Category Archives: LGBTQ+ rights

Influencer Dylan Mulvaney condemns Bud Light’s response to transphobia

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Trans social media star says company largely abandoned her amid bullying responses to beer promotion

Dylan Mulvaney has spoken out against Bud Light, criticizing the brand for not supporting her amid transphobic backlash to an advertisement featuring the influencer.

In a TikTok video captioned “Trans people like beer, too”, Mulvaney, who is trans, called out Bud Light for largely abandoning her after she was bullied for posting a sponsored video to Instagram with the beer brand.

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Sydney barman’s 1989 death near Bondi beach now believed to be result of gay hate attack, inquiry told

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John Russell was found to have died in an accidental fall, but his case is one of three being re-examined this week in a NSW special inquiry

More than 30 years after police concluded John Russell accidentally fell to his death near Bondi beach, it’s now believed the 31-year-old was a victim of a fatal gay hate attack.

His death is one of three being examined this week by a New South Wales special inquiry into LGBTQ+ hate crimes.

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Kamala Harris warns of threats to LGBTQ+ rights during visit to Stonewall

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‘We won’t be deterred,’ says Kamala Harris, urging Americans to fight for LGBTQ+ equality amid rightwing attacks

Kamala Harris urged Americans to continue to battle for equality in the face of fresh waves of anti-LGBTQ+ action and rhetoric by conservatives, as she made a surprise visit to the historic Stonewall Inn in New York City on Monday.

The US vice-president celebrated the bar’s place in gay rights history while warning that many queer Americans are living “in fear” as rightwing legislatures pass draconian anti-LGBTQ+ laws and Republican leaders step up hostile rhetoric and conspiracy theories, particularly aimed at transgender and non-binary people.

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Sexuality a factor in stabbing murder of Anthony Cawsey in Sydney park, inquiry told

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Counsel assisting LGBTQ+ hate crimes inquiry criticises ‘unexplained’ delays in prosecution in the 2009 Centennial Park murder

Sexuality may have played a part in the unsolved stabbing murder of a “charismatic and kind” Sydney man in Centennial Park nearly 14 years ago.

A special New South Wales inquiry into LGBTQ+ hate crimes has examined the case of Anthony Cawsey, 37, whose body was found in the eastern suburbs park in September 2009.

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Attacks on LGBTQ+ Americans cast long shadow over Pride month

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Many LGBTQ+ Americans remain on edge and fearful of what the recent backlash means for their future

St Cloud, Florida, a suburb of Orlando, hosted its first official Pride celebration just last year. This year, the organizers made the difficult decision to cancel, in large part because of the state’s recent law effectively banning drag shows with minors in attendance.

The other reason was a death threat; a sign appeared in a nearby community that read: “Kill all the gays.”

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Well-funded Christian group behind US effort to roll back LGBTQ+ rights

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Advocacy groups condemn Alliance Defending Freedom as ‘a danger to every American who values their freedoms’

With the US besieged by a rightwing culture war campaign that aims to strip away rights from LGBTQ+ people and others, blame tends to be focused on Republican politicians and conservative media figures.

But lurking behind efforts to roll back abortion rights, to demonize trans people, and to peel back the protections afforded to gay and queer Americans is a shadowy, well-funded rightwing legal organization, experts say.

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Judge blocks implementation of Indiana ban on treatment for trans minors

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Federal judge issues order stopping ban on puberty blockers and hormones due to take effect on 1 July.

A US federal judge on Friday issued an order stopping an Indiana ban on puberty blockers and hormones for transgender minors from taking effect as scheduled 1 July.

Indiana’s American Civil Liberties Union sought the temporary injunction in its legal challenge of the Republican-backed law, which was enacted this spring amid a national push by politically conservative legislatures to curb LGBTQ+ rights.

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Canada man who allegedly yelled anti-trans hate at girl banned from school sports

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Nine-year-old, who is not transgender, left in tears by incident at shot put final as anti-trans hate on the rise across the country

A Canadian man who allegedly shouted at a nine-year-old girl and questioned whether she was transgender has been banned from attending elementary school athletics competitions, after an incident that activists say reflects a broader rise in anti-trans hate across the country.

Kari Starr told the Guardian that her nine-year-old daughter was preparing for a shot put competition in the British Columbia city of Kelowna when a man attempted to halt the competition, alleging Starr’s daughter was either a boy or transgender.

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Miriam Margolyes: ‘I never had any shame about being gay’

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Actor, 82, also comments she ‘wouldn’t want to be straight for anything’ as she appears on the cover of Vogue for the first time

Miriam Margolyes has said she “never had any shame about being gay” as she makes her British Vogue cover debut at the age of 82.

The award-winning actor, known for her foul mouth and lovable eccentricity, said gay people are “not conventional” and she “wouldn’t want to be straight for anything”.

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Justin Welby criticises Ugandan church’s backing for anti-gay law

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Archbishop of Canterbury expresses dismay over church’s support for Ugandan law enacted last month

The archbishop of Canterbury has urged the Anglican church in Uganda to reconsider its vociferous support for the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ law, which imposes the death penalty for certain homosexual acts.

Justin Welby said there was no justification for supporting the legislation, in a move that highlights deep divisions within the global Anglican church on LGBTQ+ issues.

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Outrage as anti-LGBTQ+ protest at California school board turns violent

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Congressman Adam Schiff condemns ‘acts of violence’ as punches thrown outside meeting about designating June as Pride month

Democratic politicians across California condemned a volatile anti-gay protest outside a suburban Los Angeles school board meeting on Tuesday, as the school board heard public comment on whether to officially designate June as LGBTQ+ Pride month.

Footage from a local television station showed crowds of people shoving, kicking and throwing punches outside a school district building in Glendale, California.

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Morrison government’s $4m grant to group accused of ‘extreme religious practices’ was likely unlawful

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There is no evidence politicians knew of the allegations against the foundation when the grant to WA group the Esther Foundation was announced

The Morrison government gave $4m to an organisation accused of “extreme religious practices” – including exorcisms and gay conversion – on the same day the Australian government solicitor (AGS) advised the grant would “likely be without lawful authority”.

The former prime minister Scott Morrison announced the grant for Western Australia’s Esther Foundation in the lead-up to the 2019 election, declaring the organisation had “completely, completely captured” his heart.

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Rightwing governor of Lazio region withdraws backing for pride parade

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Decision is linked to row over government plans to criminalise people who seek surrogacy abroad

The rightwing governor of Italy’s Lazio region has come under fire after withdrawing the administration’s support for Rome’s pride parade, saying its name could not be associated with events “aimed at promoting illegal conduct”.

Lazio, the region surrounding Rome which has been under rightwing rule since March, had planned to sponsor the LGBTQ+ event on Saturday but backed out after organisers said the support was a sign that the region had distanced itself from plans by the national government to criminalise people who seek surrogacy abroad.

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War brings urgency to fight for LGBT rights in Ukraine

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Campaigners hope a new law will show LGBT soldiers that the country they are risking their lives for cares about them

The Ukrainian MP Andrii Kozhemiakin is a wiry, conservative ex-spy who likes to emphasise his Christian faith and large family. He is also an unlikely new recruit in the fight for LGBT rights in Ukraine.

A draft civil union law that would give same-sex partnerships legal status for the first time was introduced this year to Ukraine’s parliament, which is still functioning despite the war.

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Florida school offers yearbook reprints after objections to LGBTQ+ content

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Several conservative parents of students at Lyman high school complained about two pages highlighting LGBTQ+ students

A high school in Florida will offer refunds and reprints to parents and students who argued its yearbook featured “disgusting and wrong” LGBTQ+ content.

Students at Lyman high school in Seminole county received their yearbooks a few weeks ago. Several conservative parents complained.

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Protest over Pride month assembly at Los Angeles school turns violent

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Reports of fights breaking out over a book reading about inclusive families forced police officers to separate clashing groups

A protest over a Pride month assembly at a Los Angeles elementary school reportedly broke out into fights, forcing police officers to separate groups of protesters and counter-protesters who clashed over the school’s teaching of LGBTQ+ issues.

Tensions at Saticoy elementary school, part of the Los Angeles unified school district, have been rising since last month over the Pride assembly the school has planned to hold on Friday.

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Labor criticised for apparent ‘backtrack’ on stronger LGBTQ+ legal protections

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Draft changes to party’s platform replace commitment to strengthen laws with ‘almost meaningless’ clause to ‘develop policy’, advocates say

Labor has been criticised for proposing to ditch a commitment to strengthening legal protections for the LGBTQ+ community, with queer advocates saying the party appeared to have “backtracked”.

A consultation draft of changes to Labor’s national platform, released this week, proposes to remove a commitment from the 2021 platform to “strengthen laws and expand initiatives against discrimination, vilification and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics”.

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South Korea’s first ever same-sex marriage bill goes to parliament

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Symbolic bill sponsored by cross-party group of lawmakers is hailed a ‘historic moment’ in fight for marriage equality

Lawmakers in South Korea have proposed the country’s first same-sex marriage bill, in a move hailed by civic groups as a defining moment in the fight for equality.

The marriage equality bill, proposed by Jang Hye-yeong of the minor opposition Justice party and co-sponsored by 12 lawmakers across all the main parties, seeks to amend the country’s civil code to include persons of the same sex in marriage.

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US may restrict visas for Ugandan officials in wake of anti-LGBTQ+ laws

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Antony Blinken says he’s looking to ‘promote accountability’ for Ugandan officials who have violated rights of LGBTQ+ people

The US may restrict visas issued to Ugandan officials in its latest condemnation to the African country’s enactment of stringent – and highly controversial – anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said that Joe Biden’s White House is “deeply troubled” by the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which was signed into law by Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s president, on Monday. Blinken said that he was looking to “promote accountability” for Ugandan officials who have violated the rights of LGBTQ+ people, with possible measures including the curtailment of visas.

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Ugandan president signs anti-LGBTQ+ law with death penalty for same-sex acts

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Global outcry over Museveni’s assent to draconian new anti-gay law, condemned as a ‘permission slip for hate and dehumanisation’


Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, has signed into law the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ bill, which allows the death penalty for homosexual acts. The move immediately drew widespread international outrage as well as condemnation from many Ugandans.

Early on Monday, the speaker of the Ugandan parliament, Anita Annet Among, released a statement on social media confirming Museveni had assented to the law first passed by MPs in March. It imposes the death penalty or life imprisonment for certain same-sex acts, up to 20 years in prison for “recruitment, promotion and funding” of same-sex “activities”, and anyone convicted of “attempted aggravated homosexuality” faces a 14-year sentence.

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