“This Is Me”: Nippon Television’s Tanio Toshimi on Being True to Oneself
Transgender commentator Tanio Toshimi debuted on News Zero around the time that Diet member Sugita Mio made headlines for describing the LGBT community as childless and “unproductive.” While LGBT people working in entertainment are by no means unusual, Tanio is currently the only such individual appearing on a Japanese news program. We asked Tanio about coming out […]
As Angola decriminalizes homosexuality, where does the African continent stand?
Angola has done away with criminalizing homosexuality, removing a notorious “vices against nature” provision in its penal code. Other African nations still punish people for same-sex relationships. The reform has been hailed by human rights activists who have been pushing for equal rights for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in Angola and other […]
Children raised by same-sex couples do better in school, new study finds
Children of same-sex couples perform better in school than kids raised by a mom and a dad, according to new research from several European economists. The researchers found that children raised by same-sex couples had higher test scores in elementary and secondary school and were about 7 percent more likely to graduate from high school […]
LGBTQ HATE INCIDENTS UP 54% IN 2018
Harassment of members of the LGBTQ community increased dramatically in 2018, with a 54% increase in reported incidents of homophobia, the Nir Katz Center revealed on Sunday in its annual report. The report, delivered to President Reuven Rivlin for the first time this year, noted that an incident of harassment or abuse against members of […]
Two transgender women joined migrant caravan. Only one survived journey to San Francisco.
Moments before paramedics rushed Roxsana Hernandez out of an ICE jail in New Mexico, Charlotte consoled her dying friend. They’d known each other only a few months, but the Honduran women had formed a tight bond, traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border together last spring in a highly publicized migrant caravan and petitioning for asylum in […]
Amnesty: Ukrainian Authorities ‘Slow To React’ To Attacks Against Journalists, Rights Advocates
Ukraine has failed to prevent or investigate “numerous” human rights violations committed last year against rights activists, political opponents, and ethnic minorities, according to Amnesty International. “2018 was marked by a sharp surge of violent attacks against a range of individuals and groups, often in the name of patriotism and ‘traditional values,’” the London-based human […]
LGBTQ pride and Mexican culture in sweet harmony
Mariachi music is one of Mexico’s most beloved forms of music. It’s also among the most traditional. After coming out as a gay man, Carlos Samaniego found that he was not welcome in many Mariachi groups. So he decided to buck tradition and form his own-Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, the world’s first LGBTQ Mariachi […]
Can Businesses Turn Away LGBT Customers? Court Battles Bubbling Back Up
The original story behind the Masterpiece Cakeshop case is both undisputed and well known: a gay couple in Colorado walked into the bakery in 2012 and asked for wedding cake. The owner and master baker, Jack Phillips, declined to make a custom cake for their party because he said their union violated his religious beliefs. The […]
Village where ‘love the same’ is embraced
Angkrong, a village in Prey Veng Province in Cambodia’s southeast corner, has been home to five couples over the age of 40, two young couples who recently emigrated, another middle-aged couple where one of the partners, a transgender man, passed away just last year, and a transgender monk. All are pairings of transgender men and […]
Brazil education overhaul aims at ousting ‘Marxist ideology’, LGBT and gender movements
President Jair Bolsonaro is taking his anti-leftist ideological war to Brazil’s classrooms and universities, causing angst among teachers and education officials who say the government wants to fight an enemy that doesn’t exist. Bolsonaro and top officials have announced plans to revise textbooks to excise references to feminism, homosexuality and violence against women, say the […]
School forced to close after inviting black, gay speaker for assembly
Protesters forced a school to close after they invited a gay councilperson to speak. Immaculata Catholic School in Durham, North Carolina, told parents that due to several groups planning demonstrations at the school, they could not let students come to classes. They invited Vernetta Alston, an openly gay councilperson, to speak on Friday (8 February) […]
Gay couples to ‘live more freely’ with Thai civil unions
Luke Cassady-Dorion believed marriage was for “boring” straight people until he met the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with – Tae. But Thailand, where they live, does not permit same-sex marriage. So the couple wed in New York. With Thailand set to pass a landmark law that would make it […]
LGBT Pride and dating: How bisexual women face stigma and hostility in relationships
A new study reveals many “bisexual-plus” Kiwi women feel misunderstood and invalidated when dating. Auckland University of Technology’s Tara Pond is the first New Zealand academic to analyse in-depth the lives and romantic relationships of bisexual-plus women – those attracted to multiple genders. For her PhD Pond surveyed 1000 women aged 20 to 88 who identified as bisexual, pansexual or queer. She found […]
LGBT+ activists fear police missed chances to catch Canadian serial killer
As Canadian serial killer Bruce McArthur was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of eight men on Friday, LGBT+ activists questioned whether homophobia and racism may have hampered police investigations into the disappearance of his victims. Landscape gardener McArthur targeted victims linked to Toronto’s Gay Village over a period of seven years, with […]
Two suits challenge Singapore’s colonial-era anti-gay law
Singapore is facing two lawsuits asking the courts to overturn the nation’s colonial-era anti-homosexuality law, Section 377A. Both constitutional challenges were filed after the Indian Supreme Court in September overturned that nation’s anti-homosexuality law, similarly named “Section 377” and similarly inherited from when the nation was part of the British Empire. In Singapore, a previous legal […]
LGBT police officers say they’ve faced horrible discrimination, and now they’re suing
It didn’t matter whether Jay Brome called for backup during high-speed stolen car pursuits, intense vehicle impoundments or hit-and-run investigations. His fellow officers at the California Highway Patrol would not respond even when situations required him to hold his gun out, putting his life at risk. They made him feel unsafe at work in other […]
Australian senator: Kids shouldn’t have to know gay parents exist
Australian senator Ian Macdonald has said that people have the right to stop their children from learning about gay parents. Macdonald was chairing a Senate committee examining a bill which would ban religious bodies from discriminating against LGBT+ school students. During a session on Thursday (February 7), he said, “The majority of families… might not […]
India takes ‘big step’ in AIDS fight with gay sex ruling – Global Fund chief
No longer shamed as criminals, millions of LGBT+ people in India will be less at risk from HIV/AIDS following the legalisation of gay sex, the head of a global health fund said on Thursday. Many gay and transgender people say they encounter discrimination and stigma during health check ups, leading some to avoid doctors’ visits […]
Bringing Pride to Banbury
A small group of first-time event organisers are planning to literally put the Pride into Banbury this summer. Banbury Pride, a LGBT community group is in the early stages of organising the town’s first ever Pride event pencilled in for Saturday, July 13. The group, which was formed in September, is aiming for an inaugural town […]
Tennessee lawmakers file bills that would allow adoption agencies to refuse service to LGBT couples
Tennessee lawmakers this week introduced a set of bills that would allow adoption agencies to deny services to LGBT couples on religious grounds. One bill, filed by state Sen. Joey Hensley (R) and Rep. John Ragan, would allow the state’s adoption agencies to deny services to couples if those services conflict with the agency’s “sincerely […]
Time to Talk Day: Health secretary pledges ‘focus’ on LGBT mental health
As the UK marks Time to Talk Day, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told that he will ensure that there is a “specific focus” on LGBT+ mental health as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, which was unveiled in January. Hancock pledged to meet the needs of the LGBT+ community when it comes to treatment […]
Mumbai Hosts First Same Sex Wedding Party After SC Verdict
For Vinodh Philip, there couldn’t be a better tribute than his wedding reception to the city that embraced him and saw him through his toughest turmoil. Nearly five months after the Supreme Court decriminalized Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, the 43-year-old founder of Rainbow Voices Mumbai, India’s first LGBTI choir, and his husband […]
LGBTI Students to get New Access to Bursary Program from Province
The Nova Scotia government will broaden who is eligible for a bursary meant to promote diversity in the communications field, after Mount Saint Vincent University students and staff said they were concerned it excluded LGBTI students. LGBTI students say accessing bursaries and scholarships can be difficult, as many are not geared toward their community or are not well-publicized. The Communications Nova […]
When Religion Leads to Trauma
“We think of church as a place of healing and transformation, and it is,” says Michael Walrond Jr., pastor of the First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem. But for some, he says, “religion has been more bruising and damaging than healing and transformative.” Pastor Mike, as he is called, leads services in a renovated art […]
Anastasia Pirveli: Georgia’s Transgender Star
Every day, I’m in touch with people who could be homophobic. It’s because of my strong way that people are very kind and polite, there are no problems in the street, – says Anastasia Pirveli, a Georgian and openly LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) singer. With fiery red hair and impeccable style, her strength commands […]
Alan Turing Voted Greatest Icon of 20th Century on British TV
After nearly two months airing mini-documentaries about 20th-century movers and shakers, the BBC Two series Icons: The Greatest Person of the 20th Century picked a winner along with seven finalists in a vote on February 5, according to the show’s site. The good news is that the gay scientist and World War II codebreaker Alan Turing was named […]
Why Some Members of Singapores’s LGBTI Community Prefer Life in the Shadows
When news broke in December that Singapore’s High Court had allowed a gay couple to adopt their son conceived through a surrogate in the United States, it was not met with cheers by all of the city state’s LGBT community. Public opinion over same-sex relationships is deeply divided in Singapore, where gay sex is still technically illegal […]
Scottish Schools Celebrate LGBTI History Month with Tribute to Queer Icons
Scotland’s secondary schools are transforming corridors into tributes to icons like Marsha P Johnson this LGBTI History Month. ‘Icons: Who Made LGBT History’ is a booklet launched last week of 28 positive LGBT role models. It was designed by the Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) campaign. TIE successfully campaigned for LGBTI history to be taught in […]
Living in Venezuela Now is Hard. Being LGBTI Makes it Harder
Venezuela’s shrinking economy has sparked an exodus of LGBT+ people as the economic crisis has put the brakes on the country’s growing tolerance towards its gay and trans community, activists told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Not that Venezuela was ever an easy place to be different. For years, Daniel Arzola endured homophobic abuse from his […]
LGBTI Community Reaches Out to the Poor with Medicine Bank
Bebo Kinnar, a transgender from Jamshedpur, grew up as a subject of ridicule and discrimination. But today, her initiative – Dava Daan Jeevan Daan – started in collaboration with a gay individual, Amarjeet Singh, is helping poor patients have access to free medicines. Despite being social outcasts, they refused to give up and have have […]