LGBTQ groups to travel from NYC to Washington on Oct. 8 for ‘civil disobedience’ action at Supreme Court
Several New York-based human rights organizations are planning a trip to Washington, D.C., next month for “a national action with a civil disobedience component” at the U.S. Supreme Court. The purpose of the action is to bring attention to an “attempt to legalize discrimination against our communities, particularly trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming folk,” a […]
Pop-up venue Pride House opens in Tokyo for LGBT fans ahead of 2019 Rugby World Cup
As the Rugby World Cup got underway Friday, a pop-up venue for LGBT and other sexual minority fans opened in Tokyo, in an initiative organizers hope to build on for next year’s Olympics and beyond. The Pride House Tokyo 2019 in the capital’s Harajuku district will be open through Nov. 4 to disseminate information about […]
‘Yes, I am transgender’: Indonesian singer braves hostility in emotional video
“It has been my inner turmoil for the last two years, but today I want to be honest. The rumours that you’ve heard out there about me being transgender, they’re true. I am transgender,” Gebby Vesta said in a three-minute video that was uploaded on her official YouTube channel on Thursday. Gebby’s confession was shocking […]
British Muslims launch first ever pride festival
British Muslims are launching their first ever pride festival at a time when the community is ‘under attack more than ever’. The festival hopes to celebrate what it means to be LGTBQI and Muslim and how they do ‘not have to choose’ between both identities. LGBTQI charity Imaan is putting on the event to mark […]
Gay fashion designer assaulted and called ‘f****t’ in front of children at Make-a-Wish fundraiser
Designer Pol’ Atteu and his husband Patrik Simpson are the stars of Amazon Prime’s reality show Gown and Out in Beverley Hills. The children’s fashion show was held at St. John’s Cathedral in Los Angeles, and Atteu said a man came backstage in the middle of the show and began attacking him. He suspects the […]
Gay man who fled Ghana over attacks secures asylum in US
A Ghanaian [name withheld] who was attacked in Ghana in 2015 on suspicion of being gay has succeeded in securing asylum in the United States. Two law students of New York Law School’s Asylum Clinic secured the asylum for the Ghanaian who was code-named M.A for security reasons. In May 2015, M.A. was brutally assaulted […]
Anti-gay Nigerian protesters demand harsher laws against LGBTIQ+ people
Homophobic Nigerian youths and officials protested this week to demand harsher laws and a crackdown on LGBTIQ+ people in Nigeria. Even though a recent survey has shown some progress toward LGBTIQ+ acceptance in the country, Nigeria remains one of the most homophobic countries. Many Nigerians are completely ignorant about LGBTIQ+ issues, which has led to […]
Council of Europe presses Chechnya on gay torture
A Council of Europe official tackled Chechen officials about reports of the torture and detention of gay people, during a rare visit to the Russian republic Saturday. Frank Schwabe, a member of the Council´s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) raised the issue with officials in Moscow and in the Chechen capital Grozny. “There are very serious reports […]
‘I feel like it’s going to happen when it happens. We’re in Ireland and it’s very accepting of being gay’
Last July, an anonymous Twitter account caused a major stir. A user of the site claiming to be an anonymous Championship footballer suggested he was intending to come out as gay. On account of the ensuing publicity, @FootballerGay attracted over 50,000 followers and a date for the press conference was set. A number of high-profile […]
Elizabeth Warren highlights violence against transgender women of color, reads names of those killed this year
Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-MA., was the penultimate speaker at Friday night’s forum focused on LGBTQ issues, and took the stage with a powerful opening statement. “If elected President, what should LGBTQ Americans expect from the first 100 days in office?” moderator Lyz Lenz asked Warren. “I’m not going to tell you – I’m going to […]
Gay couple become viral stars after taking perfect stance against anti-LGBT protesters
A gay couple in Chester has become a viral hit and have received tons of support after they shared a kiss in front of anti-LGBT protestors. The couple of Joe Fergus and Robert Brookes, had just been to see a production of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the city’s Storyhouse Theatre. However, when they […]
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER ALLOWED TO LABEL POPULAR MINISTRY “HATE GROUP” UNDER FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTION
A district court judge in Alabama has dismissed a lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) that sought to keep the organization from labeling a Christian ministry as a hate group. The lawsuit was filed two years ago by Florida-based D. James Kennedy Ministries. In a 141-page decision, Judge Myron Thompson made clear that […]
The Plight of the LGBT Community in the Palestinian Authority and Muslim Countries
The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s violent treatment of the gay community under its rule offers a gloomy reminder of this community’s difficult situation in most Muslim countries. On August 18, the PA barred the Al Qaws (Rainbow) organization, which combines several LGBT groups, from holding an event in the Nablus area. Palestinian policemen not only forcibly […]
Indonesian president postpones plans to outlaw extramarital sex
Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, has ordered his government to postpone the ratification of a deeply controversial criminal code that would outlaw living together outside marriage, extramarital sex and insulting the president. The apparent climbdown came in a surprise address at the state palace on Friday afternoon, and follows an outpouring of anger and criticism about […]
‘How can you be lesbian and Christian?’ Home Office using religion against LGBT asylum seekers
A new report has alleged that the Home Office is using religion against LGBT+ asylum seekers. The 85-page publication also found that the government department was using some LGBT+ asylum seekers’ dependency on homophobic or transphobic friends or family to discredit their applications. The report, published earlier this month, outlines the often terrifying and traumatic […]
FEWER FEMALE, LGBT MEMBERS IN NEW KNESSET
The 22nd Knesset will have eight new members and nine MKs returning after a hiatus when it is inaugurated on October 3, a final count of 4,440,141 votes indicated. The previous Knesset broke a record for most new MKs, with 49. The new Knesset will have 28 female MKs, one less than the Knesset sworn […]
‘We Tracked Your Social Media, You’re Gay’: Russian Student Threatened With Expulsion
A Russian university is said to have threatened a student with expulsion after his pink phone case and membership in pro-LGBT social media groups fueled suspicions about his alleged sexual orientation. The reported threats made by Ural State University of Economics (USUE) administrators in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg come six years after the Russian […]
SUSPICIONS ARISE AFTER CONFESSION IN MURDER OF RUSSIAN LGBT ACTIVIST YELENA GRIGORYEVA
LGBT activist Yelena Grigoryeva’s body was found in St. Petersburg, Russia on July 20, with evidence she had been choked, stabbed and thrown into the bushes near her home. Now, two months later, police say they have obtained a confession from a suspect, but Grigoryeva’s friends are dubious. Grigoryeva, 41, had received numerous death threats […]
Rwandan gospel singer comes out as gay, to country’s shock
Friends of Albert Nabonibo, a well-known gospel singer in Rwanda who recently came out as a gay man, do not want their names revealed. It is too shameful, one says. Another says he is anguished because his family knows he often used to socialize with Nabonibo. The singer shocked many Rwandans in August when he […]
Nigerian press agog with protests against LGBT, cashless policy
The renewed pursuit of cashless policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the protest by youths against lesbians, gays, and transgender are some of the leading stories in the Nigerian press on Thursday. The Daily Trust reported that the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) on Wednesday protested against activities of Lesbians, Gay, […]
Report: LGBT People Of Color Lives In Rural America
Media coverage often portrays rural America as singularly white, conservative and working-class. Yet at least 10 million people of color, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people of color, call rural America home. Today, the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) released a new report, Where We Call Home: LGBT People of Color in Rural America, […]
Gay couple held down and prayed over against their will at a church to ‘turn them straight’
A gay man said that he and his boyfriend were attacked by a congregation at his Mother’s church in an attempt to convert them to heterosexuality. Sean Cormie, 23, recently came out to his family in Blackwell Oklahoma who have been trying to get him to go to their church The First Assembly of God Church […]
Myanmar’s ‘tomboys’ stride out of the shadows
In seventh grade, at school in a small town five hours’ drive north of Yangon, Jel Li developed a crush on another girl. Confused, she wrote her feelings down, but then burned the paper. “I felt I was abnormal. … I didn’t know what was happening to me,” said Jel Li, who has now adopted […]
Trans woman defies danger to champion LGBTI rights in El Salvador
Bianka Rodríguez was leaving a San Salvador shopping centre when a man with a gun came up and forced her into his car. He proceeded to drive aimlessly around the city, rattling off a list of places she frequented to make it clear that he had been stalking her. He rifled through her purse, sniffed […]
Qantas and Virgin bosses reject Morrison government calls to be silent on social issues
The chief executives of Australia’s major airlines have warned they will not be silent on social issues, with Qantas’s Alan Joyce arguing it was not just “morally right” but also in its business interests to fight for marriage equality. At the National Press Club on Wednesday Joyce and Virgin Australia’s Paul Scurrah both pushed back […]
Photojournalist Rescues Victim Of Anti-LGBT Mob
On September 15, around 2,000 LGBT rights activists marched through Kharkiv in the first event of its kind in the eastern Ukrainian city. When the march ended, most of the participants left safely through a nearby subway station, but a crowd of far-right counterdemonstrators had gathered in a neighboring park, apparently on the hunt for […]
Homophobia and ‘Soviet hangover’ driving HIV infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, says David Furnish
Homophobia and a “Soviet hangover” are driving HIV infections in parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, according to David Furnish, AIDS campaigner and Sir Elton John’s husband. While the rate of new HIV infections is decreasing globally – falling 40 per cent since its peak in 1997 – certain areas of the world are […]
‘I’m not giving up’: Belgrade Pride calls for Serbia to address LGBT rights
Marching under the slogan ‘’I’m not giving up’’ #NeOdricemSe, Sunday evening saw thousands take part in Belgrade’s eighth Pride Parade. The latest Balkans capital to hold Pride events, the walk passed the main government institutions, to which protesters have been addressing their demands for improved LGBT rights. Despite the appointment of openly gay prime minister […]
Nepal’s sexual minorities say progress in rights has stalled
Nepal seized the lead in equal rights for sexual minorities in South Asia four years ago with a new constitution that forbids all discrimination based on sexual orientation. Even citizenship certificates and passports now allow a “non-male, non-female” category. But same-sex couples such as Niraj Sunwar and Aashik Lama say progress has stalled since the […]
Transgender sex workers feel under attack. These women are working to protect their own.
With a bag of condoms and a stack of business cards, Tamika Spellman began a route she knew by heart, peering out the window of her Lincoln sedan at dark sidewalks where she once stood. West Virginia Avenue. K Street. Eastern Avenue. Street corners and alleyways where women wait for a steady trickle of clients, […]