On Zero Discrimination Day, UNAIDS urges Asia Pacific countries to decriminalise to save lives
On Zero Discrimination Day, commemorated on March 1, UNAIDS highlights the need to remove laws that criminalise people living with HIV and key populations. (Key populations are communities at higher risk of HIV infection including gay men and other men who have sex with men, people who use drugs, sex workers, transgender people and people […]
How Sisi’s Regime Is Ruthlessly Targeting Egypt’s Queer Community
Egypt’s revolution in 2011 began on Jan. 25, a date chosen by young Egyptians to coincide with the annual Police Day as a revolt against increasing police brutality under then-President Hosni Mubarak. The 18-day uprising led to Mubarak’s ouster after nearly 30 years in power and ushered in a brief era when Egyptians could revel […]
Parents of LGBTQ children in Japan call for anti-discrimination legislation
Parents of LGBTQ children in Japan have called for the enactment of legislation that clearly stipulates discrimination is unacceptable. The group held an online news conference on Sunday. The event was organized after Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio dismissed a top aide earlier this month for making discriminatory remarks about same-sex couples. The issue prompted […]
Australia to advocate for LGBTQ rights in Asia-Pacific
Australia’s first dedicated fund to promote international LGBTQ rights will be created in a federal government move hailed by equality advocates as a groundbreaking step to reduce discrimination in the Asia-Pacific. Foreign Minister Penny Wong will use a speech to the World Pride human rights conference in Sydney this week to announce the creation of […]
Section of Kenyan clergy condemn Apex Court ruling on LGBTQ
A section of Church leaders has faulted the Supreme Court of Kenya over its ruling on the LGBTQ community. In a statement by Christ is the Answer Ministries (CITAM) which is one of the biggest churches in Kenya with about 15 branches countrywide said that the ruling contradicted existing laws on the same. “This rather […]
Anti-LGBTQIA+ group defaces rainbow church steps
A small but vocal group targeting the LGBTQIA+ community have defaced the steps of a progressive church in protest. On the eve of Saturday’s Mardi Gras parade in Sydney, a group of men used grey paint to cover up the rainbow steps of a Sydney church. The celebration was the centrepiece of the 2023 WorldPride […]
Farmers first and foremost, these gay graziers are breaking stereotypes
When Jon Wright came out as gay as a 28-year-old farmer, he found support from the community and family — a welcome relief for the grazier after many years of inner turmoil. “The biggest struggle you have is the struggle you have with yourself,” he said. “It takes a long time to become comfortable with […]
In Cantal, A Rural Reception Center Allows Young LGBT+ People To Come And “Recharge Their Batteries”
It is nicknamed the Lourdes of Cantal. A small village of three hundred inhabitants, Quézac is home to a Marian sanctuary which, from the 14th century, became a popular place of pilgrimage. A still active community of nuns, installed in a building facing the church square, welcomes pious travelers and Catholics on spiritual retreat. There […]
Anti-LGBTQIA+ group defaces rainbow church steps
A small but vocal group targeting the LGBTQIA+ community have defaced the steps of a progressive church in protest. On the eve of Saturday’s Mardi Gras parade in Sydney, a group of men used grey paint to cover up the rainbow steps of a Sydney church. The celebration was the centrepiece of the 2023 WorldPride […]
Farmers first and foremost, these gay graziers are breaking stereotypes
When Jon Wright came out as gay as a 28-year-old farmer, he found support from the community and family — a welcome relief for the grazier after many years of inner turmoil. “The biggest struggle you have is the struggle you have with yourself,” he said. “It takes a long time to become comfortable with […]
In Cantal, A Rural Reception Center Allows Young LGBT+ People To Come And “Recharge Their Batteries”
It is nicknamed the Lourdes of Cantal. A small village of three hundred inhabitants, Quézac is home to a Marian sanctuary which, from the 14th century, became a popular place of pilgrimage. A still active community of nuns, installed in a building facing the church square, welcomes pious travelers and Catholics on spiritual retreat. There […]
Kenya wrong to ban LGBT rights groups from registering – Supreme Court
Kenyan authorities were wrong to ban the gay community from registering a rights organisation, the country’s Supreme Court has ruled. Yet at the same time it stressed that gay sex remains illegal. The judges ruled three-to-two that the country’s NGO board was wrong to stop the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) from […]
The ‘I’ in LGBTIQ+: What it’s like to be intersex in Australia
Gabrielle Colliver was studying for her HSC when she got a diagnosis that doctors said would change her life, and left her feeling isolated and confused. At the age of 17, she was told she was ‘intersex’ and that was the reason she hadn’t yet started her periods. “I was in the middle of starting […]
In Bangladesh, new school textbook features transgender people
Wearing bright saris and heavy make-up, many of Bangladesh’s transgenders, or hijras, spend their days begging from people stuck in traffic and shopkeepers who give them small change in exchange for lucky blessings. The government recognised hijras as a third gender in 2013, but they remain marginalised in a country where sexual activity between people […]
No longer a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill: Utah lawmaker updates proposal after LGBTQ community raises concerns
A Utah lawmaker says he has listened to concerns from the LGBTQ community and updated a bill that had been a close copy of the law in Florida nationally branded as the “Don’t Say Gay” measure. HB550 from Rep. Jeff Stenquist, R-Draper, would still prohibit any discussion of sexuality in kindergarten through third grade classrooms. […]
Muslims to hold anti-gay protests today
Muslims across the country are today expected to hold peaceful demonstrations against homosexuality, according to a communication from the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC). A February 11 letter seen by this publication gazetted the day for all mosques to express their disagreement with homosexuality, a vice, they say, has reared its ugly head targeting, especially […]
Narrow but Significant Win for LGBT Rights in South Korea
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — When a South Korean court this week delivered the country’s biggest legal victory for marriage equality, Kim Yong-min was immediately aware of how much – and how little – the ruling meant for LGBT rights. No one questioned the symbolic significance of Tuesday’s verdict, which found the 32-year-old Kim can list his partner […]
Meta profited from anti-LGBTQ+ ads despite entering float in Sydney Mardi Gras
Meta has accepted thousands of dollars from Australian groups promoting anti-LGBTQ+ messages on Facebook, despite the social media company having a float in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to show its support for the community. Meta staff and Instagram influencers are preparing to march on Sydney’s Oxford Street on Saturday under the theme of “Connect […]
Namibia: Attorney General defends homosexuality ban
Festus Mbandeka, the Attorney General of Namibia, has described homosexuality as “unacceptable” and “immoral” in a bid to uphold the country’s discriminatory ban on same-sex sexuality. Mbandeka made the statement in an affidavit submitted to the Windhoek High Court in response to a case lodged by activist Friedel Dausab challenging the constitutionality of the law […]
Pakistan’s Transgender Community Rises Up
Dr. Sarah Gill was just 14 when she ran away from home in Karachi. For most of her childhood, she had suffered the humiliation of feeling like a girl but being told she was a boy. She used to quarrel with her mother for making her dress like a boy and would refuse to study […]
Bulgarian Supreme Court Rules Against Transgender People’s Rights
Rights activists predicted more cases being brought against Bulgaria at the European Court of Human Rights after the Supreme Court of Cassation in Sofia ruled on Monday that transgender people will no longer be eligible to change documents in accordance with their identity. “The constitution and Bulgarian legislation are built on the understanding of the […]
30 years later: Filipinas who marched in first lesbian pride recall historic milestone
Of all places Giney Villar could have first felt the urge to speak openly about being a lesbian, few would have imagined it to be in a disco — she mused some three decades later. Within the safe walls of Manila’s queer-coded nightclubs in the early 90s, Villar wondered for the first time in her […]
How nations in Middle East and North Africa target LGBT citizens online
Government officials across the Middle East and North Africa region are targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people based on their online activity on social media, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Security forces have entrapped LGBT people on social media and dating applications, subjected them to online extortion, online harassment, […]
Calgary teens may face street harassment fines for counter-protesting anti-LGBTQ group
An intense interaction between allies and members of the LGBTQ community and a religious group got heated and loud according to attendees. The tensions and volume escalated on the afternoon of Feb. 12 outside the Canyon Meadows pool. Bylaw and Calgary police officers said neighbourhood complaints and overall concern had police crews respond.
South Korea: High Court health insurance ruling offers hope for marriage equality
Responding to a South Korean High Court decision ordering the country’s national health insurance service to resume coverage for a partner in a same-sex relationship, Amnesty International’s East Asia Researcher Boram Jang said: “This is an important decision that moves South Korea closer to achieving marriage equality. There is still a long way to go […]
Women and LGBTQ people caught up in El Salvador’s state of emergency
Keiry Molina’s world turned upside down last May when a police officer arrived at her home in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. The 46-year-old trans woman was arrested and taken to a police station, where she discovered that four anonymous tipsters had accused her of extortion and involvement with the country’s notorious criminal […]
Lithuania’s Romas Zabarauskas Opens Screen Doors for LGBT Storytelling in Eastern Europe
Breaking into the world of filmmaking is never an easy prospect. And when you are a queer filmmaker who wants to focus on LGBTQ subjects, and lives in a traditional, Catholic, former Soviet Eastern European country, the bar to success is set pretty high. Romas Zabarauskas’ career proves that with grit, determination — and, as […]
It’s wrong to radicalise Ugandans into oppressing queer folks
Recently, the mainstream and social media have been awash with homophobic cries with calls from both the political and religious leaders. Dear, reader this is the only time Muslims, Catholics, Born-agains and other faiths, especially those with Abrahamic roots, are in unison. In their attempt to exorcise the country of homosexuality, which they deemed satanic, […]
Hong Kong’s landmark transgender ruling: will the rest of Asia now follow suit?
LGBTQ advocates are hopeful that a landmark court ruling on transgender rights in Hong Kong earlier this month will create a legal ripple effect granting greater official recognition for trans people living elsewhere in Asia. Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal ruled on February 6 that it breached transgender people’s rights for the government to require […]
African Archbishops Challenge Church of England’s New LGBTQ Stance
Conservative Anglican archbishops in Africa are challenging a decision by the Church of England to allow clergy to bless same sex couples’ marriages, warning that the move puts the worldwide Anglican Communion in further jeopardy. The leaders are reacting to the Feb. 9 vote at the Church of England’s General Synod to permit the offering of prayers […]