Peruvian LGBTQ couples call for marriage equality in symbolic wedding
LGBTQ couples in Peru took part in a symbolic wedding ceremony on Friday in an annual event aimed at calling for marriage equality in the conservative South American nation. Eleven couples exchanged vows at a park in the Miraflores district of Lima in a ceremony to mark Valentine’s Day called “Love does not discriminate.” Peru, […]
Watch: LGBT racism: ‘I felt like a piece of meat’
Racism within the LGBT community leave black people suffering poor mental health, a leading charity says. Research by Stonewall shows that 61% of ethnic minority LGBT people have experienced racism through online dating apps or in person. LGBT correspondent Ben Hunte went to one of the only club nights dedicated to black and Asian LGBT […]
Who should decide when a child can change gender?
It was a case that tore a family apart – and exposed the faultlines in an increasingly bitter global row over the rights of a child to define their own gender. The battle late last year in Texas between two parents over the gender identity of their child sparked a raft of bills across the […]
‘There will be dad and mum’ Putin rules out Russia legalising gay marriage
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia would not legalise gay marriage as long as he was in the Kremlin. He made clear he would not allow the traditional notion of mother and father to be subverted by what he called “parent number 1” and “parent number 2”. “As far as ‘parent number 1’ and […]
Vietnam accused of teaching young people that being gay is a ‘disease’
Young people in Vietnam continue to be taught at home and at school that same-sex attraction is a “disease” and a “mental illness” that can be cured and treated, despite legislation designed to support and protect LGBTQ+ rights. Stigma and discrimination about sexual orientation and gender identity contribute to the verbal harassment and bullying of […]
Man charged with the murder of gay journalist and activist Lyra McKee
Northern Ireland police have charged a 52-year-old man in connection with the murder of gay journalist Lyra McKee. McKee, 29, was shot dead while reporting on riots in Londonderry, April 18, 2019, in the heavily Catholic Creggan neighbourhood. More than a byline, the reporter’s death rippled across the country, receiving an outpouring of grief in […]
Senegal’s leader defends LGBT record during Canada PM visit
Senegal’s President Macky Sall on Wednesday defended his country’s ban on same-sex activity, saying during a visit from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that it “has nothing to do with” homophobia. More than half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa — 28 out of 49 — have legislation prohibiting or repressing homosexuality. Same-sex activity is […]
Rush Limbaugh: ‘Mr. Man’ Trump Will ‘Have Fun’ With ‘Gay Guy’ Buttigieg Kissing His Husband
Days after being awarded the Medal of Freedom during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, right-wing talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh wondered aloud about how, in a general election face-off, “Mr. Man, Donald Trump” would “have fun” with Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s sexuality. Limbaugh, who recently announced that he’s been diagnosed with advanced […]
Pride House Tokyo 2020 to open for Olympics
A pop-up venue will open in Tokyo to raise awareness of sexual minorities for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Unity in diversity is one of the principles of the Tokyo Games. Pride House Tokyo 2020 will open in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district in mid-April for five months. It will feature displays on lesbian, gay, bisexual […]
Anti-LGBT incidents in Israel increase by 36% in 2019
Anti-LGBT incidents in Israel increased by 36 percent in 2019, according to a report published Thursday by the Aguda — Israel’s LGBT Task Force nonprofit. According to the annual report, which was published for the seventh year, 2,125 case were recorded last year — or one almost every four hours. Most incidents happened online, primarily […]
Rebecca Long-Bailey sparks Labour row after pledging to fight ‘transphobic’ women’s groups
Rebecca Long-Bailey has triggered a furious row after signing up to a campaign to “fight” women’s groups branded “transphobic” and to expel offending party members. The Labour leadership contender has urged others to join her backing for a 12-point plan put forward by a group called Labour Campaign for Trans Rights. It demands the expulsion […]
My School Gets Abuse For Supporting LGBT Groups. But We Won’t Back Down
This month my school, Woodside High School, will be the first in London to get a permanent rainbow crossing. We are delighted about it – but we also know it is likely to be a matter of days before it is vandalised. We are very open about our stance on equality and diversity. This month, […]
‘Listen to our voices’: Pasifika protest over anti-gay laws at pride march
The ongoing criminalisation of homosexuality around Oceania was the focus for the Pacific community at Saturday’s 7000 strong Rainbow Pride march in New Zealand’s largest city. Now called Our-March, the march focusses on inequities still experienced in the rainbow community around New Zealand and the Pacific. The Pasifika contingent took pride of place leading the […]
South Dakota Senate Committee kills controversial gender-change bill
In a 5-2 vote on Monday, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted to kill a bill that aimed to ban gender-change treatments for youth under 16. The ACLU of South Dakota is commending the decision to kill House Bill 1057. The ACLU of South Dakota strongly opposed the bill calling it unconstitutional. “Though […]
Two Gay Immigrants Left Everything For Safety In The US. Instead, They Were Sent To Guatemala.
Sitting in a jet streaming toward Guatemala, watching the landscape shift below, Pablo replayed the scenes that had led to this moment. He recalled the day he fled his home in El Salvador rather than face the danger he felt being a gay man. He considered the sacrifices he had made over the yearlong journey […]
Queer Asians Refused to Be Left Out of Lunar New Year Celebrations
“Our first year we used a lot of euphemisms like ‘rainbow family.’ But now we want people to know exactly what we are: a queer Asian contingent.” Christine tears up every time she tells the story: the 20-something was marching in New York City’s Pride parade last summer with Q-Wave, a group for lesbian, bi, […]
Switzerland votes in favour of LGBT protection bill
Voters in Switzerland have backed a proposal to make discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sexual identity illegal. The result – 63.1% in favour to 36.9% against – is a huge boost for Switzerland’s LGBT community. It had argued Swiss law on the issue lagged far behind other countries in Europe. Opponents of […]
Five Urgent Issues for Indonesia’s President to Address
On February 10, Indonesian President Joko Widodo (known as Jokowi) will address Australia’s parliament. Indonesia is often referred to as the democratic success story of Southeast Asia and a model of Muslim democracy, yet it has been responsible for significant backsliding on human rights in recent years. This backsliding is serious enough that Australian leaders […]
The 200-year-old diary that’s rewriting gay history
A diary written by a Yorkshire farmer more than 200 years ago is being hailed as providing remarkable evidence of tolerance towards homosexuality in Britain much earlier than previously imagined. Historians from Oxford University have been taken aback to discover that Matthew Tomlinson’s diary from 1810 contains such open-minded views about same-sex attraction being a […]
‘It Just Shows What All the Work Was For.’ Meet the First Same-Sex Couple to Get Married in Northern Ireland Next Week
When Belfast native Robyn Peoples found out that her girlfriend had planned a romantic trip to Paris to see Ariana Grande perform, she knew she wanted to do something special. “It was probably a good six months before [the trip] that I started thinking about it, when I got the ring and thought about when […]
Eight men sentenced to two years in prison for ‘imitating women’ at a birthday party in Mauritania
Police arrested ten men when a video that appeared to be Mauritania’s ‘first gay wedding’ began circulating on social media. Homosexuality is strictly illegal in the North African country and punishable by death under Sharia law, although there were no known executions in the past decade. The video prompted a public outcry in Mauritania and […]
Working towards making the world a more inclusive space, says Mr Gay India 2020
A 31-year-old Punekar has been working towards creating safe spaces for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community since the past decade in the country. “I hope to work towards the betterment of the community. That has been my primary focus and I have been taking our initiatives to different cities in India trying […]
Buttigieg’s Iowa success unleashes emotion and commentary on his gay identity
Within moments of Pete Buttigieg officially finishing at the top of the Iowa caucuses this week, the LGBTQ Victory Fund announced its conclusion: “America is ready for the first openly gay president!” A few hours later, Buttigieg himself spoke lovingly of his husband, Chasten, in an unusually emotional way, saying at a CNN town hall […]
Russian Jury Acquits Gay Man’s Murder Suspect
A Moscow jury has acquitted a man accused of killing a gay man last year, the LGBT rights group Stimul reported Thursday. Security cameras captured 40-year-old Roman Yedalov’s stabbing death near central Moscow’s Kursky train station in June 2019. His boyfriend Yevgeny Yefimov, who survived the attack, recounted that the suspect had shouted homophobic slurs. […]
Spain’s far-right Vox party takes Twitter to court over tweet ban
Spain’s ultra-conservative Vox party has filed a criminal complaint in a Spanish court against Twitter, alleging the social media company violated its basic rights by blocking it from tweeting, Vox said on Friday. Twitter disabled the tweet function on Vox’s official account in Spain more than two weeks ago, after – in an apparent reference […]
Activist aims to shame Polish towns opposed to LGBT community
An activist has begun photographing members of Poland’s LGBT community next to a fake “LGBT-free zone” sign outside towns that passed motions rejecting what they call “LGBT ideology” or defending traditional family values. Bartosz Staszewski, a 29-year-old filmmaker, has taken portraits of five people so far, and plans another 32 that would target towns he […]
‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’: Less than 1 in 5 LGBT teachers come out over career fears
A ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ culture still exists in schools with a religious ethos when it comes to LGBT teachers. That is the finding of a new survey by the INTO which shows that 10% of teachers identify as LGBT. However, less than one in five LGBT teachers have come out to colleagues, parents or […]
Swiss vote on anti-homophobia law as critics decry censorship
When 41-year-old Jehanne, a lesbian, was repeatedly insulted for supporting LGBT rights during a tram ride in the Swiss city of Geneva last month, she threatened to call the police. But her aggressor said his remarks were not a crime under Swiss law. “I was shaking, I was crying too,” said Jehanne, an artist and […]
Witness no-show causes new delay in Lagos homosexuality case
The trial of 47 Nigerian men charged with homosexuality, punishable by 14 years in jail in the West African country, stalled again on Wednesday as their accusers failed to produce a witness. The men, who were arrested in a Lagos hotel during a police raid in August 2018, have pleaded not guilty in the case […]
National firestorm on horizon as states consider criminalizing transgender treatments for youths
Rep. Fred Deutsch, sponsor of the South Dakota’s HB 1057, said he introduced the bill Jan. 14 to prevent doctors from pushing children to change their bodies. “Every child in South Dakota should be protected from dangerous drugs and procedures,” Deutsch said in an emailed statement. The same Tuesday Deutsch introduced his bill, lawmakers in […]