Queer women in Russia’s North Caucasus ‘face sexual violence, forced marriage, and murder’
Queer women in Russia’s North Caucasus face attempts to ‘cure’ them, beatings, rape, forced marriages, and murder, according to a recent report interviewing a number of queer women from the region. While some gay men have been able to flee, the report said women were less able to do so as their money, movement, careers, […]
Italian lesbian reveals years of corrective rape by father
A 23-year-old Italian woman has spoken out about the years of sexual assault she suffered at the hands of her father, who attempted to “correct” her sexuality. Francesca, who is a lesbian, told the newspaper La Repubblica the abuse began when she was 15. Her sister had read a series of text messages between Francesca […]
Equality Florida Sounds Alarm Over Preemption Bill
Equality Florida, the only statewide LGBT rights group, is sounding an alarm over HB 3, which could threaten local LGBT rights protections if passed. “So House Bill three is a sweeping preemption of local government regulations. Basically, anything that touches business, occupation, paid employment, and the sale of goods or services. So that’s a very […]
Rabbi Sadan: Silencing LGBT debate endangers democracy
Rabbi Eli Sadan, the head of the pre-military preparatory committee, compared the silence surrounding the Muslim immigration process imposed on the public in Europe to the public debate on LGBT rights in Israel. In an internal letter to the closed forum of heads of the pre-military academies, Rabbi Sadan brought up the book The Strange Death […]
‘I’m ready,’ says first transgender candidate for Thai PM
Pauline Ngarmpring thought she would take it slow as she began her new life as a transgender woman after transitioning at the age of 49. Instead, three years on, she is a candidate for Thai prime minister – the country’s first transgender candidate for the post – and her days and nights are filled with […]
Meet the young Nigerian running an LGBT clothing brand
Rex Young, a young Lagos-based Nigerian entrepreneur, is tapping into the country’s LGBT market. Young, a professional graphic designer, has delved into an untapped market of making custom-made T-shirts for Nigeria’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender [LGBT] community. Shirts under his brand ‘Revolt x Raldie’ are custom-made with strong messages aimed at promoting equality and […]
71% of LGBT voters would choose Remain in a second Brexit referendum
LGBT voters could decide the outcome of a second Brexit referendum, a YouGov poll found. A January 2019 survey showed that, if there is a new public vote on whether the UK should remain in the European Union, gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans voters could make a difference. Polling experts at YouGov conducted the largest […]
Homophobic, transphobic flyers appear before Sydney election
Homophobic and transphobic flyers have appeared around Sydney, Australia, in the run up to this month’s state election. The flyers, which appeared on Reddit, are written in English, Arabic and Chinese. They warn Australians not to vote for the Labor Party unless they want their children to “become homosexuality.” “If you do not want your […]
Mashrou’ Leila: the Lebanese indie band championing Arab gay rights
Mashrou’ Leila are giants in Lebanon. Walking through Beirut with the band on a warm afternoon, it feels like everyone is staring. We squeeze into a retro diner in the city’s bustling Hamra neighbourhood, and have hardly started talking before two women interrupt for a selfie. Lead singer Hamed Sinno is a flamboyant performer with […]
LGBT in India: What it’s like six months after gay sex was decriminalised
Up until six months ago, 20-year-old Tish felt like a criminal. He faced long-term prison time in India because he was an out and proud gay man, but then his life changed. Tish regularly parties at gay club Kitty Su but says he’s sometimes nervous when he leaves the venue as homophobic people know “what […]
Fears for transgender Egyptian woman held in men’s prison
An Egyptian transgender woman arrested for inciting anti-government protests is at risk of torture and sexual violence, activists and rights groups have warned. Malak al-Kashef, 19, has undergone gender reassignment surgery, but it still officially registered as a male in Egypt. She was arrested on Wednesday as part of a crackdown on protests sparked by […]
Tourism Minister reportedly tells German press there’s no gays in Malaysia
German news agency Deutsche Welle is reporting that our Tourism minister, Mohammaddin bin Ketapi told a room full of journalists (so, essentially, planet Earth) that Malaysia does not have “anything like” LGBTQ+ individuals in our fair country. His comment came after one of the press ventured to ask at the ITB Berlin tourism expo whether […]
Trump’s newly confirmed federal judge has ties to anti-gay ‘hate group’
The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Allison Jones Rushing to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, handing the 36-year-old judge a lifetime seat on one of the nation’s top courts. While Rushing made headlines for becoming one of the youngest and least experienced members of the federal judiciary, she also garnered attention because […]
Cameroon death threats: 2 gay lovers outed by each other
After a financial dispute last month, Steeve, a pastor of the Evangelical Church of Cameroon, attacked his lover, Boris, and publicly revealed that Boris is a homosexual. In return, Boris announced Steeve’s homosexuality, which cost Steeve lost his job as a pastor for the Evangelical Church of Cameroon. The fact that Cameroon is such an […]
China urged to take action on LGBT+ rights after backing U.N. changes
China’s acceptance of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s recommendations on LGBT+ rights is a “milestone”, gay rights groups said on Thursday, urging Beijing to work with activists to tackle inequality. China this week agreed to five recommendations on LGBT+ issues made under the Council’s Universal Periodic Review, including adopting legislation banning discrimination within a year, […]
Brazilians Demand Answers for Marielle Franco’s Murder at Rio Carnival
Nearly a year after the still-unsolved murder of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman and LGBT activist Marielle Franco, Brazilian revellers have used their country’s annual carnival to demand answers. On Monday night, Rio’s most famous samba school, Mangueira, used its parade to pay tribute to the murdered politician with a sequin-smothered show of song, dance and dissent. […]
“I thought Australia was safe”: At Least Four LGBTI People Assaulted on Mardi Gras Weekend
At least four LGBTI men were bashed before Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras on the weekend, triple j Hack can reveal. Hack understands the attacks followed a similar pattern – the men were all pushed over and kicked repeatedly, near where the parade was due to be held, in the early hours of Saturday morning. […]
Author Samantha Allen’s Road Trip Through Red States Reveals LGBTI Communities Everywhere
Author and journalist Samantha Allen wanted to go beyond the headlines in her new book, “Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States.” “Often the stories we hear are just, ‘Oh, this anti-LGBT law got passed’ or ‘This anti-LGBT law got stopped,’ and we’re not really seeing what’s happening on the ground,” said Allen. From Provo, […]
A Literature Festival in Lucknow by the LGBTQIA Community
Despite the low turnout at the Awadh Queer Literature festival, the organisers’ enthusiasm was on an all-time high. In a first, such a festival was organised in Lucknow recently at Baudh Santhan in Gomti Nagar which saw members of LGBTQIA community in large numbers. The topics of discussion ranged from the LGBTQIA community and religion, […]
Chechnya’s Gay Purge: A Timeline of the Atrocities
The world has been aware for the last couple of years that LGBT people in Chechnya face arrest and persecution. But what exactly is happening in the region and why? Below are some of the key details and facts. Where is Chechnya? Chechnya, or the Chechen Republic, is a subject of the Russian Federation located […]
London HIV Patient Becomes World’s Second AIDS Cure Hope
An HIV-positive man in Britain has become the second known adult worldwide to be cleared of the AIDS virus after he received a bone marrow transplant from an HIV-resistant donor, his doctors said. Almost three years after he received bone marrow stem cells from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that resists HIV infection […]
Turkish TV Station Pulls the Plug On Show After Interview Defending LGBTI Rights
A Turkish Islamist television station said it would take a show off air following an interview with an opposition party mayoral candidate who spoke of the need to protect the country’s LGBT community, opposition news outlet Oda TV reported. Viewers reacted angrily on social media to host Çağlar Cilara’s interview with Alper Taş, the Republican […]
British Female Olympians Argue Against ‘unfair’ Trans Women Athletes
British female Olympians lined up to criticize the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sport on Tuesday, as debate rages over whether male-to-female athletes retain unfair physical advantages after taking cross-sex hormones. The row over who should compete in women’s sport exploded in October when Rachel McKinnon became the first trans woman to win a […]
Two Arrested for Alleged Murder of Trans Woman Found Dead in Spanish Orchard
Two arrested for alleged murder of trans woman found dead in Spanish orchard. The woman was found in a church in Castelló de la Plana, Spain. Two people have been arrested and placed in provisional prison for the alleged murder of a trans woman in Spain. A trans woman, yet to be identified, was found […]
Rafał Trzaskowski: Warsaw Mayor Faces Backlash for Protecting LGBTI Rights
Rafał Trzaskowski, the Mayor of Poland’s capital city, Warsaw, has received backlash after signing a declaration to protect LGBT+ rights. The declaration is the first ever LGBT+ declaration to be signed in central-eastern Europe, and the first document to officially recognise LGBT+ rights in Poland. The declaration signed by Trzaskowski is said to guarantee the […]
Runners support LGBT rights at Tokyo Rainbow Marathon
Hundreds of people joined a charity run to promote awareness about diverse sexuality and to support sexual minorities under a bright blue sky in Tokyo on March 2. The first Tokyo Rainbow Marathon was held at Showa Kinen Park, which straddles the western Tokyo cities of Tachikawa and Akishima. A total of 479 runners, of […]
The Gay-Rights Activists Hoping for a Legal Victory in Kenya
On a recent Friday, gay and lesbian couples, dressed in matching outfits, posed for photos outside of a Nairobi courthouse, in anticipation of a decision that they hoped would decriminalize gay sex in Kenya. The country’s High Court, however, unexpectedly postponed, until May 24th, its ruling on whether to strike down a nearly century-old law. […]
Parents urged to stop Birmingham LGBT-row school protests
A school at the centre of an LGBT rights teaching row has written to parents to urge them to stop holding “disruptive” and “upsetting” protests. Parkfield Community school in Alum Rock, Birmingham, has been teaching the No Outsiders programme at the school for four years. No Outsiders covers the teaching of LGBT rights and homophobia. […]
In a Virginia school, a celebration of transgender students in a kindergarten class
When Jaim Foster began teaching nearly two decades ago in Nebraska, he said he was discouraged from being an openly gay educator. He had championed LGBT causes at his liberal arts college but suddenly found himself switching pronouns when telling students about his boyfriends. “I was told I had to stop being that advocate, and […]
Merkel successor Kramp-Karrenbauer under fire for anti-LGBT joke
The CDU leader mocked the idea of gender-neutral bathrooms during a Carnival-themed program on public broadcaster SWR. Politicians and activists called the incident a “travesty.” Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hand-picked successor as leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU), came under fire on Sunday as a video of her making jokes at the expense […]