Suspect arrested over murders of Bangladesh LGBT activists in 2016
Police in Bangladesh have reportedly arrested one of the main suspects involved in the murders of LGBT+ activists Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy. Mannan, the founder of Roopbaan, the country’s first LGBT+ magazine, and Tonoy, the publication’s general secretary, were hacked to death by a group of men using machetes in 2016. Bangladeshi police have now revealed […]
LGBTI Families Protest Over Lack of Legal Recognition as Parents
A number of LGBTI families have held a protest outside Leinster House calling for same-sex couples to be given legal recognition as parents. The provision allowing for the measure is contained in the Children and Family Relationships Act, but has not been fully enacted. LGBTI Ireland said many same-sex families have been left in a legal […]
LGBTI Book is Pulled From School Libraries for Not Being ‘age appropriate’
A book with LGBT+ characters has been removed from libraries in elementary schools in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, for not being “age appropriate.” The Ottawa Catholic School Board quietly took 2012 graphic novel Drama off the shelves from elementary school libraries following complaints from parents over the LGBT+ content, reports CBC News. Drama, which is written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier, portrays […]
Chechnya Resumes its Anti-gay Purge
“Widespread detentions, torture and killings of gay people have resumed in Chechnya,” said Igor Kochetkov, program director for the Russian LGBT Network. He added, “Persecution of men and women suspected of being gay never stopped. It’s only that its scale has been changing.” The Russian LGBT Network is raising money for its work on behalf of […]
HCMC: Quality Health Care Services Offered for LGBTI Community
Dr Nguyen Ho Vinh Phuoc of the hospital said: “They can receive services in a private space with respect from the hospital’s health staff.” Nguyen Tan Thu, a doctor specialising in serving LGBT people, said the service at a public hospital was especially important because patients had often complained about discriminatory attitudes at public hospital […]
Kelly Reinstates Protections for LGBTI State Workers in Kansas Eliminated by Brownback
Gov. Laura Kelly ordered Kansas state agencies on Tuesday to again prohibit on-the-job discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender state employees. And the first openly gay state representatives in Kansas history said they will introduce a bill to extend non-discrimination protections to all LGBT people in the state. Kelly said she would sign such […]
Complaint: Indonesian Mayor Promotes Anti-gay Discrimination
Mohammed Idris, the mayor of Depok in the metropolitan Jakarta area of Indonesia, has instructed city agencies to investigate LGBT activities and this month asked citizens to report LGBTI behavior. He said he was concerned about “violence against children and an increase in HIV / AIDS sufferers.” Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights, known as Komnas […]
Over 100 Anglican clergy, critical of their bishops’ LGBT guidance, threaten to go elsewhere
More than 100 Anglican priests in the Diocese of Oxford signed a letter critical of their bishops’ advice permitting active homosexuals to receive communion and to be ordained. The priests warned their bishops that if they fail to affirm traditional church teaching, many will seek placement outside the Oxford Diocese. The four Oxford bishops had […]
New York bans gay conversion therapy, and passes historic trans protection law
The state of New York has passed bills banning gay conversion therapy and adding gender identity to its anti-discrimination legislation. The state’s legislative body approved the bills on Tuesday (January 15), according to Democratic senator Brad Hoylman. The bills had already been passed by New York’s Assembly but had previously faced resistance in the Senate. However, with the […]
Tunisia: Engineer loses job, faces trial for old videos on his phone
A Tunisian man who worked in Dubai for the past five years lost his job and now faces criminal homosexuality charges in a Tunisian court — all because police found old intimate videos of him and his boyfriend in his phone. The Tunisian LGBT rights group Shams denounced police for continuing to hound the country’s LGBT […]
The murder of Gdansk mayor Paweł Adamowicz reflects Poland’s increasingly toxic political climate
In 2017, a far-right youth organisation called All-Polish Youth issued a series of “political death certificates” announcing the demise of high-profile pro-European politicians. Among them was Paweł Adamowicz, the long-serving mayor of Gdansk, famous in Poland for his robust defence of refugees and promotion of LGBT rights. “Cause of death:” it stated, “Liberalism, multiculturalism, stupidity.” […]
Here’s why some gay Brazilians support their country’s rabidly anti-LGBTQ president
In his first week in office, newly elected Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro started actions to roll back LGBTQ rights. So it was only a matter of time before a newspaper covered one of his gay fans. Bloomberg.com brings us the story of Tiago Pavinatto, a 34-year-old gay lawyer and newspaper columnist who feels confident that Bolsonaro won’t harm […]
New details emerge about what one source calls an anti-LGBTQ ‘genocide’
On Friday, January 11, Novaya Gazeta reported that persecution of individuals thought to be LGBTQ has drastically increased since late December in the Russian republic of Chechnya. Since then, Meduza has received additional information from the Russian LGBT Network, online groups for LGBTQ residents of the Caucasus, and a young man who has demonstrated close ties with the LGBTQ […]
Conservative group sues to block trans women from using faith-based shelter
A conservative Christian group in the US has urged a district judge to block trans women from using a faith-based women’s shelter. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) sued the city of Anchorage in Alaska to stop the authorities from applying a gender identity law to the Hope Center women’s shelter. The ADF – which has been […]
Countries that allow gay people to serve in army
Months after Supreme Court decriminalised consensual gay sex between adults, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat has reignited the debate around gay rights by insisting that homosexuality is not permissible in the military. But armies around the world have reviewed their rules and quite a few now allow LGBT people to enlist for military service. Here’s more…
Men suspected of being gay robbed, stripped and blackmailed in Ghana
Homophobes have continued their aggravated attacks on people they believe to be gay or lesbian in Ghana. This phenomenon of lawless attacks on perceived LGBTI persons has taken a new twist as LGBTI people continue to face widespread attacks and violence against them. On 5 January 5 a group of men were lured to Kasoa, […]
Lithuania’s top court grants residence permits for same-sex foreign spouses
Lithuania’s top court has ruled that foreign spouses of gay citizens must be granted residence permits. The Constitutional Court ruled that denying residency permits to the spouses of gay Lithuanian citizens who had married abroad was discriminatory and a breach of human dignity. ‘The refusal to issue permits cannot be based only on gender identity […]
The hunt for pink dollar
While marriage equality is yet to clear the legislative thicket, advocates are encouraged by the country’s efforts to woo more LGBTQ tourists The Life Partnership Bill still has a long bureaucratic path ahead and an election and post-election uncertainty to endure before it could become law. But its recent approval in the Cabinet was an […]
Royal British Legion launches LGBT branch
The Royal British Legion has launched an official branch for LGBT+ people serving in the Armed Forces. The charity, which provides financial, social and emotional support to veterans, servicepeople and military families, said it is hoping to tackle stigma and isolation by creating the dedicated LGBTQ+ & Allies branch to allow people to connect and […]
Three reasons Thailand is winning on same-sex rights in Asia
Last month, the Thai government supported a bill that would make Thailand the first Asian jurisdiction to allow same-sex civil partnerships (“Thai government approves same-sex civil unions”, December 25). It is significant progress in the battle for sexual equality in Asia, in contrast to the failed referendum on gay marriage in Taiwan. Success for the gay […]
Indian army chief draws flak over ‘no gay sex’ remarks
India’s army chief drew flak on Friday for saying gay sex would not be tolerated among soldiers, months after the country scrapped a colonial-era ban on same-sex relations. General Bipin Rawat said gay sex was unacceptable in his army – one of the largest in the world with more than a million soldiers – drawing […]
First-time father reveals his baby will have two mummies and two daddies
A first-time father has revealed his baby will have two mummies and two daddies. Carl Austin-Behan and husband Simon are expecting a girl in March after conceiving with a lesbian couple who are also their close friends. The foursome have admitted it’s an “unusual set-up” but are thrilled they will be one big family with their daughter splitting her time between the […]
An evangelical group is trying to strip LGBTQ protections from an anti-lynching bill
Congress is finally close to passing a bill that makes lynching a hate crime — but an evangelical group is trying to remove any reference to LGBTQ communities from the legislation. When the Senate unanimously passed the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act in December, it marked an important step in a roughly century-long effort to outlaw […]
More people identify as LGBT as social awareness grows in Japan: study
At least one in eleven people identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to a survey conducted by advertising giant Dentsu Inc., while more than two-thirds of respondents were familiar with the acronym LGBT. Of the 60,000 people aged between 20 and 59 who responded online last October, 8.9 percent self-identified as LGBT individuals, […]
LGBT+ refugees in Kenya accuse U.N. of failing on protection, shelter
It wasn’t long after Joe’s father was shot dead for being gay that the 24-year-old Ugandan college student realized the men from his church would be coming for him next. First came the anonymous phone calls in the dead of night. Then the chilling text messages detailing how he would be “hunted down”. It was […]
Reports surface of fresh anti-gay purge in Chechnya
Activists in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya are warning of a new gay purge even as Chelyabinsk celebrated a small victory. The Associated Press on Friday cited activist Igor Kochetkov as saying Chechnya has seen a spike in detentions of women and men suspected of being gay since December. His comments came on the back of […]
Regional authorities in China shut down two LGBTI organizations
Regional authorities in China shut down two LGBTI organizations on Tuesday (8 January). The Municipal Affairs Bureau in the southern metropolis Guangzhou labeled the Guangzhou University Rainbow Group and the Guangzhou Gender and Sexuality Education Center as ‘illegal social organizations’. The organizations provided sexual diversity education in universities and support for sexual harassment cases respectively. Authorities claim […]
Fans mourn fatal shooting of openly gay rapper Kevin Fret in Puerto Rico
Fans are mourning the fatal shooting of Kevin Fret, one of Puerto Rico’s only openly urban music artists. The rapper, who was 24, was shot several times as he was riding his motorcycle early Thursday morning in Santurce, Puerto Rico, a neighborhood in the San Juan metro area. Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding […]
Trans people flock to Malta’s new gender clinic
About 35 people have accessed the services at Malta’s new gender clinic since it opened in mid-November. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne, said the clinic was opened to allow all people in Malta to have universal health care. The Mtarfa Health Clinic started offering specialized gender services from 14 November, 2018. […]
Israeli Doctors Ban ‘Conversion Therapy’ for Gay People
A ban on conversion therapy by Israeli doctors will help protect gay people from treatments that claim to make them straight, but more work needs to be done with religious groups that support controversial “cures,” activists said on Wednesday. Members who perform conversion therapy could now be expelled from the Israel Medical Association (IMA), which […]