Butuan students reminded on anti-discrimination ordinance

With the implementation of the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance here, the students of various schools were reminded on the provisions of said ordinance during a symposium conducted by the Ladlad Caraga, Incorporated, a non-government organization that promotes the rights and welfare of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community. According to Isagani Bacasmas, Jr., […]

Greek bishop convicted of hate speech steps down

A controversial Greek Orthodox bishop who was convicted of inciting violence against homosexuals has announced his resignation after four decades at the post. “Today is my last service as your bishop,” 81-year-old Bishop Amvrosios told his congregation on Sunday.”Tomorrow I will submit my resignation, I’ve been with you for 41 years. I need to look […]

Law needed to stop abuses vs LGBTQ

A law is needed to discourage and prevent abuses against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community, Laguna Third District Rep. Sol Aragones said over the weekend. In a statement on Saturday, Aragones cited a study conducted by New York-based Human Rights Watch in 2015 that found 15 percent of Filipinos […]

Two conversion therapy survivors want protections for LGBTQ youth

For Thomas Argue, growing up in Victoria County in the 1990s was idyllic in some ways, humiliating and painful in others. Argue, who is gay, was raised in Plaster Rock, where his family belonged to the Family Worship Centre, a strict Pentecostal organization. Argue thinks his mother was the first to suspect he was gay. […]

New survey finds a decrease in homophobic attitudes in Nigeria

A survey from The Initiative for Equality Rights has found that homophobic attitudes in Nigeria are decreasing. The survey was last conducted in 2017, and this time it talked to 2,400 residents of the country. Although numbers were still fairly low, they did show that more Nigerians were becoming accepting of the LGBTQ identity. In […]

America Moved On From Its Gay-Rights Moment—And Left a Legal Mess Behind

Roughly half of americans think federal law bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Despite four years of nationwide same-sex marriage, despite rapidly growing cultural acceptance for LGBTQ people, despite extensive annual Pride celebrations—these Americans are wrong. Now that all of this summer’s glitter floats have been dismantled and the rainbow confetti has been […]

Watch: Nepal pride rally calls for better LGBT rights

Hundreds of people gathered in Nepal’s capital on Friday for the annual gay pride parade. The participants used the event in Kathmandu to call for better rights. The parade has been held annually for the past few years on Gai Jatra, a Hindu festival to remember the dead when people are traditionally allowed to crossdress. […]

Union quits Pride Glasgow event over ‘commercialisation’

A major trade union has pulled out of the Glasgow Pride march after criticising the “commercialisation” of the event. Unite will not be taking part in Saturday’s event after its Scottish LGBT+ committee said it did not agree with imposing charges on organisations to join in the demonstration. It also criticised companies using Pride to […]

Native American Tribes Are Wrestling With Decision To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

While across the U.S. same-sex marriage has been legal for four years, some Native American tribes still fail to recognize it. Tribes are empowered to make their own laws, and some are just now wrestling with new rights. Chynna Lockett of South Dakota Public Broadcasting says the Oglala Lakota tribe is the latest to legalize […]

Gay marriage cake: customer takes case to European court

Lawyers representing a man from Northern Ireland who sued a bakery for refusing to make a cake with pro-gay marriage message are going to Europe to challenge a supreme court ruling that its evangelical Christian owners had a right to refuse to bake it. Belfast human rights law firm Phoenix Law confirmed on Thursday it […]

Prague Pride March attracts 30,000 supporters, but faces minor protests

The annual Prague Pride March on August 10 attracted approximately 30,000 participants, despite some rain. The march, and a week of Prague Pride events ahead of it celebrate the LGBT+ community. The number was a bit below the 40,000 in last year’s parade but above the 8,000 who participated in 2011. While support came from […]

Côte d’Ivoire: Bill to Amend Marriage Law Approved

On March 27, 2019, the Council of Ministers of Côte d’Ivoire approved a bill that would substantially amend the country’s marriage law. It must now be presented to the Parliament, where, if adopted, it will become law following its promulgation by the President. The bill, which was drafted as part of a package of new […]

‘Scandal’ as English gay men at risk without access to HIV prevention pill

Delays in rolling out an HIV prevention pill in England are putting gay men’s lives at risk, with thousands buying it online without medical supervision, HIV campaigners said on Wednesday. England is lagging behind the United States and Kenya, where the highly-effective drug is more widely available, as health authorities only give the pills to […]

How Multinationals Can Help Advance LGBT Inclusion Around the World

As the rainbow flags come down in New York City after the WorldPride and Stonewall 50 celebrations, and as flags go up for pride events in other parts of the world, it’s worth asking: where do we stand on global LGBT rights? This year has offered a mixed bag. More jurisdictions, including Ecuador and Taiwan, […]

Mumbai: LGBT people raise clamour for gender-neutral laws

Two city youths have decided to take the next step in the assertion of LGBT rights and have more queer-friendly laws in the country. To enable their quest, Shrushti Mane and Varun Sardesai have started an online petition which has been uploaded on change.org. The petition calls for inclusivity in laws for protection of the […]

Cameroon’s most prominent LGBT+ activist Marc Lambert Lamba has passed away

Marc Lambert Lamba a leading LGBT rights activist in Cameroon, passed away unexpectedly on August 4th of a stroke at age 44. In 2000 Lambert founded Cameroon’s first LGBT rights organization AGALES (Association for Gays and Lesbians and Supporters). In 2005, along with 10 other men, he was arrested in police raid in gay-friendly bar The […]

Same-sex penguin couples keep adopting eggs, and the Berlin Zoo is celebrating

To the untrained eye, Skipper and Ping look like a typical king penguin couple. Standing side by side at the Berlin Zoo with their flippers touching, they take turns carefully nestling an egg between their feet in the hope that it will eventually hatch the chick they have both long sought. Except these two 10-year-olds […]

Australian national newspaper condemned for appalling coverage of transgender issues

Journalist Bernard Lane of The Australian newspaper, announced a gender issues section on the broadsheet’s website on Friday to widespread criticism from LGBT+ advocates. The section so far has published 18 articles which led with headlines such as “They’re castrating children”, “Transgender project ‘out of balance’”, “Sex not a matter of belief” and “Corrupting kids’ thinking”. […]

Far-right anti-gay party links LGBT, Reform Jews to Nazis

A new campaign video by the Noam party, which went viral on Tuesday evening among Hebrew-speaking social media users, compares Reform Jews, left-wing activists and gay rights advocates to Nazis and Palestinian suicide bombers, saying all of them “want to destroy us.” The far-right conservative religious party has polled far below any chance of passing […]

Fear: If unchained, faith-based bias would crush LGBT medical care

Gay Africans barred from medical care. A rise in HIV infections in homophobic countries. Reduced access to health care for LGBTI people both in the United States and abroad. Those are some of the consequences that human-rights and health-care activists fear if the United States adopts a current proposal to allow U.S.-funded health care providers […]

MORE THAN 1 IN 5 SCOTS DON’T ACCEPT LGBT PEOPLE

Research has suggested over 1 in 5 Scots (21%) would not describe themselves as open-minded and accepting of LGBT lives. In a survey of 1,005 Scottish people between 3rd and 10th May 2019, it was also found that almost 1 in 10 (8%) would think other people might describe them as homophobic. The data was […]

India SC Rejects Review Plea Seeking Same-Sex Marriage

The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea seeking review of its order which had rejected a petition seeking various civil rights such as same-sex marriage, adoption and surrogacy for the LGBTQ community. A three-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana, in an in-chamber decision on July 11, dismissed the review plea filed by Tushar […]

Lawsuits in Four Caribbean Countries Challenge Colonial-era Sodomy Laws

LGBTI people in four Caribbean countries over the last year have filed lawsuits against their nations’ colonial-era sodomy laws. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish on July 26 filed a lawsuit against two laws in St. Vincent and the Grenadines that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Daryl Phillip, founder of Minority Rights Dominica, and Maurice Tomlinson, […]

Australia Prime Minister Joins Transgender Policy Backlash

Cricket Australia (CA) have come under fire for a new policy aimed at making the sport inclusive for transgender and gender diverse players, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison describing it as “heavy-handed” and “mystifying” on Friday. CA issued two policies on Thursday, one setting out the rules for “Elite” cricket, which they said was closely […]

Paraguay is set for historic trans murder trial

In a historic first for the conservative South American country, a court in Paraguay on Friday will convene for a murder trial in the death of a trans woman who was stabbed to death two years ago, according to local rights activists. The case, to be heard in the city of Luque on the outskirts […]

Johannesburg holds city’s first black, queer ball

LGBTQ people gathered in Johannesburg recently for the city’s first official black queer ball. Organizers say the event was to create a safe space for people in their community. “How this ball came about essentially was we found that there was really no space in Johannesburg for queer, black, femme, gender non confirming , trans […]