Husband, father, sex worker: As adults, Afghanistan’s ‘dancing boys’ lead double lives
In conservative Afghanistan, former dancing boy Farhad leads a double life; married father-of-six by day, cross-dressing dancer and sex worker by night. The practice of “bacha bazi” – translated as “boy play” – involves boys dressing up and dancing at private parties, but it was outlawed in 2017 amid concerns it fostered sexual abuse and […]
‘Fearless’ Scots lawyer who worked to decriminalise sex between men found dead in his home
65-year-old Derek Ogg QC was found dead at his home in Langside, Glasgow on the evening of May 1. There are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death. The legal titan was a pioneer for gay rights in Scotland from the 1970s onwards, campaigning for the decriminalisation of sex between men and […]
Turkey: Criminal Case for Opposing Homophobic Speech
The Ankara Prosecutor’s office in Turkey has opened a criminal investigation into the Ankara Bar Association after it filed a complaint against the head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate for a homophobic speech, Human Rights Watch said today. The case revolves around a Friday sermon about the Covid-19 pandemic on April 24, 2020 by Ali […]
Trans woman sets herself on fire in Georgia as virus lockdown cuts income
A transgender woman set herself on fire in Georgia to highlight the plight of trans sex workers with no income during the coronavirus lockdown, LGBT+ groups said on Friday as they called for more state support. The incident happened as several trans women staged a small demonstration in the capital, Tbilisi, on Thursday evening. Local […]
Indiana restaurant is using drag queens to deliver food to customers
The Michigan City, Indiana restaurant Fiddleheads is now offering Dragside Pickup. Customers can order online or telephone and when they arrive to pick it up, a drag queen will bring it to their car. Owner Aaron O’Reilly, a gay man, says the creative way to serve customers isn’t just a gimmick to increase sales. “This […]
Students unite in support of gay teacher sacked from Catholic school because of his sexuality
English teacher Jim Zimmerman had worked at Alter High School in Ohio for 23 years, and is a graduate of the school himself. He was forced out when an anonymous person sent a copy of his marriage certificate to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, which oversees the school and opposes same-sex marriage. As a result, officials […]
Two arrested in alleged hate crime killing of transgender women in Puerto Rico
Two men have been arrested in Puerto Rico in the shooting death of two transgender women whose bodies were found last week in a burned-out car. The two suspects, Juan Carlos Pagán Bonilla, 21 and Jose Díaz De Léon, 19, were arrested Wednesday, according to the Negociado de la Policía de Puerto Rico, the island’s […]
Brazil’s president accuses World Health Organization of turning kids gay
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of trying to turn children gay in a series of bizarre claims on Facebook. He later deleted the post. Like the Brazilian president’s claims about COVID-19, the statements weren’t true. Bolsonaro, dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics,” has followed President Donald Trump’s lead and repeatedly […]
Pope Francis just threw his support behind a small community of Italian transgender sex workers
Sex workers, particularly those who are undocumented, have been badly hit by the pandemic as many are unable to work or claim benefits. This was the case for a group of trans sex workers in Italy, who found themselves plunged into poverty by COVID-19. Two weeks ago, Father Andrea Conocchia was approached by a trans […]
Groups Express Grave Concern about the Commission on Unalienable Rights
As human rights organizations, scholars, defenders and activists, we the 167 undersigned, write to express our grave concern about the work of the U.S. State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights and any potential report or output that undermines the international human rights system and purports to reinterpret its respective treaties and monitoring bodies. In particular, […]
Far-right groups are taking their anti-LGBTQ agenda to lockdown protests
A slew of far-right groups who have openly embraced anti-LGBTQ messages are taking part in so-called “lockdown protests” across the country — further endangering the lives of LGBTQ people who are already vulnerable to the coronavirus. Groups like the Proud Boys and right-wing militia groups are among those protesting the many statewide stay-at-home orders. The […]
Wave of trans murders sparks fear of ‘hunting season’ in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico has been hit by an “epidemic of violence” with five transgender murders in two months, LGBT+ activists said on Wednesday, adding that homophobic rhetoric from politicians and religious leaders may have fuelled the bloodshed. Opposition lawmakers and campaigners called on the government to publicly acknowledge and investigate the violence, after the bodies of […]
LGBT+ ‘gaymers’ in Mexico escape coronavirus lockdown with virtual football tournament
Confined at home by the new coronavirus, and often in the closet too, LGBT+ football fans in Mexico will get a rare chance to kick a ball about and make friends online on Friday in a national ‘gaymers’ tournament. LGBT+ gaming is in its infancy in Mexico but the event’s organisers hope the three-day tournament, […]
A Court Guessed How Gay Men From Conservative Families Would React After First Having Sex. It Cost Two Men Their Refugee Status.
Two young men from Pakistan who feared persecution because they were in a homosexual relationship had their refugee claims rejected because a tribunal made “illogical” assumptions about how they would respond to their first time having sex, a court has found. The decision of the Federal Court of Australia to send the case back to […]
Erdogan throws support behind cleric accused of homophobia
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended the homophobic remarks of the country’s top Muslim cleric, Ali Erbas. Erbas, who is the head of Turkey’s directorate of religious affairs, on Friday said that Islam condemns homosexuality because “it brings illnesses and corrupts generations”. He added it also causes the HIV virus, that leads to AIDS. […]
Transgender man loses appeal court battle to be registered as father
A transgender man who gave birth has lost his appeal court battle to be registered as a father in a case that wrestled with the legal definition of motherhood and transgender rights. The ruling against Freddy McConnell, a 34-year-old freelance journalist who works for the Guardian and who lived as a man for several years […]
Gay in Nigeria: The Stark Reality For LGBT People In The West Africa Country
Michael Ighodaro was attacked by homophobes in his home city of Abuja when he was waiting for a taxi outside his friend’s home. His attackers stormed up behind the LGBT activist, hurled abuse at him, and broke his hands and ribs. His taxi driver discovered his battered body outside the housing complex. “I couldn’t go […]
Grindr witch-hunt sparks fresh call to make gay sex legal in Morocco
Morocco is facing fresh demands to decriminalize gay sex after women started outing gay and bi men using dating apps. As GSN reported last week, a Moroccan expat living in Turkey called Naofal Moussa or Sofia Talouni sparked the crisis. She is a social media influencer and went on Instagram Live to tell Moroccan women […]
How Iran’s anti-LGBT policies put transgender people at risk
Despite repressive laws against homosexuality, gender reassignment surgery remains legal in Iran. But Iranians who seek sex-change operations are faced with a harsh approval process and a high risk of botched surgeries. When Arya came out as transgender, his family immediately rejected the idea. “They did not accept that I was trans,” says Arya, who […]
LGBT community living in fear of attacks in Kenyan refugee camp
Eva Nabagala hoped she and her young son would be safe from her family when they fled Uganda for a Kenyan refugee camp – but instead, the 28-year-old says she was attacked and raped there as punishment for being a lesbian. “I have been threatened with death, I have been beaten, I have been harassed […]
This woman realising her chickens are in a lesbian relationship is the ultimate quarantine love story
Two hens brought together in quarantine have fallen in love, and the story of how their owner realised she had lesbian chickens will melt your heart. Nothing about the match between the lovebirds was planned. In a viral Twitter thread, Amanda Brunton shared how she realised her two chickens were in a lesbian relationship. The […]
EU urged to act as Hungary’s far-right government moves to end legal recognition of trans people
The European Union has been urged to take action against the Hungarian government as it moves to push through “discriminatory” legalisation that would end the legal recognition of trans people within the country. The bill, which says that gender should be defined as “biological sex based on primary sex characteristics and chromosomes”, was first submitted […]
POLAND IS AUSTRALIA’S ‘LOGICAL CONCLUSION’ OF EXCLUDING LGBTQI PEOPLE WITH RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION BILL
The ‘LGBTQI exclusion zones’ throughout Poland are the logical extension of excluding LGBTIQ people from public life through ‘religious freedom’. According to national lobby group Just-Equal’s spokesperson Brian Greig, the conservative push in Poland, backed by the Catholic Church, to ban LGBTQI people from visibility, advocacy and civic space was the inevitable conclusion of a […]
Thailand Constitutional Court rejects marriage law petition
On 31 December 2019, the Constitutional Court of Thailand decided not to accept a petition made by two LGBT couples and the Foundation for SOGI Rights and Justice (For-SOGI) on 22 November 2019, requesting the Court to rule whether the current Thai marriage law violates the 2017 Constitution. The two couples with representatives from LGBT […]
COVID-19: LGBTQ community kept in closet by public health officials
Everyone knows I’m queer. Except one group of colleagues. Ironically, they’re the ones from my own field — public health professionals. I work for the National LGBT Cancer Network, a CDC-funded, LGBTQ+ disparity network. I announce I am trans and bi whenever I host a training program for the Network. But while knowing one trans-bi […]
Japan NGO offers same-sex ‘partnership certificates’ to address gaps in current provision
About 20 companies in Japan will start accepting “partnership certificates,” issued to same-sex couples by a nongovernmental organization, from July as a way of providing employees with spousal and familial benefits that are available to straight married couples, people familiar with the matter said Saturday. Mizuho Financial Group Inc. is among companies participating in the […]
Transgender players kick down doors in local football
Mara Gómez and Marcos Rojo are blazing a trail for transgender players in Argentine football. Out on the pitch, they finally can feel like themselves. In addition to the sheer joy that football brings them, Mara Gómez and Marcos Rojo have the extra satisfaction of knowing that after a long and difficult journey, they are […]
Dozens of Gay Men Are Outed in Morocco as Photos Are Spread Online
At least 50 to 100 gay men were outed in Morocco over the last two weeks, rights activists say, after the men were identified on location-based meeting apps while sheltering at home amid a coronavirus lockdown. In at least three cases, men were kicked out of their houses, L.G.B.T.Q. activists said. In interviews, many others […]
We’re Still Picking up the Pieces of the Last Crisis
At this point there can be only one priority: to overcome the public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As economist James Meadway has described, in the short term we need the opposite of a war economy — not the public mobilization of resources against a common enemy, but a demobilization in order to […]
Lesbian Indonesian singer bats away messages of hate to pen songs about acceptance of LGBT minority and respect for all
Indonesian singer and songwriter Kai Mata realised, as a teenager in Jakarta, she liked women more than men – but her realisation was quickly followed by disillusionment. “There seemed to be no support networks in place, and no one I knew in Indonesia was openly gay, bisexual – or anything but straight,” she recalls. “It […]