Singapore will decriminalize sex between men by repealing a colonial-era law
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Singapore announced Sunday it will decriminalize sex between men by repealing a colonial-era law while protecting the city-state’s traditional norms and its definition of marriage. During his speech at the annual National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he believed it is the “right thing to do now” as most […]
He Was Young, Gay, and Sold For Sex. How Jose Alfaro Escaped a Trafficking Nightmare
As a kid growing up in the small Texas town of Navasota, Jose Alfaro spent his summers playing in the pastures and creeks near his home, examining bugs and frogs, crawfish and turtles. “It was one of those towns where tractors hold up traffic,” he says. Trains slowed things down, too, rumbling by on historic […]
CNA Explains: The history of 377A and how some countries have repealed it
A controversial law that criminalises sex between men in Singapore has been thrust into the spotlight again, amid an ongoing government review which seeks to find the best way forward on Section 377A while balancing different viewpoints. Authorities here have long said that the law is not actively enforced, with Singapore’s highest court recently reaffirming […]
After years of progress on gay rights, how did the US become so anti-LGBTQ+?
In 2019, the Atlantic ran an opinion piece titled “The struggle for gay rights is over”. Written by the rightwing academic James Kirchick, the piece was obviously meant as a provocation, but its argument that “for those born into a form of adversity, sometimes the hardest thing to do is admitting that they’ve won” was […]
Some LGBTQ Afghans Are Finally Safe. Thousands Are Not.
It was “so hard” to leave his family in Afghanistan, Talha told The Daily Beast. Then he began crying, recalling the desperate dash to get out of the country, and saying goodbye to his loved ones. “I cried. My family cried. They were happy and also sad.” Speaking by phone from Canada where he has […]
Japan court refuses to recognise trans woman as parent of child born after transition
A Japanese court on Friday ruled that only the child born before a trans woman went through her surgical and legal transition could be recognised legally as her child, while the child born after her transition cannot be, media said. Japan, where many LGBTQ+ people still do not come out to their families, requires that […]
WorldPride Taiwan a missed opportunity for Kaohsiung
The relationship between the bid team for the now-aborted WorldPride Taiwan 2025 event — which was to be held here in Kaohsiung — and the event licensor, InterPride, has always felt somewhat frosty. Back on Nov. 14, celebrations for Kaohsiung being awarded the prestigious event were somewhat overshadowed by the official announcement from InterPride that […]
Vietnam Adopts Global LGBT Health Standard
Vietnam’s Health Ministry officially confirmed on August 3, 2022, that same-sex attraction and being transgender are not mental health conditions, Human Rights Watch said today. The decision brings Vietnam’s health policy in line with global health and human rights standards. Vietnam’s new directive states that “the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization (WHO) […]
LGBTQ HEROES AND WINNERS OF HONOUR AWARDS 2022 ANNOUNCED
After being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Honour Awards, the annual celebration of outstanding service and achievements in LGBTQ communities in NSW, returned to Sydney this year. Over 300 people gathered at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney on Wednesday August 17, 2022, for the Honour Awards 2022, to celebrate and honour […]
Rights groups ask Defense Ministry to stop sales of phone hacking tool to Uganda
Human rights groups have reportedly asked the Defense Ministry to stop permitting an Israeli company to sell its phone hacking tool to Uganda, claiming it is used for rights abuses. Cellebrite has sold its UFED phone-hacking software to the Ugandan police and security services, Haaretz reported Wednesday. UFED makes it possible to break into password-protected […]
OPINION: We need more South Asian queer stories and voices
Shivani Dave is a freelance journalist and broadcaster at Openly and Virgin Radio. Growing up I never thought Brown people could be LGBTQ+. That’s an absolutely ridiculous thought, but when I was younger, it made total sense. I’d never seen anyone from my ethnic background who was also part of the LGBTQ+ community. As we are approaching […]
The situation as a Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugee in Kenya is as terrible as you can imagine
Geoffrey Rainbo* is an LGBTQ+ refugee from Uganda (@GeoffreyRainbo). I am a Ugandan gay man living in Nairobi after being relocated from the Kakuma Refugee Camp in north-western Kenya, where I am seeking asylum. I am 25 years old, the second child to parents who did not accept or acknowledge my sexual orientation. I ended up being homeless […]
The First Gay Film: Different From the Others From 1919
The first known film with a gay love story was made more than 100 years ago. Greatly predating Brokeback Mountain, Making Love, and all the rest, the 1919 German film Different From the Others tells the story of two men who fall in love, one a prominent musician and the other his protégé, and are […]
Gay Billionaire Peter Thiel Is Backing a Straights Only Anti-Woke Dating App
You’ve heard of OkCupid’s “I don’t want to see or be seen by straight people” filter. Now get ready for “I only want to see and be seen by straight people,” courtesy of a new dating app for conservatives that’s launching next month, backed by gay conservative billionaire Peter Thiel. That’s right — the Paypal […]
Slovakia beats neighbours on LGBT+ rights
Slovakia has beaten its neighbours in a new ranking of LGBT+ rights thanks to rules on gender recognition – which have, though, been suspended since the survey information was collected. The Rainbow Europe survey from LGBT+ rights group ILGA Europe ranked the legal and policy situations for LGBT+ people in 49 countries across Europe between […]
AUSSIE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST ELLIA GREEN COMES OUT AS TRANS
Ellia Green, Australian Olympic gold medalist and former rugby union player, came out as transgender on Tuesday. Green, the first Olympian to come out as a transgender man, represented Australia in the women’s rugby sevens, winning Gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and Silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Green came out in a heartfelt […]
MEET THE AUSSIE GAY RUGBY TEAMS COMPETING IN THE 2022 BINGHAM CUP IN CANADA
The 10th Bingham Cup, known as the Gay Rugby World Cup, is scheduled to start later this week in Ottawa, Canada. LGBTQI players from 20 participating countries, including Australia, will take part in the tournament, hosted by the local team Ottawa Wolves, from August 17 to August 21, 2022. The world’s largest amateur rugby union […]
Why Nayyab Ali puts her life on the line to protect trans Pakistanis
In the basement of a residential building in a developing part of Islamabad, a dozen or so transgender women are sitting in a circle on the floor. Not one of them is a stranger to personal tragedy; each has been the victim of violence and exclusion. There is Naina, whose neighbor tried to have her […]
Transgender people protected from discrimination under ADA, appeals court rules
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that transgender people who experience gender dysphoria are protected from discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a ruling with major implications for single-sex restrooms, sports and prisons. The ADA specifically excludes “transvestitism,” “transsexualism,” and “gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments,” but the 4th U.S. Circuit Court […]
Kenya’s lesbian footballers fight for the right to play
All Imani wanted to do was to play football. But Kenyan fans, gossiping about her sexuality, had other ideas. “That one is always with girls,” Imani overheard one man saying as she was in the middle of a match in the coastal city of Mombasa. “Jersey number four, she is a renowned lesbian.” There and […]
The U.K. Turns Its Back on Transgender Ideology
By the spring of 2023, Britain’s state-run transgender youth clinic will shut its doors for good. NHS England announced it was closing the Tavistock gender-identity clinic last month after an independent report concluded that it was “not a safe or viable long-term option” for gender-confused young people. The report, conducted by the former president of […]
Utah Republican Party passes resolution seeking to block gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth
The Utah Republican Party passed a resolution encouraging the banning of surgeries and hormone therapy for transitioning transgender minors. “We don’t let them drink until they’re 21. We don’t let them get tattoos until they’re 18. This should be no different,” said Carson Jorgensen, chairman of the Utah Republican Party. Jorgensen sponsored the resolution, “Protecting […]
Thousands March in Belgrade to Protest Against Euro Pride
Thousands of people gathered in Belgrade city centre on Sunday to demonstrate against the international LGBT event Euro Pride that is scheduled to be held in Belgrade in September. According to local media reports, there were between 5,000 and 10,000 people present at the protest. The demonstrators began walking from in front of the Serbian Orthodox […]
Indian mothers explain how they ‘came out’ as proud parents to their LGBTQ+ kids
Four years after India repealed Section 377 – the British colonial era law used to criminalise LGBTQ+ people – being openly queer and Indian comes with its fair share of both glory and pain. The community often find themselves in opposition to everything – society, religion, the state, even their own families. There is much work to be […]
Texas Church Stages Unlicensed ‘Hamilton’ with Anti-Gay Message
Hamilton might be well-known as a retelling of a famous figure’s life, but a Texas church has introduced another figure — Jesus Christ — to the mix, performing illegally incorporated Christian-centric rhetoric in an unauthorized production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit 2015 musical. The Tony-winning musical, still playing on Broadway and in the midst of a North […]
Winchester dance charity Move Momentum strive to be more inclusive with transgender awareness training
Move Momentum, based in Winchester, aims to provide accessible, inclusive and affordable dance classes for the community. Recently, staff from the dance charity attended Transgender Awareness training led by Mermaids, a charity that supports gender variant and transgender youth. During the course, staff members Amanda Watkinson, Kerry Chamberlain and Lizzie Sawyer refreshed their knowledge on what […]
Churches in East Africa can help to change attitudes to LGBT rights, says charity
Churches in East Africa have a necessary part to play in changing attitudes and policies concerning LGBTIQ+ rights, the international charity the Arcus Foundation has said. Last week, at the Lambeth Conference, the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), which includes Provinces in East Africa, published a communiqué that asserted the group’s commitment to […]
Same-sex union bill filed in largely Catholic Philippines, put forward by former film star Senator Robin Padilla
A bill seeking to allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions has been filed at the Philippine Senate, the first step toward legislating a proposal that has faced opposition in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation. The measure proposes to give same-sex couples the right to obtain a valid license for a civil union and […]
Taiwan blames politics for cancellation of global Pride event
Taiwan on Friday blamed “political considerations” for the cancellation of WorldPride 2025 Taiwan after it said the organisers had insisted the word “Taiwan” be removed. Taiwan participates in global organisations like the Olympics as “Chinese Taipei”, to avoid political problems with China, which views the democratically governed island as its own territory and bristles at […]
After ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill passed, anti-LGBTQ ‘grooming’ rhetoric surged 400% online
Anti-LGBTQ hate surged online following the passage of a Florida law that limits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, a new report found. This particular surge involves rhetoric implying that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people are “grooming” children and includes such slurs as “groomer,” “pedophile” and “predator” in relation to the […]