Europe
Police ‘brutally attack’ Istanbul Pride march with tear gas, rubber bullets
Turkish police “brutally attacked” a banned Istanbul Pride parade with tear gas and rubber bullets, arresting at least 20 people. Istanbul Pride has been banned by authorities for seven consecutive years. Each year, apart from in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, protesters have gathered in solidarity anyway, despite the ever-present threat of police violence.… Read more »
German Catholic Priests Defy Rome to Offer Blessings to Gay Couples
More than 100 Roman Catholic parishes in Germany held services to bless gay couples, in defiance of the Vatican’s refusal to recognize same-sex unions. Berlin — More than 100 Roman Catholic parishes in Germany offered blessings to gay couples on Monday in defiance of church teaching and their own bishops. The call for nationwide blessings… Read more »
Openly Gay Paramedic Burned Alive In Alleged Homophobic Attack
Latvian paramedic, Normunds Kindzulis, has died after allegedly being set ablaze by a homophobic neighbour, reports Out. Early on April 22, Kindzulis’ housemate Artis Jaunklavins, woke up to the sound of screams outside their apartment, discovering Kindzulis fully engulfed in flames at their front door. Jaunklavins says he suffered burns himself trying to extinguish the… Read more »
Latvian president condemns homophobe who set two gay men on fire
In Latvia, two men were set alight in a suspected homophobic hate crime – exposing the fault lines in a republic that resists recognising LGBT+ people. According to local newswires, a scuffle allegedly broke out between a homophobic man and two men living in the same apartment block in Tukums, a historic town of red-brick… Read more »
Switzerland announces same-sex marriage referendum after bigots force vote
Voters in Switzerland will get their say on same-sex marriage with a referendum that’s the upshot of nearly eight years of debate. The Federal Chancellery confirmed Tuesday (27 April) that more than 61,000 marriage equality opponents have signed calling for a referendum, all but paving the way for the vote to be held. In Switzerland’s… Read more »
Britain Honors Gay WWII Codebreaker Alan Turing With 50-Pound Note
World War II codebreaker Alan Turing is the face of Britain’s new 50-pound note. The Bank of England unveiled the design on Thursday. It will be formally issued to the public on June 23, Turing’s birthday. England selected Turing as the new face of the 50-pound note in 2019. Turing is best known for the… Read more »
Number of LGB MPs in Britain hits record high thanks to a new wave of young queer politicians
Queer MPs such as Charlotte Nichols, Nadia Whittome and Olivia Blake reflect a Britain where young people feel comfortable with and empowered by expressing their identities. In December 2019, three more MPs in the House of Commons came out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual or queer, bringing the total number of out LGB MPs to… Read more »
Lithuania could legalise same-sex unions next year, says country’s only out lawmaker
Lithuania could be on the path to permitting same-sex couples to enter civil unions, the country’s only out lawmaker has suggested. Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, a member of the progressive Freedom Party, is one of 11 MPs elected to represent the pro-LGBT+ party in the 141-seat Lithuanian Parliament in October. Speaking to Reuters, the lawmaker confirmed… Read more »
Switzerland lawmakers vote for same-sex marriage and legal gender change with declaration
On Friday, the lawmakers of Switzerland voted for transgender people to be able to easily legalise their gender change with just a declaration. Not just that, they also voted to make same-sex marriage legal in the country. Swiss lawmakers voted on Friday to legalise same-sex marriage and allow transgender people to change their legal gender… Read more »
Switzerland passes revolutionary gender bill introducing self-declaration for trans people – but it comes with a catch
In a stunning move, Switzerland’s parliament passed a sweeping legal gender recognition bill Friday (18 December) enshrining self-declaration for trans people – but it has a major snag. Yes, unlike what anti-trans lobbyists in Britain may believe, Switzerland did not implode nor did it become engulfed in hellfire as a result. The sun continues to… Read more »
Hungary just outlawed same-sex adoption with vile new law: ‘It’s a dark day for human rights’
Lawmakers in Hungary have passed a measure to effectively outlaw adoption for same-sex couples, continuing a wave of concerning anti-LGBT+ actions in the country. On Tuesday (15 December), the Hungarian parliament gave a green light to the bill championed by family affairs minister Katalin Nova, which defines family as “based on marriage and the parent-child… Read more »
Metropolitan Police face legal action after threatening to arrest and fine trans rights protesters
The Metropolitan Police is facing legal action after officers threatened to arrest and fine people at a trans rights protest, causing it to be cancelled. The protest, organised by grassroots activist group Trans Rights Collective UK (TRCUK), was due to take place in Parliament Square on 5 September. It was called off at the last… Read more »
Brussels on course for struggle with Hungary and Poland as first-ever LGBTIQ strategy is unveiled
Brussels released its first-ever strategy for achieving LGBTIQ equality on Thursday, days after Hungary unveiled plans to curb LGBTIQ rights. As part of its strategy, the Commission plans to extend the list of “EU crimes” to include hate crime and hate speech, including when targeted at LGBTIQ people. It also plans to bring forward a… Read more »
Norway bans hate speech against bisexual and transgender people
Norway has banned hate speech against bisexual and trans people in a landmark change to its penal code. Gay men and lesbians have been protected from hate speech under Norway’s laws since 1981, with those found guilty facing up to one year in prison or a fine for private comments or up to three years… Read more »
France pays tribute to six-year-old resistance hero Marcel Pinte
Special Armistice Day ceremony lauds contribution of wartime courier who died in 1944 France has paid tribute to a six-year-old boy regarded as its youngest resistance hero, as part of the nationwide Armistice Day ceremonies in memory of those who died in the first and second world wars. In a special ceremony, the name of… Read more »
Vatican claims Pope’s remarks on LGBT+ rights ‘taken out of context’ and underlines church’s opposition to same-sex unions
Pope Francis’ endorsement of same-sex civil unions was taken out of context, Vatican officials have claimed as they sought to clarify that the church does not support LGBT+ rights. The Pope’s comments featured in the documentary Francesco did not signal a change in church doctrine, neither did they support a wider endorsement of marriage equality,… Read more »
Northern Ireland Converts Civil Partnerships To Marriages
In a win for same-sex couples in Northern Ireland, their civil partnerships will be converted to marriage, Gay Times reports. The Northern Ireland Office made the recent announcement via Twitter. In its announcement, the Northern Ireland Office said the ability to convert civil union to marriage was open to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples and… Read more »
Russian cabinet strikes down abhorrent bill that would have erased trans people and banned same-sex marriage
Russia’s cabinet has rejected amendments to the country’s Family Code which would not only have banned marriage equality and same-sex adoption (which are already outlawed), but would also have legally erased trans people. A bloc of hard-line, high-decibel anti-LGBT+ lawmakers drew up a package of policies masterminded by Vladimir Putin earlier this year to drum… Read more »
Gay fathers are fleeing Russia with their children after authorities threatened to arrest them for ‘baby trafficking’
Gay and single men in Russia are fleeing the country with their children, after they were threatened with arrest for creating families via surrogacy. Under Vladimir Putin’s rule, authorities in Russia declared this month that gay and single men who have had children by surrogacy will face arrest for “baby trafficking”. Although surrogacy is legal… Read more »
Gay men in Russia with surrogate children warned they face arrest
LGBT+ community draws breath as state investigators equate single fathers to baby traffickers Russian authorities have warned of the arrest of gay men who have fathered children to surrogate mothers, firing what appears to be another salvo across the bow of LGBT+ rights. Commenting on a long-running criminal case to state media, a source in… Read more »
Rimbaud and Verlaine: France agonises over digging up gay poets
President Emmanuel Macron is under pressure to strike a blow for sexual diversity by ordering the “Pantheonisation” – interment at the national mausoleum in Paris – of two of France’s best-loved poets, Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine. A petition signed by 10 former culture ministers, as well as a long list of artists and intellectuals,… Read more »
UK’s first-ever Pride train staffed by all-LGBT+ crew makes its kaleidoscopic maiden journey
A Pride train has been launched by Avanti West Coast that will be staffed by an all-LGBT+ crew. The company, which operates on routes from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Wales and Scotland, unveiled the train on Tuesday, two months after the end of Pride Month – which is actually comparatively timely for a British… Read more »
Sweden’s Top Pop Star, Darin, Comes Out
Darin, who is one of Sweden’s biggest pop stars, came out as gay via his Instagram account saying everyone should, “be able to be proud and accepted for who they are”. “I know how difficult it can be,” he wrote. “Took me a while, but I am proud to be gay. Happy pride!” 33-year old… Read more »
Hector MacDonald
Major-General Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald, KCB, DSO (Scottish Gaelic: Eachann Gilleasbaig MacDhòmhnaill; 4 March 1853 – 25 March 1903), also known as Fighting Mac, was a Victorian soldier. The son of a crofter, MacDonald left school before he was 15, enlisted in the Gordon Highlanders as a private at 17, and finished his career as… Read more »
Scotland will become the first country in the world to add LGBTQ+ history to school curriculum
Scotland is set to become the first country in the world to introduce LGBTQ+ inclusive lessons to their school curriculum. In 2021, all public schools will receive lessons in issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community such as same-sex marriage, same-sex parenting, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and the HIV and AIDS epidemic. John Swinney, Deputy First Minister… Read more »
‘We’re living in fear’: LGBT people in Italy pin hopes on new law
Debate on long-awaited bill that would punish discrimination and hate crimes towards LGBT people opens on Monday For 15 years, Marco and his boyfriend had lived together fairly peacefully in a town outside Rome. Then, in early June, a neighbour started harassing them. “It began quite lightly, with him being provocative whenever we met in… Read more »
First Transgender Woman to Run for Office in Romanian Elections
Thirty-year-old Roma sex worker Antonella Lerca will be the first-ever transgender person to run for public office in Romania when she competes in September’s local elections. Antonella Lerca, a transgender woman of Roma origin who is a sex worker, launched her campaign on Monday to run as an independent candidate for Bucharest’s District 2 in… Read more »
Russian constitution change ends hopes for gay marriage
Hopes vanished on July 1, when voters backed a slate of constitutional amendments, one of them stating marriage is only between a man and a woman. St. Petersburg, Russia — At the Lagutenko wedding in 2017, the couple exchanged vows, rings and kisses in front of friends and relatives, then took a traditional drive in… Read more »
Turkish president Erdoğan unleashes vile stream of homophobia, calling queer people ‘perverts’ who ‘poison young people’
Turkey’s president Recep Erdoğan offered a thinly-veiled defence of a homophobic tweet from the head of the country’s largest humanitarian agency. Erdoğan, the ruling Justice and Development Party founder, accused LGBT+ people of “sneaking up on our national and spiritual values again” and claimed queer folks “throughout human history” have been “trying to poison young… Read more »
The Dutch are writing LGBTQ rights into their constitution
While America keeps sliding backwards…. A constitutional amendment to ban discrimination against LGBTQ people has moved forward in the Netherlands. The lower chamber of the Dutch legislature voted 124-26 to add “sexual orientation” to the list of protected categories in Article 1 of the Netherlands’ constitution. Article 1 of the Dutch constitution requires that everyone… Read more »
HRC Denounces Russian Constitutional Amendment Banning Same-Sex Marriage
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest LGBT rights advocate, has denounced the passage of a constitutional amendment in Russia that defines marriage as a heterosexual union. Russian voters approved more than 200 constitutional amendments during a recent referendum that lasted seven days. Voters also approved an amendment that paves the way for Russian… Read more »
Montenegro legalises same-sex civil partnerships
London (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Montenegro voted to legalise same-sex civil partnerships on Wednesday, becoming the first European country outside of Western Europe and the European Union to legally recognise gay and lesbian couples. The law received 42 votes in the 81-seat parliament, Blanka Radosevic Marovic, a director in the Ministry of Human and Minority… Read more »
Montenegro: Parliament legalizes same-sex civil partnerships
Montenegro is the first European country outside of Western Europe and the EU to legally recognize same-sex couples. President Milo Djukanovic said it was a confirmation that Montenegrin society “is maturing.” The Balkan nation of Montenegro legalized same-sex partnerships on Wednesday. President Milo Djukanovic described the moment as “one step closer to joining the most… Read more »
Chechnya Is Trying to Exterminate Gay People. Our Silence Only Emboldens Vladimir Putin and Ramzan Kadyrov.
Torture. Rape. Murder. I cannot get the gruesome images of these brutal crimes out of my head. “Welcome to Chechnya: Inside the Russian Republic’s Deadly War on Gays,” which premiered at the Sundance Festival in January and airs on HBO next week, is one of the most harrowing films I have ever seen. “Imagine in… Read more »
New law forces Hungarian transgender people to choose exile
Responses in the field ‘sex at birth’ on new ID documents will be unchangeable Being a transgender person in Hungary is about to become even harder, after the government passed a law that will demand all citizens write their “sex at birth” on their national IDs. And the response in this field cannot be changed.… Read more »
‘Panic’ as Hungarian parliament bans trans people from changing gender on IDs
The ruling Fidesz party voted to prevent transgender and intersex people from changing the sex on their birth certificates London (Openly) – Hungary’s parliament voted Tuesday to ban transgender people from changing their gender on identity documents, in a move that LGBT+ advocates said was creating panic among trans people who feared an increase in… Read more »
Hungary lurches ‘back towards dark ages’ as parliament passes cruel and devastating law to legally erase trans people
Lawmakers in Hungary overwhelmingly voted to end legal gender recognition for trans people Tuesday afternoon (May 19), putting to law prime minister Victor Orbán’s cruel crusade against the country’s most marginalised and vulnerable. Around 133 National Assembly members voted in favour of stripping what little rights trans Hungarians once exercised. With just 57 opposed and… Read more »
Albania becomes third European country to ban gay ‘conversion therapy’
Albania’s psychologists have banned so-called “conversion therapy”, which tries to change the sexual orientation of young LGBT people, a move hailed on Saturday by the country’s rights groups. The decision by Albania’s order of psychologists on Friday is “significantly important for LGBTI adolescents”, the gay rights association Pink Embassy said in a statement. All registered… Read more »
Turkey orders schools to stop letting kids draw rainbows because it’s a “plot to turn children gay”
Children worldwide have been drawing rainbows and hanging them in windows to comfort others during the coronavirus pandemic. While governments around the world focus on finding a cure and preventing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, Turkey’s government is warning about a different ridiculous danger. Children worldwide have been drawing rainbows and hanging them in… Read more »
Turkish president Erdoğan backs Muslim cleric who claims ‘evil’ homosexuals spread disease: ‘He’s absolutely right’
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has waded into a row to back a senior cleric who called for Muslims to oppose the ‘evil’ of homosexuality. Ali Erbaş, who is the head of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), used a sermon at the start of Ramadan on Friday to call on people to “work together”… Read more »
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