Oceania

 

 

 

Australian inquiry probes 40 years of gay hate killings

Canberra, Australia (AP) — A government inquiry began hearing evidence on Wednesday of unsolved deaths resulting from gay hate crimes over four decades in Australia’s most populous state where police were notoriously indifferent to such violence. The Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ Hate Crimes in New South Wales is the “first of its kind… Read more »

New Zealand’s first Olympic diver in 37 years is proudly gay

Anton Down-Jenkins will go to the Olympics as an out-and-proud representative of LGBTQ athletes. Anton Down-Jenkins made some history in May by becoming the first diver from New Zealand to qualify for the Olympics since 1984. And he has done it while being out and proud to identify as LGBTQ. “I never felt the need… Read more »

Say G’Day To Drag Race Down Under

Since its inception in 2009, the reality drag competition has been on a rollercoaster that only goes up. Hosted by RuPaul, arguably the most famous drag queen internationally, the show has had 13 seasons producing some of the world’s most beloved drag superstars. Drag Race Down Under will feature Australia and New Zealand queens and… Read more »

Homophobic Attacks In Poland Causing Mass Exodus Of LGBTQIA+ People

A rise in anti-LGBTQIA+ violence on Polish streets, fuelled by verbal attacks from the Polish government, have led to a mass exodus of gay people from Poland, reports The New York Times. In an interview with Polish national Marta Malachowska, the 31-year-old describes the situation in Poland as “increasingly hostile for gay people,” citing a… Read more »

Success! Sydney Gay And Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade Stays Fab And Covid-Safe!

Despite its move from its traditional home on Oxford Street the 43rd Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras proved Australia’s LGBTQIA+ community can still put on a spectacular party. Over 36,000 spectators poured into the stadium to watch 5,000 from 120 floats march in the parade. Among them was Troye Sivan, Australian singer, songwriter and… Read more »

More European politicians found using homophobic hate speech

Political figures in 17 countries have verbally attacked LGBT+ people over the past year, ILGA-Europe report says London – (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Homophobic language and hate speech against transgender people are on the increase among European politicians, an advocacy group said on Tuesday as it sounded the alarm about a backlash against LGBT+ rights… 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 »

LGBTIQ Groups Deliver Petition To European Union To Defend Poland’s Gays

LGBTIQ activist groups All Out and Poland’s KPH delivered a petition with over 330,000 signatures calling out Poland’s LGBT-free zones to the European Union’s Commissioner for Equality. Matt Beard from All Out and Marcin Rodzinka from KPH used the meeting to press commissioner Helena Dalli to take action and denounce Poland’s homophobia. “Hate and violence… Read more »

Poland’s anti-LGBT+ tirade similar to pre-war ‘dehumanising’ of Jews, MEP says

Gay Polish former presidential candidate sees parallels between treatment of LGBT+ people today and Jewish community before war London, Sept 14 (Openly) – A prominent gay politician in Poland has compared the government’s repeated attacks on the LGBT+ community to the way Jewish people were “dehumanised” in the run-up to World War Two. LGBT+ rights… Read more »

Poland’s anti-LGBT+ tirade similar to pre-war ‘dehumanising’ of Jews, MEP says

Gay Polish former presidential candidate sees parallels between treatment of LGBT+ people today and Jewish community before war London (Openly) – A prominent gay politician in Poland has compared the government’s repeated attacks on the LGBT+ community to the way Jewish people were “dehumanised” in the run-up to World War Two. LGBT+ rights are increasingly… Read more »

Istanbul Convention: Poland to leave European treaty on violence against women

Poland is to withdraw from a European treaty aimed at preventing violence against women, the country’s justice minister announced on Saturday. Zbigniew Ziobro said the document, known as the Istanbul Convention, was “harmful” because it required schools to teach children about gender. He added that reforms introduced in the country in recent years provided sufficient… Read more »

Poland’s homophobic president Andrzej Duda wins re-election after ugly campaign of hatred against LGBT+ people

President of Poland Andrzej Duda has narrowly secured re-election, after an ugly election campaign that saw him resort to homophobic dog whistles. According to preliminary results from Sunday’s run-off vote, the ultra-conservative Duda received 10,394,843 votes (51.22 per cent), giving him a wafer-thin margin of victory over the liberal candidate Rafal Trzaskowski, who received 9,901,371… Read more »

Polish president proposes constitutional ban on gay adoption

Poland was this year ranked the worst country in the European Union for LGBTQ rights in a poll by Brussels-based ILGA-Europe. Warsaw – Poland’s President Andrzej Duda on Monday proposed changing the constitution to ban LGBTQ couples from adopting children ahead of Sunday’s presidential run-off in which the candidates are polling neck-and-neck. The opposition centrist… Read more »

Polish president says he would ban LGBT teaching in schools

Warsaw (Reuters) – President Andrzej Duda vowed on Wednesday to ban teaching about LGBT issues in Poland’s schools in an apparent pitch to his conservative base during an increasingly tight race for the June 28 presidential election. Duda is an ally of the ruling right-wing nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS), which brands lesbian, gay,… Read more »

Gay couple fights prejudice and coronavirus in Poland by giving out rainbow masks

Married couple Dawid Mycek and Jakub Kwiecinski distributed 300 rainbow masks in Gdansk, Poland, this month to help others protect themselves from COVID-19. Warsaw — Married gay couple Dawid Mycek and Jakub Kwiecinski say they face frequent abuse in Poland for being part of a so-called “homosexual plague.” “So we thought that if we are… Read more »

This ‘gay, atheist, leftist’ is taking on Poland’s right-wing government — by running for president

Krakow, Poland — When Robert Biedron showed up in this historic city’s main square to lead a rally in his bid to be president, he was bracing for a fight in a region that is a stronghold for a right-wing government that abhors everything he stands for. “An openly gay, atheist, leftist, anti-coal candidate?” said… Read more »

A Third Of Poland Declared ‘LGBT-Free Zone’

Polish municipalities across an area greater than the size of Hungary have adopted resolutions that critics say discriminate against LGBT people and make intolerance official. Local municipalities across a third of Poland have adopted resolutions “against LGBT propaganda” or “pro-family”, creating what rights groups describe as hostile spaces for anyone who is not heterosexual or… Read more »

Polish centre-left taps gay MEP as presidential candidate

Poland’s centre-left parties on Tuesday (7 January) approved Robert Biedron, an openly gay politician, as their candidate in the May presidential election. The move in the conservative, predominantly Catholic country where same-sex unions are not recognised, was aimed at preserving democracy, they said. Leaders in the Lewica (Left) alliance said they chose Biedron because of… Read more »

Poland’s Rainbow Plague

Poland’s Rainbow Plague- Podcast The last few months have shown a spike in our Polish listeners. And it’s no wonder considering the violent anti-queer rhetoric that has filled the country lately. Sadly, the Pis Parties control of the country has put queer Poles in a dangerous predicament. On this episode we cover some of the… Read more »

Tension over gay rights moves to fore in Polish election

Adam Juda had just left a bar in Warsaw late one night in August when he started chatting with a group of strangers walking his way. The three men and a woman were friendly at first, but when they realized he was coming from a gay bar, the men set upon him, beating him unconscious… Read more »

Polish police stop protesters who disrupt gay pride parade

Warsaw, Poland — Police used water cannons and pepper spray and detained dozens of far-right protesters who tried to disrupt an LGBT pride march Saturday in conservative eastern Poland. The clash took place during the second so-called Equality March in the city of Lublin. The event reflects the gay rights movement in Poland which has… Read more »

Unrest feared as Poland Catholic church doubles down on anti-gay rhetoric

In a sermon marking the 75th anniversary of Warsaw’s uprising against Nazis, the archbishop of Krakow said Poland is under siege from a “rainbow plague.” Warsaw — Poland’s Catholic Church has doubled down on the anti-gay rhetoric that has become the nationalist ruling party’s dominant theme in recent weeks, drawing a rebuke from liberal politicians… Read more »

Polish Gay-Rights Demonstrators March Under Police Protection

Event in Bialystok follows attacks against pride marchers there a week earlier Bialystok, Poland—About 1,000 gay-rights demonstrators marched inside the protection of a police cordon on Sunday, the second-ever pride parade for this city in Poland’s east, a week after the first was shut down when some counterdemonstrators attacked marchers. The march, largely by gay-rights… Read more »

The Gay Enemy in Poland’s Culture War

The governing nationalist party says LGBT groups are a dangerous threat and it’s turning them into an election issue. When you’re the self-proclaimed defender of a nation’s Christian values in a morally bankrupt Europe, you see enemies everywhere. Poland’s populist government has vilified European Union elites, Muslim refugees, the Germans and anyone questioning Poland’s role… Read more »

Poland’s ruling party launches anti-LGBTI attack at party convention

PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski warned voters that supporting LGBTI rights would ‘attack families’ Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) launched an attack on gay rights as part of its election strategy last weekend (9 March). This was ahead of European elections in May and national elections later in the year, reported Emerging Europe. At… Read more »

‘Keep Warsaw free from fa****s’: Homophobes unfurl anti-gay banner at soccer

It happened less than two weeks after Warsaw signed the country’s first LGBTI rights declaration Less than two weeks after its mayor signed a historic accord recognizing the rights of LGBTI people, homophobes unfurled an anti-gay banner at a soccer match in Warsaw. Fans of the team Legia Warsaw unfurled the massive banner which read,… Read more »

Mayor of Warsaw becomes first to protect rights of LGBTI people in Poland

It was the first document recognizing LGBTI rights in Poland The mayor of Poland’s capital Warsaw and LGBTI groups have responded to homophobic backlash after he signed a declaration affirming LGBTI rights in the city. Rafal Trzaskowski signed the first ever LGBT+ Declaration in central-eastern Europe last week. It was also the first document recognizing… Read more »

Mayor of Warsaw becomes first to protect rights of LGBTI people in Poland

It was the first document recognizing LGBTI rights in Poland The mayor of Poland’s capital Warsaw and LGBTI groups have responded to homophobic backlash after he signed a declaration affirming LGBTI rights in the city. Rafal Trzaskowski signed the first ever LGBT+ Declaration in central-eastern Europe last week. It was also the first document recognizing… Read more »

Poland makes moves to ban gay conversion therapy

Poland is in ‘dire need’ of addressing its policies on LGBTI people National lawmakers in Poland have created a draft bill to parliament ban gay conversion therapy. Politicians from the Nowoczesna party drafted the bill alongside Campaign Against Homophobia. Gay conversion or ‘ex-gay conversion’ therapy is a widely condemned process. It involves forcing LGBTI to… Read more »

In conservative Catholic Poland, a gay and atheist politician is seizing the moment

Szczecin, Poland — When left-wing Polish politician Robert Biedron celebrated late last year that his party was polling at almost 10 percent, it was surprising in more than just one way. For one, Biedron’s party did not yet exist. With no party name or agenda and almost two years to go until presidential elections, he… Read more »

LGBTI Aussies basked in the sun for Midsumma Carnival and its beautiful

Thousands attended Melbourne’s premier pride festival this weekend LGBTI Aussies and their allies flocked to Melbourne’s Alexandria Gardens on Sunday (20 January) for the annual Midsummer Carnival. It kicked off Melbourne’s weeks-long LGBTI Midsumma Festival. The line-up included Australia’s first consent festival. Alongside the many musical performances, the day featured a family fun area, a… Read more »

Polish court rules against granting spousal rights to these Youtuber husbands

The pair got married in Portugal in 2017 and have been fighting to see their union recognized in their own country Popular Polish Youtuber couple Dawid and Jakub have announced they lost their court case to have Polish authorities recognize their marriage. They got married in Portugal in 2017 and have been trying to get… Read more »

Poland and Hungary veto inclusion of LGBTI rights in EU statement

In response, 19 other European Union members states sign pledge calling on the European Commission to enshrine protection of LGBTI rights Poland and Hungary have infuriated LGBTI rights supporters across Europe. Officials from the two countries insisted on the removal of ‘LGBTIQ’ from a common European Statement. It is not the first time the two… Read more »

Micronesia senator wants to ban trans people working for government

A senior senator has not explained his reason for wanting to stop trans people from working for the national government A senior Micronesia senator has soured a month of historic moments for the Micronesia’s LGBTI community. Senator Isaac V Figir introduced a bill to parliament to prevent trans people working for the national government. The… Read more »

Polish gay couple propose in public more than 100 times to fight homophobia

Dawid and Jakub challenged the attitude of their fellow Poles when it comes to marriage equality A Polish gay couple has proposed to each other in public more than 100 times and recorded everything on camera. Jakub and Dawid tied the know last year in Portugal. In Poland, same-sex marriage is still not legal, therefore… Read more »

Fiji police pledge to investigate reports of LGBTI discrimination

It comes after trans activists highlighted the dangers facing the community, including two recent murders Fiji’s police chief this week promised to investigate all complaints of mistreatment and discrimination of the LGBTI community. It comes after the community highlighted the levels of discrimination and abuse they face on Transgender Day of Remembrance. Police would review… Read more »

Polish president considering a ban on ‘homosexual propaganda’

Many fear Poland may be going the way of Putin’s Russia, which banned ‘homosexual propaganda’ in 2013 Polish President Andrzej Duda has said he would support a ban of ‘homosexual propaganda.’ What happened? In a 10 November interview with journalist Nasz Dziennik, Duda said, ‘I think that this kind of propaganda should not take place… Read more »

Former High Court judge to marry his partner 50 years after they met

They’ll go back and have dinner at the venue where they first met to celebrate Australia’s first openly gay High Court judge, Michael Kirby, will marry his partner on the 50th anniversary of the day they met. Kirby revealed plans to marry Johan van Vloten during a speech to students at Bond University. The 79-year-old… Read more »

Tasmania gets its own dedicated LGBTI memorial 30 years after mass arrests

It marks 30 years since the mass arrests of gay rights activists The last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality, Tasmania, has just unveiled a memorial to LGBTI equality. A large crowd of people watched the Tasmanian Speaker of the Lower House, Sue Hickey unveil the memorial. The new public seat memorial sit on the… Read more »