Widow of murdered LGBT+ politician in Brazil vows to combat hate with election win

Two years after the murder of popular Brazilian councilwoman Marielle Franco, her partner Monica Benicio has also won a council seat and vowed to fight for justice and LGBT+ rights. Franco, a Black openly gay Rio de Janeiro politician, and her driver Anderson Gomes were gunned down in 2018 in what investigators said appeared to […]

Resolution in KP assembly demands transgender people be allowed to perform Hajj, Umrah

A resolution demanding transgender people be allowed to perform Hajj and Umrah — two major Islamic pilgrimages — in Saudi Arabia was submitted Friday in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. According to the resolution submitted by PPP lawmaker Nighat Yasmin Orakzai to the KP Assembly’s secretariat, the Pakistani government should request Saudi Arabia to allow transgender […]

Conservative MP pushes health minister to end limits on blood donations from gay men

Eric Duncan, the first openly gay Conservative MP, laced into the federal health minister Thursday over the Liberals failure to end a ban on gay men donating blood. In a heated and emotional exchange during a late-night committee hearing in the House of Commons, Duncan pressed Patty Hajdu repeatedly, including a direct question on whether […]

Gay veterans in Germany to be eligible for compensation as nation deals with past discrimination

Gays who faced discrimination in the German military will receive financial compensation and have their records cleared, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet decided this week in an attempt to address decades of mistreatment. “We cannot erase the suffering inflicted upon these people,” Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told German media Wednesday. The payments, described by the defense […]

Australia’s gay penguin power couple adopts second chick

The gay Australian power couple that took the world by storm two years ago is welcoming a new member of their family in an episode of the fan favorite series. Sphen and Magic are the proud parents of the latest Gentoo Penguin chick hatched in the aquarium’s Sub-Antarctic Zone this fall. For the second time, […]

Climate protester who climbed Big Ben in Boris Johnson wig avoids jail

A climate change protester who climbed Big Ben dressed as Boris Johnson has avoided a jail sentence. Tree surgeon Benjamin Atkinson, 44, scaled the clock tower during an Extinction Rebellion (XR) protest in October last year. Atkinson was convicted of trespassing and sentenced him to 250 hours of unpaid work and fines of more than […]

LGBT Marching Band Is First To Perform In Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps (LGBAC) on Thursday became the first LGBT marching band to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. LGBAC, one of the first queer marching bands in the United States, was founded in 1979 in New York City. At Thursday’s scaled down parade, the marching band performed ABBA’s Dancing […]

Transgender Pakistanis find solace in a church of their own

Pakistan’s Christian transgender people, often mocked, abused and bullied, say they have found peace and solace in a church of their own. Shunned by other churches, they can raise their voices high here. During a recent service, transgender women, scarves loose over their long hair, conducted Bible readings and raucously sang hymns, accompanied by the […]

#EndSARS: LGBT Nigerians get extra help to cope with crisis

More than a dozen LGBT Nigerians suffering from violence stirred up by #EndSARS protests have benefited from an emergency community relief program run by the LGBTIQ+ advocacy site NoStringsNG. The program provided help to members of the community who were impacted by violence that was triggered by Nigeria’s nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality. During […]

New Zealand School Locked Down Over ‘Credible Threat’ To LGBT+ Student Community

New Zealand’s openly gay Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson has shown his support on social media toward a school in the Nation’s Capital that has been sent into lockdown following a “credible threat” to the LGBT+ student community. Wellington High School, adjacent to the CBD, went into lockdown for about an hour on Thursday morning […]

Norway outlaws hate speech against trans people

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Norway’s parliament outlawed hate speech against transgender people on Tuesday, expanding its penal code which has protected gay and lesbian people since 1981. People found guilty of hate speech face a fine or up to a year in jail for private remarks, and a maximum of three years in jail […]

Placement of trans woman in men’s prison inhumane, unlawful: Activists

Activists have strongly condemned law enforcement officials for placing a transgender woman in a men’s detention facility, calling it an insensitive move against the special needs and security risks of the detainee. The Tanjung Priok Port Police in North Jakarta had arrested M, an Instagram celebrity, for alleged drug abuse. M, a trans woman, was […]

Russian Lawmaker, LGBT Activist Named Among World’s Most Influential Women

Feminist Russian lawmaker Oksana Pushkina and prosecuted LGBT activist Yulia Tsvetkova have been named among the world’s 100 most inspirational and influential women in 2020 by the BBC. This year’s edition of the BBC’s annual 100 Women list aims to highlight women who act as leaders of change. The BBC left one of the 100 […]

First LGBT+ digital banking platform launches in United States

NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The first LGBT+-owned and targeted digital banking platform launched in the United States this week, part of a growing effort to meet the needs of gay and transgender customers. Daylight, the new platform, said it has developed tools and content to help LGBT+ Americans reach specific financial goals such […]

Trump’s ban on transgender troops hurts military, former top service physicians say

The Trump administration’s ban on transgender troops has harmed the military’s ability to protect the nation, according to former military surgeons general. Three top former military health leaders were co-authors of a study published Sunday by the Palm Center, which found that President Trump’s decision of banning trans military personnel had a negative effect on […]

The House Drops a Bill That Will Require Indonesians to Turn in Gay Family Members

Jakarta. A controversial bill proposed by an Islamic political party that will dictate how husbands, wives, and family members behave has stalled at the House of Representatives after the National Democratic party gave a key vote that complete a pushback from nationalist parties. Supratman Andi Agtas, the chairman of the House’s Legislation Body, said that […]

Kenya’s LGBTQ Community Faces Increased Abuse During Pandemic

NAIROBI – Kenya has acknowledged that COVID-19 restrictions are fueling cases of gender-based-violence but has been less open on abuses against the LGBTQ community. Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya and activists say many are afraid to report abuse or get medical help because of stigma. Twenty-eight year-old Rebecca Adhiambo’s family shunned her after discovering two […]

Israel’s Gantz announces major step for LGBTQ rights

Israel’s gay community recorded one of the greatest achievements of its long struggle for equal rights on Nov. 19 when Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz instructed that all official forms issued by his ministry replace the “mother” and “father” categories with the designations “parent 1” and “parent 2.” Gantz presented the move […]

LGBTQ support lends ‘new taste’ to Thai politics

It takes Siraphob Attohi three hours to transform from a harried student into his drag queen persona Masala Bold — a wisecracking MC, who raises calls for gender equality during Thailand’s protests for democratic reforms. A regular at student-led rallies in Bangkok, Masala Bold’s glamorous presence and ribald jokes provide a teasing interlude between speeches […]

Evangelical pastor forces delay in Dominica lawsuit

Conservative Christians in Dominica are seeking to torpedo a lawsuit that challenges the nation’s anti-sodomy law. Merely by requesting the right to enter the lawsuit, an evangelical pastor today brought about the removal of the judge overseeing the case. Because the lawsuit has nothing to do with religious freedom, lawsuit supporter Jamaican/Canadian activist Maurice Tomlinson […]

Trump’s ban on transgender troops hurt the military, former service surgeons general say

President Trump’s order banning many transgender people from serving has eroded the military’s ability to fight and win wars by narrowing its recruiting pool and lowering morale among transgender troops exempt from the policy, former top military physicians said in a study. Defense Department regulations implemented April 12, 2019, prohibit anyone with gender dysphoria from […]

Slander, HIV, bias at work – Qtalk helps LGBTQ+ Nigerians

Kola, a Lagos-based gay man, is deeply worried because his photograph ended up on a popular Facebook page along with accusations that he is an anti-gay blackmailer. In his message to a counselor, he wrote: “My God, people are so wicked. My picture has been shared on Facebook [stating] that I am blackmailer. The page […]

Pride celebrations were held together on the North & South Poles for the first time

Two years after Pride officially reached all seven continents on the globe, the first-ever Polar Pride Day was celebrated last week. People working at both poles of the Earth recognized the landmark event simultaneously on November 18. The announcement was made jointly by the governments of the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and the Government of […]

The brutal institutions ‘transforming’ China’s LGBT, nonconformist youth

In March 2018, when Huang Xiaodi turned 17, her family told her to return home to Jiangyin, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, so they could throw a birthday party for her. But before she had a chance to cut the cake, Huang was ushered to a car with her father, sister and brother-in-law. “They said […]