Dillian gets humanitarian protection
“I feel vindicated.” That was the reaction of Dillian Johnson in an emailed response moments after he was told that he had been granted humanitarian protection by the United Kingdom Home Office for the next five years. Johnson, fled the country in December 2017 after he was shot at his Gasparillo home. He claimed then […]
Court Decisions on LGBT Rights Echo ‘A Wild Wish’
More than two centuries ago Mary Wollstonecraft laid the foundations for feminist thought with a simple premise: lack of equal opportunity diminished individual self-worth and hobbled social progress. In A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Wollstonecraft made a “wild wish” for equality between the sexes. When women are treated as less than equal in law […]
The ‘angels’ helping migrants at US-Mexico border
Hugo Castro rubs his temples before joining the sea of evening rush-hour traffic that snakes all the way from San Diego to the Mexican border. The beat-up Jeep Cherokee he drives has 290,000 miles on the clock and is crammed with donated goods – sacks of rice, nappies, first-aid kits, chicken stock and T-shirts that […]
Three billboards outside Nanjing: Chinese artist takes aim at gay ‘conversion therapy’
On a hazy day this week, a convoy of three white trucks is making its way through the streets of Nanjing, in eastern China. They are covered in huge red banners with black lettering that look like billboards from a distance. “Treating a ‘disease’ that doesn’t exist,” reads one. “Chinese classification of mental disorders still […]
Activists: Chechen Authorities Order Families to Kill LGBT Family Members
Russian campaigners have told The Daily Beast that Chechen authorities have ordered people to kill LGBT members of their own families, and have demanded ransoms for the release of detained LGBT relatives. According to reports, at least 40 people have been arrested in the last two to three weeks, many of them tortured, in a new crackdown against LGBT people […]
Yale announced ‘non-binary’ gender option in response to Trans Rights Coalition Petition
Registering as “non-binary” is now a non-issue at Yale. A November petition by the Ivy League university’s LGBT community has successfully changed the Student Information System. Students may now select “M” for male, “F” for female, or “N” for non-binary. Last year’s petition by Trans Rights Coalition was sent directly to Yale President Peter Salovey, […]
EP resolution another example of hostility towards Azerbaijan
The resolution of the European Parliament regarding the case of Mehman Huseynov in Azerbaijan is another example of hostility towards Azerbaijan as a whole. The resolution is presented in the tone of demarche, and it is unacceptable, Chairman of Azerbaijan’s Press Council, Azerbaijani MP Aflatun Amashov told Trend Jan. 18. “The resolution of the European Parliament […]
Vigilante Raid on Indonesian HIV Group
This week a militant Islamist group in Indonesia raided the offices of an HIV prevention organization on suspicion that the group had been conducting “LGBT activities.” The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) was joined by Indonesian soldiers and local residents in an incident that follows a disturbing pattern of similar vigilante raids across Indonesia. Mulyadi Anwar, a member of the city […]
Murdered’ transgender woman from Droitwich was LGBT hero
Amy Griffiths was discovered dead at her flat in Chalverton Court, Droitwich, on Monday. Police said she had suffered head and throat injuries. Martin Saberi, aged 53, was charged with murdering Amy, whose name was also given in court as Michael Griffiths. Saberi is due to appear at Worcester Crown Court today. Connor Turner, one of Amy’s […]
Indian trailblazers #RideWithPride after gay sex ban lifted
Bollywood makes a lesbian rom-com, a transgender woman bags a key opposition party post and judges green light same-sex couples living together – just some of the groundbreaking firsts since India legalised gay sex four months ago. But the largely conservative country is far from accepting and giving equal rights to LGBT+ people, experts said, […]
Using queer cartoons to promote LGBT+ rights in Bangladesh
In April 2016, the police found the bodies of Xulhaz Mannan and Tonoy Mahbub, two prominent LGBT+ rights activists, in an apartment in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital. This week, police arrested one of the main suspects in the murder, stating that the killers had plotted the attack over the past six months. Mannan and Mahbub’s […]
Facing domestic threat in Hlaingthaya
“Our township is the most crowded, has the most crime and is the most concerning for city administrators,” bemoaned U Myo Nay Aung, administrator of No.1 ward, Hlaingthaya. As the natural consequences of rural-to-urban migration crowds the streets with people seeking jobs and working-poverty begins to grind those people into ghettoization and hopelessness, issues like […]
Kyrgyzstan man has ‘gay’ carved into stomach in homophobic attack
A bisexual man from Kyrgyzstan was forced to leave the country after suffering two homophobic attacks within the same month. The man, who is in his 20s, said the attacks took place in November in the Issyk-Kul region located in eastern Kyrgyzstan, bordering Kazakhstan and China. The first homophobic attack took place after A.D. left the […]
Everyone in Armenia has the right to protection: MP on LGBT rights
Everyone, including sexual minorities, have rights, and if they turn to the relevant Commission, we will discuss any issue, member of the Prosperous Armenia Party, candidate for the chair of the standing parliamentary Commission on Human Rights and Public Affairs, Naira Zohrabyan stated at the National Assembly on Wednesday, answering the question of My Step […]
Watch: Former volunteer Ukrainian soldier challenges LGBT taboos
The LGBT community in Ukraine is often under attack but one volunteer soldier has gone public about his sexuality. Viktor Pylypenko, 31, decided to come out after hearing how the LGBT community was being talked about. The BBC’s Zhanna Bezpiatchuk went to meet him.
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…