A Virginia Republican congressman who angered social conservatives in his district when he officiated a gay wedding has lost his party’s nomination.
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Continue reading...Andrzej Duda launches ‘family charter’ to appeal to base as election race tightens
Gay rights and homophobia are likely to be major issues in Poland’s delayed presidential election after the frontrunner pledged to “defend children from LGBT ideology”.
Andrzej Duda, the incumbent president, who is allied with the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, made the pledge while launching a so-called “family charter”. The move appeared designed to energise the party’s conservative base as polls showed his lead narrowing.
Continue reading...The Welsh rugby star talks about why he revealed his status, his mission to help others deal with prejudice – and how Mickey Rourke nearly played him in a biopic of his life
The moment Gareth Thomas found out he was HIV positive, all he could imagine was the Aids epidemic. Sensational images of his future took over: frailty, shame, isolation, social exclusion. He remembered Norman Fowler’s tombstone advert and the people with leprosy he learned about at school who were banished to colonies. He thought it was a death sentence.
“It was an overriding feeling that my life was over,” says the former Welsh rugby captain. “It’s like somebody holding a gun to your head and pulling the trigger – how do you explain how that feels?”
Continue reading...Activists say new law will increase discrimination, especially as Hungarians must often display their ID cards
Hungary’s parliament has voted to end legal recognition for trans people, passing a bill that rights activists say pushes the country “back towards the dark ages”.
The new law defines gender as based on chromosomes at birth, meaning previous provisions whereby trans people could alter their gender and name on official documents will no longer be available.
Continue reading...Figures released on eve of International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia show 36% leap in offences
Homophobic attacks and insults in France rose by 36% last year, according to figures released by the interior ministry, prompting the government to talk of an “anchoring” of homophobia in the country.
The figures released on Saturday show a steady increase in offences and come on the eve of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, and 30 years after the withdrawal of homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses by the World Health Organization.
Continue reading...The Hollywood star and bestselling author is becoming a podcaster. He discusses his fight against circumcision, his fear of Harvey Weinstein – and why he is an optimist to the core
‘I’m loving the idea of being here for a sustained period of time,” says Alan Cumming, speaking over Zoom from his “country pile” buried deep in New York’s Catskill mountains. It is purpose-built for isolation. “I realised I’ve been craving it; it’s a shame it took a global pandemic to make it happen.”
The 55-year-old actor has been rigorous about lockdown. He is asthmatic, so he has been out past his gate only once in five weeks. Cumming spends his days with his husband, the artist Grant Shaffer, and their dogs Lala and Jerry, mostly writing. In the evenings, he has Zoom cocktails – last night it was with his old Good Wife co-star Julianna Margulies.
Continue reading...Trans people fear more discrimination as Orbán pushes through law defining gender based on ‘sex at birth’
Hungary’s rightwing government looks likely to push through legislation that will end the legal recognition of trans people by defining gender as “biological sex based on primary sex characteristics and chromosomes” and thus making it impossible for people to legally change their gender.
Trans people and rights activists say the law, which has been introduced into parliament as attention is focused on the coronavirus pandemic, will increase discrimination and intolerance towards trans people. Many will try to leave the country, while those who do not have that chance will face daily humiliations.
Continue reading...How can a community keep in touch when it can’t physically be together? A group of performers have set up what they say is the first global cabaret to tackle the social isolation of coronavirus lockdowns. Getting ready for the show, activist Dan Glass says there is a lot to learn from his own HIV diagnosis, which left him socially isolated for years
Continue reading...A selection of images from the 42nd annual parade
Continue reading...Ahead of Saturday’s annual parade down Oxford Street, participants muscling up, perfect their dance moves and put the finishing touches to floats
Continue reading...Queer activists were met with chants of ‘Boot-Edge-Edge’ after they disrupted a private fundraiser for Pete Buttigieg in San Francisco on Friday evening. The activists, escorted out of the event, reflected unease among the LBGTQ+ community over the Buttigieg campaign
Continue reading...Government has ignored laws intended to prevent stigma, discrimination and bullying, Human Rights Watch claims
Young people in Vietnam continue to be taught at home and at school that same-sex attraction is a “disease” and a “mental illness” that can be cured and treated, despite legislation designed to support and protect LGBTQ+ rights.
Stigma and discrimination about sexual orientation and gender identity contribute to the verbal harassment and bullying of LGBTQ+ young people, which in some cases leads to physical violence, according to a report published on Thursday by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Continue reading...Referendum approves law that was passed in 2018 but was opposed by rightwing parties
Swis voters have given their backing in a referendum to extending anti-racism legislation to cover sexual orientation, defying critics who had claimed such a move would be an infringement of free speech.
Unlike many of its western European neighbours, Switzerland has no law in force that specifically protects LGBTQ+ people from discrimination or hate speech.
Continue reading...As the first weddings take place, the partner of murdered journalist Lyra McKee and others describe the fight for their rights
Sara Canning, nurse and partner of journalist Lyra McKee, Derry
Continue reading...Les Mots à La Bouche’s move from the Marais shows loss of cultural heritage, activists say
In the window of France’s best-known gay bookshop, above the display of Lucian Freud art books, opera singer Maria Callas’s memoirs and a history of the Pride movement, a poster warns in giant red letters: “Cultural heritage in danger.” An urgent note on the door adds: “We need your help!”
Les Mots à La Bouche, a 40-year-old Paris institution, is the top LGBT bookshop in France and considered one of the best in the world – a focal point of Paris’s historic gay neighbourhood in the Marais district. But as property speculation in central Paris reaches dizzying heights – it is estimated that at certain times of year there are more Airbnb rentals than residents in the Marais – the bookshop is being forced out by rising rents.
Continue reading...Colombia was the bloodiest nation with 103 murders and the Philippines was second, followed by Brazil, Honduras and Mexico
More than 300 human rights defenders working to protect the environment, free speech, LGBTQ rights and indigenous lands in 31 countries were killed in 2019, a new report reveals.
Two thirds of the total killings took place in Latin America where impunity from prosecution is the norm.
Continue reading...Protesters from University of Queensland Liberal National Cub – disendorsed by the LNP – yell at performers, leaving children in tears
A rightwing University of Queensland student group has been caught on film attacking a drag queen storytelling event at a Brisbane library.
In videos posted online on Sunday, the small group of students can be heard yelling “Drag queens are not for kids” at the event at the Brisbane Square library on Sunday morning. The event was organised with Rainbow Families Queensland and was hosted by two drag performers, Queeny and Diamond.
Continue reading...Disney removes clip to avoid censor giving film higher age rating
A scene showing a lesbian kiss has been cut from the Singaporean version of the Star Wars film The Rise of Skywalker.
The country’s media regulatory body said Disney removed the clip to avoid the film being given a higher age rating. It is PG13, which means parental guidance is advised for children under 13.
Continue reading...Foreign correspondent with a knowledge and love of Africa who worked for the Guardian, the Independent and the BBC
The journalist Alex Duval Smith, who has died of cancer aged 55, was a free spirit with a remarkable gift for connecting with others across social, language or cultural barriers.
For more than two decades she worked as a reporter and correspondent in European and African countries, for the Guardian, the Independent, the Observer, the BBC, Radio France International and France 24. She had a deep knowledge of and love for Africa and was a citizen of the world – with two nationalities and three languages; she had lived in almost a dozen countries.
Continue reading...All 47 men deny offence of same-sex displays of affection, which carries 10-year jail term
Forty-seven men went on trial in Nigeria on Wednesday for public displays of affection with members of the same sex, an offence that carries a 10-year jail term in the country.
The men were among 57 arrested in a police raid on a hotel in the impoverished Egbeda district of the commercial capital, Lagos, in 2018. They pleaded innocent at a hearing last month.
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