Most Taiwanese support same-sex marriage two years after legalization: survey
A government survey released on Sunday shows that Taiwanese people’s acceptance of same-sex marriage has significantly increased to 60.4 percent in 2021 from 37.4 percent in 2018 before the country legalized same-sex marriage. The survey conducted by the Department of Gender Quality (DGE) under the Executive Yuan was released a day before the second anniversary […]
Japanese Lawmaker Says LGBT Rights Go Against Preservation of Species Amid Record-Low Birth Rates
Japanese lawmaker Kazuo Yana of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has said that LGBT rights go against the preservation of species amid record-low birth rates in the East Asian country. During a party meeting on Thursday local time, Yana, 42, a third-term member of the Japanese House of Representatives, reportedly told members that LGBT […]
Ghana LGBT: Police explain why dem arrest 21 suspected gay, Lesbians, Transgender & odas
Police say dem arrest these pipo for unlawful Assembly as dem dey promote LGBTQI activities during one conference for di Nurses and midwives Hotel, for di South-eastern city of Ho. And afta dia arrest, Ho Circuit court come give police go ahead to detain dem on Friday. For one statement, di suspects wey include 16 […]
Ukraine march in support of more transgender rights
Scores of people rallied in Ukraine on Saturday in support of the Trangender and LGBT community. Crowds gathered in the capital Kyiv, waving flags and chanting as they called on the government to change legislation they see as discriminatory. In 2019 the World Health Organzation accepted new measures which gave greater rights to those wishing […]
Ted Cruz thinks US military are ’emasculated pansies’ for including LGBT+ folk in recruitment ad
Last week, the US Army released a saccharine new recruitment video that uses the tale of a queer family to tug at your heartstrings. Titled “The Calling”, the five-part animated series on the origin stories of real soldiers, explaining why they each answered the “call” to serve. While the video was mocked from across the […]
German authorities accused of revealing sexual orientation of asylum seekers
Lawyers working with the German Foreign Office have allegedly revealed the sexual identity of gay, lesbian and bisexual refugees to their home countries. The Lesbian and Gay Association of Germany (LSVD) referred to these instances as “human rights abuse” that has to be stopped immediately. The Lesbian and Gay Association of Germany (LSVD) has accused […]
Vietnam’s first openly gay candidate seeks change with parliament run
As an LGBTQ activist, legal whizz-kid and Vietnam’s first openly gay candidate running for a seat in its rubber-stamp parliament, Luong The Huy is determined to lead long-lasting change for the country’s marginalised communities. Huy, 32, is one of just nine independent candidates running for Vietnam’s National Assembly in elections to be held across the […]
Singapore Rebukes US Embassy Over LGBT Rights Event
Singapore’s government has told the U.S. Embassy “not to interfere” in local matters after it hosted a webinar with local LGBT advocates earlier this week. The invitation-only webinar, held to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia on Monday, was co-hosted by the embassy and the LGBT rights organization Oogachaga. In a terse statement […]
Outcast to icon: Peter Tatchell’s 50 years of LGBT+ activism
Driven by passion and motivated by justice, veteran activist Peter Tatchell says LGBT+ equality remains elusive despite his 50-year campaign for gay rights in Britain and beyond. In a Netflix documentary that premiered on Thursday, the maverick campaigner said fairness for LGBT+ people from Iran to Zimbabwe was a distant dream and the West had […]
GAY ACTIVIST SHOT, SET ABLAZE IN BRAZIL
The body of a 25-year-old teacher, Professor Lindolfo Kosmaski, who was active in his local LGBTQI community was found on April 30th, shot and burnt alive in his car in São João do Triunfo in the southern region of Brazil, in what locals suspect was a hate crime. The local police have arrested three suspects, […]
Serbia Mulls Sacking Ambassador for Supporting Poland’s LGBT community
Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic stated that the Belgrade government is considering the recall of its Warsaw Ambassador, Nikola Zurovac, who signed a letter of support to the Polish LGBT community without consulting the ministry or government. Selakovic said he was supposed to be in Poland now, but that Polish officials had now cancelled his […]
Japan LDP Puts Off LGBT Bill Approval amid Cautious View
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday postponed approving a draft bill to promote understanding of sexual minorities as conservative members grew cautious about it. Their cautious view was voiced at an LDP meeting after the draft bill for promoting understanding of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people was revised to include the phrase “discrimination […]
‘Political backlash’ blamed for halting LGBT+ rights gains in Europe
Progress on laws to boost LGBT+ rights has come to a virtual standstill in Europe amid a rise in homophobic and anti-transgender rhetoric by politicians in countries including Poland and Hungary, an advocacy group said on Monday. Britain, Italy and Ukraine were among the nations that scored lower rankings in this year’s “Rainbow Europe” index […]
Welsh town seats world’s first known nonbinary mayor
Owen Hurcum took office Monday as the world’s first known nonbinary mayor. Hurcum, 23, is genderqueer and agender, and was elected unanimously last year by the City Council in Bangor, Wales, after serving as deputy mayor for a year, North Wales Live reported. Hurcum, who uses gender neutral pronouns, didn’t take office until Monday due […]
Indonesian LGBT+ magazines find a second life online
Two men embracing on a magazine cover was more than risqué for Indonesia, thought LGBT+ researcher Ais, when he first discovered a trove of retro LGBT+ zines in Bali last year. “Suddenly it felt like I was a part of something bigger than myself,” said Ais, 29, who does not want to reveal his full […]
Ikea flies rainbow flag in Belgrade in support of LGBTQ rights
Ikea is reportedly flying a rainbow flag in front of its store in Belgrade to show support for the LGBTQ community in Serbia, where the furniture giant supports draft legislation that would recognize same-sex partnerships. Ikea first backed the proposal on March 10, when Ikea South East Europe CEO Sarah Del Fabbro participated in the […]
Namibia issues travel documents to gay couple’s children
Namibia on Tuesday issued emergency travel documents to the twin daughters of a gay couple who have been battling to take them home following their birth to a surrogate in South Africa, one of the fathers told Reuters. Namibian Phillip Luhl and his Mexican husband Guillermo Delgado had already been fighting for citizenship for their […]
Finding My Voice as a Gay Asian Immigrant Filmmaker – and Giving Voice to Others
When our plane from Taiwan touched down at LAX in 1975, my mother, my father, my two older brothers and I stepped into the hot, dry sunshine of a new and, to us, very foreign world. The changes that lay ahead for all of us were profound and would affect every aspect of our lives. […]
Rights Court OKs Iceland’s Denial of Parental Rights in Lesbian Adoption Case
STRASBOURG, France (CN) — Iceland wasn’t wrong to deny parental rights to a lesbian couple who had a child via surrogacy, Europe’s top rights court held Tuesday. The European Court of Human Rights found that denying the parental rights of Valdís Fjölnisdóttir and Eydís Agnarsdóttir for a boy born in the United States through a […]
LGBT activists urge Italian government to approve anti-homophobia law
Unlike many of its EU partners, Italy still does not have laws to punish homophobic hate crimes. But now a law proposed by Alessandro Zan, an MP with the Democratic party, has been passed by the lower house and will now go to the Senate for approval. The proposed legislation would punish discrimination and hate […]
Transgender women allowed to play women’s rugby in France
The French rugby federation (FFR) has voted unanimously in favor of allowing transgender women to play women’s rugby as of next season. The decision goes against advice given by World Rugby, who last year said it did not recommend that transgender women play women’s contact rugby “on safety grounds at the international level of the […]
Giant Rainbow Flags Fly In Havana
Cuba draped its health ministry with a giant rainbow flag on Monday to mark International Day against Homophobia, in a key year for LGBT+ rights as the Caribbean country decides on a new family code that could approve same-sex marriage. Cuba, which sent gays to correctional labor camps in the early years after its 1959 […]
Singer Rufus Wainwright urges Americans to fight global LGBT+ threats
As conservative states seek to limit transgender rights in the United States, double Grammy Award-nominated singer Rufus Wainwright said Americans should not forget the hardships faced by LGBT+ people in other parts of the world. “It’s really important that gay people in North America should fight for what we need here, but always keep an […]
Croatian archbishop seeks pardon from gay people
A Croatian archbishop today asked for a pardon from gay people who felt rejected by the Church, an unprecedented move in the staunchly Catholic country. Archbishop Mate Uzinic warned that some Catholics wanted to “serve Christ and the Church with discrimination, aggression and violence… targeting homosexual people”. He used the international day against homophobia today […]
Lithuanian Gay League head calls for partnership law, special plan for LGBT people
VILNIUS – Vladimir Simonko, head of the Lithuanian Gay League (LGL), said on Monday that he expects the parliament to have the political will to pass a partnership law. Simonko also called on the government to work out a special plan for the LGBT community, setting out when and what steps are expected to be […]
Veteran lawyer Alice Nkom on fighting for LGBT rights in Cameroon
To mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, we speak to Alice Nkom. She became Cameroon’s first female lawyer in her early 20s and now at 76 is one of the few people defending the rights of homosexuals and transgender people there. Despite death threats, she is still calling loudly for change in […]
Turkish media watchdog issues fine over interview with transgender woman
Turkey’s media watchdog has issued a fine against an internet series for airing a broadcast that featured a trans actress, Duvar English news site reported on Sunday. Turkish regulator Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) asked the streaming service Exxen to remove the episode of the show Katarsis, which featured an interview with actress Çağla […]
15 Georgian Parties Agree to Defend LGBTQ Rights
15 Georgian political parties agreed to fight to eliminate discrimination and violence against LGBTQ citizens with all mechanisms at their disposal, Tbilisi Pride, a local organization uniting LGBTQ and rights activists announced on May 16. The signatories include the United National Movement, the largest opposition party, European Georgia, right-libertarian Girchi – New Political Center and […]
UK government to host its first global conference on LGBTQ+ rights
The UK government’s first-ever global conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights is to be hosted in London next year, as ministers race to fulfil pledges to the international 42-country Equal Rights Coalition. The “Safe To Be Me” event is expected to be the largest of its kind and will invite elected officials, activists […]
Iran: How transgender people survive ultraconservative rule
Iran’s state subsidizes gender reassignment surgery while prohibiting homosexuality. A long and continuing history of activism has helped transgender people bolster their community despite the discrimination they face. Before getting gender-confirmation surgery, Saman Arastoo had pondered all of the consequences. At the age of 40, he had built an acting career in Iranian cinema and […]