The LGBT Community of Bali Celebrates Annual Festival In Secret Amid Indonesia’s Crack Down On Rights
A Bali-based LGBT pageant held its crowning ceremony for Mister and Miss Gaya Dewata (YGD) in secret last month following multiple online threats and opposition from the local Islamic governing council. Bali is Indonesia’s and arguably the world’s most popular tourist destination. It’s majority Hindu population also makes it the most progressive island in the […]
New research reveals how the marriage equality debate damaged LGBT Australians’ mental health
Although Australia has now achieved marriage equality, the topics of sexuality and gender identity continue to spark heated – and often discriminatory – public debates. Most recently, the issues of religious freedoms and anti-discrimination laws, the Safe Schools program, and gay conversion therapy have dominated public and political discourse. New research has suggested that such divisive debates have the potential to […]
Japan Supreme Court: Trans people must be sterilized before gender change
The Supreme Court of Japan published a ruling on Thursday (24 January) upholding a law that requires transgender people to be sterilized before changing their gender on official documents. Japan’s law in question is No. 111, which first took effect in 2003. The law states trans people, in order to secure a gender change, must be diagnosed with gender identity disorder […]
Nigeria police spokesperson tells gay people: Leave or face prosecution
A prominent police officer in Nigeria has told gay people to “leave the country or face prosecution.” Dolapo Badmos, a Chief Superintendent and Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, also urged citizens to report gay people to the police, according to Nigerian newspaper The Punch. On January 17, Badmos told her 125,000 Instagram followers: “If you are homosexually inclined, Nigeria […]
Dozens of LGBT+ refugees in Kenya fall sick at U.N. shelter
Dozens of LGBT+ refugees living in a shelter run by the United Nations in Kenya were taken to hospital after falling sick on Thursday, days after they complained of overcrowding and poor sanitation at the facility. About 40 refugees – including three children – were treated at a hospital on the outskirts of Nairobi after […]
Indian transgender politician Apsara Reddy: ‘I want to be looked upon as an equal’
Apsara Reddy this month became the first transgender person to be appointed as general secretary of the Mahila Congress, the party’s women’s wing. Before plunging into politics, Reddy worked as a journalist and transgender activist. For a long time, members of India’s nearly 3-million-strong transgender community have been an oppressed sexual minority. Being legally invisible, […]
Gay congressman flees Brazil, citing death threats
A prominent gay congressman in Brazil announced on Thursday that he was leaving his job and fleeing the country because of increased death threats made against him. Jean Wyllys, the country’s first openly gay congressman, told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper that he had left Brazil and was going to work in academia, with no plans to return home. “Preserving a life under […]
Too queer to be Muslim, too Muslim to be queer’: LGBTI Woman on Fear of Discrimination
Being accepted by my cultural and religious groups means hiding my sexuality for fear of being ostracized, or even fear of violence. In LGBT+ groups, I am asked how I can identify with a religion that is seen as not accepting of the LGBT+ community. Because of all these boxes I tick, I fit into […]
Italian Newspaper Sparks Fury with ‘homophobic’ Headline
Italian newspaper Libero has sparked controversy publishing a headline seemingly correlating economic decline with an increased number of gay people. The headline, published on the front page of the daily newspaper on Wednesday (January 23), reads: “Not much to be happy about. Revenue and GDP down, but gay people increase.” The summary below the headline further established […]
Activists Increase Efforts to Help LGBTI People Escape Chechnya Amid Ongoing Crisis
The Russian LGBT Network, which announced on January 14 that it had received word of a new wave of arrests and torture in the Russian republic of Chechnya, has begun facilitating the evacuation of those affected by the current crisis. The LGBT Network noted in a press releasethat new information about the anti-LGBTQ persecution has emerged as some […]
The Missing Piece in Uzbekistan’s Reform Puzzle
At the United Nations this past May, Uzbek Deputy Justice Minister Mahmud Istamov committed the authoritarian regime he serves to over 200 reforms proposed by the UN – except for one key provision that would have decriminalized homosexuality. As Istamov told reporters, “This is not on our agenda. We have not accepted this recommendation. This is […]
Apple and Microsoft CEOs Tim Cook and Satya Nadella Were Pictured at Dinner with Brazil’s Far-Right President in Davos
Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella were seen at the same dinner table as Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in a picture that surfaced on Twitter.
Angola Decriminalizes Same-Sex Conduct
Angola has finally shed the divisive “vices against nature” provision in its law, widely interpreted to be a ban on homosexual conduct. Taking things one step further, the government has also prohibited discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation. And so anyone refusing to employ or provide services to individuals based on their sexual orientation […]
NZ told to improve human rights of LGBTQI people
For the first time ever during a universal periodic review, United Nations member states have made specific recommendations for New Zealand to improve the human rights of LGBTQI communities. Justice Minister Andrew Little is in Geneva for New Zealand’s third United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR), where overnight he reported the current state of Human Rights […]
Costa Rican lesbian couple faces hearing for ‘detriment of the family’
A lesbian couple in Costa Rica is being sued by the state for their 2015 marriage. According to the lawsuit, their crime is ‘falsedad ideológica en perjuicio de la familia’ (ideological falsehood to the detriment of the family). Laura Flórez-Estrada and Jasmin Elizondo married in July 2015 due to an error in the Registro Civil (Civil Registry). The state is also […]
Gabriel’s journey: A transgender Spaniard makes the change
Gabriel Diaz de Tudanca is a 19-year-old Spaniard who, although born a girl, identified as male from early childhood. “When I was three years old I came back from school and said to my mother that when I grew up I was going to be a man called Oscar,” he says. Supported by his family and […]
How Coretta Scott King Leveraged MLK’s Legacy to Fight for Gay Rights
“I once told Martin that although I loved being his wife and a mother, if that was all I did I would have gone crazy. I felt a calling on my life from an early age. I knew I had something to contribute to the world.” Coretta Scott King, quietly known as the First Lady […]
International Triathlon Union Reverses Rainbow Flag Ban After Criticism From Gay Athletes
The International Triathlon Union has reversed its decision to ban rainbow flags at events after criticism from gay athletes. New rules had stipulated that athletes must “avoid any kind of demonstration of political, religious, sexual orientation or racial propaganda”. But the ITU said the new rule, agreed in November, was a “misunderstanding” and has now […]
Grindr Banned in Lebanon: List of Countries that Prohibit Gay Dating App
Lebanon has reportedly banned people from accessing Grindr, a gay dating mobile app, on the country’s public network. SMEX, a Lebanese NGO that works toward empowering people, reached out to Touch, one of the country’s top mobile networks, after several users confirmed the app being blocked. A representative of the company confirmed the news by saying the […]
Home Office Postpones the Removal of LGBTI Asylum Seeker
THE UK Home Office has deferred the removal from Scotland of a young asylum seeker who is currently in the Dungavel detention centre. Isabella Katjiparatijivi, a 29-year-old from Namibia, had sought asylum fearing that she faced persecution in her home country because of her sexuality. Her case was unsuccessful and she was refused leave to appeal to […]
“Fires don’t discriminate and neither do we” – Lancashire Ramps up Recruitment of Women and LGBTI Firefighters
Lancashire fire service is seeking to recruit more firefighters from underrepresented social groups. LFRS will be recruiting full time firefighters in March and the service said it wants to see more female and LGBTI applicants. It is also encouraging more recruits from black and minority ethnic groups. “We’re saying, ‘If you ever thought you couldn’t… […]
Jamaican LGBTI Group Crowdfunding to Rebuild Rainbow House
Describing itself as Jamaica’s oldest LGBT group, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexual and Gays (J-Flag) has established a crowdfunding page as it seeks funds to rebuild its office building known as ‘Rainbow House’, that was gutted by fire on December 30, last year. The fire of unknown origin caused extensive damage to the building, located in St […]
Kenya could make history by legalising homosexuality
In Kenya, February 22 2019 could be an anniversary remembered for generations. This is the date on which a three-judge bench at the Constitutional Court in Nairobi will give Kenyans – and the world – their decision on whether laws that criminalise the private, consensual relations of people of the same sex are to be […]
BILL LEGALISING GAY MARRIAGE TO BE DEBATED THIS WEEK
The Czech Republic currently offers civil partnerships for same-sex couples. However, advocates of gay marriage say the current system still leaves them at a disadvantage. Apart from the symbolic difference of being called “registered partners” rather than “spouses”, gay marriage advocates also say there are practical deficiencies. These include the inability to claim widow pensions, […]
Brexit threatens LGBT+ rights: top British lawyer
The rights of British minority groups are under threat from hardline politicians holding the government to ransom during the Brexit process, leading lawyer Helena Kennedy told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Friday. British Prime Minister Theresa May is trying to win support across political lines after her proposed Brexit deal was defeated by a historic […]
Haredi Parents Consider Underground Schooling to Escape LGBT Curricular Requirements
Shraga Stern, a Haredi parent living in the UK, sent a letter to the secretary of state for education, Damian Hinds, saying: “Many members of the community would choose to leave the United Kingdom for a more hospitable jurisdiction rather than comply with such an obligation to mention homosexuality or gender reassignment in a positive […]
LGBT rights advocate files case against Attorney-General, stating Section 377A of Penal Code is void
An LGBT rights advocate has filed a case against the Attorney-General, stating that Section 377A of the Penal Code – which criminalises sex between men – is “inconsistent” with portions of Singapore’s Constitution, and “is therefore void”. Mr Choong Chee Hong, better known as Bryan Choong, filed it at the Supreme Court in November last year. Mr […]
LGBT Muslims Struggle to Find Their Place in Turkey
Deniz, a 20-year-old observant Muslim who lives in Istanbul, works as a sign language translator and is studying gastronomy in his spare time. But Deniz, who prefers to use the pronoun “they,” also identifies as non-binary and pansexual. (This means that gender and sex are not determining factors in their romantic or sexual attraction.) Although […]
Beijing LGBT Center Celebrates 10 Years of Inclusivity
With the end of January 2019 fast approaching, and with it, Chinese New Year just around the corner, it’s time again to look back and remember personal achievements over the past 12 months as well as hopes and expectations for the year ahead. One association that has a lot to celebrate is the Beijing LGBT Center who marked their 10 year anniversary […]
Activists say they are helping people flee new anti-gay purge in Chechnya
LGBT activists say they have begun helping people flee from the Russian republic of Chechnya amid what they claim is a new wave of detentions and torture targeting the gay community there. The LGBT Network, a St. Petersburg-based rights group, said last week that 40 people had been detained and at least two were tortured to death in what they believe […]