Paraguay’s LGBT community feels outcast amid conservative shift: “We are forgotten”
Paraguay’s LGBT communities are feeling increasingly isolated amid a conservative shift in the Latin American country, even after they celebrated the global success of local lesbian drama film “Las Herederas” last year. Led by right-wing President Mario Abdo, the government recently banned sex education guides for teachers, while the Senate declared itself “pro-life and pro-family” […]
Ben Hunte says BBC Africa asked him to remove social media ‘for being gay’
BBC News’ LGBT Correspondent Ben Hunte has claimed that in his former role at BBC Africa he was asked to remove his social media over fears that his sexuality would not be well-received by its audience. Ben Hunte’s show aired in countries where being gay is illegal. “I understand why that was because obviously there […]
Netanyahu refuses to commit to LGBT agenda
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hosted a group of representatives of the LGBT community at the Prime Minister’s Residence on Sunday. The meeting was also attended by the Prime Minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, Minister of Social Equality Gila Gamliel, and Likud MKs Yoav Kish and Amir Ohana. Ohana is the first openly gay lawmaker to represent […]
For Malaysia’s embattled LGBTQI+ community, the promise of a new era with the change of government last year is yet to materialise
Shortly after Malaysia’s historic election in May, transgender activist Nisha Ayub and gay rights activist Pang Khee Teik had their portraits displayed at an art gallery in the city of Penang. The exhibition celebrating 60 years since Malaysia’s independence featured prominent people posing with the country’s flag. But days after the images provoked a social […]
Belfast church protest by LGBT group against ‘conversion therapy’
LGBT group the Rainbow Project has organised a protest at a south Belfast church on Saturday morning against what they have labelled “conversion therapy”. Windsor Baptist has advertised the event as a True Freedom Trust Conference, however, Rainbow Project director John O’Doherty, said: “We will always stand against conversion therapy in whatever guise it presents […]
This Rainbow-Loving American LGBT Activist Has Been Denied Entry by Cuba’s Government
Michael was in Cuba last May for Idahot, and he’d arrived on a mission: With literally hundreds of rainbow trinkets in tow — rainbow and trans flags, bracelets and stickers — he planned to dole them out to queer Cubans at the planned festivities. It didn’t take long to uncover that this man, a longtime […]
Transgender woman violently attacked by mob in Paris
A transgender woman has opened up about her terrifying experience of being assaulted by a group of men at a rally in Paris on Sunday. The woman who has only been publicly identified by her first name, Julia was making her way through a crowd at a protest against Algeria’s president in Place de la […]
Gay Artist Wants to Change Poland, Starting With One Village
The Polish artist Daniel Rycharski sat in his childhood home recently and considered the idea of fitting in. In many ways, Poland is a highly polarized country. On one side is the right-wing populist government of the Law and Justice party, with its many rural supporters, which purports to stand for “family values” and the […]
New Study: LGBT People A ‘Fundamental Part of The Fabric Of Rural Communities’
LGBT people are typically depicted as city and coastal dwellers. And those who live in rural America are often characterized as people yearning to escape rural life for more acceptance in urban areas. But a new study from the Movement Advancement Project, a think tank that advocates for LGBT equality, shatters that stereotype. Between 2.9 […]
Most Albertans say parents shouldn’t be notified when child joins GSA, online survey suggests
Most people think parents should not be notified when their children join gay-straight alliance groups at school, according to a recent survey of more than 74,000 people across the province. In the online questionnaire known as Vote Compass, Albertans were asked to vote on how much they agreed with the statement that said “parents should […]
Verona protests: Tens of thousands of campaigners march against ‘medieval’ anti-LGBT+ and anti-abortion conference
Tens of thousands of campaigners descended on the streets of Verona over the weekend to show their opposition to an anti-LGBT+ and anti-abortion conference whose self-avowed goal is to establish the “natural family order”. The US-founded World Congress of Families (WCF), which has faced criticism for its Russian ties, staged a three-day conference in the […]
All the countries ignored in the Brunei backlash
Brunei’s harsh new laws targeting LGBT people have shocked the world and prompted global condemnation. High-profile celebrities from George Clooney to Ellen DeGeneres have called for a public boycott to hotels owned by the country. “Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?” Clooney wrote in a Deadline Hollywood column. “I’ve […]
Evolution of Transgender Identity in Turkey
LGBTI groups in Turkey have reportedly been trying to survive hate murders, abuse, rape, and inequality in what reportedly is a very polarised society. A society in which moral understanding is dictated to be based on Sunni Islam by the government authorities. LGBTI events are frequently banned without a logical reason in Turkey which reportedly […]
After court battle, Cayman Islands legalises same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage has become legal in the Cayman Islands following a landmark court case brought by a lesbian couple which their lawyers said on Monday could have implications in the wider Caribbean region and beyond. Chantelle Day, 32, a Caymanian lawyer, and her partner Vickie Bodden Bush, 44, a nurse, went to court after they […]
Jakarta election commission reaching out to transgender community to help them exercise voting rights
With anti-LGBT sentiment at “alarmingly” high levels in Indonesia (stoked at least in part by political interests), few Indonesian authorities are brave enough to speak out in defense of the rights of the highly stigmatized minority group. One of the very few exceptions is Jakarta’s General Election Commission (KPU), which claims to be reaching out […]
Joko Widodo: how ‘Indonesia’s Obama’ failed to live up to the hype
Five years ago he was south-east Asia’s democratic poster boy, Indonesia’s Obama. His face plastered across Time magazine with three words: A New Hope. When Joko Widodo, or “Jokowi”, was elected president of one of the only true remaining democracies in the region it was a moment of triumphant vindication – proof that outliers could […]
As India election nears, officials urge trans Indians to vote
India is seeking to increase participation by its transgender citizens in the elections that are scheduled to begin April 11. Although hijra, trans, and other non-binary people were given the right to register as third gender voters in 2014, only a small percentage have registered to vote. For example, the state of Karnataka estimates their […]
Spain’s health minister calls for end to gay ‘conversion therapy’
Spain’s health minister called on Wednesday for so-called conversion therapy to be abolished after a report that a branch of the Catholic Church had offered to “cure” gay people. El Diario, an online newspaper, said a reporter posing as a gay man trying to change his sexuality was told to stop watching porn and masturbate […]
LGBT: The pilot who came out as transgender at 58
Captain Cat Burton always knew she wanted to be a pilot after her father took her in a jet fighter when she was just six months old. She also wanted to live her life as a woman but that dream took much longer to realise. Cat, who worked for British Airways for 45 years, said […]
Gay sex now officially punishable by death by stoning in Brunei
New Islamic criminal laws took effect in Brunei on Wednesday that make gay sex and adultery punishable by stoning offenders to death. The laws have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nation’s shores. The penalties were provided for under new sections of Brunei’s Shariah Penal Code. […]
Most Americans are a-OK with a gay presidential candidate. That’s a big shift in less than 15 years.
With Pete Buttigieg’s campaign saying he raised an impressive $7 million in the first fundraising quarter, the South Bend, Indiana mayor is looking more and more like a significant factor in the 2020 Democratic primary. The main knock on his candidacy may be his lack of statewide or federal elected experience (South Bend’s population is […]
LGBT centre raided in Russia and volunteers detained inside
An LGBT+ centre in Russia has been raided for reportedly ‘conflating’ rules on ‘gay propaganda’. Officers arrived at Rakurs, a community centre based in Arkhangelsk, on March 28 and demanded to inspect the premises, Gay Star News reports. They then carried out a search of the centre, withdrawing materials and preventing volunteers, lawyers and five […]
Lebanon urged to abolish anti-LGBT law, after military acquits soldiers on ‘sodomy’ charges
Lebanon has been urged to abolish a law criminalising homosexuality after the top military prosecutor declined to prosecute a “sodomy” case. The rights group called the decision, which was publicised Monday, a “positive development”, according to AP. A decades-old law punishes sexual relations “contrary to nature” with up to one year in prison, however, the […]
Brunei’s new anti-LGBT+ laws condemned as ‘inhuman’ and ‘draconian’ by UN
A move by Brunei to punish gay sex by stoning to death has been condemned as “inhuman” by the UN. The new penal code is due to be implemented on Wednesday and is in keeping with sharia law, according to the Asian nation. In a statement on Saturday, the office of sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said […]
Bosnia Capital to Host First Pride Parade
Bosnian human rights activists announced on Monday that Bosnia’s first-ever Pride Parade will take place in September in the capital, Sarajevo, and will gather members of the LGBTI community from all over the country. “Bosnia is finally getting its Pride Parade, which will be held on September 8,” the Sarajevo Open Centre, a non-government organisation […]
International anti-LGBT, anti-abortion congress opens in Verona
The World Congress of Families, an anti-gay and reproductive rights conference organized by a designated hate group, opened in the northern Italian city of Verona on Friday amid tight security. Several prominent members of the governing League party are expected to attend the controversial three-day event, despite their coalition partner calling it a gathering for […]
Transgender guitarist strikes a different note
Shika Corona strums her guitar on a Kuala Lumpur stage, the crowd dancing as she launches into a chorus, “Gender doesn’t lie between your thighs!” Shika, 42, is the transgender singer and guitarist of Tingtong Ketz, a Malaysian three-piece band whose upbeat songs about queer and transgender life are unique in the strait-laced Southeast Asian […]
Letter to Prime Minister Plenković on Balkans Trans and Intersex Pride March
We write to urge you to provide appropriate security and protection to ensure the rights to freedom of assembly and expression are protected during the March 30, 2019 Balkans Trans and Intersex Pride March in Zagreb. Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that monitors the human rights situation in more than 90 countries […]
Chinese gay rights activists out to challenge censored cut of Freddie Mercury movie Bohemian Rhapsody
Yanzi, founder of the Guangzhou-based LGBT Rights Advocacy of China group, this week asked Chinese film-goers what they thought about the censored version of Bohemian Rhapsody, the Hollywood movie about singer Freddie Mercury. The Oscar-winning film arrived in Chinese cinemas on Friday, but 10 scenes and four minutes involving drug use and gay content were […]
No matter their allegiance, Ukraine’s politicians are ignoring LGBT rights
Ahead of Ukraine’s presidential elections, the problems of the country’s LGBT community are being ignored by our leading politicians. None of the leading candidates’ programmes even mention LGBT rights or address the issue directly, without vague euphemisms. Instead of fighting for gay and lesbian rights, Ukraine’s presidential candidates continue to fight for their ratings by […]