Pride Parade 2019: Mumbaikars celebrate decriminalisation of homosexuality with love, liberty & fervour
The commercial capital of the country celebrated its first Pride Parade after the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality in September last year on Saturday. Hundreds of people were seen marching with a wave of colors from August Kranti Marg, which holds a significant position in the country’s independence movement. The famous Quit India Movement against the […]
Same-sex couples to file suits for marriage equality in several courts on Feb 14
Chizuka Oe and Yoko Ogawa have lived together in a relationship of mutual trust for almost 25 years since they fell in love after their first encounter at a party. Despite some people around them refusing to recognize the two women as same-sex partners, or family members who have looked at them askance, Oe and […]
Gay cure therapy ban could be blocked because it limits ‘free speech’.
A US federal magistrate judge has said that a ban on gay cure therapy should be blocked because it violates constitutional free speech protections. Evangelical law firm Liberty Counsel had brought a legal challenge against a 2017 ordinance passed in Tampa, Florida, that sought to outlaw conversion therapy on minors. Similar laws banning gay cure […]
Transgender trio fail in legal bid to be listed as male on Hong Kong ID card.
Three transgender people who identify as male lost their legal bid on Friday to be recognised as such on their Hong Kong identity cards, in a setback for the LGBT movement to achieve equal rights. While expressing sympathy, High Court judge Mr Justice Thomas Au Hing-cheung ruled against the three applicants, Henry Tse, Q and […]
Award-Winning Activist Jay Lin on Sharing LGBT Stories with Asia.
When Newsweek publicly announced that I was one of the 15 members of the “Creative Class of 2019,” I seriously had to pinch myself. I was discussing video streaming services at a conference in Mumbai, where I had been invited to speak about GagaOOlala’s plans to forge Indian alliances in preparation for the roll-out of our services […]
Copenhagen presents Denmark’s first LGBTI+ policy.
Copenhagen is set to become the first city in Denmark to usher in policy specifically designated to the LGBTI+ community. The policy, ‘En ligeværdig del af fællesskabet’ (‘An equal part of the community’), includes initiatives such as more unisex toilets in the public space, anti-bullying strategies and preventing loneliness among LGBTI+ elderly. “Copenhagen made history […]
This Gay Man Speaks Out About Fleeing Iraq, Where He Says Being LGBT Is a ‘Death Sentence’
In commemoration of 2019 marking 50 years since the Stonewall Riots took place, the editors over at Gay Star News are inviting 50 international guest writers to offer their own stories of diversity and resilience. One of those such guests is Amir Ashour, a gay Iraqi who fled his home country for the United States […]
Film on lesbian romance hailed for pushing boundaries.
A Bollywood movie about a family accepting their daughter is a lesbian was hailed on Friday (Feb 1) for pushing the boundaries of cinema in socially conservative India. It comes after the country’s Supreme Court scrapped a colonial-era ban on homosexuality in September, sparking wild celebrations amongst India’s LGBT community. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh […]
Greek bishop who told followers to spit on gays guilty of inciting hatred.
A Greek bishop has been given a seven-month suspended jail sentence for inciting homophobic hatred and abusing ecclesiastical office. Bishop Amvrosios of Kalavryta, whose name is Athanassios Lenis, appeared in front of a three-member misdemeanour court in the town of Aigio on Monday (January 28), reports the English-language version of Greek newspaper Kathimerini. The case […]
Conservative Muslims reject antirape bill over ‘pro-adultery, LGBT’ concerns.
The passing of a bill on sexual violence, which has been deliberated on by the House of Representatives since 2016, is at risk of being delayed again, this time by those who consider it to be “pro-adultery” and “pro-LGBT” by omission. The bill was first proposed after the gang rape and murder of a 14-year-old […]
Cameroon: Crowd kills ‘man of God’ caught in the act
Diallo (a pseudonym), a human rights activist in Maroua, reports. A homosexual couple was surprised in the midst of love-making one morning last October in a shop in the central market of Maroua. The older man in the couple was Goche Lamine, a Nigerian native in his thirties who had been selling non-prescription medicine in Maroua […]
28 US states still lack basic equality for LGBT people, State Equality Index says.
28 US states are still lacking in basic equality for LGBT people, according to the Human Rights Campaign’s State Equality Index. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation and the Equality Federation Institute released the annual index on Thursday (January 31) detailing state-level progress on LGBT+ rights. The rankings show significant progress has been made towards […]
Berlin’s monument to gay victims of the Holocaust vandalised.
Berlin’s memorial to homosexual people killed during the Holocaust has been vandalised. Local magazine Monopol reported that the structure had been vandalised with black paint with a political message being painted on the structure. The monument has been repeatedly damaged in recent times. Police are investigating the incident. The Memorial to Homosexuals persecuted under Nazism […]
Stop hating gay people, says Nigerian actress Tonto Dikeh.
Dikeh made the positive comment on Instagram in support of Jussie Smollet, an African-American Nollywood actor who was recently brutally attacked by two men, which many are now calling a hate crime. Homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria, and many people including celebrities (even those who are gay) hesitate to support LGBT people openly for fear of […]
Altrincham will wear LGBT inspired kit in a moment of “football history”.
Non-league Altrincham will support football’s fight against homophobia by wearing a new kit based on the LGBT flag for a competitive fixture. The National League North side – who normally play in red and white stripes – claim they are the first club to wear a kit based on the flag’s colours. The strip will […]
Indonesia Mayor Targets Gay People ‘because they’re possessed by demons’
A mayor in Indonesia has ordered the arrest of LGBT+ people so religious authorities can conduct exorcisms on them. Mayor of Padang Mahyeldi Ansharullah has used the Indonesian Army (TNI) to target and detain queer people, whose existence he said was down to “the influence of jinn, devils,” according to Indonesian news site Tirto. The mayor, whose region […]
France’s Eurovision Contestant Bilal Hassani Targeted with Homophobic Harassment on Social Media
France’s contestant for the Eurovision Song Contest has been faced with homophobic harassment on social media. Bilal Hassani has been the subject of online abuse and two organisations fighting homophobia in France – SOS Homophobie and Urgence Homophobie – said they were working together with LGBT-friendly lawyers to report every single user who has used […]
Chiba 1st Japanese City to Recognize LGBTI Couples, Common-law Marriage
In a first for Japan, the city of Chiba held a ceremony Tuesday to issue certificates recognizing both the partnerships of sexual minority and common-law couples. “I wish you happiness in becoming better partners,” Mayor Toshihito Kumagai said at a ceremony involving six couples. According to the city located to Tokyo’s east, Chiba’s recognition of […]
Bruce McArthur: Canadian Landscapaer Admits Eight Murders
A Toronto landscaper accused of killing eight men who went missing between 2010-17 has pleaded guilty to their murders. Bruce McArthur, 67, was arrested last January and charged in the deaths of two men, and police subsequently charged him in six other cases. Most of his victims had links to Toronto’s Gay Village neighbourhood. Many […]
Church of England Faces Calls to Withdraw Trans Welcome Ceremonies
The Church of England is facing pressure to withdraw guidance for ceremonies welcoming transgender worshippers following a transition after more than 2,000 members signed a letter of protest. Clergy members were among those who signed the open letter saying the “notion of gender transition is highly contested in wider society” and the guidance for baptism-style […]
Angola decriminalizes homosexuality
In a landmark reform, 155 parliamentarians voted for Angola’s first overhaul of the criminal statute books since gaining independence from Portugal. They voted to drop the colonial era provisions, broadly considered as anti-gay. “While there have been no known prosecutions under the law, provisions like this one curtail the rights and freedoms of lesbian, gay, […]
Barcelona’s LGBT centre is vandalised one week after opening
Residents of Barcelona have shown their support for the queer community after the city’s LGBT+ centre was vandalised just over one week after opening. The Centre LGBTI Barcelona opened in Calle Borrell, Barcelona, on January 19, with Eugeni Rodríguez, president of LGBT+ rights group Observatori Contra l’Homofòbia, describing it as a “historic day” for Barcelona’s LGBT+ community. However, it […]
Gay congressman who fled Brazil will be replaced by another gay politician
Gay congressman Jean Wyllys, who fled Brazil in fear of his life, will be replaced by another gay politician. Wyllys, a pioneering gay politician in the country, was re-elected in October to serve a third term in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, but fled the country this month after facing an influx of death threats and the murder of […]
Leaked HIV data creates fear among Singaporean LGBT community
A major leak of the confidential data of 14,200 people with HIV in Singapore could hamper a fight against new infections among LGBT+ people in the city-state, campaigners said on Tuesday. The health ministry said on Monday that an American, who lived in the country previously, disclosed online the details of 5,400 Singaporeans and 8,800 foreigners who […]
Russian LGBT Network formally requests federal investigation on Chechnya amid death threats to director
The Russian LGBT Network has requested that Russia’s Federal Investigative Committee look into reports of renewed arrests, torture, and killings of those suspected of being LGBTQ in Chechnya, Mediazona reports. The Network has led efforts to help victims of anti-LGBTQ persecution in Chechnya escape the region for multiple years. LGBT Network activists also named one of those arrested in […]
Life in the Closet: The LGBT Community in Central Asia
While much recent attention has been focused on the LGBT community in Chechnya and the wider North Caucasus, sexual minorities in Central Asia live under significant pressure as well. Russia’s 2013 law prohibiting “propaganda” promoting non-traditional sexual relations has had a consequential impact on LGBT issues in Central Asia. It triggered the introduction of an […]
France combats anti-LGBT bullying with new school campaign
A new campaign in France is aiming to tackle anti-LGBT+ bullying in middle and high schools across the country. France’s Ministry for Education and Youth launched a new campaign today called All Equal, All Allies, which will see all state schools putting up posters and providing guides about LGBT+ issues. SOS Homophobie – a French organisation […]
Londoners rally at Russian embassy demanding end to torture in Chechnya
The situation in Chechnya is urgent. That’s why nearly one hundred people flocked to a rally outside of the Russian embassy in London to call for an end to the persecution of gay men and women there. Since April 2017, authorities in the northern Caucuses have been rounding up people based on their real or perceived sexuality. They’ve […]
Myanmar LGBT Pride Out in Force, But Laws Lag Behind
This past weekend, pride week kicked off in full force in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon. A flurry of rainbow umbrellas dotting Yangon harbor, held by fishermen following a flotilla of partygoers, set sail on Saturday. Followed by the drag olympics featuring a handbag throwing competition, a stiletto sprint and hula hoop contest. Hundreds attended the […]
LGBT community fear living openly in Kurdistan
Imagine living a lie. A life of lies, secrecy and often depression only to conform to cultural norms so that you or your family isn’t endangered or murdered. This is the case for the LGBT community in Kurdistan. Many have gone through their life living under a veil of shame, pain, resentment and confusion because of […]