Category Archives: LGBTQ+ rights

Sydney council reverses ban on same-sex parenting books after fiery meeting

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Cumberland councillors voted 13-2 to revoke the controversial ban amid angry scenes featuring crowds of rival protesters

A controversial ban on same-sex parenting books at libraries in part of western Sydney has been overturned at a marathon late-night meeting after large crowds of protesters clashed outside the council chambers.

Cumberland city councillors voted 13-2 in front of a crowded public gallery on Wednesday night to revoke the ban, two weeks after it was introduced.

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Target Pride merchandise only available at select stores after rightwing backlash

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Company, which operates roughly 2,000 stores, declined to disclose number of stores where merchandise will not be available

Target confirmed Friday that it won’t carry Pride Month merchandise at all stores in June after the discount retailer experienced a backlash and lower sales over its collection honoring LGBTQ+ communities.

Target, which operates roughly 2,000 stores, said decisions about where to stock Pride-themed products, including adult apparel, home goods, foods and beverages, would be based on “guest insights and consumer research”.

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Eurovision viewing parties in England cancelled over Israel’s participation

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High-profile parties including London’s biggest viewing event called off amid ongoing offensive in Gaza

Eurovision is one of the biggest nights of the year for many LGBTQ+ venues across the UK, offering an opportunity for a joyful party celebrating music and high camp.

Celebrations will be mixed this year, however, after a number of high-profile events were cancelled in protest at Israel’s participation.

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World Bank and IMF can press Ghana to rethink ‘punitive’ LGBTQ law, charities say

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Charities and campaign groups are calling on bodies to say they may stop funding country if legislation comes into effect

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are coming under pressure to use their financial might to persuade Ghana to reconsider a proposed law that could lead to anyone who identifies as LGBTQ+ being jailed for three years.

Charities and campaign groups are calling on the global development bodies to tell Ghana they may stop funding the country if the proposed legislation – which will be challenged in the country’s supreme court next week – comes into effect.

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NSW to formally apologise for previously criminalising homosexuality

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Chris Minns says he hopes move will bring ‘some semblance of closure’ to those convicted

The New South Wales government will formally apologise to people convicted under laws criminalising homosexuality in a move the premier hopes will bring closure to those who have been affected.

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality, NSW will become the last Australian state to issue an apology after all five others did last decade.

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Sydney council’s ‘ridiculous’ same-sex parents book ban could be overturned as backlash grows

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NSW premier condemns western Sydney council’s ban on Holly Duhig’s children’s book as motion to rescind it lodged

The ban on same-sex parenting books at libraries in a western Sydney council area could be rescinded after widespread backlash and a warning from the premier, Chris Minns, that LGBTQ+ people were being used as a “political football”.

Four Labor councillors on Cumberland city council have lodged a rescission motion to overturn the ban, which they expect will be debated at the next council meeting on 15 May. The vote is expected to be tight.

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Human rights groups and diplomats condemn Iraq’s anti-LGBTQ+ law

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US state department says law could drive away foreign investment and David Cameron calls it ‘dangerous and worrying’

Human rights groups and diplomats have criticised a law passed by the Iraqi parliament over the weekend that would impose heavy prison sentences on gay and transgender people.

The US state department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said in a statement that the law passed on Saturday “threatens those most at risk in Iraqi society” and “can be used to hamper free speech and expression”. He warned the legislation could drive away foreign investment.

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Iraq makes same-sex relations punishable by up to 15 years in jail

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Amendments to anti-prostitution law also enable courts to sentence trans people to three years in prison

Iraq’s parliament has passed a bill making same-sex relations punishable by up to 15 years in prison, in a move condemned as an “attack on human rights”.

Transgender people will also be sentenced to three years in jail under the amendments to a 1988 anti-prostitution law, which were adopted during a session attended by 170 out of 329 lawmakers on Saturday.

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UK’s first ever memorial to LGBT armed forces personnel to be built

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Fighting With Pride charity will lead work for memorial at National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire

The UK’s first memorial commemorating the “lost legion” of LGBT people who have served in the armed forces is to be built at the National Memorial Arboretum.

The memorial will be built after a charity spearheading efforts to get justice for veterans affected by the pre-2000 ban on LGBT people serving in the UK armed forces was awarded a £350,000 grant.

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UK accused by Amnesty of ‘deliberately destabilising’ human rights globally

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Rights chief also warns Britain will be ‘judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza’

The UK has been accused by Amnesty International of “deliberately destabilising” human rights on the global stage for its own political ends.

In its annual global report, released today, the organisation said Britain was weakening human rights protections nationally and globally, amid a near-breakdown of international law.

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Joy in Taiwan – and praise from the president – as Nymphia Wind wins RuPaul’s Drag Race

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Drag star celebrated with massive support at home after taking top prize in the long-running US reality show

A drag queen has sparked national celebration as the “pride of Taiwan” and won praise and congratulations from the island’s president after winning RuPaul’s Drag Race at the weekend.

On Saturday, the long-running, Emmy award-winning US reality show, in which drag queens compete in challenges including lip-sync performances, revealed the winner of its 16th season as Nymphia Wind, the drag personality creation of Leo Tsao, a 28-year-old Taiwanese designer.

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Lawsuit in London to allege Grindr shared users’ HIV status with ad firms

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High court action will claim US owner allowed access to app users’ private information in breach of UK law

Grindr faces the prospect of legal action by hundreds of users who will allege that the dating app shared highly sensitive personal information, including in some cases their HIV status, with advertising companies.

The law firm Austen Hays is to file a claim on Monday in London’s high court alleging that the US owner of the app breached British data protection laws.

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Planet Fitness outlets receive bomb threats after far right derides gym policy

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More than 40 locations across the US reported the backlash after rightwing account stokes anti-trans rhetoric about its rules

More than 40 Planet Fitness locations across the country have received bomb threats after a conservative movement against the gym’s trans-inclusive locker room policy went viral online.

In the weeks since the backlash against the gym chain started in March, at least 43 locations in Connecticut, Florida, Alabama and other states have received bomb threats, according to progressive media watchdog group Media Matters.

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Uganda court rejects petition to overturn harsh anti-gay law

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Legislation adopted last year outraged LGBTQ+ community, rights activists, the UN and western nations

Uganda’s constitutional court has rejected a bid to overturn a controversial anti-gay law that is considered one of the toughest in the world.

“We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in its entirety, neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement,” Justice Richard Buteera, Uganda’s deputy chief justice and head of the court, said in the landmark ruling.

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Thailand poised to legalise same-sex marriage after parliament passes bill

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Lawmakers overwhelmingly vote to make country the first in south-east Asia to recognise same-sex unions

Lawmakers in Thailand’s lower house of parliament have overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill that would make the country the first in south-east Asia to legalise equal rights for marriage partners of any gender.

Four hundred of 415 lawmakers present voted for the bill on Wednesday and footage from inside parliament showed people standing and applauding afterwards.

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LGBTQI+ intolerance prevalent among Australian air force chaplains, inquiry told

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Military chief says review into chaplaincy found ‘unacceptable views about minority groups, women, LGBTQI+ persons’

Some religious chaplains in the air force hold “unacceptable views about minority groups, women [and] LGBTQI+ persons”, posing a mental health risk to members, the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide has heard.

And part of a review commissioned by the defence department into the air force chaplaincy unit – quietly tabled as evidence to the royal commission – found tension between theology and values, “notably in relation to gender and LGBTI inclusion”.

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NSW outlaws gay conversion practices and makes it harder for young people to get bail

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LGBTQ groups welcome legislation passed after marathon overnight sitting, but critics line up to warn bail laws will put more children in jail

Gay conversion practices have been outlawed in New South Wales and it will be harder for teenage offenders to get bail after two laws passed the state’s parliament overnight.

The laws will, separately, ban conversion practices such as religious “straight camps” that attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation and introduce an extra test for some young people seeking bail.

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Landmark report calls for removal of LGBTQ+ discrimination exemptions for Australia’s religious schools

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Law Reform Commission says schools shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate against staff and students on basis of sexuality, gender identity or relationship status

Blanket exemptions allowing religious schools to discriminate against staff and students on the basis of sexuality and gender identity should be repealed, a key report to the federal government has recommended.

The long-awaited report from the Australian Law Reform Commission, released on Thursday, says the institutions should be allowed to preference staff in line with their beliefs so long as its proportionate and “reasonably necessary” to maintaining a community of faith and isn’t unlawful under existing discrimination laws.

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Two bar workers in Russia detained under new anti-LGBTQ law

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Pair are accused of roles in ‘extremist organisation’ and could face up to 10 years in prison

A Russian court has ordered two bar workers to be placed in custody, accusing them of roles in an “extremist organisation”, under new legislation criminalising the LGBTQ community.

It is the first criminal case of its kind since Russia banned the so-called “international LGBT movement” in November.

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Ex-intern for Republican candidate says post on adult website was ‘a prank’

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Bernie Moreno, a hardline LGBTQ+ opponent running for Senate seat in Ohio, appeared to look for ‘men for 1-on-1 sex’ in 2008 profile

A former intern to Bernie Moreno, Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate for US Senate in Ohio and a hardline opponent of LGBTQ+ rights, said he wrote as an “aborted prank” a post on the Adult Friend Finder website in which Moreno appeared to look for “young guys to have fun with” and “men for 1-on-1 sex”.

“I am thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend, and former boss, Bernie Moreno, nearly two decades ago,” the former intern, Dan Ricci, said in a statement provided to the Associated Press by Moreno’s lawyer.

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