Category Archives: LGBTQ+ rights

US supreme court blocks California privacy protections for trans students

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State laws had limited sharing of information with parents about gender identity of trans students in public schools

The US supreme court has decided to block a series of California laws that can limit the sharing of information with parents about the gender identity of transgender students in public ​schools. This ruling marks a victory for parents who challenged these protections on religious and due process grounds.

The emergency request was granted on Monday and the decision was made along party lines, with the three liberal justices dissenting.

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Two women arrested in Uganda for allegedly kissing in public could face life sentence

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Wendy Faith and Alesi Diana Denise were taken into custody under laws that have outraged LGBTQ+ community and rights activists

Two women have been arrested and detained in Uganda after allegedly kissing in public, an act of “same-sex activity” which can lead to a life sentence in the east African country..

Wendy Faith, a 22-year-old musician known as Torrero Bae, and Alesi Diana Denise, 21, were taken into custody after police raided their rented room in Uganda’s north-west Arua City last week.

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Maxi Shield, beloved Australian drag queen and Drag Race Down Under star, dies aged 51

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Performer appeared in closing ceremony of 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and was a mainstay of city’s drag scene

One of Australia’s best-known and loved drag queens, Sydney’s Maxi Shield, has died after being diagnosed with throat cancer, prompting tributes from around the world.

Kristopher Elliot, who performed drag under the name Maxi Shield, was 51. Shield was a mainstay of the Sydney drag scene and brought Australian drag to the world as contestant in season one of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under.

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Shia LaBeouf allegedly called queer man homophobic slurs before New Orleans arrest

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Actor allegedly also made remarks to man who dresses in drag, and was seen dancing on Bourbon Street after arrest

The actor Shia LaBeouf allegedly aimed homophobic slurs at two men – one who identifies as queer and the other who dresses in drag – as the Transformers star was arrested for purportedly battering them at a bar early on Tuesday morning in New Orleans, the victims said.

Jeffrey Damnit – who was born with the last name Klein and was listed as one of the victims by New Orleans police – said in an interview on Wednesday that he was wearing mascara, eye shadow and lipstick when LaBeouf tried to beat him up “while screaming, ‘You’re a fucking faggot’”. He also shared a cellphone video showing LaBeouf in the back of a vehicle being examined by first responders, glancing over at Damnit and saying: “Faggot.”

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Role of far-right manosphere in homophobic attacks on men to be investigated in Victoria

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Exclusive: Greens move to call parliamentary inquiry after series of ‘disturbing’ attacks targeting gay and bisexual men lured via dating apps

The role of “far-right manosphere influencers” in fuelling homophobic attacks where victims were lured through fake dating app profiles before being assaulted is set to be investigated by a Victorian parliamentary inquiry.

Aiv Puglielli, the Greens’ equality spokesperson, will on Wednesday move a motion calling on the upper house’s legal and social issues committee to investigate the scale of such crimes, as well as the state’s current response and support available to victims.

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China removes two popular gay dating apps from Apple and Android stores

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Withdrawal of Blued and Finka raises fears of further crackdowns on LGBT rights amid growing restrictions

Two of China’s most popular gay dating apps have disappeared from app stores in the country, raising fears of a further crackdown on LGBT communities.

As of Tuesday, Blued and Finka were unavailable on Apple’s app store and several Android platforms. Users who had already downloaded the apps appeared to still be able to use them.

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Royal College of Psychiatrists faces member backlash over Qatar partnership

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More than 150 psychiatrists sign letter condemning contract to host exams in country with well-documented human rights abuses

The Royal College of Psychiatrists is facing a backlash from members over a controversial partnership with Qatar’s state healthcare provider.

The college has signed a contract with the state-owned Hamad Medical Corporation to host international exams in Doha, enabling psychiatrists from across the Middle East and beyond to apply for membership.

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US supreme court lets Trump block passport sex markers for trans and non-binary people

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Decision by high court’s conservative majority is Trump administration’s latest win on emergency docket

The supreme court on Thursday allowed Donald Trump’s administration to enforce a policy blocking transgender and non-binary people from choosing passport sex markers that align with their gender identity.

The decision by the high court’s conservative majority is Trump’s latest win on the high court’s emergency docket, and it means his administration can enforce the policy while a lawsuit over it plays out. It halts a lower-court order requiring the government to keep letting people choose male, female or X on their passport to line up with their gender identity on new or renewed passports.

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Church of Norway says sorry to LGBTQ+ people for ‘shame, great harm and pain’

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Presiding bishop Olav Fykse Tveit says discrimination and harassment should ‘never have happened’

Against a backdrop of red stage curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway apologised for the discrimination and harm it had inflicted.

“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, said on Thursday. “This should never have happened and that is why I apologise today.”

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Sydney nightclub named after lesbian artist’s song changes name after ‘preferred clientele’ revealed to be men

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Pink Pony Club, a song by Chappell Roan inspired by The Abbey gay bar in West Hollywood, was the inspiration for new Oxford Street club

A Sydney nightclub whose name was inspired by a lesbian artist despite “predominantly” targeting gay men has been forced to change its name after attracting a swift and “passionate” backlash.

Pink Pony was set to open on Oxford Street in Sydney’s LGBTQ+ heartland in early December. Kevin Du-Val, the owner of Palms on Oxford nightclub, and its manager, Michael Lewis, announced via social media their new venture was “unashamedly inspired by its namesake song that resonates so profoundly within our community”.

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Man will plead guilty to threatening Pride event after Charlie Kirk’s death

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Joshua Wayne Cole to admit in court to making online posts about shooting people at an LGBTQ+ parade in Texas

A Texas man has agreed to plead guilty to going on social media and threatening to shoot people at an LGBTQ+ parade as vengeance for the murder of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.

Joshua Wayne Cole signed federal court filings indicating that he planned to plead guilty to a charge of interstate threatening communications at a hearing tentatively set for 16 October, about a month after he was arrested in connection with online posts threatening to open fire on a Pride parade in Abilene, Texas.

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‘Cancel Netflix’: Elon Musk leads rightwing backlash over trans character in canceled series

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Resurfaced clip from Dead End: Paranormal Park led Musk to encourage his followers to cancel their subscriptions

Elon Musk, the multibillionaire and self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist”, has in recent days trained his attention on getting people to cancel their Netflix subscriptions in protest of what he claims is the company’s “woke bias” and inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters.

Musk, the richest person in the world with a net worth of approximately $500bn, has repeatedly encouraged his 227 million followers on X, the platform he controls, to cancel their Netflix subscriptions. In the past three days alone, he has posted or reposted calls to cancel Netflix for its content at least 26 times.

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Slovakia marks ‘dark day’ as LGBTQ+ rights rolled back in parliament

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Amendment to constitution stipulates that male and female are the only recognised sexes and makes adoption nearly impossible for same-sex couples

Recent changes to Slovakia’s constitution mark a “dark day” for the country, LGBTQ+ campaigners have warned, describing measures such as the recognition of only two sexes as part of a wider rollback of human rights and rule of law in the central European country.

On Friday, Slovakia’s parliament passed an amendment that included measures targeting LGBTQ+ rights in the country, from stipulating that male and female are the only recognised sexes to making it nearly impossible for same-sex couples to adopt children.

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FBI arrest man who allegedly threatened to shoot people at Texas Pride parade

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Suspect Joshua Cole allegedly used a Facebook account to threaten revenge for murder of Charlie Kirk

Federal authorities in Texas have arrested a man for allegedly threatening to shoot people at a pro-LGBTQ+ parade, to avenge the murder of Charlie Kirk.

According to court documents viewed by the Guardian, on 18 September, the FBI’s field office in Dallas was notified by Abilene, Texas, police about online threats from a local resident.

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Horror film digitally altered in China to make gay couple straight

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Viewers outraged after same-sex wedding scene changed in Together, starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie

An Australian horror film featuring a scene with a same-sex wedding was reportedly digitally altered for release in mainland China, transforming the gay couple into a heterosexual one, provoking outrage from viewers who spotted the change.

The critically acclaimed film Together, starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie, was released in selected cinemas in China on 12 September. It follows the journey of a young couple who move to the countryside and encounter mysterious and grotesque changes to their bodies.

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Four people arrested in Washington after alleged hate crime attack on trans woman

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Three teenagers and one adult arrested in Renton after an alleged attack left a 39-year-old woman hospitalized

Four people – including three teenagers – are accused of a hate crime in Washington state after being arrested in connection with an alleged attack on a transgender woman that left the victim hospitalized, according to authorities.

The Renton police department said the four suspects in the case first argued with the 39-year-old woman on Monday evening – then beat her after she saw them again later. Investigators say they hurled homophobic slurs at the victim, who was attacked on a street near a transit center in Renton and suffered serious injuries.

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Suspended London Pride boss ordered to relinquish control of company bank account

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Christoper Joell-Deshields to hand over Pride for London’s banking passwords, social media and email accounts

The head of London’s Pride parade, who is fighting claims that he used its funds for his personal benefit, has been ordered by the high court to relinquish control of the organising body’s bank account.

Christoper Joell-Deshields, who was suspended as chief executive last month, consented to an order on Friday to hand over Pride for London’s banking passwords, social media and email accounts.

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Politicians in at least 51 countries used anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric during elections, NGO finds

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Rights group also finds rise in openly gay, bisexual and transgender people running for office in 36 countries

Politicians in at least 51 countries used homophobic or transphobic rhetoric during elections last year, from depicting LGBTQ+ identity as a foreign threat to condemning “gender ideology”, according to a new study of 60 countries and the EU.

However, there were also gains for LGBTQ+ representation in some countries. Openly gay, bisexual and transgender people ran for office in at least 36 countries, including for the first time in Botswana, Namibia and Romania – albeit unsuccessfully – according to the report by Outright International. The number of LGBTQ+ elected officials doubled to at least 233 in Brazil.

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LGBTQ+ Americans consider move to Canada to escape Trump: ‘I’m afraid of living here’

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LGBTQ+ people in the US contemplate heading north as they wrestle with the president’s assault on the community

The number of LGBTQ+ Americans inquiring about moving to Canada has soared since Donald Trump’s re-election, campaigners have said, as people across the US wrestle with the fallout of rising anti-gay rhetoric, anti-trans executive orders, and the more than 600 bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights.

“So much is happening in the US right now and a lot of it is terrifying,” said Latoya Nugent of Rainbow Railroad, a North American charity that helps LGBTQI+ individuals escape violence and persecution in their home countries.

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Rightwing ‘parents’ rights’ groups gain ground in Canada as Alberta book bans target LGBTQ+ titles

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Two such groups claim they persuaded Alberta to institute sweeping public school book ban

Socially conservative “parents’ rights” groups that have emerged as powerfully political lobbying groups in the US are quickly gaining ground in Canada, academics and free speech advocates say, after two such groups claimed they had persuaded Alberta to institute a sweeping public school book ban.

Alberta recently directed schools to purge library books from shelves that fit its definition of “explicit sexual content” by 1 October. If the policy is applied precisely as outlined, a host of books face being purged, including George Orwell’s 1984 due to passages in the text that discuss sexual intercourse and rape.

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