Transgender soldier on fighting the Australian army’s attempt to dismiss her

Transgender soldier Bridget Clinch has opened up about how she fought against the Australian army after it tried to dismiss her following her gender reassignment surgery. When Clinch – who had served in the military for over a decade – told her bosses within the Australian Defence Force that she identified as a woman, she […]

Study highlights differences between gay, straight suicides

While research has determined that gays and lesbians are among the U.S. subgroups at an increased risk of suicidal behavior, a new study shines a spotlight on the ways in which suicide among sexual minorities differs from that of their heterosexual counterparts. The study, published late last month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, […]

Chiang Mai, Thailand celebrates its first LGBT Pride in a decade

On 21 February 2019, Chiang Mai celebrated its first LGBT Pride festival since 2009, after the city’s last Pride Parade was cancelled due to harassment from counter-protestors. On 21 February 2009, what would have been Chiang Mai’s second Pride Parade was threatened and forced to shut down due to hostile opposition. The parade was blocked […]

The Kimberley Queen who escaped persecution in Indonesia to find sanctuary in Broome

Escaping persecution as a gay man in Indonesia several years ago, the reigning Kimberley Queen has instead found a supportive community in the northern Western Australia town of Broome. Growing up in Yogyakarta, a city regarded as progressive by Indonesian standards, Dimas Adiputra had to hide his sexuality. “You can actually get — not stoned […]

3 big US churches in turmoil over sex abuse, LGBT policy

It has been a wrenching season for three of America’s largest religious denominations, as sex-abuse scandals and a schism over LGBT inclusion fuel anguish and anger within the Roman Catholic, Southern Baptist and United Methodist churches. There’s rising concern that the crises will boost the ranks of young people disillusioned by organized religion. “Every denomination […]

Gay conversion therapy ban in Germany gains support

LGBT people continue to face prejudice and discrimination in Germany as well. A 2017 study by the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency showed that 18.3 percent of Germans still regarded homosexuality as “unnatural,” with 9.7 percent believing it to be “immoral.” Both the German Medical Association and the World Medical Association have stated that “homosexuality is not […]

WHO OWNS THE FIGHT FOR LGBT+ RIGHTS IN THE ARAB AND MUSLIM WORLD?

Tarek Zeidan, executive director of Lebanese LGBT+ rights group Helem, said it is positive that LGBT+ issues in the Arab world were being talked about at big event but he does not believe a Westerner should be leading the conversation. “It is a very gray area – my gut feeling is that if you are […]

South Korea rights body claims it does not ‘deny’ same-sex marriage

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea on Wednesday (27 February) claimed it did not ‘deny’ the rights of a same-sex couple to marry. But, it also rejected a petition filed by a British and South Korean gay couple who got married overseas and asked for their marriage to be recognized. The commission said they […]

Activist woman’s worry: More gay Nigerians marry women

A local activis who is currently working with a women’s rights organization in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, says she is seeing an increasing problem of gay men marrying women. She discussed the issue in a recent conversation with NoStringsNG, which she contacted for help in dealing with the problem. Many women who come to her for […]

30,000 sign petition against gender diversity teaching in New Zealand

More than 30,000 people in New Zealand have signed a parliamentary petition against teaching gender diversity in the country’s schools. ‘I believe that endorsing gender discordance as normal via public education and legal policies will confuse children and parents’ the petition’s author, Helen Houghton, wrote on the parliament’s website. In 2015, New Zealand introduced sexual […]

Undocumented LGBT ‘Dreamer’ Shares His Story at 4Ward Symposium

Candelario Saldana is a leader who is making strides and causing a few waves at the University of Miami for LGBT lawyers. Saldana’s mother brought him to America from Mexico when he was one year and nine months old. “I didn’t realize I was any different from anybody until I was in middle school- there […]

This is what it’s like to be tortured in a Chechnya gay concentration camp

LGBTI people have been kidnapped, tortured and killed inside concentration camps in Chechnya. The ‘purge’ was first revealed in 2016. Hundreds of men and women are suffering or have suffered inside these torture chambers. The first known camp was in Argun, a former military prison. One gay man was detained for a week, tortured in […]

Luxembourg PM stuns EU-Arab summit into ‘icy silence’ after LGBT comments

As state leaders addressed the EU-Arab League summit in Egypt earlier this week, it was comments made by the Luxembourg prime minister about his sexuality that drew attention. Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg’s first openly-gay prime minister, reminded the summit that his same-sex marriage would class him a criminal in some of the countries that his audience […]

Nigeria re-elects president who called gay sex ‘abhorrent’

Nigeria has re-elected President Muhammadu Buhari, who once called gay sex “abhorrent.” While on a trip to meet US President Barack Obama in July 2015, Buhari was asked by American officials about same-sex marriage.  According to Buhari’s special advisor on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, the president’s response was clear. “PMB (President Muhammadu Buhari) was […]

The irony: Egypt proud of Rami Malek’s win amidst LGBT crackdown

Egyptian-American actor Rami Malek’s Oscar win was not only remarkable, but also controversial. His victory sparked a string of various debates – one of which the status of the LGBTIQ+ community in Egypt. Malek took home the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Since […]

Tunisia: Effort to Shut Down LGBT Group

The Tunisian government should halt its attempt to fight a court ruling that gave an LGBT association the right to operate, Human Rights Watch said today. The Tunis-based Shams association has vocally advocated the repeal of Tunisia’s anti-sodomy law and has defended many victims prosecuted on the basis of their sexual orientation. “If organizations that […]

Younger pupils will not be taught about gay relationships, minister insists

Schoolchildren as young as four will not be taught about gay and transgender relationships as part of new compulsory lessons, ministers have insisted. New curriculum guidelines announced by the Government will introduce dedicated lessons about relationships, keeping safe on the internet and looking after their own mental health. Pupils will learn the link between physical […]

Colour & confidence: Marching with queer pride

Even as the Supreme Court struck down section 377 of the Indian Penal Code in a landmark judgement in September last year, the queer community’s fight for acceptance and various rights continues. Some fight their battles within themselves, some with families, and some with society at large. Making themselves visible as unapologetically queer, scores of […]

Pakistan opens public school for transgender students

Pakistan has opened a public school exclusively for transgender pupils, believed to be one of the first of its kind in the country. Around 20 students will attend the school, which was established by the government-run literacy department in the Lodhran district, in the Punjab province, according to Daily Pakistan. Chief spokesperson of the chief […]

How being an LGBT international student in Australia changed me

When Bijan Kardouni was 23, he went to the wedding of his secret lover. Bijan had met Sami* through the underground LGBT community in Iran, using a VPN blocker to contact him on a banned site called ManJam. A year later, Sami’s family forced him to marry a woman. Bijan was there to support him. […]

LGBT Kenyans’ Patience Has Gone Unrewarded

Kenya’s High Court on Friday postponed a much-awaited decision on a colonial-era law that has long deprived one group of Kenyans of uhuru, or freedom, promising to revisit the issue in May. Criminalization of gay sex remains on the books. Disappointment reigned among Kenya’s LGBT communities and the human rights advocates who have supported their […]

Drag queens protest at border wall to raise money for LGBTQ asylum-seekers

Beatrix Lestrange stood in front of a crowd wearing a multicolored dress, red wig, black pumps and a choker with studs. “Who’s ready to have a political time?” Lestrange asked the audience, which was standing in a semicircle cheering and applauding. “We’ll try to bring joy, positivity, beauty, drag, culture to whatever this is,” Lestrange […]

Anti-LGBT discrimination costs Kenya ‘up to $1.3 billion’ a year

A culture of anti-LGBT discrimination could be costing Kenya up to $1.3 billion a year, a new report claims. The report from the pro-LGBT Open for Business coalition sets out the economic case for LGBT+ inclusion in Kenya, after the country’s Supreme Court delayed a much-anticipated ruling on a challenge to anti-gay laws. It is […]

Story of a trans man who suffers Brazil’s hostile environment to LGBTQ

Growing up in an evangelical Christian family in Brazil, life was pretty tough for Ariel Nobre. Designated female at birth, the 31-year-old transgender man was sent to a gay conversion therapy centre when he was just 18. “They wanted to cure me,” Nobre told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “I stayed there six months. After I […]

Kids Love Drag Queen Storytime. Anti-LGBT Groups Want To Shut Them Down

The children who listen to the drag queens reading stories in Houston, Michigan, and South Carolina love it. Anti-LGBT groups are mobilizing to menace the events out of existence.  Houston drag queen Angelina DM Trailz was afraid of kids—until she read to them. She knows that her fear seems irrational now—but she attributes it to […]

Force British territories to legalise gay marriage, report says

Last year, the British governor of Bermuda – the most populous territory – allowed legislation denying LGBT+ people the right to marry in favour of domestic partnerships. British overseas territories should be forced to legalise same-sex marriage, according to a report released by the British parliament this week. Some of the territories, which have their own […]