Category Archives: LGBTQ+ rights

SNP suffers biggest ever backbench revolt over transgender bill

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One minister resigned to vote against making it easier for transgender people in Scotland to change their legal sex

The Scottish National party suffered its largest backbench revolt in its 15 years in power over the vote on its bill making it easier for transgender people to change their legal sex, with one minister resigning in order to vote against the plans.

The community safety minister, Ash Regan, quit, prompting Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, to accuse her of failing to raise her concerns with colleagues. Seven SNP members voted against the party whip and two abstained.

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UK minister criticised over call for gay World Cup fans to show respect in Qatar

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James Cleverly says ‘flex and compromise’ needed on both sides in country that criminalises homosexuality

The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has been criticised for telling gay football fans they should show respect to Qatar, which criminalises their sexuality, when attending the World Cup in the emirate.

Cleverly said Qatar was willing to make compromises to allow people it would normally persecute to attend the tournament, which kicks off on 20 November. On Tuesday, the prominent British LGBTQ campaigner Peter Tatchell claimed he had been arrested in Qatar for highlighting the country’s stance.

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Peter Tatchell stopped in Qatar while staging LGBT+ rights protest

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Incident outside National Museum in Doha comes less than a month before start of men’s football World Cup

The human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has been stopped by police in Qatar while staging a protest against the Gulf state’s criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people.

Tatchell’s protest outside the National Museum of Qatar in the capital, Doha, comes less than a month before the start of the Fifa World Cup, which is expected to attract 1.2 million visitors from around the world.

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Catholic archbishop backs Victorian Liberals’ proposed religious discrimination changes

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Opposition’s promise to amend act has also been criticised by the state’s peak multicultural organisation

Victoria’s most senior Catholic has backed the Coalition’s proposal to amend the Equal Opportunity Act to allow religious schools to hire staff on the basis of faith, despite opposition from the state’s peak multicultural organisation and a leading Jewish group.

The Catholic archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, said he supported the Victorian opposition’s election pledge, arguing “any leader who supports fairness to religious organisations is simply doing the right thing by all Australians”.

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Queensland considers stronger regulations after students quizzed over teacher’s living arrangements

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MP Grace Grace says schools should be ‘supportive environments’, after Livingstone Christian College principal’s investigation

Queensland’s education minister, Grace Grace, says she is considering beefing up the powers of the independent schools’ regulator, to ensure students outside the state system are “protected and supported”.

On Monday, Guardian Australia revealed the principal of a Gold Coast school, Livingstone Christian College, interviewed several students amid an investigation into whether a teacher had told them she lived with her boyfriend.

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Queensland Christian school principal asked students if they knew unmarried teacher lived with boyfriend

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Exclusive: Principal of Livingstone Christian college said investigation was sparked by a parent’s concern over ‘biblical moral standards’

The principal of a Queensland religious school interrogated students about whether they knew a teacher was living with her boyfriend, amid concerns the teacher’s “lifestyle” went against its “biblical moral standards”.

Guardian Australia has seen emails and other information confirming that the principal of Livingstone Christian college, Stephen Wilson, launched an investigation into an allegation the teacher had breached her contract by telling a class that she was unmarried and lived with her partner.

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Victoria’s 208 LGBTQ+ suicides to be outlined for the first time in new report

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Exclusive: Coroner suspects ‘undercount’ as a decade of suicide data is released to the public

More than 200 LGBTQ+ Victorians have died by suicide in the past decade, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by the state’s coroner.

In a report to be released on Friday, the coroner’s court of Victoria identified 208 deaths by suicide – recorded between 2012 and 2021 – of people who are LGBTQ+.

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Jürgen Wittdorf: Berlin gallery revives homoerotic art of communist era

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In what would have been artist’s 90th year, first retrospective at Biesdorf Palace has been a surprise success

Seven men wash the sweat off their toned bodies in a communal shower. Unless you squint and mistake a tightly gripped bar of soap for something else, their limbs are suspended in tantalising proximity but never quite touch.

The German artist Jürgen Wittdorf’s 1963 linocut print, from a series titled Youth and Sport, may look like something out of a top-shelf graphic novel or the virile drawings of the gay liberation icon Tom of Finland.

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Students protest Ben Sasse’s views on LGBTQ+ rights at University of Florida

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Likely appointment of Republican Nebraska senator as president of the university sparks protests during his campus visit

Less than a week after being revealed as the likely next president of the University of Florida (UF), the Republican senator Ben Sasse was met with protests when he appeared on campus in Gainesville on Monday.

“Hey-hey, ho-ho, Ben Sasse has got to go,” protesters chanted, seeking to draw attention to the Nebraskan’s views on LGBTQ+ rights.

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Nottingham council apologises to Julie Bindel for unlawfully cancelling talk

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Campaigner against violence against women was told her views on transgender issues conflicted with its rights policies

A city council has apologised to veteran feminist and lesbian activist Julie Bindel after cancelling a talk because of “the speaker’s views on transgender rights”.

In June, Bindel was due to give a talk, organised by the Nottingham Women for Change group at Aspley library in Nottingham, one of three earmarked for closure.

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C of E must welcome gay people or face questions in parliament, says MP

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Labour’s Ben Bradshaw says church is ‘actively pursuing a campaign of discrimination’ against lesbian and gay people

The Church of England must move swiftly to welcome lesbian and gay people and embrace same-sex marriage or face mounting questions in parliament about its role as the established church of the country, a senior MP has said.

The church was “actively pursuing a campaign of discrimination” against lesbian and gay people that was incompatible with its role as a church for England, said Ben Bradshaw, the Labour MP for Exeter and a former secretary of state for culture, media and sport.

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Andrew Thorburn resigns as Essendon CEO after one day over links to controversial church

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Essendon says City on a Hill’s values are in ‘direct contradiction’ with its own, as Daniel Andrews labels its views on homosexuality and abortion ‘appalling’

Andrew Thorburn has resigned as Essendon chief executive 24 hours after being appointed because his links to a church condemning homosexuality and abortion were in “direct contradiction” to the values of the AFL club.

The Bombers announced on Tuesday afternoon that Thorburn, despite not holding the same personal views as the City on the Hill movement for which he is chairman, felt he could not serve in both roles and had offered his resignation.

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Italian lawyer vows to fight gender-segregated electoral voting queues

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LGTBQ+ activists denounce discrimination at polling stations in Sunday’s general election

A lawyer has pledged to fight in court a decades-old Italian election law that in widespread implementation on Sunday led to thousands of voters, including trans people, being forced into gender-segregated queues.

Hundreds of LGTBQ+ activists denounced discrimination at polling stations in Sunday’s general election. Many told of their experiences on social media, citing how the binary queues failed to consider the “complexity of thousands of voters in Italy whose identity cards do not reflect their gender” and forced them to publicly identify themselves as trans people.

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Cubans vote in favour of family law reform that will allow same-sex marriage

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Reforms met open resistance from growing evangelical movement and other religious groups

Cubans have approved a sweeping “family law” code that would allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt as well as redefine rights for children and grandparents, officials said, though opposition in the national referendum was unusually strong on the Communist party-governed island.

The measure – which contains more than 400 articles – was approved by 66.9% to 33.1%, the president of the national electoral council, Alina Balseiro Gutiérrez, told official news media, though results from some places remained to be counted.

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Greece urged to address anti-LGBTQI+ discrimination and intolerance

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Council of Europe report highlighted need to enhance equality rights for intersex children in particular

Europe’s top human rights watchdog has urged Greece to take action against the “serious forms” of discrimination and intolerance faced by the country’s LGBTQI+ community, especially children in schools.

Equality rights for intersex people often subject to sex “normalising” surgery at a young age must also be enhanced, according to a report released on Thursday by the Council of Europe.

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Serbian police arrest dozens as Belgrade EuroPride marchers defy ban

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Local media report arrests of unruly counter-protesters as pride marchers flout ban with shortened walk in rain

Serbian police arrested more than 64 people as thousands of LGBTQI+ activists turned out for Belgrade’s EuroPride march on Saturday, despite a government ban.

The event had been intended as the cornerstone event of the EuroPride gathering. But the interior ministry banned the march earlier this week, citing security concerns after rightwing groups threatened to hold protests.

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US libraries face ‘unprecedented’ efforts to ban books on race and gender themes

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Challenges from conservative parent groups and others targeted 1,651 different titles, the American Library Association said

Books for children and young adults containing themes of race, gender and sexual identity received an “unprecedented” number of challenges last year, the American Library Association (ALA) has said, reflecting a growing national trend of attempted censorship.

The challenges came from conservative parent groups and others. In some cases, the group says, librarians and elected officials were threatened with violence by members of the Proud Boys and armed activists at school board and library board meetings.

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‘Lie of gender identity’ spurred founding of LGB Alliance, court told

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Co-founder says group offended by ‘redefinition’ of homosexuality as she defends charity against accusation of anti-trans agenda

The organisation LGB Alliance was founded to “prevent the dissemination of the lie of gender identity”, a court was told on Wednesday, during a hearing over whether the Charity Commission was right to grant the body charitable status.

Co-founder Kate Harris told a hearing that a surge in anti-lesbian discrimination was another motivation for the creation of the organisation.

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Serbia bans its first staging of EuroPride rally at late notice

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Organisers vow to go ahead with event on Saturday after authorities announce ban citing public safety

Serbian authorities have banned EuroPride, the pan-European gathering of the LGBTQ community due to be held in Belgrade on Saturday, sparking an outcry from organisers.

EuroPride is held in a different country every year, and this would have been Serbia’s first time hosting the event.

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Gay rights group was set up ‘to promote transphobic activity’, court told

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Claim comes in appeal by trans rights charity against decision to give LGB Alliance charitable status

The gay rights organisation LGB Alliance was set up to “promote transphobic activity rather than pro-LGB activities”, the head of Consortium, an umbrella group of LGBT organisations told a court on Monday.

In the first full day of hearings in the appeal by the transgender rights charity Mermaids against the Charity Commission’s decision to award charitable status to LGB Alliance, Paul Roberts, the chief executive of Consortium, said that LGB Alliance was created to pursue an anti-trans agenda.

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