UK: Police to now use ‘rainbow coloured’ patrol cars to help the LGBT community
In a bid to encourage the LGBTQ+ community to lodge complaints of online hate crimes, the police in the United Kingdom have decided to paint their patrol cars in rainbow colours. The development apparently comes after complaints of increasing hate crimes against the transgender community. On August 10, a video was shared by the official […]
Gay, transgender conversion therapy ban initiative heads to Parliament
A citizens’ initiative to ban sexual orientation and gender identification conversion therapy in Finland reached the required 50,000 signatures on Monday, which means it will now be referred to Parliament for consideration. Supporters of the initiative said they want MPs to ban treatments and therapies aimed at converting gay and transgender people into cisgender heterosexuals. […]
Israel Will Now Let Gay Men Donate Blood
Israel has ended a restriction on blood donation that effectively prohibited gay men from donating blood. Until now, Israel had prohibited any man who had had same-sex relations over the past 12 months from giving blood. Now, the question’s wording will be changed to asking whether prospective donors have had “high risk sexual relations with […]
Discrimination against LGBTQ+ soldiers doesn’t stop just because a policy has been revoked
In 1969, former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau decriminalized “homosexuality” in Canadian civil society declaring “there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.” Yet, the Canadian Armed Forces was allowed to continue officially discriminating on the grounds of homosexuality until 1992. Using a little-known military law entitled, CFAO 19-20 Homosexuality, Sexual […]
Edinburgh student to launch city’s first lesbian bar with ‘no cis men’
An Edinburgh local has decided to open the first-ever bar for lesbians and queer women. While the capital already has bars for the LGBTQI+ community, Emily Frood, 23, wants to open the first-ever bar specifically for the lesbian community. Emily, who identifies as a non-binary trans lesbian, announced on social media that they were quitting […]
LGBTQ leader cries foul vs homophobic acts in Zambo
The President of the Lesbian Gay Bisexuals and Transgenders Federation of Zamboanga (LGBTFZ) cried foul against homophobic acts in the city as he called for increased advocacy and education on acceptance of their community members into society. This, after a gay person who was returning home last Sunday was sneered at by seven minors, one […]
Two LGBT marches held in Poland under heavy police security
Parades for LGBT rights took place under heavy police presence Saturday at the foot of Catholic Poland’s most revered monastery in Czestochowa, in the south, and in Gdansk, on the Baltic coast. The massive police presence, which included officers on horseback, was seen as the factor that prevented any clashes with far-right groups, which shouted […]
The ‘laughing, loving diva’ who fights tirelessly for gay and lesbian rights
“A group of remarkable people who met weekly, daily, to work out what might be possible to work out what was possible to change the lives of the LGBT people in this community…there was Lisa. With the perfect name. Power. She had power of every possible sort and experience”. At a recent awards ceremony, Sir […]
Romania’s LGBT community sees gains, ongoing rights struggle
The last person jailed for being gay in Romania walked free in 1998. The country decriminalized homosexuality three years after that, in 2001, while reforming its laws to qualify for membership in the European Union. The 20th anniversary of the abolishment of Article 200, which authorized prison sentences of up to five years for same-sex […]
Sri Lanka discusses LGBTQ rights ‘over and over’, but clings to the past
The government of Sri Lanka is undecided on LGBTQ rights, but the matter is under discussion, government officials say. The video, which surfaced on Twitter [on Aug. 2], showed the counsellor posing the question “Would you like your child to be a victim of a homosexual?” to an audience of police officers who all reply […]
Gay Immigrant Recalls Tumultuous Escape From Nigeria
Uchechukwu Onwa, a gay immigrant from Nigeria, said he knew it was time to leave his home country when a group of men brutally raped his teenage friend for appearing “effeminate.” Months after the sexual assault, Onwa’s friend tested positive for HIV — and shortly after that he died by suicide. “Losing my friend in […]
The ban on the practice of ‘curing queer sexuality’ in India
The Madras High Court in its June 2021 judgement banned the practice of ‘conversion therapy’ in India, bringing protective measures for LGBTQIA+ individuals in the country. The case concerns a lesbian couple who fled from their homes after their parents intimidated them because of their relationship. The families went to police authorities and filed missing-person […]
This brave charity is helping desperate LGBT+ Afghans escape the brutal Taliban
The Rainbow Railroad is a global NGO providing aid and asylum to LGBT+ people around the world. Since its founding it’s helped more than 1,600 LGBT+ people find safety, including many victims of Chechnya’s “gay purge“. It now offers a lifeline to LGBT+ Afghans – already a persecuted minority – who find themselves uniquely vulnerable […]
LGBT in Afghanistan: ‘I could be killed on the spot’
Before the Taliban uprising in Afghanistan, life for gay man Abdul (his name has been changed) was already dangerous. If he’d spoken about his sexuality to the wrong person then, Abdul could have been arrested and taken to court for his sexuality, under Afghan laws. But since the Taliban seized control of major cities in […]
Polish region wants to remain an ‘LGBT-free’ zone despite risking millions in EU funds
This week a Polish regional council has voted to remain an “LGBT-free zone” despite a warning from the European Union that it could lose funding. Numerous local authorities in Poland have declared themselves free of so-called “LGBT ideology” as gay rights have become a high-profile and deeply divisive issue in the predominantly Catholic country under […]
Charity watchdog in talks with anti-trans LGB Alliance after ‘hateful’ bestiality tweet
The anti-trans group gained charitable status earlier this year in spite of fierce objections from multiple LGBT+ charities and a petition signed by more than 44,000 people. Further concerns were raised last week when the LGB Alliance posted a tweet that violated Twitter’s policy on hateful conduct. It read: “Adding the + to LGB gives […]
‘Everything is gone’ for LGBT+ Afghans, says bisexual man who escaped before Taliban took over
Afghanistan wasn’t a welcoming place for LGBT+ people prior to the Taliban takeover that shocked the world – but human rights activists are expecting things to get much worse. The militant group is likely to enforce an extreme interpretation of Sharia law that could see swathes of women and LGBT+ people executed. Mehrshad* is a […]
Will Romania step up anti-LGBTQ legislation like Hungary?
Many Romanians probably do not know what the letters LGBTQ stand for, and this is hardly surprising given that sexual orientation and gender identity have not played a major role in the country’s public debate in recent years. Although a referendum seeking to prevent same-sex marriage from ever being legalized was held in 2018 after […]
World Cup hosts Qatar raise the rainbow flag even as LGBT+ community is forced to live a double life
Degree-educated, bi-lingual and with a well-established career at one of the country’s leading companies, Hamad is, to all appearances, the very epitome of modern-day, outward-looking Qatar. But he harbours a secret, one which he says he has no choice but to keep hidden at all times; Hamad is gay – in a country where homosexuality […]
How to Help Queer Afghans Right Now
As images of Taliban forces regaining control of Afghanistan circulate across social media, many can’t help but think about the future of the country’s LGBT population. Same-sex sexual activity was already outlawed in the country and even punishable by death. But the Taliban’s stricter rule over Afghan citizens has left many fearing the worst, especially […]
The Nonbinary Chinese Fighting to Live Their Truth
Chao Xiaomi cut quite a figure as she strutted down an alley near the Forbidden City in the brilliant May sunshine. The 38-year-old was dressed to kill in a tight-fitting purple cheongsam, matching nails, and a jade bracelet. But many locals’ eyes were drawn to something else: her bushy black beard. Several passersby gaped and […]
Scotland’s LGBT community is frightened by the current anti-trans obsession
I NEVER picked a “side” – I was born this way. Common decency would argue that a group of people put into the continuous, never-ending, daily cycle of defending their existence should not be simply classed as a “side”. For many of us, this “side” was never a choice. However, undermining LGBT+ rights and inclusion […]
‘Born gay in the Soviet Union, living gay in Russia’
In recent years, there has been a growing number of artistic ventures about the lives of LGBTQ+ people in Russia. One of them is the art project PASHA. Though he doesn’t reveal his real name or the details of his biography, the artist behind the project regularly publishes new works on Instagram under the handle […]
President Museveni Refuses To Sign Homophobic Law
The LGBTIQ community in Uganda has today caught a break after President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni returned the notorious Sexual Offences Bill back to the floor of Uganda parliament for reconsideration saying all the crimes that would be punishable under the law are already provided for under the Penal Code Act. While chairing plenary within parliament […]
49ers expand LGBTQ outreach, DT Maurice Hurst shares love for his gay friends
As the San Francisco 49ers held a special Diversity & Inclusion Day at training camp last Thursday — inviting members of the LGBTQ fan group 49ers Pride to attend the team’s Community Corner — newly acquired DT Maurice Hurst opened up about his support for LGBTQ people, including the possibility of having a gay teammate. […]
Moderna starts human trials for its revolutionary HIV vaccine this week
This week, the biotech company Moderna will start human trials for its HIV vaccine. Its HIV vaccine will be the first of its kind to use messenger RNA (mRNA), an approach that Moderna used in its effective COVID-19 vaccine. The clinical trials will start on August 19 and end sometime around spring 2023, according to […]
Men hurt in homophobic attack at Birmingham’s Gay Village
Two men have been attacked with bottles and had homophobic abuse shouted at them in Birmingham, police have said. Rob and Patrick, in their 30s, were outside the Missing Bar in the city’s Gay Village on Sunday. West Midlands Police said the abuse came from a group of four men in a black SUV, who […]
Turkish LGBTQ Activists Counter Oppression With Art, Solidarity and Radical Hope
Activism came to Hazar Kolancalı like a thunderstorm, at first a rumbling in the distance and then upon her all at once. The constant — and often violent — oppression of LGBTQI+ people in Turkey, a country that is increasingly hostile toward them, manifested suddenly for Kolancalı in a brutal arrest at the hands of […]
Classroom workshops offer support to LGBTQ youth in rural Quebec Social Sharing
A new project launched by the Association for New Canadians is working to create a safe and welcoming environment for LGBTQ immigrants and refugees coming into Newfoundland and Labrador. The association is working with the Rainbow Refugees Association of Nova Scotia to create Welcome Rainbow, which will develop training for staff and orientation sessions for […]
Sarajevo’s Pride Parade Calls For More Rights for LGBT Community
Sarajevo’s second-ever Pride parade as well as a counter-protest organised by a hardliner Muslim political campaign group ended peacefully on Saturday. “Aware of discrimination, violence and hate speech, we resist and we are clearly saying that it is enough! After two years, we are here again, but this time in a pandemic that has hit […]