Trans Activist Runs for Congress in Peru
Gahela Tseneg Cari Contreras is running for Congress in Peru, but the name she has gone by her entire adult life will apparently not be on the ballot. Instead, voters will have to cast a ballot for “Guillermo Junior” Cari Contreras. Exhibit A on why this 27-year-old indigenous trans activist wants to have her voice […]
Queer K-pop: chorus grows for gay rights in Asia
Wearing bright bow ties and dark dress, a group of South Korean women belt out song after song about the joy and stigma of being gay – part of a growing clamor for LGBT+ rights in Asia. “Unnie Choir” sang about their struggles at a sold-out concert in the socially conservative nation, where homosexuality remains […]
Tennessee governor says he will sign anti-gay adoption bill
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday that he’ll sign into law a measure that would assure continued taxpayer funding of faith-based foster care and adoption agencies even if they exclude LGBT families and others based on religious beliefs. The GOP-controlled Senate gave the bill final passage on the first day of the 2020 legislative session […]
Chastity campaigner banned from schools over LGBT comments
A number of talks due to be given in Ireland this week by Jason Evert, the American Catholic campaigner who promotes conservative Catholic teaching around sex and marriage, have been cancelled following a backlash over the speaker’s views on homosexuality and contraception. Evert is the founder of the Chastity Project, a US initiative which promotes […]
Malaysia: Human Rights Reforms Stall
Malaysia’s promised human rights reforms stalled in 2019 as the government either backed away from or delayed action on its campaign commitments, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2020. “Malaysia’s reform process is failing because the ruling coalition’s leaders have lacked the political will to stand up for principles in the face […]
Indonesia rights body condemns LGBT raids ordered by mayor after UK rape case
Indonesia’s human rights commission on Tuesday condemned plans by a mayor to launch raids targeting the LGBT community in his city after a local man was convicted in Britain of sexually assaulting 48 men. Described by a prosecutor as “the most prolific rapist in British legal history”, Indonesian student Reynhard Sinaga last month was convicted […]
Russia: Race to the Bottom on Rights
Repression escalated in Russia during 2019 as the government answered rising civic and political activism with bans, repressive laws, and showcase prosecutions, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2020. The human rights situation in the North Caucasus remained grim, with drug-related charges used to retaliate against a journalist and a prominent human […]
House Democrats to ask ICE to release all transgender immigrants in custody
House Democrats are preparing to ask the Department of Homeland Security to release all transgender immigrants being held at long-term federal immigration facilities. Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois is leading the effort to ensure those who identify as transgender are not held weeks or months in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention while they […]
Grief over death of Young Liberal Wilson Gavin after drag queen protest
Friends and opponents alike have expressed their grief after the death of Wilson Gavin, the leader of a rightwing student club at the University of Queensland, who died one day after leading a protest at a drag queen storytime event in a Brisbane library. Gavin, the president of the university’s Liberal National Club, is believed […]
Activists across Africa pay tribute to Aunty Ivy, a pioneer of the African LGBT movement
The curtain has come down on one of the pioneers of the African LGBTQI+ movement. Emmanuel Kamau or Aunty Ivy as they were popularly known to the community both in Kenya and across Africa, was one of the founder members of the oldest gay group in Kenya ISHTAR MSM, which was founded in 1999. Aunty […]
Bhutan: Historic opportunity to decriminalize same-sex relationships
Bhutan must seize an historic opportunity to secure equal rights for LGBTI people in the country, Amnesty International said today, calling on the upper house of parliament to pass a bill decriminalizing same-sex relationships. Following the lower house’s vote in favour of repealing discriminatory sections of the penal code last June, the bill proposing amendments […]
Alibaba praised by China’s gay community for ad recognizing same-sex couples
Online gay communities in China are lauding e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd for releasing a subtle ad that appears to feature a gay couple returning home for the Lunar New Year. In the 20-second spot, a young man enters his home and introduces a male companion as “Kelvin” to his mother. The camera cuts […]
AIDS, the Catholic Church and LGBT issues today
In the series finale of ‘Plague,’ we look at what’s happening in the church in HIV and AIDS care today and then reflects on comments and questions from listeners about the ongoing debates over LGBT issues in the Catholic Church. In Rustenburg, South Africa, where today AIDS is disproportionately impacting girls and young women, a […]
Israel Justice minister blasts education minister’s ‘backwards’ remarks on LGBT couples
Justice Minister Amir Ohana lambasted Education Minister Rafi Peretz on Saturday for comments Peretz made in a newspaper interview, where he appeared to call same-sex marriage unnatural. Peretz was asked by Yedioth Ahronoth how he would respond if one of his children were gay. “Thank God my kids grew up naturally and healthy. They’re building […]
Was Oman’s Late Sultan the ‘Only Gay Monarch’ in the World and Why Do People Care?
Although Sultan Qaboos’ sexuality has been open to question for decades, the recent death of the 79-year-old Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said on Friday night has re-ignited a conversation surrounding his life. Ruling Oman since 1970, Sultan Qaboos’ sexual identity has been has often been the subject of speculation, mainly because the Sultan […]
Glam Slam event rolls out welcome mat for Margaret Court
As the organiser of Australia’s biggest LGBTQI tennis tournament, the Glam Slam, Rowen D’Souza finds it useful to be ‘‘a little bit cheeky’’. In November at a function in Perth, he approached tennis legend Margaret Court, who has been widely criticised for her views on LGBTQI issues. Mr D’Souza told her how her words could […]
Right wing students accost drag queen at children’s library event to ‘defend LNP values’
An Australian pop star has slammed a group of right wing student protestors for yelling anti LGBT slogans at a family event featuring a drag queen. In a video showing the protest, demonstrators repeatedly shout ‘drag queens are not for kids’ at a drag queen story hour event at a Brisbane library while event organisers […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]