Category Archives: LGBTQ+ rights

Wes Streeting expected to tell parliament why he backs puberty blockers ban

Posted on by

Health secretary understood to be ‘minded’ to make ban permanent as Labour MPs criticise move to retain Tory policy

Wes Streeting is expected to tell MPs his reasons for supporting a ban on puberty blockers being prescribed to children for gender-based reasons, amid discontent in his own party.

After growing criticism among some Labour MPs, the health secretary used social media to defend his backing of an emergency ban on the drugs’ use, imposed by his Conservative predecessor Victoria Atkins, which is being challenged in the high court.

Continue reading...

Suella Braverman’s ‘divisive politics’ make her unfit to be leader, says Tory mayor

Posted on by

Opposition among senior Tories grows after ex-home secretary derides Progress Pride flag being flown over Home Office

Suella Braverman’s “divisive rightwing politics” make her unsuitable to lead the Conservative party, Ben Houchen, the Tory Tees Valley mayor, has said, amid a backlash after the former home secretary said her party had been too liberal.

A series of other Conservative figures attacked Braverman after she used a speech in the US to describe the Progress Pride flag as a “monstrous thing”, saying she was angered when it was flown over the Home Office against her will.

Continue reading...

Starmer praises Abbott and hails diverse Commons in first speech to parliament as PM – as it happened

Posted on by

Parliament the most diverse by race and gender the country has ever seen, says Starmer, with the largest cohort of LGBT+ MPs in the world

Downing Street has released a full version of what Keir Starmer said in his opening remarks to the metro mayors at their meeting this morning. It is not on the No 10 website, so I will post it here.

Having this meeting four days after I was invited by the King to form a government is a real statement of intent on my part, on our part.

Because as we have said over and over again, economy and growth is the number one mission of this Labour government in 2024.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump claims to ‘know nothing’ about Project 2025

Posted on by

Critics point out political roadmap for a potential second term created by ‘more than 20 officials Trump appointed’

Donald Trump is trying to claim he has “nothing to do” with Project 2025, a political roadmap created by people close to him for his potential second term.

The project, which is led by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative thinktank, seeks to crack down on various issues including immigration, reproductive rights, environmental protections and LGBTQ+ rights. It also aims to replace federal employees with Trump loyalists across the government.

Continue reading...

Georgia lawsuit challenges anti-LGBTQ+ book bans over ‘real harms’

Posted on by

Lawsuit says student and youth groups hurt after teacher was fired for reading My Shadow is Purple to students

The Southern Poverty Law Center and another group have amended a federal lawsuit against a Georgia school district to include a transgender student and a grassroots youth organization, effectively becoming the “first case challenging anti-LGBTQ book bans” in the state.

The move – done anonymously to protect the student – widens the case’s focus from how teachers are affected by censorship laws and policies in Georgia, to how those same policies affect children.

Continue reading...

Oliver Dowden reportedly reveals preferred choice for next Tory leader – UK general election live

Posted on by

Deputy PM says Victoria Atkins is ‘star’ and is one of only people he could see leading Tory party

Meanwhile Rishi Sunak is expected to tell voters today that “If just 130,000 people switch their vote and lend us their support, we can deny Starmer that supermajority,” PA reports.

Keir Starmer has said a big majority would be “better for the country”, as the Tories continue to urge voters to proceed with caution and not hand Labour a “blank cheque”.

Continue reading...

London Pride: Sadiq Khan leads 32,000 marchers through capital

Posted on by

Annual LBGTQ+ celebration takes place with march between Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square

Crowds gathered in London on Saturday as part of the capital’s Pride celebrations, with a parade making its way from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square.

The mayor, Sadiq Khan, walked at the front of the march alongside his wife, Saadiya, as well as Andrew Boff, a Conservative London assembly member, and Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, an air quality campaigner.

Continue reading...

Anti-DEI law forces closure of University of Utah LGBT center

Posted on by

News comes amid anti-diversity legislation that has gutted inclusionary programs at several public universities

After 21 years of service, the University of Utah’s LGBT Resource Center will close on Friday, as the second-largest public university in the state comes into compliance with HB 261, Utah’s version of the anti-DEI legislation that has swept the country and gutted inclusionary programs at several public universities.

“As we’ve evaluated how best to comply with the legislation, I want to be clear that we’ve faced very difficult decisions,” the vice-president for student affairs, Lori McDonald, said in a statement. “The law and subsequent guidance require a foundational change in how we approach student support, and we will follow the law. This isn’t about changing the words we use; we’re changing how we approach the work.”

Continue reading...

JK Rowling agrees to meeting with Labour about gender transition policy

Posted on by

Author responds after shadow chancellor says party would be ‘really happy’ to ‘give her assurances’

JK Rowling has agreed to a meeting with Labour after Rachel Reeves said the party would be “really happy” to “give her assurances” over its plans to change the process through which people can legally change gender.

Speaking in Scotland, Reeves said protection for women-only spaces would “absolutely stay”, adding: “We’re not going to be changing anything around biological sex … We’re really happy to talk to JK Rowling to give her assurances about that.”

Continue reading...

US ambassador accuses Hungary’s PM of using anti-LGBTQ ‘machinery of fear’

Posted on by

David Pressman describes personal experience in speech condemning Viktor Orbán’s legal and rhetorical attacks

The US ambassador in Budapest has accused the government of Hungary’s far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, of using a “machinery of fear” to launch legal and rhetorical attacks on the LGBTQ community.

“Fear is something those who seek to undermine democracy trade on, and their currency is too often you and your families,” David Pressman said at a family Pride event at the ambassador’s residence.

Continue reading...

Namibia high court overturns law banning gay sex

Posted on by

Victory for LGBTQ+ campaigners who say ban contributes to discrimination and violence by police

Namibia’s high court has overturned a law that criminalised gay sex in a victory for LGBTQ+ campaigners after a number of setbacks in the battle for rights in African countries in recent years.

Namibia inherited a law banning “sodomy” and “unnatural offences” when it gained independence from South Africa in 1990. While the ban was rarely enforced, activists said it contributed to discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, including violence by the police.

Continue reading...

Thailand passes historic bill recognising marriage equality

Posted on by

Country on track to become third in Asia – after Taiwan and Nepal – to legalise same-sex marriage

Thailand’s senate has passed the final reading of a historic marriage equality bill, paving the way for the country to become the first in south-east Asia to recognise same-sex marriage.

The bill gained the support of nearly all upper-house lawmakers and will be sent to the palace for the pro-forma endorsement by King Maha Vajiralongkorn. The law will come into force 120 days after it is published in the royal gazette.

Continue reading...

Rainbow flags vandalized at Stonewall National Monument in New York City

Posted on by

Investigation ongoing as state attorney general Letitia James says: ‘In New York, we stand for love and acceptance, not hate and bigotry.’

Rainbow flags lining the Stonewall National Monument in New York City to celebrate Pride month were taken down and destroyed this week, police said, marking the second year in a row that the flags have been vandalized during the annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community throughout June.

Authorities received a report early Friday about the missing flags at the monument in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood.

Continue reading...

Queensland Labor shelves reforms to stop faith-based schools discriminating against gay teachers

Posted on by

Exclusive: Disabled people, DV victims also at risk after broken promise to pass new anti-discrimination laws, advocates say

The Queensland government will renege on its promise to pass new anti-discrimination laws before the October state election – a move advocates say will leave women fleeing domestic violence, people with disabilities and members the LGBTQ+ community at risk.

Guardian Australia revealed on Monday that the state government was considering watering down reforms proposed by a review of the 33-year-old act.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

New York subway stop may be renamed to honor LGBTQ+ rights movement

Posted on by

Legislature passes bill, with name change to commemorate riots that spurred action, which awaits governor approval

A New York City subway station would be renamed to commemorate the Stonewall riots that galvanized the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, under legislation approved by state lawmakers as they wrapped up their session this month.

The state legislature approved a bill Wednesday directing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to change the name of the Christopher Street-Sheridan Square subway station in Greenwich Village to the Christopher Street-Stonewall National Monument station.

Continue reading...

Pride flag in window of Oregon library apparent target of BB gun attack

Posted on by

Newberg-Dundee police department said in addition to vandalism were ‘concerns of biased intent’

A Pride flag that hung in the window of an Oregon library was the apparent target of BB gun fire amid Pride month and a growing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ measures from US legislatures.

In a Facebook statement on Wednesday, the Newberg public library in Newberg, Oregon, said that around 7.10pm, a BB gun was fired at a window on the south-east corner of the library. A picture showed a shattered window, behind which a Pride flag hung.

Continue reading...

Politics live: question time claims and counter-claims over Australia’s military ties with Israel

Posted on by

Follow all the day’s news live

Going fully electric would save households more than $600 a year for next four decades, report says

Households would save an average of $608 a year for the next 40 years if new residential buildings in New South Wales were required to be fully electric, according to a report commissioned by climate organisation 350 Australia.

It cuts energy bills for local residents and small businesses during a cost of living crisis and reduces climate pollution, at almost no cost to councils. It will be low-income people and renters who will benefit most from council-led electrification.

Continue reading...

Revealed: how a US far-right group is influencing anti-gay policies in Africa

Posted on by

US anti-pornography campaigning group has advised, promoted and endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ activists and politicians in Uganda

A long-standing US anti-pornography campaigning group has advised, promoted and endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ activists and politicians in Uganda, including a governing party member who endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ laws by saying gays “should be castrated”, and a virulently homophobic founder of a “militaristic” Christian boys camp.

The revelations about Washington DC-based National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and its spin-offs and affiliates – based on documents, audio and video recordings and open-source materials – raise questions about its recent disavowals of its history of anti-LGBTQ+ positions, and its role in Uganda’s passage last year of laws on homosexuality which are among the most punitive and restrictive in the world.

Continue reading...

NSW LGBTQ+ domestic violence centre turns to sausage sizzles to meet funding gap

Posted on by

Inner City Legal Centre among rising number of community organisations forced to raise money so victims don’t fall through the cracks

The only New South Wales domestic violence centre that offers legal assistance to the LGBTQ+ community has been forced to raise funds through Bunnings sausage sizzles to keep their program afloat amid an uptick in demand for assistance.

Legal centres across Australia say they are struggling to meet increasing demand and and are seeing victim-survivors fall through the cracks because of a shortfall in funding. Some centres say they are wary of advertising their services because they don’t know if they will have to turn people away.

Continue reading...

‘Nothing short of horrific’: Amnesty criticises arrest of man in Qatar ‘trapped’ by police on Grindr

Posted on by

Manuel Guerrero Aviña thought he was meeting a date, but was confronted by police who charged him for drug possession

The family of a gay man who was arrested in Qatar say that he was “trapped” by a fake Grindr account and that he urgently needs access to HIV medicine or his health could collapse.

Manuel Guerrero Aviña, who has dual Mexican-British citizenship, was arrested in February after arranging to meet a man named “Gio” on the dating app. When he showed up to the meeting in his apartment lobby, Aviña was instead confronted by police officers.

Continue reading...