‘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 […]
Anti-LGBT Hate Crimes Up in Russia, Watchdog Says
The number of hate crimes against members of Russia’s LGBT community increased in 2019, according to an annual report by the prominent SOVA Center nonprofit, which tracks xenophobia and racism in the country. At the same time, the SOVA Center noted Tuesday that the number of crimes against ethnic and religious minorities, as well as […]
Russian police threaten activist; she flees, wins asylum
An LGBT activist fled southern Russia for the Netherlands after facing threats of prosecution from law enforcement and retribution from conservative vigilantes, she said in an interview [Jan. 28]. Anna Dvornichenko has said that authorities in the city of Rostov-on-Don refused to investigate two attacks — one with pepper spray and another with a smoke […]
Guyana gay-rights manifesto: Seeking support from political parties
Gay rights advocates in Guyana have compiled a manifesto aimed at persuading Guyanese political parties to embrace measures to end repression of the LGBT community. News Room Guyana reported on the proposals presented by the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD): The list of measures which the LGBTQ+ activist group covers Constitutional Reform, Healthcare, Education, […]
Evangelical Pastor Pushed Pompeo to Fire Yovanovitch for LGBT Support
In the summer of 2018, an American evangelical pastor and dozens of Ukrainian Christian groups prayed for Marie Yovanovitch to be fired from her job as the US ambassador to Kyiv. With their prayers still unanswered a few months later, they put their faith in fellow evangelical Christian Mike Pompeo instead, sending a letter to […]
Guyana urged to end ban on gay sex
A host of foreign governments on Wednesday urged Guyana to decriminalise sexual activity between men and urged protection for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. According to the Criminal Offences Act Chapter 8:01, anyone who commits buggery shall be guilty of felony and liable to imprisonment for life. Further, the law says, “any […]
Mumbai: 51 booked for sedition for pro-Sharjeel Imam slogans at queer pride march
The Mumbai Police have filed a sedition case against 51 persons, including activist Urvashi Chudawala, for allegedly chanting slogans in support of Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam at a queer pride parade on Saturday. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya had filed a case against those who chanted the slogans. The city’s annual queer […]
Nigerian court adjourns case of 47 men charged under homosexuality law
After months of delays, Nigerian prosecutors began presenting their evidence against 47 men charged with public displays of affection with members of the same sex, but asked for an adjournment after calling one witness. Prosecution lawyer Ilyas Abdulrahman said their lead witness, the police inspector who led the raid in which the men were arrested, […]
Change to the Refugees Act moves South Africa much closer to Donald Trump’s America
Since its inception, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa has protected South Africa from its government. A document heralded internationally as a model of democratic rights, the Constitution guarantees all people on South African soil the right to dignity, the right to food, and most important for the purposes of this article, the […]
How Pete Buttigieg Found Support in Iowa’s Formerly Anti-LGBTQ Communities
Pete Buttigieg doesn’t often remind people that he’s running a historic presidential campaign. The 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has emphasized an easy-to-like persona: a nice-guy Midwesterner with middle-of-the-road policies and a bit of Obama-style hope-and-change rhetoric. As he campaigns across Iowa ahead of Monday’s caucuses, he doesn’t make much of the fact […]
LGBTIQ+ Nigerians get new chat and counseling mobile app
NoStrings Development Initiatives, Nigeria’s leading LGBTIQ+ media advocacy group, has launched a new social and counseling mobile app for the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) community. Through the app, LGBTIQ+ Nigerians living in the country will gain free access to certified LGBTIQ+-friendly therapists who will provide them with psychosocial support services. […]
Rising populism stokes homophobic hate speech across Europe
Homophobic and transphobic rhetoric and other anti-LGBT+ hate crimes are rising across Europe, fuelled by divisive politics and socially conservative groups that also campaign against abortion access, an advocacy group said on Tuesday. Hate speech by political and religious leaders increased in 17 countries, including in countries such as Portugal, Spain and Finland, known for […]
Nepal’s next census to count LGBT+ people for the first time
Nepal will count LGBT+ people for the first time in its next census, a move that campaigners on Monday said could help sexual minorities gain better access to education and health schemes. The census – scheduled for June 2021 – will help end stigma and challenges that LGBT+ people face in accessing support and welfare […]
Mumbai Police denies permission for Pride 2020 at August Kranti Maidan
Pride 2020, scheduled for February 1, the annual march of LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual) community in the city, the Mumbai Police has denied permission for the event at August Kranti Maidan. As per the official statement of the police, the permission has been denied keeping in mind the […]
‘It’ll be OK. Spain is kinder to us migrants than the British are’
If a fair few of the 300,000 Britons who live in Spain woke with pounding heads on Saturday morning, many could at least console themselves with the thought that the nagging sense of regret they were feeling was probably not self-induced. Some of those migrants who voted Remain held their own Brexit wakes. Those in […]
Iceland Expands Its Evangelical Ban To Include Anti-LGBT Methodists
The parliament of this island country in the North Atlantic declared today it is increasing its travel ban to include American evangelicals who are members of the newly formed anti-LGBT Methodist denomination. This is a response to President Donald Trump expanding the US travel ban to include six new countries. Immediately after the United States […]
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refuses to meet with LGBT activists in Ukraine
Donald Trump’s anti-LGBT+ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Ukraine this week, but refused to meet with LGBT+ community leaders. Pompeo made the trip to show America’s commitment to defending Ukraine against aggression from Russia, in the middle president’s impeachment trial which centres on his alleged abuse of power over Ukraine. According to The New […]
Tanzania ‘anti-gay’ force official Paul Makonda banned from US
A top Tanzanian official who launched a surveillance squad dedicated to hunting down gay people has been banned by the US from entering the country. The US state department said Paul Makonda, the administrative chief of the capital Dar es Salaam, was involved in “gross violations of human rights”. His immediate family members have also […]
In Peru, land of wild, corrupt politics, the economy hums right along
Expectations for the Congress Peru elected this week are understandably modest. Nine feuding parties from the center to the extreme right emerged victorious, with the second-largest faction made up of biblical survivalists, some in flowing beards and robes, who consider their founder a prophet and gays evil. As to Peru’s executive branch, five of the […]
Franklin Graham banned by 2nd UK city over ‘repulsive’ LGBT+ views, official says
Evangelist Franklin Graham was banned Wednesday from coming to a second arena in England on his upcoming summer tour of the United Kingdom. Julie Dore, the council leader in Sheffield, cited Graham’s “repulsive” and “discriminatory” views about the LGBT community for the June cancellation at Sheffield Arena, The Guardian newspaper reported. In a Jan. 15 […]
Indian Supreme Court accepts trans lawsuit against new trans rights law
The Supreme Court issued a notice to the central government on Monday on a petition alleging that a legislation drafted to protect transgender persons was violative of their rights. The plea filed by advocate and trans activist Swati Bidhan Baruah challenged the validity of the Transgender Persons (Protections of Rights) Act, 2019, arguing that it […]
Veracruz Congress rejects same-sex marriage
The Veracruz Congress rejected the reform of 52 articles of the Civil Code that sought to establish formal union between people of the same sex, since it was indicated that the natural family should be respected. It was in this Thursday’s session that the Political Coordination Board of Congress no longer included such reform that […]
Croatia Gay Couple Foster Care Application Rejected: Court Decision Ignored
The Social Welfare Center in Zagreb again rejected the foster care application submitted by Ivo Šegota and Mladen Kožić, who are life partners in Croatia. By doing so, they have completely disregarded the Croatian Administrative Court’s December 2019 binding judgment, which allowed the couple to become foster parents after a long two-year court battle. “We’re […]
Bernie Sanders Stakes Out Big Lead Among LGBT Voters in Latest Poll
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is the most popular Democratic presidential candidate among LGBT voters, according to the latest poll from Morning Consult. The poll found that 34 percent of LGBT respondents favored Sanders, followed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 19 percent, former Vice President Joe Biden at 18 percent, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg at […]
LGBT community in Hungary faces ‘increasingly concentrated attacks’ by government
The LGBT+ community in Hungary is facing “increasingly concentrated attacks” by the far-right government, activists have said, and hard-won LGBT+ rights in the country could be at risk. Hungarian LGBT+ rights organisation Háttér Society told NBC that a combination of hostile rhetoric from the ruling Fidesz party, anti-LGBT+ legislative moves and police who won’t protect […]
Trans lawmaker Danica Roem gets powerful words of Equal Rights Amendment tattooed on her arm
Trans lawmaker Danica Roem has had the first 24 words of the Equal Rights Amendment tattooed onto her arm in a powerful statement on gender equality. Roem – who became the first openly trans person elected to the Virginia Assembly in 2017 – shared a photo of herself getting the tattoo on Twitter. The tattoo […]
Appeal to Tunisia: End prosecution of LGBT activist who offended Muslims
The human rights group Human Rights Watch is urging Tunisian authorities to drop their lawsuit against LGBT rights activist Mounir Baatour, who wrote a Facebook post last year that offended conservative Muslims. Tunisian authorities should drop the prosecution of a prominent activist on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights (LGBT) over a post […]