Police detains over 30 protesting LGBT activists in Moscow – monitoring group

Russian police on Saturday detained more than 30 people, most of them women, who were staging separate one-person protests in central Moscow against charges of spreading pornography levelled against a prominent LGBT activist, a monitoring group said. One activist was also detained in St. Petersburg, OVD-Info, the monitoring group said. Earlier this month, police in […]

LGBT+ Marches From London to New York Call for End to Racism

As thousands of people marched in support of Pride and racial justice globally this weekend, many demonstrators called for an end to often-overlooked racism within the LGBT+ community. Pride events to celebrate LGBT+ rights are held globally throughout June — although most were canceled or moved online this year because of the coronavirus pandemic — […]

Survey on acceptance in Indonesia gives hopes to LGBT community

A recent survey about homosexuality acceptance in Indonesia has given gay and human rights activists some hope for a future where the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community could live without fear of persecution. United States-based Pew Research Institute polled 38,426 respondents across 34 countries from May to October last year and found that […]

Dahlgren Division LGBT Pride Month Profile – Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley

Yeoman 2nd Class (AW) Joshua Kelley joined the Navy in 2016 and is currently stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex. His accomplishments at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) Dam Neck Activity (DNA) include his leadership and positive impact upon the command’s administrative services. Before joining the Navy, Kelley was a […]

New York’s Stonewall Inn seeks help to fight closure after lockdown

The owners of New York City’s Stonewall Inn are appealing for help to save the historic LGBT+ bar from closure after more than three months of not trading due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Greenwich Village bar that gave its name to the 1969 uprising, when its patrons fought back during a police raid, needs […]

Poland casts its vote as a nation divided. But can the election deliver true change?

It’s been Poland’s strangest presidential election campaign in living memory. Granted, it’s the first that’s taken place during a pandemic, but in the last three months the country hasn’t just experienced one of the strictest lockdown regimes around, it has seen a brutal political battle. The ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) has fought for […]

Israelis split on acceptance of homosexuality – Pew report

Israeli society is split on its acceptance of homosexuality, but is still far more accepting than other Middle Eastern countries, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center. The report, titled “The Global Divide on Homosexuality Persists” asked respondents whether “Homosexuality should be accepted by society or homosexuality should not be accepted by […]

From Kenya to Canada, support grows worldwide for homosexuality

Acceptance of homosexuality is rising broadly across the world, according to a survey published on Thursday, even as sharp divisions persist by region and economic development. Support has grown from as far afield as Kenya to the United States, the Pew Research Center survey found, with an average of 52% of people across 34 countries […]

A Lesbian Archive Sends Its Love Letter: Find History, Find Yourself

I am deeply urban. My shoes, clothes, eyeglasses, are all assembled with an understanding of how they relate to pavement, changeable weather, and the glare bouncing off city buildings. From Boston to New York City to San Francisco and Oakland, I’ve felt perfectly attuned to the cityscape. But with quarantine, everything went askew, as if […]

LGBT+ community in Gabon fears backlash after vote to legalise gay sex

Gabon’s LGBT+ community said on Wednesday they feared a homophobic backlash after the lower house of parliament voted to legalise gay sex, less than a year after making it a crime. On Tuesday, 48 members of parliament voted to revise a 2019 law that criminalised same-sex relations, while 24 voted against and 25 abstained. To […]

Trump to meet Polish president known for anti-LGBTQ rhetoric

US President Donald Trump is facing criticism for hosting Poland’s president at the White House days before his visitor faces a tougher than expected fight for re-election. Trump and Polish President Andrzej Duda are scheduled to meet on Wednesday. Duda is competing for a second five-year term in Poland’s presidential election this weekend. Duda recently […]

LGBT refugees coalition condemns Kenya violence

In a letter issued June 20 to coincide with World Refugee Day, Craig Paris, the executive director of the Refugee Coalition of East Africa (RefCEA) condemned “the violent attacks on queer refugees in the camp in Kakuma. Our LGBTQI siblings there are constantly under assault, being beaten and hurt.” The statement added: “We are seeing […]

Russia Recognises Gay Marriage ‘Accidentally’ Due to Legal Loophole in Family Law

Russia seems to have recognised a gay marriage unknowingly. The claim surfaced after the send a tax return to a prominent LGBT rights activist who had married his husband in the United States. Russian LGBT Network director Igor Kochetkov took to Facebook revealing that he received a tax deduction from Russia’s Federal Tax Service on […]

Gabon lawmakers vote to decriminalise homosexuality

Lawmakers in Gabon’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday voted to decriminalise homosexuality, becoming one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa to reverse a law that punishes sexual relations between people of the same sex. Forty-eight members of parliament backed the proposed initiative by the government to revise an article of the 2019 law […]

China punishes live-stream apps for ‘vulgar’ content

China has punished 10 live-streaming platforms for “chaotic” content including revealing clothing on female stars and “vulgar hot dances”, the cyberspace watchdog said Tuesday. The sites including Nasdaq-listed Bilibili and ByteDance-owned iXigua have been reprimanded and ordered to suspend new user registration and overhaul their feeds, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said. “Some female […]

Welcome to Chechnya: the harrowing film about the regime’s gay purge

Two terrified boys are forced out of a car by members of a gang who taunt them with the question: “Were you kissing?” A paving stone is dropped on to the head of a lesbian by one of her relatives. A man’s screaming is captured as he is raped. These “trophy videos” are the hardest […]

Israel sets record for number of openly gay MKs

On Friday, Israel set the record for the highest amount of openly gay MKs in the 23rd Knesset, with six members of the LGBT community, while the previous record was five. Public Security Minister Amir Ohana set the record for being the first gay minister in Israel in 2019 after he was appointed as the […]

Romanians protest against ban on gender identity studies

Hundreds protested outside the Romanian president’s palace on Thursday against a proposed ban on gender identity studies which they said would infringe human rights and fuel discrimination. The Romanian parliament approved the ban without public debate this week in the latest initiative by religious and conservative groups to adopt similar policies on gender to neighboring […]

Tel Aviv mayor says city to recognize same-sex marriages

The municipality of Tel Aviv-Jaffa said on Sunday that it would allow same-sex couples and non-traditional partnerships to register their union with the city hall in order to benefit from matrimonial rights. The city’s mayor, Ron Huldai announced the decision to coincide with Pride Week in Israel. The new policy will allow couples to obtain […]

REBEL BUDDHIST MONK ADVOCATES FOR LGBT RIGHTS

Despite living in a predominantly Buddhist country, and contrary to the majority opinion among believers and the Buddhist hierarchy of his country, the Thai monk Shine Waradhammo has become a defender of the legalization of abortion and the rights of the LGBT community in Thailand. Dressed in the characteristic monk orange robe, the 50-year-old monk […]

After SCOTUS ruling Texas lawmakers want to add more LGTBQ safeguards

LGBTQ Texans marked a major victory Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal civil rights law prevents employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. But in Texas, which did not have such workplace safeguards, LGBTQ lawmakers and advocates say they are far from done fighting for other essential protections. […]

A lonely and dangerous lockdown for LGBTQ Indians

In conservative India, many in the LGBTQ community hide their real selves. But being stuck inside with their families for months in the coronavirus lockdown has made this hard to keep up – with sometimes dire consequences. Kumar, a young gay man living in a town in northern India, was physically assaulted by his family […]

900 LGBT couples have been certified in Japan since 2015, survey finds

A total of 900 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender couples have been recognized by municipal and other governments in Japan since 2015, when the use of certificates to recognize such partnerships began growing, a survey showed Saturday. The number of certified lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples has been rapidly increasing. Certifications in fiscal 2019 […]

British Museum adds five priceless LGBT+ artefacts to its collection to improve diversity

The British Museum has added five new LGBT+ artefacts to its collection, improving the diversity of its collection with priceless pieces of queer history. The pieces, which will be permanently displayed at the museum, include a “nine-bob note” from the 2008 nightclub event Gay Shame Goes Macho. The mock bank note features London gangster Ronnie […]

Poles run for LGBT equality ahead of presidential vote

Around a hundred Poles took part in an “Equality Run” on Saturday, condemning discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community during a presidential election campaign where gay rights have provoked fierce debate. The run took place as a number of anti-government protests from groups including LGBT rights protestors and feminists took place […]