Russia won’t play ‘dangerous gender games’ – parliamentary head
Russia will not play “dangerous gender games”, the head of its upper house of parliament said in a vehement attack on sexual minorities in a message marking International Women’s Day, one of the most celebrated public holidays in the country. Making any expression of a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) lifestyle is almost impossible […]
How a rabbit god became an icon for Taiwan’s gay community
During a quiet mid-week afternoon on the eighth floor of an office building, A-wei is meditatively separating flower petals to make an offering to Tu’er Shen the rabbit god, a spiritual guardian of LGBTQI people. The small Taoist temple where 24-year-old A-wei sits is a humble room with views across New Taipei city, made cosy […]
Gay people ‘abandoning’ Japan for legal marriage, joy
An aide to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida who was sacked over a homophobic tirade said some Japanese people would “abandon” their country if same-sex marriage was legalized. Japanese people are indeed leaving their homeland, but because same-sex marriage has not been legalized. A 31-year-old man who goes by the name of Kan, for example, left […]
The Nation’s First Transgender State Senator Stands Out by Fitting In
Sarah McBride rises to speak on the Senate floor in the state capitol in Dover, Del. Late in the afternoon on this winter’s day, the Democratic legislator is sponsoring two resolutions. The first is in recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day and passes unanimously among the 20 senators present. The second is in support of statehood […]
Uganda mulls new anti-LGBTQ bill
Ugandan lawmakers are hopeful that a new law designed to tighten restrictions on gay rights and activities will soon become a reality. A controversial anti-gay bill has already been introduced to parliament by a leading lawmaker that, if passed into law, would punish the “promotion, recruitment and funding” of LGBTQ activities. Even before the bill […]
First Lady to lead prayers against LGBTQ ‘onslaught’ on family
The LGBT community continues to be condemned countrywide as First Lady Rachel Ruto on Sunday declared it a threat to the institution of the family. Mama Rachel who spoke in Meru county where she attended a church service said the LGBTQ debate is threatening the family structure. “We want to strengthen the family institution where […]
Publishing house for trans writers opens in India
A transgender activist has founded a publishing house for trans writers in India. Earlier this month, transgender activist and writer Grace Banu founded Queer Publishing House exclusively for LGBTQ+ writers. Banu, who wanted to publish her book, Talks of Grace Banu, faced transphobia when she approached other publishers in 2017. In 2019, she decided to self-publish her book. […]
Israel: First summit of LGBTQ+ professionals, students next week in Tel Aviv
An international summit organized by Israel’s LGBT Tech and Madrid’s IE University will allow students and professionals in the LGBTQ+ community to “inspire and support” each other on March 16 in Tel Aviv. It will be the first edition of LGBT+ @ Work – one of the largest and oldest LGBTQ+ professional conferences worldwide – to […]
Islamic schools trust praised for promoting British values ‘described gay people as evil’
An Islamic schools trust that was praised for promoting British values is allegedly facing watchdog questions after describing gay people as ‘evil’. The Charity Commission has launched a compliance case against the Abu Bakr Trust, which runs three schools and a nursery in Walsall, West Midlands, after staff used social media platforms to promote anti-gay views, […]
The Republican War On LGBTQ People Reaches A Fever Pitch
Gwendolyn Herzig, a transgender pharmacist, went to the Arkansas statehouse last month to testify in support of providing transgender youth with gender-affirming health care. Herzig hoped lawmakers would take her expert background into consideration as they debated a law that would allow anyone who received gender-affirming care from a doctor as a minor to sue […]
Serbia’s LGBTQ groups rally after spate of attacks on gays
Serbia’s beleaguered LGBTQ activists on Friday rallied to demand state action following a spate of violence against gays, including a stabbing that injured a young man. The gathering dubbed “Hate kills!” was held in the park in central Belgrade that was the site of the attack, in connection with which police have arrested two suspects. […]
Australia’s Aboriginal LGBTQ community takes center stage at Sydney WorldPride
At a temporary Aboriginal gathering space dubbed Marri Madung Butbut — or “Many Brave Hearts” in the language of Sydney’s original inhabitants, the Gadigal people — eight performers emerged through lasers and lights that appear to move and thrust to the electronic beat. “You can’t tell us who we are, ’cause we already know,” the […]
Burundi Arrests 24 In Anti-gay Crackdown
Twenty-four people have been arrested in Burundi as part of a security crackdown on “homosexual practices”, a judicial source and an activist told AFP on Friday. The arrests took place on February 23 in the political capital Gitega, where members of MUCO Burundi, a non-profit organisation that focuses on HIV/AIDS, were attending a seminar, an […]
Serbia’s LGBTQ groups rally after spate of attacks on gays
Serbia’s beleaguered LGBTQ activists on Friday rallied to demand state action following a spate of violence against gays, including a stabbing that injured a young man. The gathering dubbed “Hate kills!” was held in the park in central Belgrade that was the site of the attack, in connection with which police have arrested two suspects. […]
Mob attacks two Tunis shelter for LGBTQ people from sub-Saharan Africa
A group of men attacked a shelter for LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers from sub-Saharan Africa in Ariana, a northern suburb of Tunis during the night of Thursday, February 23. For residents at the shelter, it was a night of pure terror. Many were beaten while others sustained knife wounds. About thirty people, including at […]
EU’s top court to rule on Romania’s refusal to accept transgender man’s identity
The European Union’s top court will hear a case brought by a British-Romanian transgender man against Romanian authorities over their refusal to recognize his gender identity, Romanian LGBTQ rights organisation ACCEPT said on Friday. The case, which raises questions about free movement and citizenship rights under EU law, was first raised in a Romanian court […]
Kenya’s LGBTQ community wins bittersweet victory in battle for rights
The supreme court of Kenya has criticised the government for failure to register an association for LGBTQ+ people, saying the decision discriminates against the rights of the community. Although same-sex unions remain illegal in Kenya, the court ruled that everyone has a right of association. It is the culmination of a decade-long legal battle, and a victory […]
Uganda Pushes Hateful Bill Targeting LGBTQ Citizens and Supporters
A Ugandan lawmaker has reintroduced an anti-LGBTQ bill that seeks harsher punishments for those who engage in same-sex relations and those who “promote” homosexuality or same-sex relations as “normal.” Asuman Basalirwa, a member of Parliament for the opposition political party Justice Forum, has introduced the draft law, claiming it’s necessary to protect Ugandan society by ensuring […]
Russia may be weaponising homophobia, but the war has strengthened Ukraine’s fight for LGBT rights
In Kherson, two Russian occupiers used the same insult – “pinks” – when they burst into the hide-out of a lesbian couple. The men then violently raped the two women at gunpoint, according to an account published in a report by Ukraine’s LGBT Human Rights Nash Svit Centre in November. Over the past year, there have been dozens of […]
The Gay Marriage Fight Gets a Lift From Japan’s Biggest Companies
On a recent Congressional trip to Japan, US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on the host country to do more for its LGBT population, noting that Japan is the lone G-7 member without marriage equality. In spite of overtures to the queer community domestically and a commitment to “shared values” with its global allies, the conservative government has resisted any formal […]
New collective to campaign for intersex rights in Southern Africa
From 25 to 27 November 2022, intersex activists from Botswana, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe gathered for a Southern African Intersex Capacity Strengthening meeting, convened by Iranti, a lesbian, trans, intersex and gender non-conforming rights organisation. At the meeting, they founded a new autonomous collective; the Southern African Intersex Forum (SAIF), to bolster […]
Ban on same-sex marriage not discrimination: Japan PM’s remark sparks row
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the country’s ban on same-sex marriage is not discriminatory, insisting that constitutional freedom of marriage only envisions heterosexual unions, a comment that triggered criticism he is backtracking despite his recent apology and meeting with LGBTQ people. Kishida’s governing Liberal Democratic Party, known for its conservative family values and reluctance […]
Kenya: Senate, House Majority Leaders Contest Supreme Court LGBT Verdict
Nairobi — Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho) and his National Assembly counterpart Kimani Ichung’wah (Kikuyu) have termed Friday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Kenya on gay rights as absurd. Cheruiyout condemned what he called a ruling against the natural law of justice which could erode the moral ethos of young folk. “There is a serious […]
LGBT rights in the Balkans: Assessing two decades of change and nationalist challenges
Some progress has been made on strengthening LGBT rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia over the last two decades, in part due to the requirements of the EU accession process. Yet as Safia Swimelar writes, there remains concern that the continued power of nationalist political parties and democratic backsliding in the region could make […]
Women behind the lens: ‘In the time I worked with Rhianna we counted 150 murders’
Rhianna is an Afro-Colombian who lives in one of the most violent places in Colombia: Quibdó. In the past four years this city has been ranked one of the worst for murders of young people. The armed conflict continues and is embedded in this place, where young people, with few opportunities for study or work, […]
Ugandan lawmaker introduces new anti-LGBTQ legislation
A Ugandan lawmaker on Tuesday introduced draft legislation that he said seeks to prohibit homosexuality in the East African country, voicing widespread anti-gay sentiment that has peaked in recent days. The legislator, Asuman Basalirwa, said his bill would punish “promotion, recruitment and funding” related to LGBTQ activities. Most lawmakers in the parliamentary chamber in Uganda’s […]
Iowa students to leave class Wednesday in statewide protest over LGBTQ bills
Students at 14 Iowa public school districts and one university are planning to walk out of class Wednesday to protest bills introduced in the Iowa Legislature that they say discriminate against the rights of LGBTQ people. Several controversial bills centered on LGBTQ youth have been introduced this legislative session. Student organizers are particularly concerned about […]
LGBT rights in the Balkans: Assessing two decades of change and nationalist challenges
After a turbulent post-war period, the three largest countries of the former Yugoslavia – Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia – shifted toward greater democracy and Europeanisation in the early 2000s. All three had joined the Council of Europe by 2003 (with Croatia the earliest in 1996) and had set their sights on EU membership (Croatia started […]
Lebanon’s LGBTQ community faces digital exploitation, blackmail
Lebanon’s LGBTQ community is no longer safe online, as its members have become a target of both security officers and private individuals seeking to exploit them. In a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) last week, the human rights organization documented extensive cases of digital targeting of the LGBTQ community through interviews with 90 […]
Ozarks residents speak out against proposed bill targeting LGBTQ students in Missouri schools
Protesters recently took to Park Central Square in Springfield to oppose Senate Bill 134. Among other things, the bill would ban school staff from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation with students. Senate Bill 134 was proposed February 7 by Republican State Senator Mike Moon of Ash Grove. In March of last year, Florida passed […]