A new report proves that online anti-LGBTQ2S+ hate turns into real-life violence
Coordinated online hate targeting doctors and hospitals providing gender-affirming care to youth leads to real-life violence, according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). On Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the HRC, released a report titled Online Harassment, Offline Violence: Unchecked Harassment of Gender-Affirming Care Providers and […]
Drag Queens Were Targeted by the Proud Boys. Whom Did the Police Support?
In November, the First Unitarian Universalist Church and Red Oak Community School in Columbus, Ohio, announced a “Holi-Drag Storytime” event where drag queens would read books to children and perform holiday-themed dances. “We value social justice and inclusivity and believe that creating a more equitable world for all people requires us to begin this work […]
All the countries where homosexuality is illegal
We’re well into a new decade, but equality for LGBTQ people around the world continues to not be a given. In fact, being part of the LGBTQ community can often mean a prison sentence, or even death. Indeed, while it’s true that over 25 countries around the world have legalized same-sex marriage and that about as […]
Women ‘acting like men’ face cane, jail under Malaysia state law
(Bloomberg) — A recent move by a Malaysian state to punish Muslim women for out-of-wedlock pregnancies and donning men’s clothing has drawn the ire of human rights activists. As many as 14 rights groups, including the All Women’s Action Society, said the legislative changes by the northeastern state of Terengganu violate the right to freedom […]
Club Q Shooting Survivors Press Congress To Act On Guns
Survivors of last month’s deadly mass shooting at a Colorado gay nightclub testified Wednesday to Congress about the onslaught of threats and violence against members of the LGBTQ community as they urged lawmakers to pass a law banning some semiautomatic weapons. Michael Anderson, a 25-year-old bartender at Club Q, described how his place of work […]
Biden signs landmark law protecting same-sex and interracial marriages
Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law landmark legislation protecting same-sex marriages, hailing it as a step toward building a nation where “decency, dignity and love are recognized, honored and protected”. The signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House was an elaborate celebration, with thousands of guests, some waving rainbow flags, and […]
Iraq Parliament drafts law to ban publications on LGBTQ concerns
The Iraqi Parliament recently drafted a law to ban publications regarding queer issues. This has alarmed the members of the LGBTQ+ community in the country. The law would punish anyone who would for any reason “publish or promote” homosexuality in state’s media, institutions, schools, universities, social media platforms, books, cinemas, theatres, publications, and in public. […]
Cambridge Dictionary changes definitions of ‘male,’ ‘female’ to include transgender people
The definitions of “man” and “woman” have been altered in the Cambridge Dictionary in order to be inclusive of transgender people. While both words still contain their primary definitions — being either “an adult male/female human being” — their secondary definitions are now “an adult who lives and identifies as male/female though they may have […]
Barbados’ top court repeals laws that criminalize gay sex
A top court in Barbados has struck down colonial-era laws that criminalize gay sex, becoming the third nation in the conservative Caribbean region to do so this year. The ruling issued Monday by the Barbados High Court is a pivotal moment for activists and nonprofit organizations who have long fought against such laws on the […]
Calgary police offer reconciliation for 2002 gay bathhouse raid
On a warmer-than-average Dec. 12, 2002, Keith Purdy started his shift like any other. He was the bartender at Texas Lounge in Calgary’s Beltline neighbourhood — a bar that adjoins Goliath’s, Calgary’s only gay bathhouse. The nice weather had brought people out and the after-lunch crowd had filled the small watering hole when at about […]
‘Passage of anti-LGBTQ Bill go fit be bad for Ghana economy’ – US Ambassador to Ghana caution
US Ambassador caution Ghanaians den lawmakers say de attempt to pass de anti-LGBT bill go fit affect de economy. According to Ambassador Virginia Palmer, Ghanaians and lawmakers for be careful wit de move to pass de Proper Human Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021. “Dis be harmful not just to de people dem dey […]
Fears Switzerland could become hotspot for “gay conversion tourism” amid parliamentary debate
LGBT rights groups in Switzerland are speaking out in favour of a ban on conversion therapy, fearing that the country may become a hotspot for “conversion therapy tourism”. It comes as the Swiss parliament prepares a debate over how to handle the practice which sees gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans individuals given ‘therapy’ to make […]
Orthodox Judaism can be difficult for LGBT Jews, but the tide is slowly turning
Yeshiva University, the storied modern Orthodox Jewish university in New York, is in the midst of a legal battle over its refusal to recognize the YU Pride Alliance, an undergraduate club. While YU does not object to LGBTQ students’ presence, it claims that the club is inconsistent with Jewish teachings. The Pride Alliance sued the […]
Transgender Qatari princess flees country fearing persecution
A Qatari princess was granted asylum in the UK over fears that they would be persecuted for being transgender. Leaked documents obtained by the Sunday Times of London show that the princess, who is a member of Qatar’s ruling Al Thani family, told Britain’s Home Office — the government agency responsible for immigration and security […]
ECADE calls for dignity & justice for LGBTQ+ Caribbean People
As the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) celebrates six years of campaigning, we urge “Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All” sexual and gender-diverse individuals throughout the region. In two eastern Caribbean nations in 2022, laws that criminalise consensual, private sexual actions between adults over the age of consent were ruled illegal. The […]
Anti-Gay Bill: Ghanaian MPs must respect peoples’ rights – US Ambassador
United States Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer has advised Ghanaians and their representatives in Parliament to respect international obligations and Domestic laws which centre on the need to protect the rights of all persons, irrespective of their sexual orientation. The Parliament of Ghana is currently considering the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian […]
A divided church: Friction over LGBTQ issues worsens in global Anglican church
Friction has been simmering within the global Anglican Communion for many years over its 42 provinces’ sharp differences on whether to recognise same-sex marriage and ordain LGBTQ clergy. This year, the divisions have widened, as conservative bishops – notably from Africa and Asia – affirmed their opposition to LGBTQ inclusion and demanded “repentance” by the […]
Will Indonesia’s new ‘no sex before marriage’ laws target LGBT couples?
Indonesia has just approved a long debated new penal code and a provision which has sex and co-habitation outside of marriage illegal has caused alarm. As soon as the new laws were announced there was immediately concern that western tourists in popular destinations such as Bali may suddenly find themselves unable to book a holiday […]
‘Our mere existence is illegal.’ As Moscow toughens anti-gay law, LGBTQ Russians fear for the future
Young mothers Yana and Yaroslava don’t want to leave Russia with their 6-year-old son. But they fear a harsh new anti-gay law passed by Russian lawmakers will leave them little choice. “We are citizens, same as everyone else. We pay taxes, support charities. But the government is doing everything to force us to leave the […]
Transgender Americans Feel Under Siege as Political Vitriol Rises
Alejandra Caraballo is used to seeing anti-transgender hatred. As an L.G.B.T.Q. rights advocate and a transgender woman, she has received death threats, and her and her family members’ personal information has been published. When she goes to her favorite bar in New York, she sometimes wonders what she would do if someone came in shooting. […]
Cape Town jeweller faces flak after refusing to sell engagement ring to same-sex couple
For the second time in three years a Cape Town jeweller is in trouble with LGBTQIA+ activists for his religious beliefs which he says prevent him from making and selling engagement rings to same-sex couples. Candice van Eck from Nelson Mandela Bay said Craig Quinton, the owner of Craig Marks Diamonds, turned her down after […]
Popular Russian Social Network VK Starts Marking Materials Containing LGBT Text
The social network “VKontakte” began to mark with a special plate the communities in which the so-called LGBT content can be posted. When you try to enter a group that contains entries on LGBT topics, an inscription appears: “There may be controversial materials in the community. Some community materials may be considered inadmissible under the […]
Poland to veto EU recognition of same-sex parents, says justice ministry
Poland will block European Union proposals to ensure that the rights of same-sex parents and their children are legally recognised in all of the bloc’s member states, says a deputy justice minister. On Wednesday, the European Commission adopted a proposal to harmonise rules on recognising parenthood across the EU. Currently, certain parental rights derive from […]
Indonesia’s new sex laws ‘nail in coffin’ for LGBTQ rights
JAKARTA – Indonesia’s legislation banning sex outside marriage represents a major new threat to the LGBTQ community’s rights in the conservative country, where same-sex unions are not recognised. “It’s another nail in the coffin at the moment – a big nail,” Mr Dede Oetomo, an activist with the LGBTQ rights group GAYa Nusantra, told Agence France-Presse. Once […]
Colorado shooter’s 2021 case dropped for lack of cooperation
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooter had charges dropped in a 2021 bomb threat case after family members who were terrorized in the incident refused to cooperate, according to the district attorney and court documents unsealed Thursday. The charges were dropped despite authorities finding a “tub” full of bomb-making chemicals and later […]
RUSSIA FREES OUT GAY BASKETBALL STAR BRITTNEY GRINER IN PRISONER SWAP FOR ARMS DEALER
Out gay American basketball star Brittney Griner was freed by Russia, in exchange for the US releasing Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the ‘Merchant of Death’. “Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” tweeted US President Joe Biden. The […]
Across vast Muslim world, LGBTQ people remain marginalized
On the outskirts of Yogyakarta, an Indonesian city that’s home to many universities, is a small boarding school with a mission that seems out of place in a nation with more Muslim citizens than any other. Its students are transgender women. It is a rare oasis of LGBTQ acceptance – not only in Indonesia, but […]
LGBTQ Politics in Kazakhstan: A Cross-Cutting Electoral Cleavage?
For many decades domestic politics in Kazakhstan has pivoted around monolithic state structures, dependent on such a concentrated leadership elite, that outside observers might surmise the country was controlled by family dynasties. In January 2022, the regime faced a number of organized protests which prompted President Tokayev to seek Moscow’s assistance. On 20 November, he […]
Ukraine’s only transgender correspondent has become a local legend
I was shocked when I learned of LGBTQ Nation reporter Sarah Ashton-Cirillo – the only openly transgender war correspondent working in Ukraine. It was May, and I was in Kharkiv, a large Ukrainian city by the Russian border, which, at this point, was being shelled every day. Distant explosions often reverberated through the sky like […]
Tel Aviv’s Gay Dads
In the middle of a recent two-week trip to Tel Aviv—a city where I lived for many years, many years ago—I suddenly realized why I felt oddly content, oddly validated, oddly accepted. Nearly all of the gay men I spent time with were dads like myself. My hip hotelier buddy and his creative director husband: […]