Rugby Australia will sack Israel Folau over ‘disrespectful’ anti-gay posts
The NRL has slammed the door shut on offering a career lifeline to under-fire cross-code star Israel Folau. Folau is set to be sacked by the Australian Rugby Union after he doubled down on his comments that homosexuals were going to hell on Instagram. Following the news that he would be sacked from Rugby, speculation […]
Controversy as Tasmania makes gender optional on birth certificates
Tasmania made it optional to list gender on birth certificates on Wednesday, a move criticised by the Australian island’s leader and Christian activists who fear it would endanger women. LGBT+ rights group ILGA said Tasmania was probably one of the first places in the world to dispense with gender on birth certificates – which can […]
Why I’m angry about Edmonton Pride’s cancellation in Canada
The cancellation of an LGBT Pride festival in Edmonton, Canada is both shocking and cause for concern. It comes in the same year that Pride festivals around the world celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots – a key moment in the history of LGBTI rights both in North America and wider world. The […]
New Knesset sets record for most LGBT members
Israel’s elections on Tuesday resulted in what will likely be a fifth term for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – but there were a number of firsts as well. The number of LGBT members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, will rise from two to a record five when parliamentarians are sworn in next month. Amir Ohana […]
Women’s group: LGBT community faces sex, gender taunts
Folade Mutota, executive director for the Women’s Institute for Alternative Development today said taunting about sex and gender was the most prevalent form of sexual harassment reported by the LGBT+ community. Mutota was speaking at the Joint Select Committee on Human Rights, Equality and Diversity as non-governmental organisations meet on the inquiry into sexual harassment […]
The LGBT Equality Act began life in 1974. It’s still waiting to be passed.
When the news broke that Rep. Bella Abzug had introduced a bill to protect lesbian and gay people from discrimination to Congress, David Mixner cut out the article and hid it the top drawer of his dresser. The year was 1974. Mixner, later an adviser to then-President Bill Clinton, wasn’t yet out as gay. “Most […]
One Man Is Allegedly Targeting Gay German Teenagers In A Sweeping Harassment Campaign
On April 18, 2016, Max walked down the hall at his high school in Bremen, a midsize city in Northern Germany. He opened the glass door of a small office and saw a white cardboard box on the table addressed to him. The school’s director, a teacher, and a police officer were standing next to […]
Israel Folau’s Rugby Australia contract to be terminated following anti-LGBT posts
Rugby Australia have announced they plan to terminate Israel Folau’s contract following his anti-LGBT comments on social media. The devout Christian posted a message on his Instagram account on Wednesday, which read: “Warning. Drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, idolators. Hell awaits you. Repent! Only Jesus saves.” He also took to Twitter to criticise […]
Alarm bells sound over ‘outings’ in Japan’s LGBT community
People having their sexual orientation or gender identity revealed without their consent has become a deepening problem in Japan, a country known for its culture in which the “nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” In recent years, there has a been a growing number of cases in which a person has been publically “outed” […]
Councillors in Castlegar, B.C., condemn controversial comments made at public meeting, offer apology
Two city councillors and the mayor of Castlegar have condemned controversial comments made during a question period at last week’s televised council meeting. During question period, resident Richard Switzer voiced concerns about the $15,000 price tag for work on the city’s pride crosswalk. However, it was his other comments about the LGBT and homeless communities […]
UN, EU Express Concerns About Threats Against Armenia’s LGBT Community
The United Nations, European Union, and local rights groups have expressed concerns about “hate speech” directed toward Armenia’s LGBT community following reports of death threats against a transgender woman who spoke in the country’s National Assembly. The controversy could also represent the first major challenge to reform-minded Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step alliance from […]
Renowned LGBTI activist wants to become the Pete Buttigieg of India
LGBTI rights activist Harish Iyer announced this week he would be joining one of India’s major political parties, the Indian National Congress (INC). Iyer was looking forward to ‘working with the Mumbai Congress team in weeding out homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia and the politics of hate’ he wrote on Twitter. ‘I encourage more people from the […]
Same-sex marriage will never happen in Fiji: PM
“As long as we are in government – Fiji will not allow same-sex marriage.” This is the statement from Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama while opening the Raralevu Subdivision in Tailevu today. Bainimarama says there has been a lot of talks on social media regarding the issue and rumours are speculating that some churches are supporting […]
Japan’s first transgender prefectural assembly member elected in Hokkaido
Japan’s first transgender prefectural assembly member has been elected in local elections here on April 7. The new member, Ayako Fuchigami, was designated male at birth and transitioned to a woman as an adult. Fuchigami, who ran for the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, was elected to office for the first time in Sapporo’s Higashi […]
Calls for pastor who celebrated Orlando massacre to be banned from Ireland
A petition has been signed almost 5,000 times calling for anti-LGBT+ pastor Steven Anderson to be banned from entering Ireland. Anderson—a preacher with the Faithful Word Baptist Church in the United States—is due to preach in Dublin on May 26, according to his online schedule. “Steven Anderson is a Holocaust-denier, Islamophobe and anti-LGBT+ extremist who […]
Buggery remains a crime, but UK hopes Guyana Govt. will soon facilitate gay rights
While Guyana and the United Kingdom (UK) continue to enjoy a healthy and fruitful relationship, and rarely butt heads when it comes to policies and laws, High Commissioner, Greg Quinn, said the UK still remains concerned that the rights of lesbians, gay men, and bisexual persons, are not catered for under the laws of Guyana. […]
Luxembourg’s gay premier praises Mexico LGBT+ progress, sees more work ahead
Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel addressed the Mexican Senate on Tuesday, calling on lawmakers to advance LGBT rights in the country of some 120 million people. On the third day of his first official visit to Mexico, Bettel, one of the only openly gay heads of state in the world, also spoke about the importance […]
LGBT protesters storm Dorchester Hotel over Brunei’s gay sex laws
Gay rights activists storm and block the entrance of the Sultan-owned Dorchester hotel in central London in a protest against Brunei imposing a death by stoning penalty law against gays and adulterers on Saturday, April 6. Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said: “Just because of who they love they are being hated and the Sultan […]
More than half of banned books challenged for LGBTQ content
More than half of the top 11 most frequently challenged and banned books of 2018 include LGBTQ content, according to a report released Monday by the American Library Association. “Books for youth with LGBTIQ+ content are consistently on our list of most challenged books; this trend goes back to the mid-1990’s, when Nancy Garden’s ‘Annie […]
LGBT activist Harish Iyer joins Congress, says queer people need to get into politics
LGBT activist Harish Iyer on Tuesday announced he is joining the Congress party. “I have officially joined the Congress and look forward to working with the Mumbai Congress team in weeding out homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia and the politics of hate,” he announced on Twitter. Explaining his plunge into politics, Iyer said, “So, sometimes we cannot […]
Peru Court Recognizes Legal Marriage of Lesbian Couple
A Peruvian court has ruled in favor of a lesbian couple who sued the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status for refusing to register their marriage, which took place in Miami. Susel Paredes and Gracia María Aljovín were married in a civil ceremony in Florida in August 2016 and tried to have that legal […]
Poland’s Populists Pick a New Top Enemy: Gay People
Growing up in a small city in southern Poland, part of a religious family and conservative community, Maciej Gosniowski was told again and again that something was wrong with him. “It would be better if I changed myself,” he recalled teachers telling him. “It would be better if I behaved more like a boy. It […]
Homophobia scandal hits Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s European capital of culture
Plovdiv, one of the 2019 European capitals of culture, has become embroiled in a homophobia scandal as local officials attempt to remove the head of the organising committee over a photographic exhibition featuring LGBT themes. Officials in the Bulgarian city, which is co-hosting the 2019 edition of the European capital of culture with Matera in […]
Quebec City police investigate online threat against LGBTQ community
The owner of Le Drague Cabaret Club in Quebec City filed a complaint with police after a hate message was discovered on social media — a message targeting the local LGBTQ community. The message warned the club’s customers that extremist groups were organizing a “hunt” on Friday night in the neighbourhood where the popular, long-time […]
Two-Spirit: Meet the Native Americans embracing their LGBT+ tribe members
The sound of drums, singing and prayers marks the opening of a powwow in Phoenix on a Saturday afternoon. Marchers carry the flags of the United States and some of Arizona’s tribal nations onto the grass field, but the procession also includes rainbow flags, and the pink and blue transgender flag. It is Arizona’s first […]
‘It’s dangerous to go out now’: young, gay and scared in Brunei
Draconian new laws have spread unease rather than outright panic in a population that is used to finding ways around legislation. A day after it became legally possible to be stoned to death for having gay sex in Brunei, 21-year-old Zain* got a bitter taste of the new reality. Walking down the street in skinny […]
In Indonesia, LGBT communities viewed as a moral threat – condemned by religion and, increasingly, by law
There was a commotion and then there was silence. Many of the guests had gathered around a small stage on which the dancers, and Ezra, were naked. Everyone froze and turned to look at four men wearing fixed, steely gazes. “This doesn’t feel right,” Ezra recalls thinking. “If they are gay, they are not going […]
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 […]