Belfast celebrates Pride amid hope same-sex marriage ban is lifted
Thousands took to the streets of Belfast for what could be the last Pride held under the same-sex marriage ban in Northern Ireland. Ulster has been packed with people proudly waving rainbow flags and dressed in their best costumes ready for the annual LGBT parade. On Friday night, a giant rainbow flag was delivered down […]
Qatar World Cup sponsors and broadcasters ‘risk red card’ over anti-gay laws
An international risk consultancy has called on RTE and other broadcasters to put pressure on Qatar to suspend anti-homosexuality laws before the 2022 football World Cup is staged there. London-based Cornerstone Global Associates said Qatar would be the first modern host of a World Cup tournament to have banned homosexuality and made it punishable by […]
Chilean Senate Once Again Begins Equal Marriage Debate
The Chilean Senate’s Constitution Committee on Tuesday once again began to debate an equal marriage bill that former President Michelle Bachelet introduced two years ago. The renewed legislative debate was announced last week, and therefore reactivated the process in a Senate in which conservatives have a majority. Senate President Jaime Quintana, however, in May affirmed […]
Australian booksellers petitioned to pull ‘conversion therapy’ titles
Equality Australia have launched a petition calling on Australian booksellers to remove titles promoting harmful LGBTIQ “conversion therapy”. The group’s call comes after Amazon recently agreed to remove “conversion therapy” books from sale in their online store after an 80,000-signature petition. Now Equality Australia are petitioning Australian retailers to follow suit. “Angus & Robertson and […]
Pinoy LGBT group in Europe rallies support for LGBT in Asia
The Pride Movement in Asia has been growing over the years and 2019 has been so far a particularly historic year for LGBTQ history. This year, Taiwan passed the first marriage equality act. It also marks the 25th anniversary of Asia’s first Pride march, which took place in Manila as a commemoration of the 25th […]
Radical Baptist church preaches LGBTQ hate just miles from California’s Capitol
Pastor Roger Jimenez implored his congregation at Verity Baptist Church to separate themselves from the ways of a modern, wicked world. Burn your Harry Potter books. Trash your rock ‘n’ roll CDs. Don’t vaccinate your babies. Stay away from gay people. “The United States of America is on a rainbow-colored boat, and we’ve gotta shake […]
Liberals fear unrest as Poland Catholic Church doubles down on anti-gay rhetoric
Poland’s Catholic Church has doubled down on the anti-gay rhetoric that has become the nationalist ruling party’s dominant theme in recent weeks, drawing a rebuke from liberal politicians who compared an archbishop’s remarks to incitement to genocide. In a sermon given to mark the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw uprising by Polish resistance fighters against […]
LGBT people are ‘being made homeless due to religion’
Nearly half of young LGBT people who are left homeless after coming out are from religious backgrounds. That’s according to research by the Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), which supports young people who are at risk of homelessness. The charity says three in four LGBT people are rejected by their families – and 45% of that […]
Police arrest 3rd suspect in Arab LGBT youth’s stabbing
Police on Thursday arrested a third suspect in a stabbing last Friday in Tel Aviv that left an LGBT teen from the Arab town of Tamra seriously wounded. The two main suspects, who presented themselves to police on Tuesday after four days on the run, are the 16-year-old victim’s brothers. The brothers have, however, denied […]
Activism is Survival for Brazilian Trans Women
Since the campaign and subsequent election of Jair Bolsonaro, who was long known for trotting out hate speech against marginalized communities in his bid for Brazil’s presidency, violence against LGBTQ folks has become more explicit and socially acceptable. But in many ways, the everyday lives of trans women in Brazil haven’t changed since he assumed […]
Same-Sex Union Vote Failure Dismays Montenegro’s LGBT Community
The Montenegrin parliament on Wednesday failed to adopt a law to legalize same-sex unions after deputies from ruling parties representing ethnic minorities voted against it. MPs from the main governing Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, the Social Democrats and the Liberal Party backed the reform but those from the Bosniak Party, BS, the Croatian Civil […]
ORAM appoints new ED
Steve Roth has been tapped to head the Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration. ORAM announced Roth’s appointment as the LGBT refugee and asylum organization’s new executive director July 16. Roth, 49, is a gay man and succeeds founder and longtime executive director Neil Grungras, who announced he was stepping down in March. “I’m extremely […]
How a hashtag looks set to offer LGBTI people a #MeToo moment in Poland ǀ View
Ten days ago, approaching the main city square where Białystok’s first ever LGBTI pride march was due to start, I was met with a scene of chaos. Thousands of angry people were confronting the marchers, shouting homophobic abuse and lashing out with fists, boots and flag poles. But in the ten days since the Białystok […]
‘GLOBOHOMO AGENDA’: UW COLLEGE REPUBLICANS DEMAND GOP STOP EMBRACING LGBT COMMUNITY
Both Democrat and GOP state officials have denounced a tweet from the University of Washington College Republicans warning that conservatives—including President Donald Trump—are embracing the “cosmopolitan, GloboHomo agenda” of the left. The president of the University of Washington College Republicans, Armen Tooloee, defended the group’s controversial Sunday Twitter commentary, saying the term “GloboHomo” actually stands […]
Anti-LGBT education page blocks ‘every gay’ on Twitter
A Twitter profile set up to protest against LGBT education in the UK’s schools appears to have blocked “every gay” on the internet. Hundreds of Twitter users have posted say that they have been blocked by the Questioning LGBT Education page, which was set up earlier in July. Screenshots seen by PinkNews show that the […]
‘We need freedom’: Sehaq, the party space for Amsterdam’s queer refugees
At the dinner table, conversations bubble around people as they tuck into a three-course meal. A plethora of different nationalities and identities have pulled up a chair and, here at Sehaq in Amsterdam, they welcome and make space for everyone. Suddenly, someone is standing on the table dancing, and as more people join in, the […]
Hate crimes rise to decade high in US with LGBT people among most targeted, finds report
Hate crimes have risen across the USA to a decade high, with most extremist homicides carried out by white nationalists or those in the far right, according to a new report. The latest research found that hate crimes increased by nine percent to 2,009 cases in the 30 cities surveyed by the Center for the […]
Giving a voice to the LGBT+ community in China
With the Amsterdam Pride in full swing, it’s the perfect moment to take a look at some developments in the LGBT+ community in China. We talk with Luke, one of the initiators of LGBT+ platform Gayspot. It’s like it was just yesterday, as Luke reminisces about his motivation to start Gayspot. Already during university he […]
The struggle for LGBT equality: Pride meets prejudice in Poland
We set off from the Arsenal gallery in a small group of about 20 people, first through Białystok’s Branicki Palace gardens, where a “family picnic” is in full swing, organised by the Law and Justice party local authorities as a contrast to the Pride march. There are bouncy castles, but what there’s most of is […]
Gay Chinese find a place to be themselves on ‘Rainbow Cruise’ to Vietnam
On the deck of a cruise ship in southern China, two grey-haired men stood in silence, shoulders touching, looking out to sea, as other passengers bustled on board and settled in for the journey to Vietnam. Among them was Yang Yong, a 35-year-old banker who boarded the Costa Atlantica with his elderly parents. He told […]
President Joko Widodo says Islam in Indonesia is ‘tolerant’ as rights groups warn of rising fundamentalism
In his first international television interview since being re-elected in May, Indonesian President Joko Widodo denied being concerned about the rise of fundamentalism in his country, saying that the Islam practiced there is tolerant and progressive. “I still believe that Islam in Indonesia is a tolerant and moderate Islam. Islam in Indonesia is modern, it […]
A city’s first pride march was meant to be a day of joy. The far right turned it into chaos
Drag queens strut, rainbow flags flutter in the breeze, and smiling marchers form heart symbols with their hands. From certain angles, the pride parade looks just like other such events held around the world, from San Francisco to Berlin, London to Taipei. But behind the glitter and glamor, there is a darker side to this […]
Do LGBT asylum seekers need to look and act queer?
LGBTQI+ Muslims seeking asylum are more successful if they speak, dress and act in accordance with Western notions of homosexuality, according to a new study. The study, published in the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies, found that LGBTQI+ asylum applicants reported they were often expected to be “flamboyant” and “outspoken” in their asylum interview, and […]
Man who raped lesbian to ‘fix her’ must serve out life sentence
A convicted rapist from Petrusville, who believed in “corrective rape” for lesbians, has lost his appeal against the life sentence he is currently serving Zabathini Jonas, 34, was convicted of two counts of rape and sentenced to life imprisonment for each count in 2015, following the brutal rape of a 24-year-old homosexual woman from Petrusville […]
Halifax LGBTQ community turns hate crime into ‘act of love’
Devin Moore, Tim Gottschall and Rouge Fatale took the homophobic words spray-painted in red on a Dartmouth apartment and raised it a rainbow. Rouge Fatale and Moore, wearing the pride flag as a cape, led hundreds of people carrying pride flags and dressed in rainbow attire through the streets of the Ocean Breeze neighbourhood Saturday […]
Dallas police offer free self-defense class after attacks targeting LGBTQ community
It can take years to master a martial art form, but learning a few simple moves can keep people safe on the streets, a self-defense instructor told an especially vulnerable group Saturday. “The techniques you learn have to be simple, quick and effective,” Nick Chamberlain told about 100 members of the city’s LGBTQ community Saturday […]
Philippines congress to re-discuss same-sex civil partnerships
The Philippines is set to re-discuss allowing same-sex civil partnerships following a renewed push from Congressman Pantaleon Alvarez. Initial attempts stalled last year. The bill aims to allow people into an official union “whether they are of the opposite or of the same sex.” Another aspect of the bill will make civil partnerships a bit […]
Russia arrests man over murder of LGBTQ activist
Russian police said on Thursday they had detained a man over the fatal stabbing of an LGBTQ activist near her home in St Petersburg and were not treating the murder as a hate crime. Elena Grigoryeva, 41, was stabbed eight times in the face and back on Saturday night by an assailant whom she knew […]
Polish campaigners fear renewed homophobic violence
Polish LGBT groups are holding solidarity marches and events in 30 cities on Saturday to protest growing hate speech and violence against their community. Meanwhile a leading Polish magazine could face a fine for ignoring an injunction to halt distribution of an “LGBT-free zone” sticker with its latest edition. The injunction against Gazeta Polska’s weekly […]
Caribbean lawsuit challenges St. Vincent’s anti-gay law
Today, two gay men filed court proceedings to challenge St Vincent and the Grenadines’ “buggery” and “gross indecency” laws, which criminalise homosexuality. Both men, who have been advised by Jeremy Johnson QC and Peter Laverack of 5 Essex Court, assert that their dignity and autonomy are stripped by these laws. They have filed claims with […]