Brunei LGBT community living in fear despite sultan’s death penalty reprieve
When the Sultan of Brunei last week announced a moratorium on the much-condemned death penalty for gay sex, some hailed the move as a major advance. But inside the tiny South-East Asian nation, members of the LGBT community says there is little reason to celebrate – and much still to fear. In an interview with […]
LGBT rights backers, foes rally outside Legislative Yuan
More than 1,000 LGBT rights advocates and opponents yesterday demonstrated outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei ahead of a cross-caucus negotiation on bills related to same-sex marriage. At today’s cross-caucus negotiation, legislators are to discuss three bills that respectively would legalize same-sex marriage, same-sex unions or a same-sex family member registration system. While the first […]
Italy won’t recognize gay couple as dads to surrogate babies: top court
A gay couple from Trento who had two children in Canada with the help of an egg donor and a surrogate mother cannot both be named as the children’s fathers in Italy, the Court of Cassation ruled on Wednesday. Instead, only the children’s biological father will be listed as their legal parent, while his partner […]
LGBT Partnership Systems Spread Across Japan
In the first five months of 2019 alone, the number of Japanese municipalities with a “partnership system” recognizing same-sex relationships has doubled. While Japan’s national government has been very passive when it comes to tackling issues faced by its LGBT population, more and more municipal governments are making an effort to help improve the daily […]
Mexico’s top court says new birth certificate must be issued after sex change
Mexico’s Supreme Court asked the state of Jalisco on Wednesday to grant a new birth certificate to a resident there to reflect the fact the person changed their sex and name, another step toward equal rights in the socially conservative country. “As the Supreme Court has argued in other cases, everyone has the right to […]
Nigeria: Anglican Church ejects 2 priests for homosexuality
In Nigeria, LGBT people suffer various forms of discrimination at all levels within the society, even from within the Christian faith. Many Nigerians believe the Bible condemns LGBTIQ folks, and thus views homosexuality as a sin that should not be tolerated, even though modern interpretation and a deeper research into what the Bible really says […]
More than 80% of LGBT students in China report depression
Around 85% of LGBTQ students in China report struggling with depression, according to a survey. The poll, carried out by Beijing Normal University and analysed by Chinese news site Caixin Global, found a further 40% had considered suicide. More than 700 LGBTQ students from 29 provinces were polled. The survey found more than 80% of […]
Could Pete Buttigieg make history in LGBTQ-friendly Nevada?
Pete Buttigieg has focused heavily on his background when stumping across the nation, touting his identity as a younger voice in the Democratic party, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, and the hands-on mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Now the openly gay White House hopeful will return to Nevada to spotlight the history-making potential […]
Bold and timely’: New LGBT-friendly Cathay Pacific ad wins praise
Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific rolled out a new promotional campaign this week – though one ad, in particular, stole the spotlight. Netizens have posted photos of a Cathay billboard showing two men holding hands and walking along a sandy beach, with the slogan “Move Beyond Labels.” It was part of the airline’s branding refresh […]
Russian LGBTIs risk arrest by holding public vigil for gay Holocaust victims
In an act of brave defiance, a group of LGBTI Russians commemorated the gay victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Leading LGBTI activist Petr Voskresenskii secretly planned the event in St Petersburg held on Victory Day. The day is one of the most important holidays in Russia as it marks Nazi Germany’s surrender during World War […]
Ramadan: The holiest but loneliest time of year for many LGBTI Muslims
As the Muslim world gets stuck into observing and celebrating the holiest month on the Islamic calendar, LGBTI Muslims are preparing themselves in an entirely different way. Ramadan is the most important holidays for Muslims. ‘Ramadan is as important for Muslims as Christmas for other people,’ said Faizan, head of LGBTI Muslim group, Imaan. ‘But […]
Cuban government talks to LGBT group about parade
During a dialogue where Raul Castro’s daughter was present, members of the Cuban LGTBQ community were told the now-canceled gay parade would be used by foreign forces as the perfect scenario for their own agenda. Wednesday’s meeting was attended by a handful of concerned Cuban citizens who by way of a social media chat organized […]
This New Happiness Survey Is Asking LGBT People Around the World, ‘How Happy Are You?’
Happiness and quality of life are both essential to people’s well-being. Yet in too many countries those qualities in LGBT people are seriously compromised due to the stigma, discrimination, violence and even the criminalization they face. Excess mental stress affects our health, welfare and prosperity. The just-launched LGBT Happiness Study survey seeks to measure that. […]
No Outsiders’ teacher to lead Birmingham Pride parade
A teacher whose lesson programme covering LGBT relationships has been at the centre of protests will lead a parade during Birmingham Pride. Andrew Moffat started the ‘No Outsiders’ lessons at Parkfield Community School in the city. Parents – largely of the Muslim faith – have campaigned against the lessons at schools across the city, arguing […]
Russia: New Anti-Gay Crackdown in Chechnya
Police in Chechnya have carried out a new round of unlawful detentions, beatings, and humiliation of men they presume to be gay or bisexual, Human Rights Watch said today. The new abuses come against a backdrop of absolute impunity for the vicious large-scale anti-gay purge in spring 2017. The Russian authorities should carry out an […]
First It was the Word ‘Gay”
First, it was the word “gay.” For decades, conservatives objected to people using the word to describe homosexuality on the grounds that it corrupted a perfectly good word and prevented it from being used to mean cheerful. No less an institution than The New York Times refused to use the word until well after its […]
Cuba cancels its annual gay rights parade, ‘Conga Against Homophobia’
The Cuban government announced Tuesday that it has canceled this year’s edition of a parade widely seen as a sign of progress on gay rights on the island. The state-run Center for Sex Education headed by Mariela Castro, the daughter of Communist Party First Secretary Raul Castro, said in a Facebook post that the Conga […]
Poles stage protest rally in support of LGBT activist
Hundreds of Polish gay rights activists staged a protest rally on Tuesday evening over the brief detention of a woman who posted images near a church of the Virgin Mary with her halo painted to resemble the rainbow flag of the LGBT community. Elzbieta Podlesna was questioned for almost five hours on Monday after police […]
Pro-LGBT poster with revered icon stirs Poland
Rights groups and government critics in Poland protested Tuesday after police temporarily detained a human rights activist for putting up posters depicting the country’s most revered Catholic icon with the LGBT rainbow on the halos of Mary and baby Jesus. Prosecutors in the central city of Plock said the woman has been questioned and has […]
Hong Kong’s lesbian tycoon launches new bid for marriage equality
Renowned Hong Kong businesswoman, Gigi Chao, is leading a new bid for marriage equality in the city. Chao, along with lawyer Azan Marwah and other activists, will officially launch the group Hong Kong Marriage Equality (HKME) next month. ‘Our aim is to reach out to the vast silent majority of people in Hong Kong’ Chao […]
Businesses encouraged to fly rainbow flag for LGBT equality
May 17 marks the annual International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT). In an open letter, the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business and Myanmar NGO Colours Rainbow are jointly urging companies in the country to join the hundreds of organisations across the world who will stand up for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality […]
Rainbow flags confiscated at Singapore concert of openly gay singer Troye Sivan
Fans of the openly gay singer Troye Sivan were told not to wave rainbow flags during a concert in Singapore last Friday. LGBTQ rights activist Benjamin Xue attended the Singapore leg of the singer’s Bloom Tour with five friends. As he told Gay Star News, when the Australian singer, composer, and “Boy Erased” actor started telling […]
Peru holds out some hope for Venezuelan migrants with HIV
Sulaida Ramirez Davila sat in a support group for those with AIDS and HIV, like her son, Rafael Olivares. Tears welled up as she recalled her decision three years ago to leave Venezuela and Olivares. “I was separated from family … from my son, with the state of health he was in and not being […]
From Spain to Turkey, the rise of the far right is a clash of cultures not civilisations
Vox and other extremists are making huge political gains for the first time in years. Their success risks tearing societies apart. I spent part of my childhood in Ankara and part of it in Madrid. Commuting between Spain and Turkey in the early 1980s was a strange experience. Spain had recently returned to democracy after […]
LGBT in West Africa: Arrests, lynchings, discrimination, denial
West African nations display a mix of mostly abusive responses to LGBT people, including denial that they exist, lynchings and arrests even without anti-homosexuality laws. The context of West Africa is peculiar as a “false calm” exists when speaking of the rights of LGBTI persons. This silence is deceptive as it could suggest that the […]
Looted art, gay rights merge in recovery of Polish painting
A same-sex Los Angeles couple was dumbfounded when Homeland Security agents showed up at their home in 2016 with the news that a beloved old portrait hanging in their kitchen had been looted by the Nazis from Poland’s National Museum during World War II. With heavy hearts, they relinquished the 17th-century painting, “Portrait of a […]
Jamaica: LGBTs Want Seat At National Table
Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community are insisting that they be included in national campaigns that focus on the protection of the rights of the vulnerable in society. Speaking at a Gleaner Editors’ Forum last week, associate director of policy and advocacy at the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals and Gays […]
LGBT discrimination in sport highlighted after a week in the headlines
In a week when issues of gender and sexuality in sport have been in the spotlight, new research has found many LGBT athletes feel unsafe and vulnerable but attitudes are changing. The study, by Adelaide’s Flinders University, found that almost 40 per cent of respondents who participate in sports “have felt unsafe or vulnerable in […]
Edmonton students walk out of school to protest UCP education policies
Chanting, “We have voices” and clutching signs reading “GSAs save kids,” more than 100 students walked out of Victoria School of the Arts Friday morning to protest the new Alberta government’s planned education changes. The protesters oppose the United Conservative Party’s intention to proclaim the Education Act, a move that would overwrite additional protections for […]
Support for gay rights seen growing in Singapore
Singapore has seen “distinct shifts” in attitudes to gay rights in the last five years, with support for same-sex marriage rising, a survey released on Thursday showed. Nearly six in 10 of those aged between 18 and 25 believe same-sex marriage is not wrong, according to the survey by the Institute of Policy Studies, a […]