Category Archives: LGBT rights

Senate calls on government to expedite asylum claim of two gay Saudi journalists in ‘arbitrary’ detention

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Multiple global news organisations call for release of men, who fled their country only to become embroiled in Australia’s detention system

The Senate has passed a motion calling on the government to recognise the increased risk it has placed on two gay Saudi journalists by keeping them in detention after they claimed asylum last month.

Guardian Australia can reveal that multiple news organisations around the world have called for the release of the men, warning the Australian government they are watching the case closely.

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TikTok owns up to censoring some users’ videos to stop bullying

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Chinese owned video-sharing site restricted posts by users it identified as disabled, fat or LGBTQ+

TikTok has admitted censoring posts by users it identified as disabled, fat or LGBTQ+ as part of a misguided effort to cut down on bullying on the platform.

According to a report from the German site NetzPolitik.org, the video-sharing site artificially limited the reach of users who it thought would be vulnerable to bullying if their videos reached a wide audience.

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‘Google is no longer listening’: four fired workers file charges against tech giant

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The employee-activists accuse the company of attempting to quash employee organizing, in violation of federal labor laws

The four worker-activists who were fired by Google during Thanksgiving week plan to file federal charges alleging that their former employer fired them to quash worker organizing, in violation of federal labor laws.

Google told its staff of approximately 100,000 last week that the employees were fired for “clear and repeated violations of our data security policies”, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg. But in defiant interviews with the Guardian on Monday, the workers rejected that justification as a pretext.

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Hungary pulls out of Eurovision amid rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric

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No reason given for withdrawal from show, called ‘homosexual flotilla’ by pro-Orbán journalist

Hungary will not participate in next year’s Eurovision song contest, amid speculation the decision was taken because the competition is “too gay” for the taste of the country’s far-right government and public media bosses.

While no official reason has been given for the withdrawal, the move comes amid an increase in homophobic rhetoric in Hungary, where the anti-migration prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has launched a “family first” policy aimed at helping traditional families and boosting birth rates.

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LGBT travel index puts Sweden top, and warns against some popular destinations

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Canada and Norway make top three of new ranking for gay and trans travellers, which also warns of ill-treatment in some countries favoured by tourists

Sweden has been named the most LGBT-friendly country in the world for travellers according to new research into gay rights in 150 countries.

The LGBTQ+ Danger Index was created by ranking the 150 most-visited countries using eight factors, including legalised same-sex marriage, worker protection and whether, based on Gallup poll findings, it is a good place to live.

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Outcry as conservative South Korean MPs seek to curtail LGBT rights

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Campaigners condemn attempt to remove protection for ‘sexual orientation’ from new legislation

Campaigners in South Korea have condemned an attempt by conservative MPs to remove homophobia and transphobia from a list of violations of a proposed anti-discrimination law.

An amendment submitted this month by Ahn Sang-soo, a member of the main opposition Liberty Korea party, seeks to remove sexual minorities from groups protected by the law, sparking protests by rights groups and members of the LGBT community.

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Two gay Saudi journalists ‘treated like criminals’ in Australia after seeking asylum

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Exclusive: Men who fled own country after threats to out them have been detained in Australia

Two Saudi journalists who fled the country after one was interrogated and threatened with their relationship being outed by authorities have been detained in Australia after seeking asylum.

The men, who arrived in Australia some weeks ago, have drawn stark similarities between their treatment in Saudi and their treatment in Australia. They allege they have been threatened with violence twice by other detainees while in the detention centre, intimidated by guards, and witnessed rampant drug use among detainees.

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Turkey urged to drop case against LGBT activists charged over Pride march

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Human rights organisations defend group of 19 due to stand trial for ‘demanding their rights to dignity and equality’

Human rights organisations have urged Turkey to drop charges against 19 LGBT activists who are due to stand trial on Tuesday.

Eighteen students and one faculty staff member have been charged with “participating in an unlawful assembly” and “resisting despite warning” after attending a Pride march in May at the campus of the Ankara-based Middle East Technical University.

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Delta airline will restore LGBTQ scenes to Booksmart and Rocketman

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Actor Olivia Wilde, who directed Booksmart, called out the airline on Twitter for showing edited versions of her film

The airline Delta has said it will start showing fuller versions of the films Booksmart and Rocketman that were controversially edited to remove scenes involving LGBTQ love and sexuality.

Related: 'No scissor emoji?!' Olivia Wilde criticises airline censorship of Booksmart

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Ugandan doctor under investigation over claims he assaulted LGBT patient

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Minister of health refers case to Uganda’s medical council as assault on LGBT rights in Uganda intensifies

A doctor in Uganda faces charges of professional misconduct over allegations he assaulted a lesbian patient.

The country’s minister of health, Jane Aceng, referred Ben Kiwanuka Mukwaya to the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council (UMDPC) over allegations he assaulted the patient at his private health facility in a suburb of the capital, Kampala, on 19 October.

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Thousands attend Taiwan’s first pride since legalisation of gay marriage

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Revellers march through Taipei as same-sex equality continues to divide country

Nearly 200,000 revellers have marched through Taipei in a riot of rainbow colours and celebration as Taiwan held its first pride parade since making history in Asia by legalising gay marriage.

The island has long hosted the region’s largest pride marches but this year Taiwan’s LGBT community and its supporters had an extra reason to celebrate on Saturday.

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Uganda arrests 16 LGBT activists on suspicion of gay sex

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Men could face life in jail as campaigners warn of escalating attacks on sexual minorities

Uganda has said it has arrested 16 LGBT activists on suspicion of gay sex, which is punishable with life imprisonment, in what fellow activists called an escalating campaign against sexual minorities.

The 16 men, believed to be aged between 22 and 35, were taken into custody late on Monday at the office of a sexual health charity where they all worked and lived, fellow activists said.

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British bishop rebukes Sydney Anglican leader’s call for gay marriage supporters to leave church

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Bishop of Liverpool says he regrets that Archbishop Glenn Davies ‘seems to want to exclude people rather than to engage with them’

A senior Church of England bishop has expressed regret at comments by the Archbishop of Sydney that supporters of marriage equality should leave the Anglican church.

Reflecting sharp divisions within the global Anglican communion over LGBT+ issues, the Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes, said: “I regret that the archbishop [of Sydney] seems to want to exclude people rather than to engage with them within the wider Anglican family.”

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‘Cluck off’: UK’s only Chick-fil-A outlet to shut in LGBT rights row

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Reading branch of US chain to close after protests over stance on same-sex relationships

A US fast food chain is to close its first branch in the UK after protests and boycott calls by LGBT campaigners.

Chick-fil-A faced demands to “cluck off” when the fried chicken outlet opened in a shopping mall in Reading this month.

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‘They paid a guy to kill me’: health workers fight homophobia in Uganda

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A lesbian activist in a rural town has developed a new strategy to reach those most at risk of HIV

Maria Nantale is enjoying a beer at a rickety wooden bar after a long day’s work. “Forty people tested today,” she reflects. “Found three positives. One of them is in denial. She has run away.”

Twice a week, from dawn until dusk, Nantale holds an “outreach” in the town of Mbale, population 76,000. The aim is to combat HIV among those most at risk: LGBT Ugandans, drug addicts and sex workers.

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Melbourne Anglicans vote to express ‘sorrow’ over blessing of same-sex marriages

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Melbourne synod’s vote comes days after Sydney archbishop said Anglicans who back same-sex marriage should leave church

Melbourne’s Anglican church has formally voted to record its “sorrow” over a regional Victorian diocese’s decision to bless same-sex marriages.

The nod of approval given by the Wangaratta diocese in August has angered the Melbourne church’s governing body.

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National Coming Out Day marked by worry over supreme court LGBTQ case

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National Coming Out Day festivities across the US were tempered this year by anxiety that some LGBTQ people may have to go back into the closet so they can make a living, depending on what the supreme court decides about workplace discrimination.

Related: The US decision on LGBT workers could turn employers into the gender police | Arwa Mahdawi

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Australian Christian Lobby backs sacking of employees with no ‘Christian sexual ethic’

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ACL director Martyn Iles says businesses should have greater powers to hire and fire, but denies Christians have a ‘special vendetta’ against LGBT people

The Australian Christian Lobby has backed calls for religious businesses such as aged care providers to gain more powers of hiring and firing employees who do not conform to religious teachings.

In a debate at the National Press Club on Wednesday the ACL director Martyn Iles backed calls from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference for greater powers to fire employees who don’t conform to a “Christian sexual ethic” but claimed Christians don’t have a “special vendetta” against the LGBT community.

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