SPLC Publishes List of ANTI-LGBTQ Groups in US
The anti-LGBTQ movement continued to enjoy success in mainstreaming its agenda in 2019 as the Trump administration pursued anti-LGBTQ policies at the federal level, while state and local lawmakers in many areas followed suit. In the meantime, three cases with implications for the rights of LGBTQ people came before the Supreme Court. One of those […]
LGBT+ marches unite in first online Global Pride due to coronavirus
Organisations running LGBT+ Pride marches around the world have joined forces to hold the first online Global Pride event in June after hundreds of real-life gatherings were shelved due to the coronavirus pandemic. Global Pride will be livestreamed on June 27, starting with East Asia, Australia and New Zealand and moving through timezones to the […]
Ugandan fear of Covid-19 leads to 23 arrests at LGBT shelter
Uganda police charged the 23 LGBT Ugandans with disobeying a presidential directive against large meetings, aimed at curbing the spread of the virus that causes Covid-19. The March 29 raid by police and army targeted the shelter of Children of the Sun Foundation Uganda (Cosf Uganda), a local LGBT organisation on the outskirts of the […]
Tributes pour in for pioneering transgender Latinx activist Lorena Borjas who has died from coronavirus
The pioneering transgender activist Lorena Borjas has tragically passed away from coronavirus early on Monday morning. Borjas, 60, was known as the mother of the trans Latinx community in Queens. As a survivor of human trafficking, she dedicated the past 30 years of her life to protecting other transgender victims of trafficking, slavery and violence. […]
Nigerian music group releases new pro-LGBT song
The Christians On Diverse Energy (The CODE), a group of Nigerian LGBTIQ+ vocalists, has released a new song that advocates full recognition of LGBTIQ+ human rights and equality in Nigeria. The new Afro-highlife song ‘We Are One’, which was composed and produced by the group THE CODE, relays messages of unity, oneness, resilience, courage, equality […]
Idaho governor signs two bills that limit the rights of transgender people
Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed two bills into law Monday that limit the rights of transgender people. One measure bans transgender girls from playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams, while the other prohibits transgender people from changing their gender on Idaho birth certificates. Little’s office did not comment on the laws. House Bill 500, […]
Isolation and HIV memories hit LGBT+ elderly hard in lockdowns
As lockdowns are imposed around the world to stop the spread of coronavirus, LGBT+ groups are scrambling to support older members of their community who are more likely to live alone and suffer from poor health than their heterosexual peers. With community centers and other face-to-face services forced to shut from Mexico City to New […]
Chechen Police Brandish Pipes in Coronavirus Street Patrols
Police officers armed with plastic pipes in Russia’s republic of Chechnya are patrolling the streets to observe compliance with the region’s coronavirus quarantine, Russian media reported this weekend. The majority Muslim region enacted a strict quarantine Saturday with steep fines for venturing outside. Videos that circulated online starting late Friday showed police convoys advising residents […]
HIV-Positive Service Members Targeted by Trump Win Partial Victory
A federal judge has refused the Trump administration’s request to remove the Modern Military Association of America from a lawsuit challenging discrimination against HIV-positive service members, meaning a greater number of troops will be protected from discharge now and that all service members with HIV will be protected if the suit succeeds. The MMMA is […]
Singapore Upholds Colonial Anti-Gay Laws: Being Gay Remains Illegal For 5.7M People
Singapore’s High Court today ruled to uphold the criminalisation of homosexuality, the Human Dignity Trust have confirmed. The decision would have overturned an anti-gay colonial law instated in 1938 under British rule. Gay rights activists were challenging the law, following success in India’s supreme court to throw out similar laws. The 377A clause bans men […]
Supporting PrEP in eastern Europe and central Asia
ECOM – Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity – recently published a report on access to PrEP (regular medication to prevent HIV infection) in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. We spoke to ECOM’s Community Health Systems Coordinator, Gennady Roshchupkin, about ECOM’s work in the region. The report is primarily an advocacy […]
Quarantine Chronicles: Returning Home as a Gay Person
For as long as I felt possible, I put off making the decision to leave behind my life in San Diego and return to my hometown to quarantine myself. For about a week after the UC San Diego administration announced their transition to online courses for Spring Quarter in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, I […]
UK Black Pride warns coronavirus will adversely affect queer people of colour as annual festival is postponed
UK Black Pride has been indefinitely postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has seen the UK go into lockdown. The event, which is Europe’s largest celebration for LGBT+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American descent, has been postponed for the safety and wellbeing of the public. In a statement, […]
Egypt denies existence of LGBT people
The government of Egypt has told UN member states that it cannot protect LGBT people’s rights because it does not recognise that they exist. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that Egypt made the starling statement on March 12 during the country’s third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Council. Egypt rejected […]
LGBT+ people warned off casual sex go online during coronavirus
With LGBT+ communities warned off casual sex during the coronavirus pandemic, the latest dating site figures show people are sending more messages online to meet new people, flirt – and swap explicit images. British HIV/AIDS charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) issued a statement on Friday saying the country’s current lockdown and advice to keep two […]
In Egypt, transgender activist fights battle on many fronts
Malak el-Kashif left home on her birthday seven years ago. Walking into an uncertain future, she was underdressed for the weather and armed with little— except for some makeup, a few women’s accessories and 50 Egyptian pounds (at the time about six American dollars). “I was afraid but I didn’t hesitate,” she said. “There weren’t […]
Gay dancer trapped at home with homophobic Christian parents who think he has an ‘evil disease’
A young, gay dancer has described how, because of the coronavirus lockdown, he is trapped at home with his homophobic Christian parents who believe he has an “evil disease”. Sam, 23, told the BBC that the coronavirus pandemic meant the tour he was performing on was suddenly cancelled and he was forced to return to […]
Explained: The 33 Gender Identities Recognised By The Australian Sex Survey
The acronym “LGBT” was once considered sufficiently representational of non-heterosexual sexuality and gender types. Well, it looks like we’re going to need a few more letters. A new Australian sex survey conducted by researchers at The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has listed a whopping 33 options under the question “Which of the following terms […]
First NYC Nurse Reported to Die of COVID-19 Is a Gay Man
Kious Kelly has died after a battle with COVID-19. The 48-year-old assistant nurse manager at Manhattan’s Mount Sinai West is the first nurse reported to have died of the virus in New York City, reports The New York Times. Kelly informed his sister, Marya Patrice Sherron, on March 18 that he had tested positive for […]
Second blanket ban on LGBTI+ events in Ankara has been lifted!
The second indefinite ban on LGBTI+ activity was lifted in Ankara, which was declared by the document submitted to the Police by the Governor’s Office in 2018. The governor’s office was unable to provide the court with any concrete documents relating to the justification for the ban. 2nd Administrative Court of Ankara ruled in the […]
The fight against Poland’s ‘LGBT free zones’
New laws are being passed across Poland taking aim at the LGBT community. They’ve been called “LGBT free zones” as a shorthand. While they don’t necessarily mean that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are being thrown into prison, they are having a chilling effect on the community. The laws have contributed to a more […]
Teen with lesbian moms forced to listen to anti-LGBTQ “sermons” before school basketball practice
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, two mothers in Tennessee allege that their son’s middle school basketball coach forced kids to attend his sermons in order to stay on the team. The lawsuit, filed by the mothers who identified themselves only as “K.K.” and “K.K.,” says that their son signed up for the school’s […]
Malaysian LGBT podcast hosts on being queer in a conservative society
“One episode that stands out to this day involved an interview with a person who participated in chemsex,” the Malaysian podcast host known as J says when asked about memorable moments from the Kunyit Squared podcast, which has now lasted for two seasons. “Hearing about their experiences was profound. It solidified my belief that while […]
Global LGBT organizations mobilize in face of pandemic
Global LGBT organizations are responding to the impact of the coronavirus as they work to protect some of the most vulnerable queer people. There have been 19,753 deaths around the world reported from coronavirus as of March 25, according to Worldometer. There have been 440,359 cases of people infected with the virus around the world. […]
Trump Cabinet’s Bible teacher says gays cause ‘God’s wrath’ in COVID-19 blog post
In a blog post titled “Is God Judging America Today?” a pastor who leads a weekly bible study group for members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet appeared to blame the coronavirus pandemic on several groups, including those who have “a proclivity toward lesbianism and homosexuality.” America “is experiencing the consequential wrath of God,” the Rev. […]
India’s ‘invisible’ trans community struggles as coronavirus shuts life down
India’s coronavirus lockdown leaves transgender people at heightened risk of poverty and ill health because they exist on the margins of society, eking out a living through sex work and begging, activists and community members said on Tuesday. The warning came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown in the country of […]
This mum is raging because kids in coronavirus isolation are displaying rainbows in their windows
Children’s drawings and paintings of rainbows have been springing up in windows across the UK after a heartwarming trend started online. Hundreds of schools encouraged their pupils to join in and “spread hope” to those unable to leave home during the pandemic, and the trend was spread further on social media with the hashtags #FromMyWindow […]
Mogadishu’s refugees ‘waiting for death’ as Covid-19 reaches Somalia
In the Nabadoon camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Asho Abdullahi Hassan, a 40-year-old mother of seven, has heard about the coronavirus on the radio. “I am very scared about this deadly virus. I only heard about it from the news. It is like we are waiting for death to come,” she says. The camp […]
Petition urges repeal of restrictions on gay donors amid blood shortage
LGBTQ advocates are calling on the U.S. government to allow gay and bisexual men to give lifesaving blood without restriction to address donation shortages amid the global outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Last week, the nationwide nonprofit GLAAD launched a petition claiming the current policy set in place by the Food […]
This lesbian artist faces six years jail for creating innocent pictures
A lesbian artist has spent months under house arrest and is facing fines and six years jail, just for publishing innocent images in Russia. Yulja Tsvetkova faces three separate trials. Under the first, Russia has charged her with ‘pornography’, with a penalty of up to six years in prison. Moreover, she also faces two trials […]