Amnesty Int’l: LGBT soldiers face abuse in South Korea military
A law that criminalizes consensual sex between men in the South Korean military is leading to violence and harassment against gay and trans soldiers and should be abolished, an Amnesty International report released on Thursday said. The report, “Serving in Silence: LGBTI People in South Korea’s Military,” details an atmosphere of mental and physical abuse […]
Dozens of Polish communities say they are ‘LGBT-free’
A Polish campaign group on Wednesday said that around 30 communities including villages and regional assemblies in the devout Catholic country had in recent months declared themselves to be “free of LGBT ideology”. Homosexuality is a frequent topic of public debate in the EU member, whose conservative ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski condemned gay rights […]
Indonesia’s prison chief says LGBT inmates will be put in isolation rooms to prevent ‘transmission of sexual disorientation’
Horrible overcrowding has long been a serious issue in Indonesia’s prison, but one that rarely merits much attention from average Indonesians or the local media. But the issue has been much in the media spotlight this week — for entirely wrong-headed, homophobic reasons — after an official from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights […]
How Schools Reinvigorated the Stonewall Revolution
The groups have always been about a simple, key objective: Stop all the dying. The groups are GSAs—Gender-Sexuality Alliances, though they were originally known as Gay-Straight Alliances—and that was their mission when they first rose to prominence in the late 1980s. GSAs were usually small clubs, led by a combination of students and teachers who […]
What it’s like to be transgender in China
Chao Xiaomi considers the question: “Why are you not happy that you were born a man?” That’s because, she says, “in order to live like a man I should drink more, be stronger, have many girlfriends, play rugby – you know – do manly things.” Chao, who describes herself as gender fluid and prefers female […]
MPs vote to extend abortion and same-sex marriage rights to Northern Ireland
MPs have voted resoundingly to extend same-sex marriage and access to abortion to Northern Ireland, bringing the region into line with the rest of the UK on the two significant social issues. The two historic votes, arriving within little more than a quarter of an hour of each other, were greeted ecstatically by equalities campaigners. […]
The sentences of the Constitutional Court on equal marriage are final and can not be appealed in Ecuador
“The judgments and the orders of the Constitutional Court shall have the character of final and unappealable.” This textual citation is article 440 of the Constitution of Montecristi and is applicable to sentences 10-18-CN / 19 and 11-18-CN / 19 that entered into force this July 8, 2019 and recognize as a right in Ecuador […]
Finding acceptance among the world’s first gay cricket team
The sound of cricket bags wheeling along uneven concrete and the click-clacking of cricket studs accompanies the arrival of Manish Modi and his teammates. They have just arrived at Botany Bay Cricket Club – a quaint and exotically named ground in Middlesex, near London – ahead of their league game against Hadley Wood in the […]
Anti-corruption advocate on her way to become Bogota’s first LGBT mayor
One of Colombia’s leading anti-corruption advocates is on her way to become the first gay mayor of the capital Bogota, according to multiple public opinion polls. A poll that was published on Monday by pollster T&SE showed that former Senator Claudia Lopez (Green Alliance) to be the front-runner in the race with an impressive lead. […]
Not My Fault That I Was Born Gay, 20-YO Wrote In Emotional Note Before Committing Suicide
Despite the Supreme Court of India scrapping Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalised gay sex in September 2018, the society has largely remained the same, when it comes to treating people from the LGBTQ community. They are still looked down and scorned by a large section of the society, while some parents […]
Georgian Opposition Demonstrators Confronted By Antigay, Pro-Russian Protesters
Demonstrators demanding the resignation of Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia have been confronted by antigay and pro-Russian activists on the 20th day of protests in Tbilisi. The rival demonstrators spent the night on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue on July 8-9. Dozens of antigay activists gathered near the parliament to protest against an LGBT-pride parade that was […]
Polish bishops accuse Ikea of ‘LGBT indoctrination’
Polish bishops on Saturday denounced Swedish furniture giant Ikea for what they called “LGBT indoctrination” after an employee was sacked for refusing to take down a homophobic comment he posted on the firm’s internal website. “From the point of view of the law and above all of propriety and common sense, it is unacceptable to […]
PCUP initiates programs for LGBT community in Davao City
The Presidential Commission for Urban Poor (PCUP) has initiated livelihood programs for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community. Most recently, 30 members of an LGBT community group were provided with the three-day training for Sustainable Livelihood Program from the DSWD in Davao City through the initiatives of the PCUP. The PCUP provided assistance to […]
Delhi HC dismisses plea seeking rules for LGBT marriage
The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the government to frame family laws for LGBT relationships and form a committee to look into these issues. A division bench presided by Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Harishankar turned down the plea filed by Tajinder Singh after […]
Georgian LGBT community calls off Tbilisi action due to threats
An action planned by the Georgian LGBT community near the Interior Ministry’s building in Tbilisi on Monday has been called off, Tbilisi Pride co-leader Giorgi Tabagari told the press. “We will not hold our action near the Interior Ministry’s building due to threats to members of our organization,” Tabagari said. “Yet we will not cancel […]
IKEA SUED BY WORKER FIRED FOR POSTING ANTI-GAY BIBLE QUOTES
Ikea is being sued by a former employee who claims he was fired for refusing to take down anti-gay comments from the company’s intranet. On May 16, International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Swedish furniture maker posted an article on its internal website, underscoring support for the LGBT community. The post also encouraged employees […]
‘A Space Where You Could Be Free’: Puerto Rico’s L.G.B.T. Groups Rebuild After a Hurricane
Puerto Ricans mourned so many losses after Hurricane Maria that the closing of a beloved tiki bar in San Juan might have seemed of little consequence, another casualty of the battered post-storm economy. But the bar — El Escondite, or the Hideaway — was not just a place for a strong screwdriver cocktail. It was […]
Male, female…other?’ Japan form-makers consider possible LGBT discrimination in their terminology
The term “sexual minority” in Japanese refers to anyone who falls under the LGBT+ umbrella, and while lesbian and gay people have been fighting hard for equality as of late there is still a long, long way to go. Transgender individuals in Japan face an especially high risk of discrimination, regardless of the gender they […]
Cologne celebrates Germany’s largest LGBT+ pride parade
Hundreds of thousands of members of the LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community and their allies flocked to Cologne on Sunday to take part in one of Europe’s largest pride parades. The attendance for this year’s Christopher Street Day parade, which marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York, is expected […]
Should white members of the LGBT+ community be allowed to attend UK Black Pride?
This weekend, as part of one of the most anticipated celebrations of the summer, thousands of people have made the trek to the capital for Pride. But the parade didn’t end yesterday. Today, UK Black Pride, one of the most significant Pride events in the country, will be held in Hackney’s Haggerston Park for the […]
Madrid Gay Pride parade dedicated to LGBT+ pioneers
Thousands turned out on the streets of Madrid Saturday for a Gay Pride parade dedicated this year to pioneers of the LGBT+ cause, amid growing fears of fresh repression with the rise of the far-right in Europe. Several thousand people converged on the Spanish capital’s main Atocha train station for the start of the march. […]
South Korea lags behind Taiwan on LGBT rights
Taiwan’s recent same-sex marriage legalization may indicate a global trend towards greater LGBT tolerance, especially among developed democracies. South Korea, however, remains an outlier in this trend in spite of its vibrant democracy. Pro-LGBT organizations in South Korea were unable to register as charities as of 2015. The South Korean Court has only granted LGBT […]
Costa Rica education minister resigns under Evangelical fire for LGBTQ policy
Costa Rica’s education minister Edgar Mora resigned on Monday following protests against policies including his support for gender-neutral bathrooms, in a sign the cultural issues that dominated last year’s presidential election remain divisive. Protesters included members of the Pentecostal Christian-aligned opposition party, as well as transportation and education groups. They criticized Mora on multiple fronts, […]
Cambodia: Government urged to draft LGBT laws
Government officials and members of the LGBT community met on Thursday to discuss the drafting or revision of laws and policies in order to facilitate their rights. The meeting was held during a dialogue on “Legal and Public Policies to Protect LGBTIQ People in Cambodia”, held in Phnom Penh. Ly Pisey, coordinator of Rainbow Community […]
Four LGBT Syrian refugees arrive in UK in time for Pride
Four newly arrived LGBT Syrian refugees will be able to openly express their sexual identity when they join the Pride celebrations in central London on Saturday. They arrived in London on Thursday after waiting for more than two years to be airlifted to safety. Their situation was resolved after the Guardian highlighted the plight of […]
Botswana seeks to overturn ruling that legalized gay sex
Botswana’s government will appeal a high court ruling that decriminalized homosexuality, potentially resuscitating a law that punished gay sex by up to seven years in prison. Last month’s landmark court ruling, which was praised by international organizations and activists, meant Botswana joined a handful of African countries that have legalized same-sex relationships. But Attorney General […]
High heels run defies gravity, homophobia in Madrid
Dozens of men and a few women in stiletto heels raced through the center of the Spanish capital on Thursday, defying gravity, the heat and attempts by the far-right party Vox to curtail their Gay Pride celebrations this year. The race in Chueca, a gay-friendly neighborhood in central Madrid, draws competitors from abroad and is […]
Taiwan’s marriage law brings frustration and hope for LGBT China
It was a landmark moment for LGBT rights. When Taiwan passed a law allowing same-sex couples to marry, crowds in Taipei erupted into cheers, chanting: “First in Asia”. For those watching from across the Taiwan strait in China, where gay couples do not have that right, the moment was heartening but also profoundly sad. Matthew, […]
UK government defends failing to pass equal marriage in Northern Ireland
The UK’s capital is about to host its biggest Pride weekend tomorrow (6 July), but same-sex couples do not have the right to marry in Northern Ireland. The government revealed its progress on their LGBT Action Plan, a 75-point plan, yesterday (4 July). Not every same-sex couple has the right to marry in every part […]
Venezuela’s transgender community fears hormone shortages
André Bellorín has fought a long battle for the body that matches his identity. He has been through two operations, a bitter conflict with his mother and an expensive course of hormone treatment in his hometown, Caracas, Venezuela. But now he fears he may lose all the progress he has made. “My beard has stopped […]