Fury at HIV Data Leak in Conservative Singapore

Rico has lived with HIV for almost a decade, confiding in only a small number of people in socially conservative Singapore, fearful of the reaction. Last month, he got a phone call saying information about his condition had been published online. Rico was one of 14,200 people whose HIV status, name and address were dumped […]

Mexico: LGBT Activist Oscar Cazorla Found Dead: Promoted Zapotec ‘3rd gender’

A defender of LGBT rights and proponent of muxe culture in Oaxaca has been found dead in an apparently violent attack. Óscar Cazorla was at home in the Juchitán de Zaragoza municipality when he was killed. “They find the lifeless activist muxe, Óscar Cazorla, who for decades fought in favor of the LGBT community,” said […]

Faith Leaders Urge Government to Support LGBTI Education in Schools

More than 50 members of religious organisations, campaigners and education leaders have signed an open letter asking the Department of Education (DfE) to support LGBT+ education in schools. The open letter, published in The Guardian on Monday (February 11), references concerns that the government may allow independent schools to opt out of LGBT+ education. “This poses a […]

Bolsonaro Regime to Remove Brazilian Textbook References to Feminism and Homosexuality

Brazil‘s president and his senior officials have vowed to revise school textbooks to remove references to feminism, homosexuality and violence against women. Jair Bolsonaro has also said he wants the military to take over some public schools, as part of what teachers believe is a “nonsensical” approach to education reform. “One of the goals to get Brazil out of […]

Stage set for Queer Pride

Nritya Forum for Performing Arts came alive on Sunday with the performance of members and allies of the LGBTQ plus communites at Queer Carnival. Organised by the Hyderabad Queer Swabhimaan Yatra (QSY), the Queer Carnival is a pre-pride event, a curtain-raiser of sorts for the upcoming Queer Pride that is scheduled on February 17. The Queer […]

What Does The Crisis In Venezuela Mean For LGBTQ People?

Venezuela’s long-running political crisis appears to be reaching a critical point. President Nicolás Maduro is still holding onto power, but there is growing international support to recognize Juan Guaidó – the leader of the legislature – who declared himself President on 23 January 2019. Venezuela’s ongoing political discontent has been further fueled in recent months by […]

‘One can be queer and religious too’

Stressing that being religious and queer does not have to be mutually exclusive, Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender (LGBT) activists said that homosexuality was more of a lifestyle choice and religion did not discriminate against a person on the basis of his or her sexual orientation. The activists were speaking on the theme ‘Homosexuality and Religion Can Coexist’, on the second […]

‘Everyone is welcome’: Children reach out to gay teacher threatened over LGBT lessons

A gay primary school teacher who has been targeted amid protests from parents over homosexuality teachings has been inundated with supportive cards from children saying “everyone is welcome”. Andrew Moffat, assistant headteacher at Parkfield Community School in Birmingham, has received threatening emails and chants calling for him to leave over the past few weeks. Around […]

“This Is Me”: Nippon Television’s Tanio Toshimi on Being True to Oneself

Transgender commentator Tanio Toshimi debuted on News Zero around the time that Diet member Sugita Mio made headlines for describing the LGBT community as childless and “unproductive.” While LGBT people working in entertainment are by no means unusual, Tanio is currently the only such individual appearing on a Japanese news program. We asked Tanio about coming out […]

As Angola decriminalizes homosexuality, where does the African continent stand?

Angola has done away with criminalizing homosexuality, removing a notorious “vices against nature” provision in its penal code. Other African nations still punish people for same-sex relationships. The reform has been hailed by human rights activists who have been pushing for equal rights for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in Angola and other […]

Children raised by same-sex couples do better in school, new study finds

Children of same-sex couples perform better in school than kids raised by a mom and a dad, according to new research from several European economists. The researchers found that children raised by same-sex couples had higher test scores in elementary and secondary school and were about 7 percent more likely to graduate from high school […]

LGBTQ HATE INCIDENTS UP 54% IN 2018

Harassment of members of the LGBTQ community increased dramatically in 2018, with a 54% increase in reported incidents of homophobia, the Nir Katz Center revealed on Sunday in its annual report. The report, delivered to President Reuven Rivlin for the first time this year, noted that an incident of harassment or abuse against members of […]

Amnesty: Ukrainian Authorities ‘Slow To React’ To Attacks Against Journalists, Rights Advocates

Ukraine has failed to prevent or investigate “numerous” human rights violations committed last year against rights activists, political opponents, and ethnic minorities, according to Amnesty International. “2018 was marked by a sharp surge of violent attacks against a range of individuals and groups, often in the name of patriotism and ‘traditional values,’” the London-based human […]

LGBTQ pride and Mexican culture in sweet harmony

Mariachi music is one of Mexico’s most beloved forms of music. It’s also among the most traditional. After coming out as a gay man, Carlos Samaniego found that he was not welcome in many Mariachi groups. So he decided to buck tradition and form his own-Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, the world’s first LGBTQ Mariachi […]

Can Businesses Turn Away LGBT Customers? Court Battles Bubbling Back Up

The original story behind the Masterpiece Cakeshop case is both undisputed and well known: a gay couple in Colorado walked into the bakery in 2012 and asked for wedding cake. The owner and master baker, Jack Phillips, declined to make a custom cake for their party because he said their union violated his religious beliefs. The […]

Village where ‘love the same’ is embraced

Angkrong, a village in Prey Veng Province in Cambodia’s southeast corner, has been home to five couples over the age of 40, two young couples who recently emigrated, another middle-aged couple where one of the partners, a transgender man, passed away just last year, and a transgender monk. All are pairings of transgender men and […]

Brazil education overhaul aims at ousting ‘Marxist ideology’, LGBT and gender movements

President Jair Bolsonaro is taking his anti-leftist ideological war to Brazil’s classrooms and universities, causing angst among teachers and education officials who say the government wants to fight an enemy that doesn’t exist. Bolsonaro and top officials have announced plans to revise textbooks to excise references to feminism, homosexuality and violence against women, say the […]

School forced to close after inviting black, gay speaker for assembly

Protesters forced a school to close after they invited a gay councilperson to speak. Immaculata Catholic School in Durham, North Carolina, told parents that due to several groups planning demonstrations at the school, they could not let students come to classes. They invited Vernetta Alston, an openly gay councilperson, to speak on Friday (8 February) […]

Gay couples to ‘live more freely’ with Thai civil unions

Luke Cassady-Dorion believed marriage was for “boring” straight people until he met the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with – Tae. But Thailand, where they live, does not permit same-sex marriage. So the couple wed in New York. With Thailand set to pass a landmark law that would make it […]

LGBT Pride and dating: How bisexual women face stigma and hostility in relationships

A new study reveals many “bisexual-plus” Kiwi women feel misunderstood and invalidated when dating. Auckland University of Technology’s Tara Pond is the first New Zealand academic to analyse in-depth the lives and romantic relationships of bisexual-plus women – those attracted to multiple genders. For her PhD Pond surveyed 1000 women aged 20 to 88 who identified as bisexual, pansexual or queer. She found […]

LGBT+ activists fear police missed chances to catch Canadian serial killer

As Canadian serial killer Bruce McArthur was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of eight men on Friday, LGBT+ activists questioned whether homophobia and racism may have hampered police investigations into the disappearance of his victims. Landscape gardener McArthur targeted victims linked to Toronto’s Gay Village over a period of seven years, with […]

Two suits challenge Singapore’s colonial-era anti-gay law

Singapore is facing two lawsuits asking the courts to overturn the nation’s colonial-era anti-homosexuality law, Section 377A. Both constitutional challenges were filed after the Indian Supreme Court in September overturned that nation’s anti-homosexuality law, similarly named “Section 377” and similarly inherited from when the nation was part of the British Empire. In Singapore, a previous legal […]

LGBT police officers say they’ve faced horrible discrimination, and now they’re suing

It didn’t matter whether Jay Brome called for backup during high-speed stolen car pursuits, intense vehicle impoundments or hit-and-run investigations. His fellow officers at the California Highway Patrol would not respond even when situations required him to hold his gun out, putting his life at risk. They made him feel unsafe at work in other […]

Australian senator: Kids shouldn’t have to know gay parents exist

Australian senator Ian Macdonald has said that people have the right to stop their children from learning about gay parents. Macdonald was chairing a Senate committee examining a bill which would ban religious bodies from discriminating against LGBT+ school students. During a session on Thursday (February 7), he said, “The majority of families… might not […]

India takes ‘big step’ in AIDS fight with gay sex ruling – Global Fund chief

No longer shamed as criminals, millions of LGBT+ people in India will be less at risk from HIV/AIDS following the legalisation of gay sex, the head of a global health fund said on Thursday. Many gay and transgender people say they encounter discrimination and stigma during health check ups, leading some to avoid doctors’ visits […]

Bringing Pride to Banbury

A small group of first-time event organisers are planning to literally put the Pride into Banbury this summer. Banbury Pride, a LGBT community group is in the early stages of organising the town’s first ever Pride event pencilled in for Saturday, July 13. The group, which was formed in September, is aiming for an inaugural town […]

Time to Talk Day: Health secretary pledges ‘focus’ on LGBT mental health

As the UK marks Time to Talk Day, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told that he will ensure that there is a “specific focus” on LGBT+ mental health as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, which was unveiled in January. Hancock pledged to meet the needs of the LGBT+ community when it comes to treatment […]