Nigerian police investigating gay dating app scam could prosecute victims
Police in Nigeria have urged users of a gay dating app who may have been scammed to come forward – but has so far refused to give victims amnesty from anti-gay laws. Six people were arrested in Nigeria on 31 July for allegedly extorting money from gay people they found on a dating app, the […]
Vietnam Takes Major Step Forward in Recognizing LGBTQ Rights
Vietnam last week took a major step forward in the recognition of LGBTQ rights, with the country’s Ministry of Health stating that being gay, bisexual, or transgender is not a disease and urging medical practitioners to end discrimination in medical care. On August 3, the country’s Ministry of Health published a document stating that “homosexuality […]
Malaysian Government Says They Are “Fighting Back” Against LGBTQ Content In Disney Movies
Over the last few months, Disney employees and executives have publicly admitted to having a not-so-secret agenda to push gay and queer content in programs targeted at children. In the wake of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill that bans the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity to K-3 students, Disney’s internal LGBTQ lobby […]
Activists urge UN to move climate conference from Egypt over LGBT rights concerns
A White House adviser and his partner have called on the United Nations to move a key climate change summit from Egypt due to the country’s treatment of LGBTQ people, citing fears that they and other activists would be targeted by security forces if they attend the talks. The couple, Jerome Foster and Elijah Mckenzie-Jackson, […]
Global LGBT event cancelled after demand to remove Taiwan’s name
An international LGBT gathering in Taiwan was cancelled Friday after global organisers demanded the self-ruling island’s name be removed from the 2025 event — a move slammed by the government. Taiwan is claimed by China, complicating its participation on the world stage and restricting its formal diplomatic relations. WorldPride Taiwan 2025 said it cancelled the gathering after […]
Maldives police arrest four men and target dozens more over leaked gay sex videos
Police arrested a Bangladeshi sex worker on 12 July, who they claim filmed his encounters with men with intentions to blackmail them, according to Human Rights Watch. Police commissioner Mohamed Hameed said that 38 men have been identified from the tapes, and on 28 July three were arrested. Among them was a police officer and the brother […]
U.S. Special Envoy Stern Set To Visit India & Nepal To Promote Human Rights Of LGBTQI+ Community
Jessica Stern, a special envoy of the US, will embark on a 8-day trip to India and Nepal in order to promote the human rights of the LGBTQI+ community. The visit beginning on August 10 will last until August 14 in Nepal followed by her India visit from August 23 to 27. According to a […]
I would be illegal in half of Commonwealth countries: Tom Daley’s film on gay athletes
Out gay British Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley is receiving praise for his new documentary film ‘Illegal To Be Me‘ that explores the lives of gay athletes, many living in countries where homosexuality is illegal. Daley said the shooting the film exposed him to the fact that the laws against homosexuality in Commonwealth countries were a […]
“I Don’t Want to Change Myself” Anti-LGBT Conversion Practices, Discrimination, and Violence in Malaysia
In February 2021, Nur Sajat, a cosmetics entrepreneur, failed to appear in court in the western Malaysian state of Selangor to answer to criminal charges for “insulting Islam” based on her attire. Malaysia’s religious enforcement officials sprang into action. Selangor’s religious department issued a warrant for her arrest and announced that it had mobilized 122 […]
Cuba Assembly Opens Door to Gay Marriage, Other Family Rights
The new family code to be voted on in September would legalize same-sex marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt. Cuba’s National Assembly on Friday approved a sweeping update of its family law which opens the door to allowing gay marriage, greater women’s rights, and increased protections for children, the elderly and other family members. The […]
Seychelles president welcomes LGBTI activists
The LGBTI community in the island nation of Seychelles has achieved a new level of social and political recognition. Evidence of that achievement came on July 21, when President Wavel Ramkalawan met with leaders of the local advocacy organization LGBTI Seychelles. The meeting came six years after the Seychelles repealed its law against same-sex intimacy, […]
French PM appoints LGBT ambassador
On the fourteenth anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in France, liberal Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne announced the appointment of an “ambassador for LGBT + rights” and the creation of a fund of 3 million euros to finance new LGBT + centres. “The battle of mentalities is not yet won”, Borne said on Thursday. The […]
Meet 5 queer trailblazers making visibility matter in small-town America
When Sylvia Ximi was in middle school, she recalls looking around her hometown of Prescott, Arizona, for any sign there were other queer people around. One low-slung building at a four-way stop caught her eye, with “LGBTQ” in its name. “Even as a 13-year-old, I remember thinking, ‘I have to go visit that place,’” Ximi, […]
Being gay is not a disease, Vietnam tells its medical workers in bid to end anti-LGBTQ discrimination
Being gay is not a disease, Vietnam has told its doctors, as it called on medical workers to end discrimination against the LGBTQ community. Campaigners told AFP on Tuesday the statement was a major step forward for LGBTQ rights in the Southeast Asian nation, where gay, bisexual and transgender people have long felt marginalized. In […]
Nigeria Won’t Guarantee Amnesty for Victims of Gay Dating App Scam
On Sunday, July 31, six men were arrested in Nigeria’s central state of Nasarawa after being caught extorting thousands of dollars from closeted gay men as part of an elaborate blackmail scheme. Police are asking any Nigerians who have been swindled by the scammers to come forward to help provide evidence of their alleged crimes. […]
Renewed push for repeal of Navajo Nation’s same-sex marriage ban
LGBTQ rights activists are renewing their push for a repeal of the Navajo Nation’s same-sex marriage ban. While the United States Supreme Court declared marriage equality the law of the land, it does not apply on the sovereign Navajo Nation. A bill has been introduced in the 24th Navajo Nation Council to repeal the Diné […]
SYDNEY GAY AND LESBIAN MARDI GRAS REVIEWS CONTROVERSIAL ‘DECENCY INSPECTIONS’
In 2018 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) and the NSW Police signed an Accord that allows police to conduct public decency inspections of all participants prior to the start of the annual pride parade. SGLMG is in the process of conducting a review of these Accords and is hoping to have a final […]
In a first, housing scheme proposed for transgender community in Maharashtra
The Social Welfare Department of the Maharashtra government has proposed an affordable housing scheme for the transgender community. Credit: AFP File Photo The Social Welfare Department said. Transgender persons often find it difficult to buy or rent a house in a good locality because of the stigma attached to their gender identity, hence the scheme […]
Archbishop of Canterbury condemns gay marriage, but Anglican bishops remain divided
The head of the Anglican Communion attempted to reinforce the church’s stance against homosexual marriage this week, but the move was squashed by outcry from various bishops. The controversy came to a head during the ongoing 2022 Lambeth Conference — a rare meeting of Anglican Communion bishops from around the world. The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) — […]
Why Manchester is ‘way ahead of the rest of the country’ in the fight for LGBTQ rights
The LGBTQ community is part of the Mancunian identity, according to the co-author of a new book that explores queer history. Academic Matt Cook argues that there is a “real fusion of gay pride and metropolitan pride” in the city. This fusion, he says, put Manchester “way ahead of the rest of the country” when it […]
Trans equality wins in federal court as state Medicaid ordered to pay for gender affirming care
U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers ruled this week that West Virginia’s Medicaid program can no longer exclude gender-affirming medical care for its transgender members. The ruling will apply to the approximately 579,000 West Virginians enrolled in Medicaid. Since 2013, the state’s Medicaid program has denied coverage for “[s]urgical or pharmaceutical treatments associated with gender […]
Timor-Leste president supports LGBT rights
Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has urged citizens to respect and not discriminate against the Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. “Timor-Leste must show a model or example about respect, tolerance to our children, to our brothers involved in this community,” he said in a statement on his official Facebook page on Aug. 3. The […]
France to appoint LGBTQ Ambassador to the world
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced Thursday that France would appoint an ambassador for LGBTQ rights. The government would charge the new LGBTQ Ambassador with advocating for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality and trans identity. The Prime Minister made the announcement on the 40th anniversary of France’s decriminalization of homosexuality. She said the government will […]
LGBT skiers in Chile paint Andean slopes with rainbow colors
LGBTIQ+ skiers drenched the Andean slopes nestling this ski resort with rainbow colors on Friday at the opening of the first gay skiing event in Chile. Dozens of activists brought skis, sleds, and snowboards to slide down the slopes of Farellones in Santiago de Chile to defend equality and their rights to sexual choice in […]
Queer Iraqis alarmed over proposed law banning homosexuality
Iraqi queer activists are raising alarms over a proposal to criminalise homosexuality in the Middle Eastern country. Although no law currently criminalises homosexuality directly in Iraq, authorities frequently use laws against immodesty to target LGBT people, who already face violence and harassment in their communities. The advocacy group IraQueer says the proposal is a license […]
Romania Could Pass Russian-Style Anti-Gay “Propaganda” Law
The Romanian Senate recently passed a bill that would classify the dissemination of LGBTQ-related information as “propaganda,” following the lead of Russia and Hungary and continuing a trend of attacking civil liberties that appears to be embraced by conservative elites in former Eastern bloc countries. The proposed law would prohibit exposing minors to any sort […]
Search renewed for remains of 4 victims of 1973 gay bar fire
Nearly a half-century after arson killed 32 people in a New Orleans gay bar, the City Council has renewed the search for the remains of four victims, including three who were never identified. The UpStairs Lounge burned on June 24, 1973, killing 31 men, including two whose mother died with them, and injuring another woman […]
Out in the World: LGBTQ Azerbaijani activists angered by lenient sentence in gay journalist’s murder
LGBTQ activists in Azerbaijan are angered that the Baku Court of Grave Crimes gave the lightest sentence possible to the man convicted of the murder of a prominent Azerbaijani gay activist and journalist. Amrulla Gulaliyev, 24, was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison by a judge for the February killing of Avaz […]
Saudi sisters found dead in Sydney told acquaintance queer women ‘live in fear’ in their homeland
Two Saudi sisters found dead in their beds in Sydney attended a girls-only queer event in January where they told acquaintances gay women “live in fear” in Saudi Arabia. The Guardian understands New South Wales police are investigating whether one or both of the sisters may have feared being persecuted for their sexuality in their homeland, which they […]
Social contagion’ isn’t causing more youths to be transgender, study finds
“Social contagion” is not driving an increasing number of adolescents to come out as transgender, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal Pediatrics. The study also found that the proportion of adolescents who were assigned female at birth and have come out as transgender also has not increased, which contradicts claims that adolescents whose […]