Thai LGBT activists celebrate vote that brings marriage equality closer
BANGKOK, April 2 (Reuters) – Thai LGBT activists celebrated another victory on Tuesday after a marriage equality bill overwhelmingly passed a first reading in the upper house, a key step bringing the country closer to becoming Asia’s third territory to legalise same-sex unions. “It’s like we’ve been embraced and accepted by the people in the entire […]
Benedict backed me up on rights for LGBT couples, Pope Francis says
VATICAN CITY, April 2 (Reuters) – Pope Francis found an ally in his predecessor Benedict XVI when he spoke in favour of civil partnerships for same-sex couples, the pontiff said in a new book due out in Spain. The work is set for publication on Wednesday, but its contents were shared in advance on Tuesday with […]
Ugandan court to issue verdict in petition against tough anti-gay law
Uganda’s constitutional court is due on Wednesday to deliver a verdict on a petition seeking to annul the country’s tough Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), a lawyer for the petitioners said on Tuesday. The ruling could underscore a growing anti-gay crackdown across Africa, including in Ghana where legislators also passed an anti-gay law in February. It also […]
A Trans-Led Art Collective Is Shifting Perceptions Around Transgender People in India
A decade ago, India’s top court ruled that transgender people should be treated as a third category of gender. While that decision would seem to indicate a progressiveness in India, the lived experience for transgender people there differs greatly. Across the country, they are often derided and disparaged. Many are often turned out onto the […]
Thai LGBT activists celebrate vote that brings marriage equality closer
Thai LGBTQ+ activists celebrated another victory Tuesday after a marriage-equality bill overwhelmingly passed a first reading in the upper house, a key step bringing the country closer to becoming Asia’s third territory to legalize same-sex unions. “It’s like we’ve been embraced and accepted by the people in the entire country,” said Waaddao Chumaporn, 40, an […]
Wisconsin governor vetoes transgender athlete ban
Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers rejected a proposal Tuesday to ban transgender student-athletes from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity, calling the Republican-led legislation “hateful and discriminatory” and part of a broader attack on transgender rights nationwide. “I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to codifying discrimination into […]
Posts misrepresent White House Easter egg contest, Day of Transgender Visibility proclamation
As millions celebrated Easter this weekend, the Biden administration was criticized by many on social media, including several Republican politicians, for supposedly disrespecting the Christian holiday. The criticism centered on two separate claims. One, that President Joe Biden declared Easter Sunday to now be Transgender Day of Visibility and two, that he banned religious symbols […]
LGBTQ-inclusive church in Cuba welcomes all in a country that once sent gay people to labor camps
Proudly wearing a rainbow-colored clergy stole and a rainbow flag in her clerical collar, the Rev. Elaine Saralegui welcomed all to her LGBTQ+ inclusive church in the Cuban port city of Matanzas. “We’re all invited. And no one can exclude us,” Saralegui told same-sex couples who held hands sitting on wooden pews in the Metropolitan […]
New NHS trans youth clinics ‘not ready’ ahead of opening, sources claim
Replacement NHS gender identity clinics for trans youth are reportedly understaffed and “nowhere near ready”, sources have claimed. Following the planned closure of the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock Centre – NHS England’s only gender identity clinic for young people – two new regional hubs in London and the north of England […]
Africa Pride 2024 will celebrate love in the face of hatred and homophobia
A coalition of African LGBTQ+ rights group has announced plans for a continent-wide celebration of Pride. Africa Pride 2024 events will consist of online programs and a variety of public and private in-person gatherings, depending on local conditions, including safety and security issues. The celebrations in Africa will be supplemented by supporters’ Pride events throughout […]
As Biden supports ‘Trans Day of Visibility,’ Iran cracks down on the LGBT community
The capital city of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran, announced in early March that transgender people should not appear in popular sections of the metropolis. The Tehran city council directive to ostracize transgender people coincides with US President Biden declaring that March 31 is “Transgender Day of Visibility.” The US government-funded news organization Radio Farda reported that […]
Hundreds of Canadian artists denounce ‘alarming’ anti-trans legislation in open letter
More than 400 Canadian artists from the worlds of music, film and literature are denouncing what they describe as “alarming and destructive” anti-trans legislation in an open letter released Sunday by music superstars Tegan and Sara. The list of stars who signed the letter includes actor Elliot Page, Great Big Sea frontman Alan Doyle, actress Elisha […]
Trump and Republicans unite in fury at Biden after Trans Visibility Day falls on Easter Sunday by chance
Republicans, led by Donald Trump, are sounding off on Joe Biden after he issued a statement recognising Trans Visibility Day becasue it happened to coincide with Easter Sunday this year. Created by a Michigan-based transgender activist, Rachel Crandall, in 2009, International Transgender Day of Visibility (often shortened to Trans Visibility Day) falls on March 31 every year. In […]
Lesbian Power Couple: Top Sniper and Machine-Gunner Are Taking on Putin’s Army
“If I tell you the number of my confirmed kills, I’m putting a bounty on my head,” Olga, tells me with a grin and a twinkle in her eye. Her call sign is Cerberus, the mythical, multi-headed dog known as the “Hound of Hades.” Olga is a sniper in the Ukrainian army where she “battles the […]
LGBTQ-inclusive church in Cuba welcomes all in a country that once sent gay people to labor camps
Proudly wearing a rainbow-colored clergy stole and a rainbow flag in her clerical collar, the Rev. Elaine Saralegui welcomed all to her LGBTQ+ inclusive church in the Cuban port city of Matanzas. “We’re all invited. And no one can exclude us,” Saralegui told same-sex couples who held hands sitting on wooden pews in the Metropolitan […]
Joe Biden issues powerful trans rights proclamation: ‘these attacks are un-American and must end’
President Joe Biden has officially proclaimed March 31 – which, this year, is also Easter Sunday – as Transgender Day of Visibility. He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to transgender rights in a powerful statement, released on Friday (29 March), that read: “On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender […]
Activists hail Nepal ruling allowing same-sex marriage
Same-sex couples in Nepal said on Friday they were preparing to register their marriages after the Supreme Court had issued a temporary order clearing the way for gay marriage for the first time in the largely conservative country, according to Reuters. The Supreme Court has been considering a petition on the issue filed by gay […]
Graphic novel tells the stories of LGTBQ people over 50
A forthcoming anthology by Berlin-based queer comic publisher Moom Comics illustrates the stories of older LGTBQ people. It aims to bridge the age gap. “I was 23 when I moved from my parents’ house to Chemnitz. And then real life began,” reads a comic panel. The illustration shows a young man with his arms thrown […]
Gay Man Jailed in Qatar Provisionally Freed Pending Investigation
A gay British-Mexican, who was entrapped by police in Qatar on Grindr, has been provisionally released from prison after a global campaign for his freedom. Manuel Guerrero Aviña was arrested and jailed in the capital Doha by local police after being lured to a meeting on 4 February. A former British Airways manager, the 44-year-old […]
Sacramento becomes sanctuary city for transgender people
Sacramento is a sanctuary city for transgender people following the City Council’s unanimous vote Tuesday night. While California was already a sanctuary state, the city’s resolution, which takes effect immediately, specifically ensures that local funds are not used to aid law enforcement from other jurisdictions in their attempts to prosecute the families of minors receiving […]
Bangladesh Opens First Mosque For Transgender Hijra Community
Transgender hijra people in Bangladesh opened the Muslim-majority country’s first mosque for their community early this month, heralding a new era for the much-discriminated group.
FOR TRANS MIGRANTS FORCED TO FLEE THEIR HOMES, THE VIOLENCE CONTINUES AT OUR BORDER
A few months ago in Tijuana, Mexico, our Director of Research and Analysis for Refugee Protection Christina Asenico met two couples from Russia – three of the four individuals identified as transgender men. In Russia they were targeted and persecuted for their identities. They watched as friends were arrested for their sexual orientation or gender […]
What does Senegal’s new president have in store for LGBTQ people?
Bassirou Diomaye Faye was elected President of Senegal on Sunday, collecting 51% of the votes compared to his challenger, Amadou Ba, from the ruling party of outgoing president Macky Sall. Diomaye Faye is close to anti-LGBT activists in the country, including Ousmane Sonko, and his African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF) party […]
The veteran LGBTQ+ activist who defies statistics and dreams of becoming a centenarian
The dream of leaving her small town to see the world has been fulfilled, as she’s ventured throughout and beyond her native Brazil. Now, she has another dream: to be 100-years-old. Reaching her centnerary would be quite a feat, considering that the average life expectancy of a trans Brazilian is scarily low: most only reach the age […]
Ugandan LGBT rights group caught between a rock and a hard place
Last week, in another blow to freedoms of association and expression in Uganda, a Ugandan court rejected a petition brought by Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a leading group advocating for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, to compel the government to register the group’s name. The petition was rejected on the grounds that the organization’s name is […]
Shuttered Siberian Queer Bar Fined for ‘LGBT Propaganda’
A queer bar in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk has been fined for “LGBT propaganda,” local police said Thursday, a month after the bar announced its closure over police raids. Krasnoyarsk’s Sovetsky District Court found the legal entity that owns the bar Elton guilty of the administrative charges and fined it 450,000 rubles ($4,800), according to a […]
Nine men sentenced to death by ‘crucifixion and stoning’ for alleged sodomy by Houthi court
Nine men were sentenced to death by a Houthi court in Yemen in a mass trial based on “dubious” charges of sodomy, a human rights organisation has said. The Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Shia Islamist political and military organisation which emerged in Yemen in the 1990s. Houthi militants control large parts […]
Thai parliament passes same-sex marriage bill
Thailand is set to become the first Southeast Asian nation to recognise equal marriage after politicians passed a same-sex marriage bill. The lower house of parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of the bill, with 400 supporting its passage and just 10 against it in a final reading on Wednesday. Should the bill take effect, Thailand would be […]
Uganda’s anti-LGBTQI+ speaker at the center of a corruption scandal
In what looks like a deliberate bid to redirect intense public scrutiny away from grave allegations implicating her in a seemingly multibillion-shilling corruption scandal, Uganda Parliament speaker Anita Among has attacked the LGBTQI+ community and the United States government, saying that they are fighting her because she supported the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Among’s political […]
National Security Council meets with Ugandan LGBTQ+ activist
WASHINGTON | The U.S. National Security Council met with Ugandan LGBTQ rights activist Frank Mugisha on Monday, according to a spokesperson who reaffirmed America’s opposition to civil rights abuses against LGBTQ people in the East African country. Last year, Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, a law that criminalizes, with prison sentences, identifying as gay or lesbian […]