‘Everyone needs a place’: Gay couple fights for Hong Kong public housing
Like many young married couples in Hong Kong, Nick Infinger and his partner struggled to find a home they could afford. So last year, they applied for a public housing flat and prepared for the long wait. But within months, the Hong Kong Housing Authority rejected their application under the “ordinary family” category, citing a […]
Groups argue law doesn’t protect transgender woman from workplace bias
More than three dozen groups, from Christian colleges to feminists, filed friend-of-the-court briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court to side with a Michigan funeral home business that fired a transgender employee who dressed as a woman. The groups’ arguments follow a filing by the Trump administration last month urging the nine justices to rule that […]
Indian state bans unnecessary surgery on intersex babies
An Indian state has banned sex assignment surgery on babies whose sex is not clear at birth, a health official said on Wednesday, in a first to protect intersex children. The landmark move was made in response to an April order by Tamil Nadu’s top court to prohibit such surgeries – which research suggests can […]
Appeal to stop gay marriage opens in Cayman Islands
A lawyer representing a lesbian couple whose court victory legalized same-sex marriage in the Cayman Islands five months ago said a government appeal against the ruling, which opened on Wednesday, sought to deny the basic right to marry. Chantelle Day, a Caymanian lawyer, and her partner Vickie Bodden Bush went to court last year after […]
Lawmakers OK same-sex marriage in Mexico’s Oaxaca state
Lawmakers in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca have approved changing the civil code to authorize same-sex marriage. A statement from the state congress says marriage will now be defined as a “civil contract celebrated between two persons, who unite to realize a life in common and provide each other respect, equality and mutual help.” […]
Birth certificate reform passes through Victorian Parliament
The Victorian Legislative Council last night passed an amendment to the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 (Vic), making it possible for transgender and gender diverse people to change the legal gender on their birth certificates. After lengthy debate the amendment went through Victoria’s upper house last night, with 26 votes in favour and […]
Boston ‘straight pride’ parade dwarfed by large counter-protest
A controversial “straight pride” parade in Boston on Saturday drew more than 1,000 counter-protesters and a few hundred supporters. The rightwing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was “grand marshal” of the event, for which a group calling itself Super Happy Fun America (SHFA) acquired a permit in June. SHFA claimed it wished to draw attention to the […]
The (queer) year that was
If you’re a queer Indian, the reading down of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (a colonial-era law that criminalised consensual adult same sex relationships) on September 6, 2018, is a milestone you’re unlikely to forget. A big human rights win achieved on the back of decades of struggle by the community, the judgment […]
Parents demand action after students from LGBTQ club in California HS allegedly harassed by group holding MAGA flags
A high school in Bakersfield, Calif., is investigating an alleged incident of harassment against students who participated in a meeting of an LGBTQ club. According to multiple social media posts, students from Frontier High School were confronted and bullied at the first meeting of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) in the school year. The GSA […]
Leaflets falsely claim pupils taught masturbation in relationship classes
The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, has said all schools will be given support to teach relationship education, after leaflets suggesting that lessons encourage primary school children to masturbate were handed out in London. Other material seen by the BBC said parents “will be questioned on the day of judgment” if they do not challenge the […]
How Silicon Valley fostered India’s LGBTQ+ movement
The moment I heard that Section 377 had finally fallen, I wondered if my friends Arvind and Ashok, sitting far away from India in their two-storey house in San Jose in California, had heard the news. Arvind Kumar and Ashok Jethanandani were the first out gay Indian couple I had ever met. In a sense, […]
Indian State Bans Unnecessary Surgery for Intersex Children
India’s Tamil Nadu state government has issued an executive order banning medically unnecessary surgeries on children born with intersex variations. The order comes in response to an April court judgment prohibiting “normalizing” surgeries until the patient is old enough to consent. Genital surgeries are banned except in life-threatening situations and warns against surgeons deliberately misinterpreting that […]
SOGIE bill won’t spoil rights of non-LGBTQ, says former DSWD chief
Rights are not rice cakes that should be divided. This was the case posed by former Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo on Friday, as she took up the cudgels for proponents of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Equality bill. According to her, it would be narrow-minded for some people to look […]
It’s been long march for LGBTQ rights — Straight Pride boosters skip over that
On Saturday there will be a Straight Pride Parade, where people will be marching many of the same streets as the Boston Pride Parade. The proponents of this parade wonder: If LGBTQ people have a parade, why don’t straight people get one too? This logic reveals a disregard for LGBTQ history. For centuries, gay and […]
Principal Who Banned a Book With LGBTQ Themes Arrested for Child Porn
Phillip Todd Wilson had removed books parents objected to because of gay characters and controversial content. A high school principal who once banned books with LGBTQ content and other factors parents and administrators found objectionable has now been arrested on child pornography charges. Phillip Todd Wilson, principal of the Clark County Area Technology Center, a […]
Religious discrimination bill: Coalition accused of creating a ‘Trojan horse for hate’
Christian Porter releases bill, which will stop employers from limiting workers’ religious expression in private following fallout from Israel Folau’s sacking. LBTQI advocates have condemned the government’s proposed religious discrimination bill, saying the “radical” new laws would give people of religion superior rights that would allow them to discriminate. While the Greens have criticised the […]
No single ‘gay gene’, reveals the largest-ever study of the genetics of same-sex sexual behaviour
Scientists have again debunked the idea of a single “gay gene”, in the largest study to date of the genetics of same-sex sexual behaviour. Rather, their findings paint a diverse and complex picture of human sexuality, and the genetic factors that influence it. Nearly half a million people took part in the study, mostly from […]
Another resignation shakes LGBT Republican group after Trump endorsement
The executive director Jerri Ann Henry of the Log Cabin Republicans, group working with Republicans advocate equal rights for lesbian and gay people, has stepped down from her post following the group’s endorsement of President Trump’s reelection.The organization did not make an endorsement in 2016. The group’s chairman, Robert Kabel, and vice chair, Jill Homan, made […]
Victorian MPs vote to allow trans and gender-diverse to change sex recorded on birth certificate
On Tuesday in Victoria, Australia, a new law was passed to allow trans and gender-diverse people to change their recorded sex on their birth cirtificates. Following much heated debate with reservations from independent members of parliament, the Victorian legislative council overwhelmingly voted in favour of the bill, 26 to 14. The centre-right Liberal Party opposed the […]
How will the LGBT issue influence the Polish election?
The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) issue has been one of the main sources of political controversy in Poland over the summer months, and is potentially one of the most important and consequential since the collapse of communism in 1989. Some commentators have accused the ruling right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party of trying […]
China’s Parliament Says No to Marriage Equality
Barely three months after Taiwan solidified same-sex marriage rights, political leaders in Beijing are shutting down any discussion of extending those rights to the Chinese mainland. Zang Tiewei, a spokesperson for China’s Parliament, told reporters during a recent press conference that Chinese law only allows for marriage between a man and a woman. The discussion […]
Poland’s Populist Government Has Declared War on the LGBTQ Community
There were drag queens and rainbow flags, dancing and chants of “Love everyone.” But the first ever Pride March in the Polish city of Bialystok last month wound up being more of a pogrom than a party. The thousands of onlookers who thronged along the parade route on July 20 weren’t LGBTQ allies, but rather […]
India’s Chand confident of making Olympic cut
Dutee Chand, India’s first openly gay sports star, has fought many battles off the track in recent years but for the next 12 months the sprinter is hoping to focus entirely on her running as she builds towards the Tokyo Olympics. From her battle against the IAAF gender testing rules to coming out as a […]
Shining a light on lesbian experiences in Nigeria
“If you haven’t come out to yourself, it’s difficult to come out to [other] people … At first, it might look like a difficult task, like something that’ll never end or something that’ll keep going on but once you get over it, you’ll see that you have your whole life ahead of you.” Pamela Adie’s […]
An Exploration of LGBTQ Jamaican Identity—and Lots of Food
A giant wall of Chinese takeout boxes was the background to an array of smiling, brown, queer faces — their hands darting to and from trays of tropical fruit and perfectly encrusted coconut shrimp. It was J’ouvert, a special nighttime event by Brooklyn’s Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) meant to put the spotlight on […]
Kentucky clerk who refused same-sex marriage licenses can be sued
The Kentucky county clerk who in 2015 gained widespread attention for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples may be sued for damages by two of those couples, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday. In a 3-0 decision, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said Kim Davis can be sued […]
Israeli Arabs indicted for attempted honor killing of gay teen
Three Israeli Arab men from northern Israel were indicted in Tel Aviv Sunday in connection with the stabbing of a gay teenager in Tel Aviv last month, in what was an apparent attempted honor killing. Last month, a 16-year-old Israeli Arab boy was stabbed and seriously wounded just outside of the Beit Dror gay youth […]
Meet Kerala, India’s First “Married” Gay Couple
A gay couple in India is getting mass attention for their love. And now, the couple are being referred to as the first “married” gay couple in the state of Kerala. On July 4, 2018, Businessman Nikesh Usha Pushkaran and tech expert Sonu MS, who met on a dating app, held a secret ring exchange […]
Transgender Refugee Fears Death for Being Deported to Syria
Alarming stories of terror and heartbreak continue to surface amid Turkey’s ruthless campaign to deport thousands of refugees back to Syria’s Idlib province, which faces a deadly daily bombardment of airstrikes by Russian and regime forces. Among them is the uncertain fate of a transgender woman deported from Istanbul despite living there legally with the […]
How children became the target in a rightwing culture war over gender
Evie is like many 14-year-old girls. After school she likes to hang out with her friends, or go home and watch Netflix. She says she would like to focus on her studies, but almost every day she has to fill out bullying reports. At the age of nine she transitioned, saying she always knew she […]