldwide
As the world is paralyzed by the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), some violent non-state actors have welcomed the global pandemic as an opportunity to push their propaganda and ideology, and perhaps to strike at their perceived foes. White supremacist extremists see the pandemic as confirmation of many of the movement’s preexisting beliefs, and as […]
Gay couple in Poland take on LGBT+ Free Zones with rainbow face masks
Married YouTubers Jakub and Dawid Mycek-Kwiecinski handed out hundreds of rainbow face masks on the streets. It comes as Poland considers a new ‘Stop Pedophilia’ law. The law falsely links LGBT+ people with pedophilia and could effectively stop all sex education in schools, if it goes ahead. Moreover, several Polish cities and districts have declared […]
Fauci guided US through AIDS crisis, too. Survivors say it’s a roadmap for coronavirus.
The slight, bespectacled doctor speaking at a White House briefing on TV revived bleak, 30-year-old memories for Gary Cooper. Dr. Anthony Fauci’s reassuring voice guided Cooper and thousands of gay men worldwide through the terrifying AIDS crisis of the 1980s. Now, as Cooper watches and listens to Fauci issue stark but calm warnings about the […]
Colorado’s Jewish, LGBT Governor Rebukes Comparison Between His Stay-at-home Order and Nazism
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis became emotional during a news briefing about the coronavirus crisis in his state when a reporter said that the public has compared his stay-at-home order to Nazism. “As a Jewish American who lost family in the Holocaust, I’m offended by any comparison to Nazism,” Polis said Wednesday during his briefing in […]
Gender Distancing: Some Latin American Countries Taking Radical Steps
In a strong initiative to combat COVID-19, some of the Latin American nations have taken a step to promote social distancing, and that is to separate men and women. However, the Colombian capital Bogotá, Panama, and Peru, in particular, have seen mixed results after they segregated men and women in this time of the pandemic. […]
‘A second home’: Halifax’s only dedicated LGBTQ bar closes for good
Menz and Mollyz, described as Halifax’s only dedicated LGBTQ bar and one of the few safe spaces for the community, is closing permanently. The bar and performance venue on Gottingen Street made the announcement Monday on its Facebook page, prompting an outpouring of messages from people expressing sadness. Adam Reid, executive director of Halifax Pride, […]
Polish lawmakers press on with anti-gay ‘Stop Pedophilia’ law
Polish lawmakers have voted not to kill a law that compares LGBT+ people to pedophiles and which could end sex education. Poland’s anti-LGBT+ Law and Justice Party are taking advantage of the coronavirus restrictions to pass the legislation. Protestors will find it harder to act against the proposed law as mass gatherings are banned during […]
Sharing hormones on Google Docs and ‘grey market’ pharmacies get gender-affirming care during the pandemic
Evelyn was growing nervous as she watched her supply of spironolactone dwindle while the city of Boston, where she lives, started its coronavirus lockdown in mid-March. Evelyn, 21, takes spiro as part of her hormone-replacement therapy to treat gender dysphoria, which happens when a person feels their body doesn’t match their gender identity. She’s had […]
How LGBTIQ+ Nigerians are coping with COVID-19 pandemic
In late February, Nigeria recorded its first confirmed case of the virus when an Italian man working in Lagos tested positive, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported. Last month after several other confirmed cases in various parts of the country and with recommendations by the NCDC, the Nigerian government in a bid to […]
Gay men in Morocco say they are ‘living in constant fright’ after an influencer’s video sparked a trend
An Instagram influencer’s video has started a dangerous trend where women are outing gay men in Morocco — where homosexuality is illegal — after encouraging her followers there to download gay dating apps to see which men in their area identify as such. Naoufal Moussa, a trans woman based in Turkey who is also known […]
Pandemic closures are hurting gay bars, and those serving vulnerable populations may be the hardest hit
Gay bars have been shuttered by public-place closure orders during the coronavirus pandemic. In March, more than half of US states issued statewide closure orders for bars and restaurants, decimating the nightlife industry. This has left LGBT people without a place to gather in public and LGBT workers without employment. But gay bars were already […]
Arrests, Evictions & Scapegoating: Coronavirus Takes a Toll On LGBT+ Africans
Just before breakfast on a Sunday morning, Ugandan security forces stormed an LGBT+ shelter outside the capital Kampala, accusing more than 20 gay, bisexual and transgender people of spreading the new coronavirus. Eye-witnesses said the police took everyone’s phones and shoes and soldiers bound their hands with rope and marched them barefoot to a nearby […]
Tanzania is still arresting and persecuting LGBTQ people
When James Wandera Ouma is asked what gives him hope as a gay man living in the east African nation of Tanzania, he can’t think of anything. “There’s no joy,” Ouma says. “There’s no happiness in life. You may have happiness in your own house, but when you go outside, you are afraid.” Ouma is […]
Turks call for Netflix boycott after rumours of gay character in new show
Rumours of a gay character in a new Turkish Netflix series, “Love 101”, have ignited calls for a boycott of the streaming service and sharp criticism from the broadcast regulator. A furore erupted after a now-deleted Twitter account @love101netflix suggested one of the main characters in the show – a story about students helping their […]
Poland mulls law denouncing sex educators as paedophiles and gay activists
Poland is set to vote on Thursday on a law that would jail people who promote underage sex for up to three years, in a move which liberals said aimed to ban sex education by labelling those who teach it as paedophiles and LGBT+ activists. The authors of the bill said sex educators were often […]
Amnesty Slams ‘Offensive’ Against Human Rights In Eastern Europe, Central Asia
Many governments across Eastern Europe and Central Asia have pursued an “extensive offensive” against human rights, deploying draconian tactics and tools of the state to suppress protests, freedom of expression, and civil society, Amnesty International says in its annual regional review. But while human rights defenders, journalists, nongovernmental organizations, and protesters faced mounting pressure in […]
Erased from utopia: the hidden history of LA’s black and brown resistance
In August 1965, thousands of young Black people in Watts set fire to the illusion that Los Angeles was a youth paradise. Since the debut of the TV show 77 Sunset Strip in 1958, followed by the first of the Gidget romance films in 1959 and then the Beach Boys’ Surfin’ USA in 1963, teenagers […]
Pandemic Hits Sexual and Reproductive Health Efforts Worldwide
Children may be less vulnerable to COVID-19, but the pandemic is disrupting their access to sexual and reproductive health worldwide. Schools are closed, community clinics are shut or reducing services, and some governments are exploiting the crisis to prevent abortions. UNESCO reports that over 1.5 billion students are out of school worldwide because of COVID-19—that’s […]
Bosnia Takes First Step to Regulate Same-Sex Partnerships
The government of one of Bosnia’s two entities – the Federation – has appointed a working group to draft legislation that would regulate the rights of same-sex couples, taking the first tentative step towards addressing an issue that has faced fierce, sometimes violent, opposition from conservatives in the Balkan country. Bosnia’s record on LGBT rights […]
The Activists: How ACT UP forever changed patients’ rights, protests and political organizing
SUBMICROSCOPIC INFECTIOUS agents have a way of revealing the worst in us, and the best. That is the story of the AIDS epidemic generally, and in particular of ACT UP — the 33-year-old radical direct-action group formally and loftily called the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. For nearly a decade in the 1980s and 1990s, […]
Gay man forced to flee Turkmenistan after police assaulted him for being HIV-positive
A gay man from Turkmenistan was forced to flee his home country after he was arrested and assaulted for being HIV-positive. Speaking to RadioFreeEurope, the 23-year-old was granted asylum in a European country after he was targeted for being both gay and HIV-positive. The man, whose name was withheld to protect his identity, said that […]
Michigan anti-LGBT discrimination ballot drive moves to e-signatures
A group spearheading a ballot drive to add LGBT anti-discrimination protections to Michigan’s civil rights law is moving to collect voter signatures online because of the coronavirus pandemic. Fair and Equal Michigan says Monday the electronic petition campaign is believed to be the first in state history. The group says the strategy is legal and […]