Joe Biden makes pledge to lead the “most pro-equality administration in history” of America
In brief remarks at the International LGBTQ Leaders Conference, President-elect Joe Biden told listeners that he is “committed” to making an LGBTQ-affirming administration along with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Citing the record number of out LGBTQ elected officials in this election cycle, the President-elect remarked that “it’s an honor to be an ally, and have […]
No one can stop anti-gay therapy in Florida — for now. How LGBTQ advocates are rethinking their battle strategy.
Gay rights and mental health advocates in South Florida are trying to come up with new ways to fight conversion therapy, the practice of mental health counseling aimed at “curing” teenagers with unwanted feelings of homosexuality or questions about their gender identity. Reeling from a recent federal ruling that cleared the way for psychologists in […]
CHRISTIAN LOBBY TARGETS VICTORIA’S BILL BANNING CONVERSION PRACTICES
The Australian Christian Lobby has a new target – the Victorian government’s proposed law against conversion practices that seek to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The Lobby has termed the Change And Suppression (Conversion) Prohibition Bill, introduced last month in the Victorian Parliament, as the “most dangerous and draconian bill we have […]
British High Court bans gender transitions for children
Children under the age of 16 are unlikely to give “informed consent” to take puberty blockers to begin their gender transition process. This is according to the British High Court via a landmark ruling. The case decided by the court was filed against the Tavistock Centre, England’s only youth gender identity clinic, and Portman NHS […]
‘A Butterfly With My Wings Cut Off’: A Transgender Asylum Seeker’s Quest to Come to California
When she turned 15, like so many girls in her town in Guatemala, Luna Guzmán celebrated with a quinceañera. “My friend lent me the dress because she saw the way I used to cry every time we passed the dress shop on the way to school, with all those beautiful dresses,” she said in Spanish. […]
Swiss upper house votes in favour of gay marriage
This week, The Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, voted in favour of a project to allow gay marriage in Switzerland. 27 members voted for the plan, 15 against and 7 abstained. The result follows a successful parliamentary vote on the subject and is the culmination of a 7-year campaign to achieve full marriage rights […]
‘Highest ranks’ of Polish government are putting LGBT+ lives at risk, says top European human rights commissioner
In a memorandum on the stigmatisation of LGBT+ people in Poland published Thursday (3 December), Council of Europe commissioner for human rights Dunja Mijatovic criticised authorities in Poland for the appalling treatment of queer people in the country. Mijatovic’s 16-page report noted that stigmatisation of LGBT+ people in Poland is a “long-standing problem”, but said […]
LGBT+ groups see surge in calls after UK court ruling on trans teens
British LGBT+ groups have received a surge in calls and emails from transgender children and their parents following a court ruling this week that will force doctors to get a judge’s approval before prescribing puberty-blocking drugs to under-16s. The High Court ruled on Tuesday that it was unlikely that children under 16 could give informed […]
LGBT-friendly companies outperform in the stock market, Credit Suisse says
Companies more tolerant of differences in sexuality and gender identity have seen a stock-price boost as well, according to an analysis from Credit Suisse. The investment bank put together a list of what it calls the LGBT-350. There are companies either with openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender senior managers and/or are voted LGBT+ inclusive […]
African churches: Why preach love, then imprison gays?
Why do people who preach love every Sunday want people put in prison for what they do in the privacy of their bedrooms? That was one of the questions — especially regarding homophobic Christian churches in Africa and the Caribbean — that led to the Intimate Conviction 2 conference, which ended Nov. 27. Maurice Tomlinson, […]
LGBT activist seeks court order for parliamentary Bill on repealing Section 377A
SINGAPORE – A lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activist has applied to the High Court for a mandatory order for Cabinet to move a Bill in Parliament to abolish the law that criminalises sex between men. In another attempt to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code, Dr Roy Tan Seng Kee, 62, […]
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Censures Jamaica for Violating the Rights of LGBTI Citizens
DECEMBER 1, 2020: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has issued a scathing report declaring that Jamaica’s Offences Against the Person Act violates several of the individual rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights, which Jamaica signed in 1977. The soon-to-be-released IACHR report lambasts the Jamaican act for criminalizing same-sex intercourse between […]
Battered but unbowed by coronavirus, Tokyo’s gay district forges stronger ties
TOKYO (Reuters) – When Toshitsune Tamashiro was young and closeted in 1980s Japan, Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ni-chome gay district was a haven. Now he runs a bar there, and has fought to keep the district going during the coronavirus pandemic. Ni-chome, believed the most dense concentration of gay bars globally, fulfills a vital role for Japan’s […]
Russian Activists Just Won an Important Battle Over LGBTQ Rights. But the War Is Far From Over
Two weeks after the constitution was changed, the government proposed a bill to ban same-sex marriage and end the legal recognition of transgender people. Many activists had expected the landmark bill, co-authored by conservative lawmaker Elena Mizulina, to pass in the fall. But on Nov. 16 parliament revoked the bill for revision and it could […]
Hungary’s rightwing rulers downplay MEP ‘gay orgy’ scandal amid hypocrisy accusations
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has condemned the behaviour of MEP József Szájer, from his rightwing Fidesz party, after Szájer’s participation in a “gay orgy” in Brussels prompted accusations of hypocrisy. “What our representative, József Szájer, did has no place in the values of our political family. We will not forget nor repudiate his 30 […]
Christian couple rejected by foster agency for wanting to change LGBT+ children tell court they were discriminated against
A Christian couple from Australia who were turned away by a foster agency because of their belief that an LGBT+ child’s identity can be changed have appeared in court. Byron and Keira Hordyk, who live in Perth, Australia, applied to the Wanslea Family Services agency in January 2017 to foster children. During the course of […]
Two Lesbians of Color Named to White House Communications Staff
Two longtime political activists, both lesbians of color, have been named to White House communications positions by President-elect Joe Biden. Karine Jean-Pierre, who is Black, will be principal deputy press secretary in the White House, while Pili Tobar, who is Latinx, will be deputy White House communications director, the Biden transition team announced Sunday. They […]
Queer Ugandans beaten with iron rods, burned with firewood and forced to confess to being gay after ‘bogus’ shelter raid
LGBT+ Ugandans arrested under dubious coronavirus charges have revealed the harrowing levels of abuse they faced while in prison – being beaten with iron rods, burnt with firewood and forced to “confess” their identities. In interviews with The Guardian newspaper, two of the approximately 20 people arrested earlier this year at an LGBT+ shelter described […]
NFL vet Ryan K. Russell still wants to play after coming out. He’s more ready than ever.
It was August 29, 2019. There were still 11 Democratic presidential candidates. Alex Trebek had recovered from chemotherapy and announced his return to work filming episodes of Jeopardy. The “bisexual chair,” and a New Zealand member of Parliament holding a colleague’s newborn in session, were taking over the internet. Ryan K. Russell remembers the date, […]
Football in hijab: Thai Muslim lesbians tackle stereotypes
PATTANI, Thailand (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Anticha Sangchai did not come out to her family until she was 30 and married with a child. It was her own struggle confronting the conservative community in southern Thailand that led her to create a place where women like her might feel more at home. In the bookshop […]
SOGIE Equality Bill passes Senate committee; still in limbo due to anti-LGBTQIA senators
The SOGIE Equality Bill – the latest iteration of the proposed anti-discrimination law that will protect the human rights of LGBTQIA Filipinos – was passed at the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality led by Senator Risa Hontiveros. With Hontiveros, signing the committee’s report were Sens. Nancy Binay, Leila de Lima, […]
Government apologises to transgender people forced to accept sterilisation
The Dutch government has apologised to hundreds of transgender people who were forced to accept being sterilised and to undergo body modification and take hormones if they wanted to change their gender on official documents. The practice began in 1985 and continued up to 2014, when new legislation was introduced. Some 2,000 people are thought […]
South Australia becomes the last state to scrap ‘gay panic’ murder defence
South Australia has abolished “gay panic” as a defence in crimes of violence with state parliament passing legislation to end the “downright offensive” provisions. It’s the last state in Australia to do so. The provocation defence could previously be used as a legal strategy to downgrade a charge of murder to manslaughter if the accused […]
Gay parents shouldn’t both be on child’s birth certificate, Indiana AG argues
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s attorney general submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it should reverse a federal appeals court’s ruling that allowed both members of same-sex couples in Indiana to be listed as parents on the birth certificates of their children. The petition from Attorney General Curtis Hill follows a January decision […]
Swedish gymnastics to let youths choose their own gender category
Young Swedish transgender gymnasts will be allowed to compete in whatever class they want, following a new decision by the Swedish Gymnastics Federation. The decision was reached after the federation had done a “deep-dive in the issue around gender identity and gender expression” over the summer, the organisation said. “Specifically, for our training and competition […]
One of Scotland’s first LGBT hubs to open in Kirkcaldy town centre
LGBT charity Pink Saltire said it was proving doubters wrong with the creation of the inclusive centre in the town centre. It will contain a café, shop, meeting rooms and a permanent base for Fife’s LGBT+ people. It will also provide hot desks to give people a place to work during the coronavirus pandemic, as […]
NGOs start raising funds to help homeless LGBTQ youths
A group of NGOs has initiated a campaign to raise RM30,000 to help 30 homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) persons to move into a new home. Pro-LGBTQ group People Like Us Hang Out (Pluho), which joined hands with Pelangi Community and Jejaka, have managed to find them a house after learning about […]
Biden Names Gay Man As White House Social Secretary
President-elect Joe Biden has named the first openly LGBT person to a position in the incoming administration. According to The Hill, Carlos Elizondo has been named the White House social secretary. Elizondo is gay. He served as social secretary to then-Vice President Joe Biden and Second Lady Jill Biden during the Obama administration, making him […]
Rainbow Railroad Launches #60in60 Campaign: How You Can Help
Rainbow Railroad is a charitable organization that should be on everybody’s lips right now. What they are able to accomplish is beyond incredible and super admirable. Rainbow Railroad’s daily goal is to help members of our LGBTQ community escape violence and persecution in their home countries. There is still a vast amount of people in […]
Man reaches settlement with Tokyo company after boss outed him as gay
A gay man in his 20s has reached a rare out-of-court settlement with the company he used to work for after a superior revealed his sexual orientation without his consent, people involved in the case said Saturday. The firm in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward apologized and has promised to pay damages for causing mental distress, they […]