‘Completely Crazy’: Activists Slam Antigay Ad As Russia’s Constitutional Vote Looms
A Russian media group linked to a close associate of President Vladimir Putin has produced an antigay political ad ahead of a vote on constitutional amendments that would open the door for the former KGB colonel to remain in power until 2036. The video, which was produced by Patriot Media Group and began airing this […]
LGBTQ Groups Call to Bring Into Movement Anti-racism, End to White Supremacy
Amid the national horror following the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, LGBTQ and civil rights groups have issued a joint statement declaring anti-racism and an end to white supremacy must be “integral to the objective of full equality for LGBTQ people.” Anger over the death of Floyd, a black man who appears on […]
As protests roar, LGBT+ activists see chance to return to ‘radical roots’
As widespread protests over racial injustice roiled the country, LGBT+ campaigners on Monday, the start of the annual Pride month, called for a return to the rebellious origins of the U.S. gay rights movement. Pride celebrations have come under criticism for becoming heavily commercialized and straying from their roots, and the outrage sparked by the […]
Hungary’s new anti-transgender law is threatening to set hard-won LGBT rights back decades
The Hungarian parliament has voted to strip transgender people of their current rights to legally change their gender. The new law defines gender on the basis of chromosomes at birth, ending the legal recognition of transgender people. Prime minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party backed the proposed legislation, which is yet to be signed into law […]
Grindr finally drops its much-reviled ethnicity filter in solidarity with Black Lives Matter
Grindr responded to yearslong accusations of racism levelled at the dating app popular among queer folk for its premium “ethnicity feature” by removing it altogether. For years, tucked alongside the ability to search for users by “tribe” (such as twink or otter) or by height and weight, users paying any of Grindr XTRA’s subscription plans […]
Liberal mayor’s entry revs Polish presidential race
Childhood actor. Pro-democracy activist. Avid supporter of the European Union and LGBT rights. Warsaw’s liberal mayor, Rafal Trzaskowski, made a late entry into Poland’s presidential election and has quickly emerged as the main challenger to the conservative incumbent, Andrzej Duda. He has injected competition and suspense into a race that Duda had seemed certain to […]
Families are major source of abuse for gay women, trans people, report says
Family members are often the main perpetrators of abuse against lesbians, bisexual women and transgender people, according to a major global report published on Monday. The study of 24 countries by Britain’s leading LGBT+ rights organisation Stonewall found participants in Zimbabwe in particular were more likely to suffer violence from relatives than from strangers. More […]
Minneapolis Queer Business Owners Watch Protests And Worry
As the world watches live television coverage of night after night of demonstrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in dozens of cities across the U.S., so have the owners of the businesses burned and looted. According to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, there are 1.4 million LGBT business owners in the U.S. Those that are […]
Pride is a feeling, not a parade
The sight of thousands of topless women marching smack dab down the middle of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan would be a pretty provocative thing for the average person to see. For a 16-year-old just beginning to come to terms with her lesbian identity and connecting with the larger LGBTQ community for the first time, it […]
Brazil’s crisis deepens as Bolsonaro holds on to the military for support
Brazil has kicked political drama to the curb. Between scandals, powerplay episodes, and a slew of surprising statements, the South American country has been a mainstay in news headlines recently. But now, COVID-19 is hogging the spotlight. The virus is running rampant, causing over 27,900 deaths in Brazil. There’s no health minister to take the […]
Davao City Mayor recruits LGBT+ for COVID food distribution
Faced with corrupt officials giving away emergency rice supplies, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte called on the local LGBT+ community to help. Davao City is on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. The mayor said she chose the LGBT+ community because as people subject to marginalisation they understood the need for inclusion. “We needed to […]
Teacher reveals high price of coming out as gay in China
When he came out as gay, teacher Cui Le made local news headlines and was subject to censorship and surveillance by his university in southern China. It took years – and a move to New Zealand – before he felt ready to tell his story. Cui was working as a linguistics lecturer at the Guangdong […]
Israel: New government could bring real change for LGBT community
While many were disappointed at the sight of this bloated amalgam called Israel’s 35th government, maybe, just maybe it will be the one to actually take steps to improve LGBT rights in this country. Many Blue & White voters who were deeply disappointed by party leader Benny Gantz for breaking his promise not to join […]
Fact check: The LGBTQ community is not adding “P” to their acronym
Social media users have been sharing posts online that falsely imply the LGBTQ community is accepting of “pedosexuals”. There are different versions of the posts, but most refer to the claim that the community will add the letter P to the acronym LGBT. LGBTQ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning and/or […]
The Coronavirus Thrives on Hate
On May 1, just before social distancing rules were officially relaxed, a man went out to a few gay clubs in Seoul. He was later confirmed to have the novel coronavirus, promptly outed by Christian-backed media, and vilified nationwide as another careless, contaminated gay. By dint of being at the same club as Patient 66 […]
Dozens of LGBTQ Groups Denounce Racist Violence
Following a series of racist incidents and fatal police shootings targeting Black individuals, a coalition of leaders representing at least 75 LGBTQ organizations signed a joint statement denouncing racial violence and encouraging folks to step up and do their part in eradicating racism. The letter alluded to a series of recent incidents that have sparked […]
Gay people in Myanmar have adopted a secret language
Wednesday has just turned into Thursday in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, and pleasure-seekers are on the prowl in a glitzy neighbourhood. Drivers slow down to inspect sex workers waiting by the kerb. Three of them, all transgender women, chat brightly. Your correspondent tries to eavesdrop but even her translator cannot understand. Theresa, the most forthright […]
Pride, Juneteenth flags to be raised at Richmond City Hall
The Juneteenth and LGBT Pride flags will be raised at Richmond City Hall on Monday, June 1, in a ceremony that the public can view via Zoom here. The City of Richmond Diversity Celebration Month Flag Raising Ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. Featured speakers include Mayor Tom Butt, City Manager Laura Snideman, Councilmember […]
Widower’s U.S. court win secures social security benefits for LGBT+ couples
Gay and lesbian spouses in the United States can claim social security survivor’s benefits even if they were married for less than nine months, a federal court has ruled, overturning a requirement that left some widows and widowers homeless. The U.S. District Court for Arizona said that it was unconstitutional for the Social Security Administration […]
China’s same-sex couples heartened by property protection rights in new civil code
It was an ambush, said He Meili, a 51-year-old lesbian woman, describing how she met with her dead partner’s step-parents at a police station where they demanded she leave the apartment the couple had shared for 12 years. “It was that very moment at the police station when I truly felt the pain of not […]
Iraq, Iran outraged by rainbow flags, LGBT-tolerant poster
In Iraq and Iran, politicians stirred up homophobic disputes focusing on the May 17 celebration of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (Idahobit) and the May 15 celebration of the U.N.’s International Day of Families. In Iran, politicians and social media expressed outrage, while the conservative Mashreq News suggested that a government […]
Malaysian wins landmark right to challenge Muslim gay sex ban
Malaysia’s top court has given the go-ahead for a man to challenge an Islamic ban on sex “against the order of nature”, his lawyer said on Wednesday, in a test case for gay rights in the mostly Muslim country. LGBT+ rights groups say Islamic laws have been increasingly used to target the country’s gay community, […]
LGBT+ visibility builds acceptance, research finds
Americans are more likely to accept LGBT+ people if they see them portrayed in film, television and advertisements, said a survey released on Wednesday, findings that supporters say illustrate the benefits of visibility to the LGBT+ community. Nearly half of those who saw LGBT+ images in the media were more receptive of gay, lesbian, bisexual […]
Larry Kramer, Pioneering AIDS Activist And Writer, Dies At 84
Larry Kramer was one of the first activists against AIDS, back when the disease didn’t even have a name. In the early 1980s, Kramer witnessed hundreds, then thousands of gay men die before the government took action to stop the spread of HIV. He became a high-profile, high-volume, one-man crusade against the disease. Kramer died […]
A Polish gay couple took their rainbow face masks to an ‘LGBT-Free Zone’
Polish gay couple have taken their free rainbow face masks to the heart of one of the country’s ‘LGBT-Free Zones’. Towns and districts across Poland have declared themselves ‘LGBT-Free’ in the last year. But married YouTubers Jakub and Dawid Mycek-Kwiecinski have found a great way to fight back – with generosity. They started handing out […]
‘We were so ready’: LGBT refugees in Kenya live in fear as global resettlement is put on hold
After four years of waiting, he had the ticket booked: Nairobi, Frankfurt, Toronto. He had fled Uganda’s violent homophobia, survived in neighboring Kenya, where it’s only a little better, and allowed himself to fantasize about what he’d wear when he went out at night in Canada. “Some of us had sold our mattresses, you know. […]
Two Years in Prison for Gay Sex in Turkmenistan
In Turkmenistan, men who have sex with men continue to be arrested and imprisoned on sodomy charges. In mid-March independent media in the region reported the arrest of a popular entertainer as well as those of numerous other men who move in Turkmenistan’s show-business world. Some were able to secure their release. On May 7, […]
Zambian president pardons gay couple jailed for 15 years
Zambia’s president has pardoned a gay couple sentenced to 15 years in prison in November under colonial-era sodomy laws in a case that caused a diplomatic row with the United States. Japhet Chataba, 39, and Steven Sambo, 31, were among nearly 3,000 inmates pardoned by President Edgar Lungu last Friday to commemorate Africa Freedom Day, […]
Russia ‘Ready’ for New Comedy on Gay Activists’ 1970s Soviet Visit, Producer Says
Oscar-nominated Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky has announced a new television series based on the real-life story of a group of LGBT activists who visited the Soviet Union on a mistaken invitation. The comedic series will portray the Homosexuelle Aktion Westberlin (HAW) activists’ 1978 trip to Moscow after a high-ranking Soviet official mistook their gay liberation […]
Costa Rica Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
Costa Rica legalized same-sex marriage on Tuesday, becoming the first Central American country to do so and sparking an emotional response from rights campaigners as the first weddings were held overnight. Celebrations were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but a special program about LGBT rights was broadcast on public television and online after a […]