Activists welcome new gender-based police unit
Head of the Institute of Gender and Development Studies, University of the West Indies, Dr Gabrielle Hosein, has welcomed the launch of a new Gender-Based Violence Unit within the police service to treat with, among other things, the growing incidence of domestic violence cases in the country. “I think the unit has excellent potential for […]
Depok mayor calls for more anti-LGBT raids in wake of Reynhard Sinaga case
In response to reports that the family of Reynhard Sinaga, an Indonesian convicted serial rapist in the United Kingdom, lives in Depok, West Java, the city’s mayor has instructed his administration to conduct raids against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Reynhard, a 36-year-old PhD student, was sentenced on Jan. 6 by a […]
Brazil top court rejects attempt to remove LGBT movie from Netflix
Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a lower court’s decision to remove a Netflix comedy that displayed Jesus Christ in a gay relationship. Minister Dias Toffoli stated that “the exercise of freedom of expression reaffirms and enhances other constitutional freedoms.” The film on Netflix is called, “The First Temptation of Christ,” and was produced by […]
Perth dance for older members of the LGBT community
Older members of the local LGBT community will be able to attend a social dance next weekend. The LGBT Elders Social Dance will be held at Perth Theatre on Saturday, January 18, and is one of a series of events happening all over the country designed for the senior LGBT community. The social dance is […]
Trump Adviser Promoted Gay Conversion Therapy and Said HIV Was ‘God’s Moral Law’
President Donald Trump recently appointed anti-Muslim and anti-LGBTQ cable news pundit Jenna Ellis as a senior legal adviser to him and his campaign. Ellis has promoted harmful and ineffective conversion therapy; claimed that “Christians cannot follow God and accept or condone or participate in homosexuality”; and said gay and bisexual men have higher rates of […]
Brazil issues new rules, lowers age for gender reassignment surgery
Brazil’s independent medical regulator announced new rules for treating transgender patients on Thursday, including lowering the age when trans people can have gender reassignment surgery to 18 from 21 years old. The Brazilian Federal Council of Medicine also set out guidelines for the use of puberty blockers for the first time to delay bodily changes […]
Prominent Tunisian LGBT+ activist flees death threats
A former presidential candidate and leader of Tunisia’s largest LGBT+ rights group said he has been forced to flee to France after “very serious” death threats from Islamist elements within the conservative north African country. Mounir Baatour, who stood in September’s presidential poll on behalf of the small Tunisian Liberal Party, told the Thomson Reuters […]
Indonesia’s LGBT community fears repercussions after UK’s ‘most prolific rapist’ jailed
When the reports surfaced about Britain’s “most prolific rapist” Reynhard Sinaga — an Indonesian national sentenced to life for 150 crimes, including 136 rapes against men — Riko was upset. Riko, who refused to give his family name because he hasn’t come out to his parents, is a fashion stylist based in the city of […]
African LGBT refugees plead UN for safe shelter after Kenya camp attacks
Dozens of African LGBT+ refugees in northwestern Kenya’s sprawling Kakuma refugee camp pleaded on Thursday with the United Nations to relocate them to a safer place, saying they had suffered violent attacks. More than 40 LGBT+ refugees from countries including Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo said they were targeted in two homophobic […]
Bulgarian Women Battle on for Recognition of Their Marriage
For two years, Lili and Darina Babulkova have been struggling to have their marriage in the UK legalised in Bulgaria, where LGBT marriages are not recognised. Their most recent appeal, to the Supreme Court, resulted in a “no”, based on a reading of the constitution that still defines a marriage as a union between a […]
India’s LGBTQ community joins citizenship law protests
More than 1,000 members of India’s LGBTQ community, rights groups and their supporters marched through the streets of the capital on Friday to protest a citizenship law that excludes Muslims. Describing themselves as “Citizens Against Bigots,” they carried placards and shouted slogans accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of pursuing policies aimed at forcing people […]
Following backlash, Facebook disables misleading HIV medication ads
Facebook has disabled some advertisements about the potential side effects of HIV prevention medication Truvada following complaints that they were misleading and a “harm to public health.” The decision comes less than a month after almost 70 LGBTQ advocacy organizations signed an open letter demanding the social media giant “immediately remove” the “inaccurate advertisements,” which […]
Poland opposition parties hit back at escalating homophobia by appointing gay candidate for presidential election
The strongly conservative Catholic country has seen a huge surge in homophobia after the ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) based its winning 2019 parliamentary election campaign on a platform of LGBT+ abuse. The problem has grown so severe that more than 80 Polish municipal or local governments have now proclaimed themselves to be ‘LGBT-free […]
Support for laws against LGBT discrimination in Hong Kong rising, Chinese University survey finds
Opposition to legal protections for Hong Kong’s sexual minorities is on the wane, a university survey showed on Tuesday, as the professor behind it called on the government to “wake up” to reality and bring in the safeguards. Only 12 per cent of 1,058 people polled in a Chinese University study last year objected to […]
TRUMP ADVISOR PRAISES ZAMBIA FOR ANTI-GAY LAW
Donald Trump’s religious advisor, Tony Perkins, welcomed the decision to overthrow an American ambassador who condemned an anti-gay law in Zambia. Tony Perkins, who sits on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, spoke after the recall of the US ambassador to Zambia, Daniel Foote. Foote angered Zambian President Edgar Lungu by saying that he […]
Masculinity is back! The lesbian comics rediscovering their butch side
Sarah Keyworth has, she says, a “weird kind of relationship with masculinity”. She appears confident in her dapper, boyish looks, with her short quiffed hair, but behind that handsome veneer are insecurities. “I almost have toxic masculinity,” she says, “in that I can never meet the standards that I think masculinity has. I’m not big […]
The ‘ex-closeted gay jihadist’ bringing meditation to Jakarta
When Bagia Arif Saputra was growing up in a university town near Jakarta, becoming a jihadist seemed a natural choice for young men like him, who were steeped in the teachings of Islamic fundamentalism. Less easy was reconciling this identity with his sexuality. “I was living a double life,” says Saputra. “I would go to […]
Section 377 crusader Ashok Row Kavi steps down as Humsafar Trust Chairman
Ashok Row Kavi, the founder Chairperson of Mumbai-based Humsafar Trust has stepped down from his post. The Indian journalist and LGBT rights activist had founded the Trust in 1994. It provides counselling, advocacy and healthcare to members of the LGBT community, and today, is one of the largest and most active of such organisations in […]
LGBT Muslim charity condemns spike in hate crimes after Birmingham school protests
The LGBT+ education row centred on two Birmingham primary schools and was led mainly by Muslim parents. The disruptive protests began in March 2019 and continued for months until they were finally banned by a High Court order. Figures released by police show a significant spike in LGBT+ hate crimes during the time of the […]
Why is China raising the prospect of same-sex marriage?
China has taken a step forward to allow same-sex marriage, a move that could undo years of discrimination, delight rights activists and give new rights to the LGBTQ community “after years of hiding and struggling.” A body of the National People’s Congress, the country’s highest law-making institution, has publicly acknowledged petitions to legalize same-sex marriage, […]
Taiwan’s president is battling a deluge of election-linked homophobic fake news
Taiwan is often described as Asia’s most gay-friendly place. It was, after all, the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. It boasts the biggest Pride event in the region and has a vibrant “pink” economy. It’s clear, however, that nearly eight months after same-sex marriage became legal, many in Taiwan remain deeply opposed […]
Why China’s Gay Academics Feel They Must Stand Out or Stay Hidden
Since 2018, I’ve interviewed 40 gay men who either currently teach or have previously taught at Chinese colleges and universities. My aim was to discover what challenges they face as teachers and researchers and to find out how they cope with Chinese academia’s often hostile stance toward sexual minorities. Unsurprisingly, many of my interviewees told […]
ANOTHER HISTORIC MOMENT FOR CROATIA’S GAY COMMUNITY
After years of fighting to foster or to adopt children in Croatia, Ivo Šegota and Mladen Kožić won the long-lasting legal battle against the state. The Zagreb-based Administrative Court ruled last month that same-sex couples have the right to become foster parents. Ivo and Mladen told local media they would like to have two or […]
Philippines SC junks same-sex marriage petition ‘with finality’
The Supreme Court on Monday denied with finality a motion for reconsideration filed by Jesus Falcis and other LGBT advocates seeking recognition of same-sex marriage in the Philippines. The SC had junked Falcis’ petition in September last year, citing lack of legal standing, failure to raise an actual justiciable issue and violation of the doctrine […]
Kate McKinnon Opens Up About Being Gay During Golden Globes
Kate McKinnon was not in the closet. She’s been open about being a lesbian for years. She joked about it with Jerry Seinfeld on “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” and played lesbian characters with tongue-in-cheek authenticity in skits on “Saturday Night Live.” Even so, her sexual orientation hasn’t been talked about as much as that […]
Same-sex ‘Dancing on Ice’ couple sparks hopes of greater LGBT+ representation
Two men taking to the ice might seem uncontroversial, but as a same-sex couple competing together this week on British reality TV show “Dancing On Ice”, singer Ian Watkins and professional skater Matt Evers are set to make television history. The show, which begins on January 5, will mark the first time a same-sex couple […]
Advocates blast $750,000 bail for suspect in transgender teen’s slaying
Advocates in the Washington LGBTQ community on Thursday blasted a judge’s decision to set bail at $750,000 for a man charged with a hate crime in the death of a transgender teenager. Prosecutors had asked Clark County Judge David Gregerson to order no bail, or a minimum $6 million bail, for David Bogdanov, of Vancouver, […]
Prominent Christian activist says “the Nazi Party started in a gay bar”
A prominent Christian conservative is now claiming that the Nazi Party was founded and staffed by gay people. “Let’s not forget that the Nazi Party started in a gay bar,” said radio host Bryan Fischer earlier this week on his show Focal Point. “The Nazi Party started in a gay bar in Munich, Germany.” Bryan […]
Thailand faces LGBT pressure on marriage rights
Thailand’s blossoming gay community is generating new business opportunities, including bars and cafes. The Tourism Authority of Thailand launched a campaign targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender visitors in 2018 that has involved roadshows in Asia, Europe and the U.S. But the country still has some way to go in terms of embracing the community. […]
‘The Periphery Has Potency’ Festival Unites Art and Literature in the Peripheries at the Galpão Bela Maré
On December 17, the Galpão Bela Maré arts center held the Periferia Tem Potência (The Periphery Has Potency) festival in partnership with the Favelas Observatory, the Instituto Maria e João Aleixo, and the Park Library. Participants gathered in the favelas of Maré, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, to pay homage to artistic […]