Category Archives: LGBTQ+ rights

US arts funding agency sued over Trump order targeting LGBTQ+ projects

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Groups sue National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) after president bars funds for promotion of ‘gender ideology’

Several arts organizations are suing the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) over its new requirements following Donald Trump’s executive order barring the use of federal funds for the promotion of “gender ideology”.

The groups, which are seeking funding for projects that support art about or are made by transgender and non-binary people, say they have in effect been unconstitutionally blocked from receiving grants from the agency that was built to promote artistic excellence, despite having received funds for similar projects in the past.

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Trump declares administration ‘just getting started’ in address to Congress

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President boasts about efforts to slash federal workforce and reorient foreign policy as Democrats protest from chamber

Donald Trump on Tuesday declared that his administration was “just getting started”, boasting in a marathon address to Congress that his efforts to slash the size of the federal workforce, reorient US foreign policy and escalate a risky trade war marked the beginning of the “most thrilling days in the history of our country” as Democratic lawmakers protested with placards that read “lies” and “false”.

“America is back,” Trump declared, opening his primetime speech to a joint session of Congress, the first of his second term and the longest in American history. Republicans broke into a boisterous chant of “USA”.

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US shutdown of HIV/Aids funding ‘could lead to 500,000 deaths in South Africa’

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USAid cuts to clinics dispensing antiretroviral drugs will be ‘death sentence for mothers and children’, expert warns

Sweeping notices of termination of funding have been received by organisations working with HIV and Aids across Africa, with dire predictions of a huge rise in deaths as a result.

After the US announced a permanent end to funding for HIV projects, services across the board have been affected, say doctors and programme managers, from projects helping orphans and pregnant women to those reaching transgender individuals and sex workers.

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Pride Toronto loses corporate funding as Trump’s DEI purge has chilling effect

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Canadian event loses three sponsors who also do business in the US to avoid being seen as supporting LGBTQ+ rights

Pride Toronto, one of the largest celebrations of LGTBQ+ people in North America, is reeling from the loss of three major sponsors who have pulled funding after Donald Trump’s purge of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes in the US.

Kojo Modeste, the executive director of the Canadian event said that the sponsors who also do business in the US are seeking to avoidbeing seen as supporting LGBTQ+ rights.

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Meta and Google opt out of Sydney Mardi Gras amid move away from DEI in US

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Former sponsors walk away from 2025 event – while organisers say they do not meet partnership requirements

Google and Meta do not meet the requirements to partner with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the organisation has said, after the two tech giants ended their official involvement and ditched diversity obligations in the US.

At the 47th annual Mardi Gras parade up Oxford Street next Saturday, a notable absence will be the two tech firms, previously event sponsors.

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No evidence of hate crime in killing of US transgender man, authorities say

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Five people charged with murder in Sam Nordquist’s death in upstate New York also identified as LGBTQ+, say officials

Authorities investigating the alleged torture and murder of Sam Nordquist in upstate New York say they have found no evidence the transgender man’s killing was a hate crime, pointing out that five people recently charged in connection with the slaying also identified as LGBTQ+.

“We urge the community not to speculate into the motive behind the murder as we work to find justice for Sam,” authorities said over the weekend in a joint press release from the Ontario county district attorney’s office and New York state police. “At this time, we have no indication that Sam’s murder was a hate crime.”

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Muhsin Hendricks, world’s ‘first openly gay imam’, shot dead in South Africa

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Police say motive for killing of Hendricks, who ran a mosque for LGBTQ+ Muslims near Cape Town, is unknown

Muhsin Hendricks, considered the world’s “first openly gay imam”, has been shot dead near the southern city of Gqeberha, South African police have said.

The imam, who ran a mosque intended as a safe haven for gay and other marginalised Muslims, was in a car with another person on Saturday when a vehicle stopped in front of them and blocked their exit, police said.

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Sacking of Christian school worker over posts about LGBTQ+ lessons unlawful, court rules

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Kristie Higgs was dismissed after sharing posts on plans to teach equalities programme at her son’s C of E school

A Christian school worker who was sacked after she shared Facebook posts raising concerns about lessons in LGBTQ+ relationships for primary schoolchildren has won her battle in the court of appeal.

Kristie Higgs was dismissed from her role as a pastoral administrator and work experience manager at Farmor’s, a secondary school in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 after an anonymous complaint from a parent at the school.

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Trump’s anti-diversity executive orders threaten Americans’ health, experts say

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As certain terms are scrubbed from US health agency websites decades of vital data is vanishing, advocates warn

After Donald Trump signed executive orders ordering for mentions of race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and other terms to be scrubbed from US health agency websites, experts say the implications for health and scientific research are vast.

All pages at US health agencies were told to take down these mentions after Trump signed certain executive orders on his first day in office.

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‘Very retaliatory’: the federal workers caught up in Trump’s DEI purge

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Employees condemn ‘unprecedented and scary’ effort to push out those who had worked on diversity programs

Jeremy Wood thought he was safe from the shuttering of federal government diversity initiatives that he expected to start as soon as Donald Trump was sworn in.

A Raleigh, North Carolina-based career civil servant in the US agriculture department, Wood had been among those tasked with implementing policies ordered by Joe Biden to curtail discrimination on the basis of race, sexual orientation and gender identity in the federal government.

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Queensland’s puberty blockers ban has potential to cause harm, sex discrimination commissioner says

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Anna Cody raises concerns over halt to hormone treatments for gender dysphoria as youth service labels it ‘discriminatory’

The Queensland government’s ban on puberty blockers for new patients seeking treatment for gender issues is “discriminatory”, according to the state’s only dedicated LGBTQI youth service, as the national sex discrimination commissioner warns the decision may harm young people.

Sex discrimination commissioner, Anna Cody, said the decision “has the potential to harm the physical and mental wellbeing of children in Queensland who are currently awaiting care”.

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Teacher who told Sydney Catholic Schools she was transitioning allegedly asked to move and not given shifts

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Zoe Conolan-Glen’s discrimination case has now been referred to the federal court

A music teacher who told the management of Sydney Catholic Schools she was transitioning was allegedly asked to move to a different school before being given no shifts for a year.

Sydney woman Zoe Conolan-Glen lodged a discrimination complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission in July 2024, which was referred to the federal court on 18 December, claiming the prospective school’s management also asked intrusive questions, including which staff bathroom she would use and how she would react if a parent complained about her identity.

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Actor Dirk Bogarde was ‘disturbed’ by KGB sting warning, declassified files reveal

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MI5 told Bogarde in 1971 that he had been identified as ‘practising homosexual’ of interest by Russian spies

The film star Dirk Bogarde was “clearly disturbed” and “troubled” after MI5 warned him that his name had been given to the KGB as a “practising homosexual” and he risked being compromised in a sting operation, newly declassified intelligence files show.

Bogarde, who died in 1999 and never came out publicly but lived with his life partner and manager, Anthony Forwood, was told by security services that his name was on a list of “six practising British homosexuals” given to the Russians by an unnamed source who had himself been sexually compromised during a visit to Moscow in the late 1950s.

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Gay men can train as priests but must be celibate, say Italian bishops

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Move marks shift in views but sexually active gay men will not be admitted to Roman Catholic seminaries

Gay men will be allowed to train as priests in Roman Catholic seminaries, so long as they observe celibacy, according to new guidelines announced by the Italian Bishops Conference (CIE).

The decision marks a shift from the view previously held by Pope Francis that gay men should not be admitted to seminaries owing to the risk of them leading a double life.

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Uniformed NSW police again face Sydney Mardi Gras ban

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Officers could be barred from marching in 2025 over concerns force hasn’t improved relations with LGBTQ+ community

New South Wales police are facing a ban from the upcoming Mardi Gras parade over concerns about the force’s relationship with the queer community.

At the event’s annual general meeting on Saturday, members will vote on three resolutions on police participation in the parade after uniformed officers were banned from joining the 2024 march.

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Colorado victims sue over attack at LGBTQ+ nightclub that killed five

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Suit accuses Club Q of lax security and says authorities’ ‘deliberate inaction’ enabled shooter to carry out attack

Two days shy of the second anniversary of a hate-fueled mass shooting at a queer nightclub in Colorado Springs, victims and mothers of those killed have filed lawsuits against the club for lax security and against the sheriff’s office for failing to trigger the state’s red flag law to disarm the shooter and ensure they could not purchase any more weapons.

“Club Q advertised itself as a ‘safe place’ for LGBTQIA+ individuals. But that was a facade,” read the two complaints, which contain allegations of negligence.

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Racist and anti-LGBTQ+ texts target Americans across US, including teens

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FBI investigating anti-migrant and anti-gay texts that follow messages sent to Black people after Trump election win

Racist text messages targeting Black people across the US just hours after Donald Trump won a second presidency have now expanded to the Hispanic communities – and homophobic versions have been aimed at LGBTQ+ people, the FBI said on Friday.

Authorities say they are investigating the messages – which now include emails – and that they have not received reports of violent acts stemming from the hateful messages.

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‘It’s created an internal shitstorm’: turmoil at UK law firm accused of ‘whitewashing’ Saudi World Cup report

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Sources say key people at Clifford Chance were not consulted, as it emerges another company refused job due to reputational concerns

When the Saudi crown prince locked nearly 400 of his country’s most powerful people in a luxury hotel in 2017 and stripped them of their fortunes, a UK law firm allegedly played a significant role.

On the orders of Mohammed bin Salman, Clifford Chance - a “magic circle” legal giant with headquarters in London – was reported to have facilitated the forced transfer of assets from a Saudi TV station to the government.

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Diverse sexuality reported by more than one in 10 Australian high school students

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Authors of study that found 12% of year 8 pupils identify as gay, bisexual, pansexual or asexual say results highlight ‘urgent need’ for support services

More than one in 10 Australian teenagers identify as gay, bisexual, pansexual or asexual, a survey of high school students has found.

Researchers surveyed 6,388 year 8 students between 2019 and 2021, finding that 12% of the teens reported diverse sexualities, while 3.3% identified as gender-diverse.

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Veterans dismissed over ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy given honorable discharges

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US policy in effect from 1994-2011 removed thousands of LGBTQ+ service members, many less than honorably

Nearly all US service members who were forcibly separated from the military when the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was in place have now been honorably discharged, defense department officials announced on Tuesday.

The “don’t ask, don’t tell policy, which went into effect on 28 February 1994 during then president Bill Clinton’s administration, barred service members from being openly gay, lesbian or bisexual – otherwise legally defined as those with “a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts”. Under the policy, other service members were also not allowed to ask each other about their sexual orientation.

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