Supreme Court rejects Biden administration’s request to enforce new civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ students
The Supreme Court on Friday turned down a request from the Biden administration to enforce parts of a new federal rule meant to protect LGBTQ+ and pregnant students from discrimination in 10 states where the rule was put on hold by federal judges. The court announced its decision in an unsigned order that drew a […]
Anti-LGBT bias vs. medical advances against HIV: One nation’s story
While progress in medical technology has improved the prospect of HIV-positive people leading fulfilling lives, the challenge of expanding access to those treatments remains. The 25th International HIV/AIDS Conference last month in Munich, Germany, made clear that substantial progress has been made in terms of access to HIV treatment, despite COVID. But at the same […]
LGBT envoy heads to Leipzig after neo-Nazis spoil Pride march nearby
Berlin’s commissioner for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual rights, Alfonso Pantisano, said on Friday that he plans to support Leipzig’s Pride event after neo-Nazis marched at a similar rally nearby last week. Pantisano said he plans to be present to show solidarity and support for the gay and lesbian community in Leipzig on Saturday, after the […]
Activists sound alarm as gay exorcism cult seeks foothold in Scotland
As the Scottish government seeks to ban conversion therapy, it is granting charity status to a notorious cult that believes in witchcraft, advocates gay exorcism, and extolls the virtues of women providing on-demand sex for their husbands, the National Secular Society (NSS) announced this week. Forward In Faith Church International Incorporated (FIFCII) was founded in Zimbabwe in […]
OAS Creates New Position on Prostitute Rights
WASHINGTON, D.C. August 16 (C-Fam) The Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS) announced the appointment of a lesbian activist to the newly-created position of OAS Commissioner for the Rights of Sex Workers. Gloria Careaga Pérez, a Mexican social psychologist, was formerly co-Secretary General of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA). She […]
Texas sues Biden again to block federal protections for transgender workers
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton returned to court on Thursday to press his case against the Biden administration’s workforce protections for transgender employees. Texas’s lawsuit, filed in federal court on Thursday against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Justice Department, argued that the agency’s guidelines were unlawful and asked that the court permanently block them. The EEOC’s […]
Faith and LGBTQ+ groups dismayed by abandoned push for religious discrimination protections
An equality campaigner has called Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “gutless” for abandoning plans to scrap the exemption that allows faith-based schools to discriminate against staff and students on the basis of their gender or sexuality. James Elliot-Watson — who said he was punished by his Christian school for being gay — said he is incensed by […]
Pope Meets Ugandan LGBTIQ Activist in Rome
In a historic moment, a Ugandan LGBTIQ activist has met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, reportedly receiving his support in the fight for equal rights. In a video and images posted on X by Chapter Four Uganda, the organisation’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Clare Byarugaba, is seen greeting and sitting next to the Pontiff. Byarugaba […]
Ukraine’s Other Revolution: Embracing the Rights Russia Would Deny
Putin’s Russia has become the poster child in the fight against the global LGBTQ movement, labeling any activists “extremists” and criminalizing any associated activities within its borders. As Russia wages this all-out assault against anything remotely queer, Ukraine is instead embracing our community as an indispensable part of their war effort, and moving toward a […]
Custody ruling in same-sex case hailed as LGBTQ+ milestone in China
A woman fighting a landmark LGBTQ+ custody battle in China said she “still has faith for the future” after winning the right to make monthly visits to her daughter. Last month, Didi, who is 42 and lives in Shanghai, travelled to Beijing to visit her seven-year-old daughter, who lives in the capital with Didi’s estranged wife and […]
Canada | Rights that are “becoming fragile”, the LGBT+ community on alert
The country and many of its major cities have for years been considered safe havens for freely living one’s sexual and gender identity. And Canada is one of the first countries in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. But like other places in the world, “street violence” and on social networks has “escalated” in recent […]
LGBTQ asylum-seekers chase a life of safety and peace after rape and death threats
Michelle Carranza, 22, did not want to be another trans woman murdered in her native Honduras. “They don’t accept us there. They kill us, they discriminate us, they rape us,” Carranza said, speaking to NBC News and MSNBC against the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty. A year and a half ago, she fled Honduras […]
Notorious cult that carry out “gay exorcisms” expanding in Scotland
A church body that enables “gay exorcism” as conversion therapy and believes in witchcraft is conducting a major expansion in Scotland. The attitudes of the Forward In Faith Church International Incorporated (FIFCII) have been described as promoting “vicious homophobia and misogyny” by campaigners. Scotland is currently seeking to legally end conversion therapy – that seeks […]
Ballroom Is Still About Black Queer Joy
Every Saturday between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., the Washington Neighborhood Center in Sacramento, California, vibrates with house beats. Unknowing neighbors peer in curiously, but for those in the know, the intimate gathering is a dynamic hub to practice voguing and connect with community. The room is vibrant, partly because of the bright murals that […]
Council Of Europe Urges Bulgaria To Scrap LGBTQ ‘Promotion’ Ban
The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner on Monday said he was “deeply concerned” by an LGBTQ “promotion” ban passed by Bulgaria’s parliament, urging President Rumen Radev “not to sign it”. Bulgaria last Wednesday passed changes to its education law, widening its scope to ban LGBTQ “propaganda” in schools in what rights groups have slammed […]
First trans athlete at Paralympic Games says her participation ‘is an important symbol of inclusion’
Valentina Petrillo is gearing up to become the first out transgender athlete to compete at the Paralympic Games, and has noted that her participation “is an important symbol of inclusion”. The sprinter, 50, was chosen to represent Italy in Para-athletics at the Paris 2024 Paralympics and will compete in the women’s T12 classification for athletes […]
Queer Nigerian victims of online blackmail fight back
Entrapment of LGBTQ+ Nigerians through dating apps and social media has been documented for years, yet most perpetrators continue to walk free. Now, queer people are turning to alternative forms of justice to address the law enforcement gap. Trigger warning: This story contains a reference to suicide and descriptions of violence.
Argentina shuts down anti-discrimination agency months after rightwing president elected
Argentine President Javier Milei’s government has shut down the country’s anti-discrimination agency, called the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI). The move was announced at a press conference on Tuesday, allegedly as part of a push to make public administration smoother and restructure human rights policies, said the Washington Blade. “The decision was made to move […]
The trans community experiences a surge of hope within deep election anxiety, report finds
With so much talk about the trans community, much of it in the form of vitriol from the right, there are few platforms for the actual voices of trans people. Now a new report is giving insight into how trans people are thinking about the coming election — and how they’re preparing for either outcome. The report comes […]
German gov’t split over adding LGBTQ+ rights to constitution
In July, hundreds of thousands of people marched in Berlin on Christopher Street Day in support of recognizing the rights of LGBTQ+ people. The abbreviation LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, and queer people, but also includes those with other identities, such as people who are intersex, asexual, bisexual or transgender. Among them is Wanja Kiber. Originally from Kazakhstan, […]
Tim Walz’s Gay-Straight Alliance students remember him as accepting and goofy
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and now Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, was a high school teacher and football coach in rural Minnesota nearly two decades ago. He also devoted time and energy to help his students create the school’s first Gay-Straight Alliance in 1999, and several students who were part of it remember “Mr. […]
GEORGIA: ‘The ‘anti-LGBT’ bill would make life nearly impossible for LGBTQI+ people’
CIVICUS discusses proposed legislative changes that target LGBTQI+ people in Georgia with Tbilisi Pride director Tamar Jakeli. Tbilisi Pride is a prominent LGBTQI+ rights organisation fighting homophobia and transphobia. Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, is pushing a bill that would ban LGBTQI+ gatherings, same-sex marriages, gender transitions and adoption by same-sex couples, and censor LGBTQI+ […]
Cape Clear welcomes first LGBT Irish-language festival
The population of a remote island off the coast of Cork will double next week during a Gaeltacht festival for LGBT adults. Cape Clear, Ireland’s southernmost inhabited island, which has a population of only 110 people, will welcome more than 100 visitors who have each paid €300 for a ticket to the sold-out event, leaving […]
Bulgarian Protesters Decry Move To Ban ‘Gay Propaganda’ In Schools
“I am here because I believe that being an LGBT person is not propaganda,” said Simona, a 25-year-old woman who was protesting close to Bulgaria’s parliament. She was among the crowds of protesters who gathered on August 7 and 8 in the capital, Sofia, after lawmakers adopted an amendment on August 7 that would ban […]
Nigerian transgender TikToker found dead
Nigerian police are investigating the death of a Nigerian transgender TikToker known as “Abuja Area Mama”. The beaten and bruised body of 33-year-old transgender woman was found along a highway in the capital, Abuja, on Thursday, local media report. Abuja Area Mama had a loyal fan base on social media, where she posted about being […]
Protesters rally outside Bulgarian parliament to denounce ban on LGBTQ ‘propaganda’ in schools
Protesters rallied outside Bulgaria’s parliament on Thursday to denounce a controversial legal amendment adopted the day before that bans talk of LGBTQ and so-called nontraditional sexual choices in schools. The protest was organized by feminist, LGBTQ and other rights groups calling for a reversal of that amendment, banning what supporters call “LGBTQ+ propaganda in schools.” […]
Federal judge rules that Florida’s transgender health care ban discriminates against state employees
A federal judge has ruled that Florida’s transgender health care ban discriminates against state employees and violates their civil rights. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled Thursday that the state’s ban violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, […]
Mexico City will now give harsher punishments to anti-trans murderers
Mexico City, Mexico has passed a local law banning murders against transgender women, a practice referred to in the country as transfemicidio (transfemicide). Murderers convicted under the law would face between 35 to 70 years in prison. The new law was named in memory of Paola Buenrostro, a trans sex worker who was murdered in […]
COMMENTARY: Malawi court’s anti-gay ruling is full of nonsense
MALAWI — The High Court released its (LONG) judgement in the case in which it upheld the country’s colonial-era “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” laws, and they are a breathtaking logic pretzel. I should acknowledge that if the Court’s summary of the case is correct, the two claimants had really, really shitty lawyers […]
TikTok Is Flooding Gen Z With Conversion Therapy Propaganda
There is little subtlety to the TikTok videos posted by Samuel A. Perez, self-described “Former Gay Stripper Now Child Of God.” One of his most popular clips, with more than 1.2 million views, is captioned: “When I used to be gay but discovered Jesus is better than my sexuality.” Set to a pumping viral beat, it […]