Cardinal Zuppi reportedly praises ‘queer’ families at Italian film festival
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi reportedly praised “queer” families at an Italian film festival last week, saying that “the point is to love each other.” The Daily Compass, an Italian-based Catholic news outlet, reported that Cardinal Zuppi—regarded by some to be a candidate for Pope Francis’ successor—answered a question from journalists at the Giffoni Film Festival regarding […]
US judge upholds protections for LGBTQ students in first win for Biden administration
A federal judge in Alabama on Tuesday refused to block the Biden administration from enforcing new anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ students in four Republican-led states, breaking with six other judges who have said the rules are invalid. U.S. District Judge Annemarie Axon in Birmingham in a 122-page ruling, opens new tab rejected various arguments that […]
Killers of trans people face 70 years in jail under reformed Mexico City law
Following years of campaigns, the changes, promoted by the ruling Morena Party, were passed by 45 votes to one, making make Mexico City the second of the country’s 32 states to criminalise such killings. Earlier this year, the small state of Nayarit introduced sentences of up to 60 years. Lawmaker Ana Francis Lopez described the […]
How do LGBTQ+ groups feel about Kamala Harris’ campaign? ‘Re-energized’
LGBTQ+ rights groups are praising Vice President Kamala Harris’ “historic” presidential campaign, and what it means for the queer community. Democrats and human rights groups celebrated Harris’ campaign launch over the weekend after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the race. Highlighting Harris’ unparalleled record on LGBTQ+ issues, several organizations have since voiced their […]
Puberty blockers ban imposed by Tory government is lawful, high court rules
A ban on prescribing puberty blockers in England, Wales and Scotland has been considered lawful by a high court judge. An emergency order implemented by former health secretary Victoria Atkins, under the Tory government, banned private prescriptions for puberty blockers, which are already inaccessible through the NHS. The medication, primarily used by teenagers under the […]
I’m so scared that I’ll be arrested’: France clamps down on sex workers during Olympics
As Paris hosts the 2024 Olympics, undocumented Chinese sex worker Hua says increased police patrols are threatening her livelihood. “I really feel under pressure, I’m constantly scared. Every day, there are police checks,” the 55-year-old said, using a different name so as not to be recognised. “So I go out less and less to work.” […]
The glitter and the grit: Inside Nigeria’s queer ballroom subculture
When Countess Sasha Seduction, a Nigerian non-binary drag queen, got to attend their first ballroom experience, a 2022 Halloween ball in Lagos, Nigeria, it felt like a dream. This year, they got to attend two and were excited about how amazing the underground community was and the warmth that the space provided. “As a drag […]
Pride organisers call for laws to protect LGBTQIA
Organisers of Sunday’s PrideTT parade emphasised the need for legislation to protect members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA) community from discrimination. Almost 200 people gathered at One Café Alcazar on Maraval Road to celebrate the LGBTQIA community. PRIDETT co-founder Kennedy Everett Maraj said this year’s theme, The right to… was intentionally […]
‘Gayest Olympics ever’: Paris Games will spotlight growing LGBTQIA+ athletic community
PHOENIX — The LGBTQIA+ community will be a focal point during the Paris Olympics, which officially kick off with Friday’s opening ceremony. “This will be the gayest Olympics ever,” said Cyd Zeigler, a Los Angeles-based journalist who co-founded Outsports, a popular sports news destination. His publication, which covers the intersection of sports and LGBTQIA+ issues […]
Transgender business program honored for helping people build economic power
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors recognized a local trans nonprofit this week for its program supporting trans and nonbinary entrepreneurs. During its regular meeting at San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, the board bestowed its Certificate of Honor to Transgender District in recognition of the group’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program, according to local LGBTQ+ outlet The Bay Area Reporter. Citing […]
Paris 2024 Olympics: Organisers respond to offended reactions to opening ceremony
The Olympics opening ceremony was intended to “trigger a reflection” while using a global audience to promote diversity and freedoms in France, Paris 2024 organisers say. They were responding to a question in today’s daily games news conference about apparent “offended reactions” to the spectacle from a Catholic and Muslim perspective and those “countries that […]
Tricked into conversion therapy in Russia for being trans
On a remote farm in Siberia, a man handed Ada a knife. In front of them was a pig. “Cut it off,” he said. “If you want to go ahead with the operation, you need to understand what castration means.” Ada was 23 and transgender – she had been tricked into going to a conversion […]
Man ‘held in psychiatric hospital’ after trying to set up Pakistan’s first gay club
A man is reportedly being held in a psychiatric institution by local authorities after attempting to create Pakistan’s first gay club. The individual, who has not been named, was reportedly detained and imprisoned in the psychiatric hospital after applying to create a business in Abbottabad. An application filed to the deputy commissioner of the northern […]
Edafe Okporo, a Gay Nigerian Refugee, Could Be the First Former Asylum Seeker Elected to the NYC Council
Edafe Okporo is running for the New York City Council because he still believes in the promise that America represents, even despite the ordeal he faced in coming to the United States. He first arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport in November 2016 after fleeing homophobia in his home country of Nigeria; a group of […]
‘My day in a Liverpool alley with 35 drag queens’
In an unexpectedly hot day in May, Magnus Hastings is in a back alley behind a gay bar in Liverpool with 35 local drag queens. It’s a long way from home for the Los Angeles-based photographer, usually more accustomed to shooting in studios with big name LGBT celebrities, but he’s doing it in the name […]
How the ultra-right used homophobic disinfo in Czech and Hungarian elections
When Zuzana Huszár, 29, returned home one evening in June 2024, after a long day of work at a queer safe space in Prague, Czech Republic, she found her partner agitated. Her partner, Tereza Misha, told her that she had been “shamed” on the streets and received “hateful comments” on her way back from work […]
Transfemicide becomes a crime in a ‘watershed’ moment for Mexico City
When the trans sex worker Paola Buenrostro was killed by a client in Mexico City, her friend Kenya Cuevas grabbed the man to stop him fleeing and recorded the scene as police arrived amid sirens, screams and red and blue lights. Despite the footage and witness testimonies, a judge considered there was insufficient evidence to […]
Ghana’s top court upholds law criminalizing gay sex
Ghana’s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a six-decade-old law criminalizing gay sex as the west African country awaits another court decision on whether to introduce even harsher penalties in a new bill. The seven-member panel dismissed a lawsuit challenging the law, with presiding Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie saying reasons for the decision will be given later. The Ghanaian […]
Namibia: Government Appeals Historic Same-Sex Ruling
The Government of Namibia has chosen the wrong side of history by challenging the recent High Court ruling that declared the country’s apartheid-era ban on same-sex intimacy unconstitutional and invalid. In their ruling, the judges also found that criminalising gay men “poses a greater threat to the fabric of society as a whole than tolerance.” The landmark 21 […]
All 45 Gay Women’s Soccer Players Competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics
It’s hard to believe it was little over a year ago. Just 12 months ago, the best women’s soccer teams from across the globe and their fans converged on Australia and New Zealand to crown a new World Cup champion. We cheered on the perennial powerhouses and celebrated the debutantes. We saw some of the […]
Elon Musk’s transgender daughter, in first interview, says he berated her for being queer as a child
Vivian Jenna Wilson, the transgender daughter of Elon Musk, said Thursday in her first interview that he was an absent father who was cruel to her as a child for being queer and feminine. Wilson, 20, in an exclusive interview with NBC News, responded to comments Musk made Monday about her and her transgender identity. On […]
UN says nearly 40 million people had HIV in 2023, lack of treatment means someone died every minute
Nearly 40 million people were living with the HIV virus that causes AIDS last year, more than 9 million weren’t getting any treatment, and the result was that every minute someone died of AIDS-related causes, the U.N. said in a new report launched Monday. While advances are being made to end the global AIDS pandemic, […]
Police Investigate Chilling Grindr Attacks in Canberra
In distressing news, ACT Police are investigating two alleged homophobic assaults in Canberra, where gay men were lured via dating apps such as Grindr, and attacked. These incidents, which took place in Denman Prospect and Red Hill in Canberra, have shocked the community with their brazen and aggressive nature. The first incident occurred on the […]
Martinique: Dancer’s shimmy triggers town council into blocking Pride Month events
In June, the LGBT+ association Kap Caraïbe in the French Caribbean island of Martinique had to cancel many of the events it planned as part of Pride Month. The cancellations came after various obstructions from the town council of Fort-de-France, Martinique’s capital. Those officials opposed the Pride Month events after receiving complaints from some of […]
Here’s what Project 2025 says about gay marriage, LGBTQ+ rights
Nothing in Project 2025 proposes banning gay marriage, but it does have several policy proposals that are anti-LGBTQ+.
‘A big F’: LGBTQ+ groups disappointed with Marcos SONA
LGBTQ+ groups are disappointed with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) as he did not mention equal rights as a priority issue of his administration. In his speech that clocked over an hour, Marcos did not mention anything about the LGBTQ+ community or a measure that would prohibit discrimination based […]
US Asks Supreme Court to Unblock Transgender Student Protections
The Biden administration wants the US Supreme Court to step in and limit lower court orders that fully blocked it from extending protections against sex discrimination in education to transgender students. In emergency requests on Monday, US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar asked the justices to partially stay rulings from federal district courts in the Western […]
Out of the closet, out of care: LGBTQ communities in Malawi struggle to access health care
In Lilongwe, Malawi, 24-year-old Cleo Jones recalls feeling more comfortable around girls than boys during childhood. Jones came out as queer and nonbinary at the age of 15, a decision that was met with harsh rejection by their father and attacks and stigma from society, causing them to fall into periods of depression. Since then, […]
Israel LGBTQ+ Medical Society launches course on transgender-friendly protocols
When Y. J. Chichester Salant, a 27-year-old trans woman, went to an ENT doctor in Tel Aviv because of a serious upper respiratory infection, one of the first questions the doctor asked was about her “bottom surgery.” Salant, the health care coordinator at the Trans Center in Tel Aviv, was taken aback and told him […]
Police advice to LGBTQ+ individual to avoid public restrooms ruled as rights violation
A court has ruled that police advising an LGBTQ+ individual, who was undergoing the process of gender correction and changing their resident registration number, to avoid using public restrooms for a period constitutes an infringement of personal rights. The court’s decision highlights the illegality of such remarks, noting that they fail to consider the reality faced […]