Ohio lawmakers part of nationwide movement pushing anti-LGBTQ legislation
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio lawmakers are part of a record-breaking national conservative movement pushing anti-LGBTQ legislation, where 340 bills have been introduced in statehouses across the nation that affect states’ LGBTQ citizens. Three bills are pending in Ohio that supporters say protect children. “Young people experiencing gender identity disorder deserve to be loved, they deserve compassion […]
Videos urged counter-protesters to attack LGBTQ+ activists outside Sydney church
Videos circulating on WhatsApp in the days before LGBTQ+ activists say they were set upon by a mob outside a church in Sydney urged people to disrupt the protest and “drag” the LGBTQ+ activists away “by their fucking hair” and to “defend our family values”. Two men were arrested after a violent altercation between a group of […]
Out in the World: Lesbian from Niger finds her voice in US political campaigns
Aicha Tahirou, a lesbian who was born and raised in Niger, came to the United States for a better life. What she discovered is her political voice. In the middle of the COVID pandemic, Tahirou found herself unemployed as a hotel housekeeper in Philadelphia and her unemployment check was delayed. She called her union, UNITE HERE Local […]
Christian activist charged after violent attack on LGBTQ protesters outside St Michael’s Church in Belfield
Three men have been charged over a violent ambush on LGTBQ protesters who were picketing outside a Sydney church where One Nation’s Mark Latham was set to speak. New South Wales Police alleged 15 “peaceful” protesters were swarmed by a “mob” of about 500 people outside St Michael’s Church in Belfield on Tuesday evening. Members […]
Why are Kenya and Uganda cracking down on LGBTQ rights?
Kenya and Uganda are moving to further curtail the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people, whose relationships are already deemed illegal in the conservative East African nations. After a session lasting nearly seven hours, Ugandan lawmakers approved the Anti-Homosexuality Act on Tuesday, ordering harsh penalties for anyone who engages in same-sex activity. While more than […]
Uganda’s LGBT activists fight law making it illegal to be gay: ‘I’m not scared of going to prison’
Herman Shasha’s shop is not far from one of the shrines dedicated to some of the male martyrs, publicly executed in the late 1800s for refusing to have sex with a Ugandan king, after converting to Christianity. Today, the openly bisexual man, 44, goes about his daily life not far from the shrine in the east African […]
GetEqual app helps Southeast Asia LGBTQ+ gig workers find new jobs
A mobile app for job listings for freelance LGBTQ+ workers in Southeast Asia can help tackle workplace discrimination and provide more economic opportunities for the growing number of people in the informal sector, activists said. GetEqual, launched last week, is available on the Line app in Thailand initially, and will be rolled out in Vietnam […]
Austria to Join LGBTQ Lawsuit Against Hungary While Facing Homophobic Crime Epidemic at Home
Austria will join the Commission’s infringement case against Hungary over the so-called “anti-LGBT propaganda law,” EU and Constitutional Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) said Monday evening in Brussels at an event organized by the European Forum Alpbach, Die Presse reports. When asked by the newspaper, Edtstadler said she would support the Commission in its infringement […]
Namibia Supreme Court Rules Against Same-Sex Couple in Citizenship Case
Gay rights activists in Namibia are decrying a Supreme Court decision that will effectively deny citizenship to a child born through surrogacy to a same-sex couple in South Africa. The case has ignited public debate in Namibia on what constitutes a family. The ruling Monday by the Supreme Court of Namibia overturned a lower court […]
FAR-RIGHT CHRISTIAN MEN ATTACK LGBT ACTIVISTS IN SOUTH-WEST SYDNEY
Far-right Christian men, some wearing Christian Lives Matter T-shirts, set upon and attacked LGBTQI activists outside a church in the southwest Sydney suburb of Belfield, where One Nation MLC Mark Latham was due to give a speech on Tuesday evening. “Hundreds of violent far-right thugs attacked a small peaceful speak-out of LGBTI+ activists with glass […]
Italy orders cities to stop recognizing children of same-sex couples
A move by Italy’s new right-wing government to restrict the rights of same-sex parents led hundreds to take to the streets over the weekend. Protesters gathered in Milan’s Piazza della Scala Saturday for the “Hands Off Our Sons and Daughters” demonstration organized by LGBTQ+ rights groups after Italy’s Interior Ministry ordered the city to stop […]
Kiwi transgender woman considers surgery overseas as local demand soars
A Kiwi transgender woman is considering getting her gender affirmation surgery done overseas as demand in New Zealand for the service soars. Ella Jenkins, 23, was put on the list for surgery in October but says she hasn’t heard anything since, and is now considering going overseas. That could set her back around $35,000, so […]
Finding safe spaces for queer people in Alberta’s bar and restaurant scene
A number of restaurants, clubs and bars in the Prairies have benefited from the entertainment and pop-culture appeal of drag performers in recent years. But while some protesters have set their targets on these locales and the fundamental human rights of queer people, it feels as though it’s time for allied businesses to step up […]
Victoria to ban Nazi salute after ‘disgusting’ scenes at anti-trans protest
The Andrews government will move to ban the Nazi salute within months after the gesture was used at a protest attended by neo-Nazis at the weekend. Victoria’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, says the proposed law will take “some work” to get right. Anti-transgender activists clashed with pro-transgender rights activists outside Victoria’s parliament on Saturday after […]
Complaints of Harm to LBGTQ Community Rose by 11 Percent in 2022
The number of complaints of harm to members of the LGBTQ community rose by 11 percent in 2022, according to the annual report by The Aguda – Israel’s LGBTQ Task Force, which was released on Sunday. In 2022, the Task Force received 3,309 complaints of harm to the LGBTQ community compared to 2,971 in 2021. The […]
Council of Islamic Ideology slams ‘guru culture’ in ‘intersex’ people
ISLAMABAD: Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz on Sunday said there was a united stance that the ‘guru culture’ in the khawaja sira (non-binary gender) community was a lethal form of exploitation and neo-slavery. In an interview, Dr Ayaz claimed that the ‘guru culture’ was against human rights and it should not be […]
IIT Bombay Is All Set To Celebrate Rangavali, Its First Queer Festival
IIT Bombay is one of the most renowned and prestigious research institutes in all of India. It is one of the top-most-ranked universities in the country. As in any university, there are a lot of social initiatives aimed at marginalised communities and their upliftment. In a first, the research institute is all set to organise […]
Bosnia: rights activists assaulted following LGBT event ban
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Rights activists in the Serb-run part of Bosnia were assaulted late Saturday, hours after police banned an LGBT event planned there over the weekend, citing security concerns. The attack took place as the activists were leaving a meeting at the offices of the Bosnian branch of the global anti-corruption group Transparency International in […]
Italy’s gay opposition leader blasts bureaucratic crackdown on rights of LGBTQ parents as ideological, cruel and discriminatory as thousands protest in Milan
The head of Italy’s opposition party blasted a bureaucratic crackdown on LGBTQ families as ‘ideological’, ‘cruel’ and ‘discriminatory’. The Interior Ministry this week forced Milan to limit parental rights to the biological parent of children registered by same-sex couples in the city. Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein, who in 2020 revealed she was in a […]
CHRISTIAN FAR-RIGHT GROUPS TO RALLY IN SYDNEY THIS WEEKEND, LGBT ACTIVISTS ORGANISE COUNTER PROTEST
Far-right Christian groups are planning to gather on Macquarie Street in Sydney this weekend to rally, as LGBTQI activists work to counter with their own protest. On Saturday, March 18, the far-right groups claim their rally is to “protect our kids” from the “moral decay of society.” “While it’s entitled ‘protect the children’ or some […]
Petition for progressive sex education in Ukraine
Members of the LGBT community in Ukraine have gathered signatures for a petition to introduce mandatory sex education in Ukrainian schools. It gathered thousands of votes. The petition demands an introduction “of a mandatory sex education course based on the culture of consent in primary education, secondary school, as well as in higher and vocational […]
Kenya’s Catholic Bishops condemn Supreme Court ruling on LGBTQ rights
The Kenyan Conference of Catholic Bishops has condemned a Supreme Court of Kenya ruling allowing the registration of organizations that seek to advocate for and support LGBT people. The condemnation is in stark contrast to statements from the Pope that have supported decriminalisation of homosexuality and tolerance for queer people. Mwwakilishi, a U.S.-based publication for […]
Queer yeshiva to publish first-ever collection of Jewish legal opinions written by and for trans Jews
In the midst of writing a 13-page analysis of a complex area of Jewish law, Rabbi Xava De Cordova found something she wasn’t expecting to see in the medieval-era sources: flexibility. De Cordova is transgender and had long wondered whether she could feel a sense of belonging while studying reams of rabbinic writings on halacha, […]
A Saudi Trans Woman Is Presumed Dead After Claiming She Was Forced to Detransition
On March 12, Eden Knight, a 23-year-old Saudi-American transgender woman, posted a note online indicating that she intended to die by suicide. Knight’s suicide note accused her influential family and at least two U.S. “fixers” of conspiring to lure her away from a supportive home and back to Saudi Arabia, where she was bullied into […]
In Estonia, backing Ukraine isn’t controversial … but gay marriage is
Over the past year, Kaja Kallas has developed an image as a strong supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia. The next battlefield for the Estonian leader is closer to home … same-sex marriage. Currently non-existent throughout the former Soviet nations, same-sex marriage has emerged as one of the major issues in coalition talks […]
Mental health concerns at the forefront as hundreds of ‘anti-LGBTQ’ bills circulate nationwide
With each political debate and bill that passes over transgender rights, parents and LGBTQ+ youth say they brace for the negative impact it may have on their mental health. The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ teens and young adults between the ages 13 to 24 consider suicide each year. Ray Loux […]
Forum deplores ‘demonisation’ of sexual minorities by Kerala’s right-wing Muslims
Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) has strongly condemned the “efforts by the Muslim right wing in Kerala, including leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and some Muslim-run websites,” to denigrate and demonise Muslims who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. A pressnote signed by 38 persons, including Islamic scholars, […]
CHRISTIAN FAR-RIGHT GROUPS TO RALLY IN SYDNEY THIS WEEKEND, LGBT ACTIVISTS ORGANISE COUNTER PROTEST
Far-right Christian groups are planning to gather on Macquarie Street in Sydney this weekend to rally, as LGBTQI activists work to counter with their own protest. On Saturday, March 18, the far-right groups claim their rally is to “protect our kids” from the “moral decay of society.” “While it’s entitled ‘protect the children’ or some variation, it’s […]
Uganda leader calls gay people ‘deviants’ as anti-LGBT bill advances
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday described gay people as “deviants” and called for an investigation into homosexuality as lawmakers in the conservative East African nation prepare to vote on an anti-LGBT bill. The bill, introduced earlier this month, proposes tough new penalties for same-sex relations in a country where homosexuality is already illegal, sparking […]
Tennessee Senate passes chilling bill that redefines sex and legally erases trans people
A “cruel” bill that would define trans people out of Tennessee state code has inched closer to reality after it passed through the Senate. In the latest attack on LGBTQ+ rights in Tennessee, the state’s Republican-controlled Senate passed the SB 1440 bill on Monday (13 March) with a 27-6 vote. The insidious bill attempts to discriminate against LGBTQ+ Tennesseans […]