Taiwan accepts same-sex marriage, so why not adoption?
Wang Chen-wei and Chen Jun-ru are unique among parents in Taiwan. This year, in a landmark legal case, the two men became the first same-sex couple on the island to legally adopt a child neither of them are related to. Now they’re living their family dream with daughter Joujou, 4, in the southern city of […]
‘The Book of Queer’ Creator Eric Cervini On The Subversive Joy of Telling Our Own History
Just because June is over, it doesn’t mean we stop commemorating Pride. It’s actually more important to not contain our celebration to one singular month, and we must stay vigilant and vocal as much as we can. Discovery+’s The Book of Queer is a vibrant, hilarious, and course-correcting docuseries when it comes to queer history, […]
Berlin mosque flies rainbow flag in support of LGBTQ community
The Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in Berlin said on Friday it was the first German mosque to fly the rainbow flag, a symbol of pride and diversity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. Located in the central Moabit neighborhood of the German capital, the mosque unfurled its flag in front of a […]
I can’t take my family to Texas,’ or another red state: Military parents fight to protect their transgender kids
Over the past 19 years, Alleria Stanley’s family has grown accustomed to packing up and moving wherever the Army tells them to go, measuring time by all the different states and countries they’ve lived in. “We tell time in our family by location instead of year, so our events are marked by where we were […]
Pride: Amazon restricts LGBT goods in United Arab Emirates
Online retail giant Amazon has restricted search results related to LGBT people and issues on its website in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The firm took the step after reportedly coming under pressure from authorities in the Gulf state. Same-sex sexual relations are illegal in the UAE. Expressing support for LGBT rights could also be […]
Challenging Tunisian society’s homophobia through theatre
For the LGBTQI+ community in North Africa and the Middle East, Pride Month is bittersweet. While celebrating their love and existence within safe and private spaces, members of the queer community in many North African and Middle Eastern countries are painfully reminded on an almost daily basis of the prevailing homophobia that exists within their societies. […]
3 LGBTQ diplomats see opportunity and crisis for queer people around the world
The world is at an inflection point for LBGTQ rights, as a mixture of opportunities and crises converge, according to an assessment from one of the world’s few special envoys on queer rights. While notable progress has been made for human rights worldwide, only four countries have a diplomat specifically assigned to handle LGBTQ issues. Three […]
Polish top court upholds annulment of anti-LGBT resolutions
Poland’s highest administrative court has ruled that resolutions adopted by local authorities declaring themselves free from “LGBT ideology” were rightly annulled by lower courts. In the first such legally binding rulings, it found that the resolutions “violate the dignity” of LGBT people. In 2019, nearly 100 local authorities in Poland, most under the control of the […]
Proud Boys Showed Up To A Pride Month Library Event But Were Met With A “Human Shield” Of LGBTQ Supporters
Kathryn Vargas wasn’t sure whether she would take her kids to the Pride Month Family Storytime event on Saturday at a public library in McKinney, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The straight mom of three young boys, who lives in nearby Plano, wants to raise her children to be open-minded and accepting, but having seen similar Pride […]
Help us free 7 imprisoned LGBT victims of homophobia
Elmer, Amir, Dick, Martin and Octavia are locked up in Cameroon’s Yaoundé Central Prison, serving sentences for whom and how they love. You can help get them out. Cam and Don also are jailed there, awaiting trial on homosexuality charges. With no lawyer to represent them, they have been incarcerated in the squalid, overcrowded prison since March, […]
KwaZulu-Natal LGBTQI+ community living in fear amid frequent attacks
The group feels threatened and the continuous attacks have worsened matters. The LGBTQI+ community in KwaZulu-Natal says they are still not safe. This is despite various campaigns aimed at educating communities to acknowledge that gay and lesbian people have a right to live peacefully, without being targeted and being attacked. June month marks Pride month to honor […]
The Pink Foxes Organise to Protect Queer People in Dublin.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Dr Stephen Hatton waited nervously in a large room with red walls and a high ceiling on the first floor of Outhouse, the queer community centre on Capel Street. A rainbow flag hung on one side of the room. A trans flag dangled above a shiny white fireplace mantel on […]
Shunned by law and society, Afghanistan’s LGBT community calls for help.
Rejected by both law and the society, Afghanistan’s LGBT people have been facing a deeper crisis with the Taliban seizing power and implementing a strict form of Islamic Sharia law that lays down the death penalty for the members of the community. Although the oppressed identities have always been a taboo in the country, where […]
Norway police seek delay to Pride events after gay bar shooting.
Norwegian police said on Monday all Pride events across the country should be delayed, citing security concerns after a deadly weekend rampage by a gunman at a gay bar in Oslo. Police had initially approved a planned gathering outside Oslo Town Hall on Monday by the city’s LGBTQ community to honor the victims of the […]
Polish court rules that four “LGBT-free zones” must be abolished.
A top Polish appeals court ruled on Tuesday that so-called “LGBT-free zones” must be scrapped in four municipalities, a verdict welcomed by activists as a victory for human rights and democracy. Numerous local authorities in Poland passed resolutions in 2019 declaring themselves free of “LGBT ideology”, part of a conflict in the predominantly Catholic country […]
How drag is revitalizing queer culture in rural Canada and smaller cities like Kingston.
There were families, university students, seniors—a kaleidoscope of people draped in rainbow flags. Some arrived in drag, adorned in multicoloured outfits. Saturday’s Pride parade in Kingston, Ontario, saw the biggest turnout ever in its 30-year history as more than 3,000 locals took to the streets to celebrate. Queer culture is being revived in Canadian towns […]
Spanish government approves new bill on transgender rights.
Spain’s Cabinet approved on Monday a new draft of a LGBTQ rights bill that if backed by parliament will allow people as young as 16 to change their gender freely, and those as young as 12 to do so with a judge’s authorization. This version of the bill is very similar to the one that […]
LGBTQ+ Nigerians Are Celebrating Pride Month in Defiance of Anti-Gay Law.
YouTuber Victor Emmanuel knows first-hand how tough life is for people who are openly gay in Nigeria, where LGBTQ+ relationships and even same-sex displays of affection are illegal. Last year, he was kidnapped by seven men who blackmailed, extorted, and tortured him for two days in an attack that has since left him constantly looking […]
Discipline, teamwork, acceptance: why football is a lifeline for queer Cambodian teens.
As a teenager Lorn “Leak” Sreyleak looked forward to playing football every week with friends in his home town of Kampong Chhnang. But the 15-year-old couldn’t help but envy another team that sometimes practised on an adjacent pitch. Led by a gruff coach affectionately called “Pa Vann”, or Dad, some of the players reminded Leak […]
First Russia, Then Hungary, Now Romania Is Considering A ‘Gay Propaganda’ Law
BUCHAREST — Romania is considering a bill that would ban minors from being exposed to so-called “gay propaganda” in schools and in public life, despite warnings from rights groups that it would “fuel Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns” and reinstate censorship in the former communist country. Seven lawmakers from the ethnic Hungarian UDMR, a junior ruling […]
‘Today we can be ourselves’: LGBTI cry out for rights in Panama
Panama City, Jun 25 (EFE).- Holding hands, Aurielis and Ivon arrived Saturday smiling at one of the concentration points in Panama City to participate in a Pride march. “Today we can be ourselves, without being judged. Not every day (members of the LGBTI community) can feel so calm,” they told EFE. These two young women, under 20, […]
Meet the 14-year-old bringing a queer youth conference to rural Texas
A ninth grader in Mission, Texas is bringing a queer youth conference to his rural hometown after winning a $10,000 grant from the nonprofit group It Gets Better. Mars Gamez told TODAY that he was inspired to apply for one of the LGBTQ advocacy group’s “50 States, 50 Grants, 5,000 Voices” initiative after learning about them […]
Mawlawi tells security forces to stop LGBTQ gatherings
Lebanon’s caretaker interior minister has given instructions to security forces to stop gatherings of the LGBTQ community, following pressure from religious institutions. Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi instructed Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces and the General Security agency to “immediately take the necessary measures to prevent any type of celebration, meeting or gathering” by the LGBTQ […]
Horror on Oslo Pride day as gunman goes on deadly rampage at gay bar
Terrified revellers at a gay bar in Oslo hid in a basement and desperately called loved ones as a gunman went on the rampage, killing two people and injuring 21 on the day the city was due to celebrate its annual Pride parade. Authorities said the suspect, a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin, was […]
Mass same-sex wedding in Mexico challenges discrimination
Even after five years of living together in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, something as simple as holding hands or sharing a kiss in public is unthinkable for Dayanny Marcelo and Mayela Villalobos. There is an ever-present fear of being rejected or attacked in Guerrero, a state where same-sex relationships are not widely accepted […]
With war, Kyiv pride parade becomes a peace march in Warsaw
Ukraine’s largest LGBTQ rights event, KyivPride, went ahead Saturday, although not on its native streets or as a celebration. Due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the event normally held in Kyiv took place in conjunction with Warsaw’s yearly Equality Parade, the largest gay pride event in Central Europe, with Ukrainian organizers using it as a […]
Lebanon interior minister tells security forces to ‘stop’ LGBTQ gatherings over pressure from religious figures
Lebanon’s interior minister gave instructions to security forces on Friday to stop gatherings of the LGBTQ community, following pressure from religious institutions. Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi instructed Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces to “immediately take the necessary measures to prevent any type of celebration, meeting or gathering” by the LGBTQ community. The orders followed “calls on […]
In Bulgaria, A Bisexual Police Officer Set Up An LGBT Union. He Was Then Shunned.
Fed up with the discrimination he and his LGBT colleagues on the police force faced in Bulgaria, where “homophobia is a religion,” officer Petromir Genchev decided it was time to do something and established an association to protect their rights, a first in the largely conservative Balkan country. Although Genchev, 33, registered the group late […]
LGBTQ community braces for rollback of rights after abortion ruling
Abortion rights supporters Courage Universe, left, and Nikki Enfield embrace outside the Supreme Court after it issued a ruling that overturns Roe v. Wade on June 24. The Supreme Court’s ruling overturning a constitutional right to abortion sent fear through the LGBTQ community Friday, after the release of the decision set out potential targets: Supreme […]
A photographer’s radical vision of a Black lesbian beauty pageant
In pageants around the world, beauty and femininity ideals have long been upheld and rarely challenged. A photograph by the artist Zanele Muholi is a bold declaration of Black queer beauty — and a reminder that the status quo of mainstream beauty pageants has remained mostly unchanged. In the striking self-portrait, the South African artist […]