LGBTQ

Zambian President Edgar Lungu. (DAWOOD SALIM/AFP via Getty Images) President of Zambia Edgar Lungu has pardoned two men who were jailed for having gay sex in November, 2019. Carrying a 15 yearslong sentence, the imprisonment of Japhet Chataba and Steven Samba by high court judge curdled into international outcry from LGBT+ advocates and diplomats towards

‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic was jailed for trying to have an animal rights activist murdered. (Netflix) Tiger King – that Netflix docu-series that dropped just as a global, viral pandemic paralysed us all – might be in-line for a second season, according to Joe Exotic’s right-hand man, John Reinke. Speaking to The Sun, the 54-year-old

Jakub and David created hundreds of rainbow masks. (jakubidawid/ Instagram) A Polish gay couple have been visiting the country’s horrific “LGBT-free zones” to fight homophobia and COVID-19 by handing out rainbow face masks. More than a third of Poland has pledged to become an “LGBT-free zone”, vowing to refrain from acts that encourage tolerance and

Doja Cat performs during the SnowGlobe Music Festival 2019 at Bijou Park on December 30, 2019 in South Lake Tahoe, California. (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty) Doja Cat has denied taking part in “racist conversations” on online chat rooms and apologised for singing a song that contains racial slurs in 2015. The #DojaCatIsOverParty hashtag dizzyingly snaked across Twitter

Bobby Berk. (Rich Fury/Getty) Queer Eye star Bobby Berk has revealed the moving reason he agreed to transform a church volunteer in Georgia, US, as part of the Netflix show’s season two premiere. Since bookmarked by viewers as a fan favourite, the episode saw Berk and the Fab Five drive up to rural Georgia in

Leslie Jordan danced to “Rain On Me”, the new duet from Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. (Screen captures via Instagram) Leslie Jordan  – who must be protected at all costs – danced like the pure soul he is to “Rain On Me”, the new duet by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. Since May 22, the

Dr Caroline Norma will appear on a panel discussing “the major concerns around the proposed [conversion therapy] ban”. (CarolineNorma76/ Twitter) Students are revolting at an Australian university after a lecturer signed up to be a panellist at a “unscientific and dangerous” gay conversion therapy forum. Dr Caroline Norma is a lecturer in the School of

Pakistan’s transgender community, already forced to the fringes of society, are being deprived of crucial support during the country’s coronavirus lockdown. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images) Existing inequalities that mean trans people are more likely to have mental and physical health problems are being exacerbated by coronavirus, according to scientists who are urging governments to act. The

British prime minister Margaret Thatcher imposed the loathed homophobic law Section 28. (Hulton Archive/Getty) On the 32nd anniversary of the introduction of Section 28, one Twitter user has illustrated its history and enduring legacy in a two-minute video. Section 28, which came into law on May 24, 1988, banned local authorities and schools from “promoting

Minh Khang with his new baby. (Vietnam Insider) Vietnam’s ‘first trans dad’ has given birth to a baby, with his wife at his side. Minh Khang and Minh Anh became parents on May 16, to baby girl Thiên An. Khang, 24, and Anh, 21,  are a well-known trans couple in Vietnam, who met in 2017

Kevin Hart attends the FX Networks’ Star Walk Winter Press Tour 2020 at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 09, 2020 in Pasadena, California. (Gregg DeGuire/WireImage) Comedian Kevin Hart, who stepped down from hosting the Oscars in 2019 after backlash over his homophobic jokes, has said he deserves “a chance to move on”. Last year,

The woman said if she told her family, she would be “completely isolated from everyone she’d grown up with”. (Envato) A woman whose partner came out as trans has asked for advice on how, or even if, to tell her conservative family.  The woman Buzzfeed advice columnist Stephen LaConte how she should approach telling her

Robyn Peoples and Sharni Edwards kiss each other after they became Northern Ireland’s first legally married same sex couple on February 11, 2020. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Flaws in same-sex marriage legislation in Northern Ireland are “blocking many couples” from celebrating their big day, campaigners have warned. Same-sex couples are still unable to have

The nephew of Harvey Milk has said that the best way to protect his legacy is to elect Joe Biden as president of the United States in November. A pioneer of LGBT+ rights, Milk was one of the first openly gay people to hold elected office in the United States. Tragically, his life was cut

Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California (Bettman/Getty) Harvey Milk always knew his life would come to a juddering halt one day, and nine days before he was killed at gunpoint, he recorded a tape which would become his last words. A tape of himself speaking into

Police enforce social distancing outside a supermarket in Johannesburg, South Africa (Marco LONGARI / AFP/Getty) LGBT+ refugees and asylum seekers are being excluded from crucial coronavirus relief packages offered by the South African government, multiple human rights groups have warned. South Africa is a common destination for those fleeing countries that persecute sexual minorities, as

Cory Wilson testifies at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in on May 20, 2020. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/ Getty) Republicans have moved a step closer to the lifetime appointment of judicial nominee Cory Wilson, a man who could potentially set LGBT+ rights back decades. Wilson is Donald Trump’s latest nominee to the 5th US Circuit

Will & Grace star Leslie Jordan has given his take on the apparent feud between actors Megan Mullally and Debra Messing. (Screen capture via YouTube) Leslie Jordan has weighed in on the alleged fiery feud between Will & Grace co-stars Megan Mullally and Debra Messing. Tension reportedly mired the NBC show’s final season, with rumours

A person holds a transgender pride flag outside the Stonewall Inn at a 2019 rally. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty) The state of Idaho is arguing that a new law that blocks changes to birth certificates is not harmful to trans people, despite a previous court ruling proving it is. The bill, HB 509, specifically prohibits changes to

The ‘genderbread person’ helps children to understand the differences between gender and anatomy (Genderbread.org) A high school has dropped an LGBT+ educational tool after a transphobic mother complained it was targeting “vulnerable children” like her own transgender son. The school in Australia showed 15-year-old students an image of the ‘genderbread person‘, a well-known teaching resource

A British bus company apologised Tuesday morning (May 19) after it was blasted by Twitter users for rebranding an LGBT+ Pride bus into an “‘NHS’ bus”. As the coronavirus continues to paralyse the nation, housebound families have encouraged children to doodle rainbows to hang in windows to motivate medics on their way to work. In

A screenshot of one of the leaked meetings between Azerbaijani politicians (YouTube/Kanal12 Az) Leaked footage from Zoom calls between senior Azerbaijani politicians has uncovered appalling levels of homophobia within the top ranks of the opposition party. The four videos leaked between May 13 and 17 reveal conversations between leading members of the National Council of

Former Iranian aide Shahindokht Molaverdi was condemned for “promoting” homosexuality (YouTube/AP Archive)/ The former aide for women’s and family affairs in Iran has been forced to apologise for sharing an innocent cartoon that was branded as “homosexual propaganda”. On May 15 Shahindokht Molaverdi shared a poster to mark the International Day of Families on her

Harry Styles on the beach for Watermelon Sugar. (Ashley Buenrostro/Sony Music) Harry Styles has finally released the “Watermelon Sugar” video and it’s everything. In fact, it’s more than everything. The video opens with a message that “this video is dedicated to touching” and it feels like Harry Styles has seen into our sad, thirsty queer

Eric Trump has dismissed coronavirus as a Democrat ‘strategy’ (Astrid Stawiarz/Getty) Eric Trump has claimed that coronavirus is part of a Democrat conspiracy that will “magically” disappear as soon as the election is over. In an interview with Fox News, Eric took a page from his father’s playbook to cast doubt on social distancing measures designed

A court order was issued for the LGBT+ Ugandans’ immediate release (image supplied) 19 LGBT+ Ugandans who were arrested, whipped and interrogated under “bogus” coronavirus charges have been released following sustained pressure from human rights groups. Their release was ordered by a Ugandan court on Monday (May 18) after public prosecutors were forced to withdraw

Black trans woman Brianna Hill, who was later killed in an unrelated incident. (Twitter/NickStarlingTV) Two police officers facing criminal charges for allegedly assaulting Brianna Hill, a Black transgender woman, have claimed that she “slammed her own head into the concrete” – despite there being video of the incident. On May 24, 2019, police were called

Prideland is a PBS series that will debut June 12. (PBS) A right-wing Christian fundamentalist group launched Friday (May 15) an attack against the Public Broadcast Station (PBS) for “promoting homosexuality” with its Pride month content. In other, less homophobic terms, PBS are airing a series of shows on Pride Month titled Prideland. Oh, the

Peter Elie. (Screen capture via YouTube) A 27-year-old has been arrested by Toronto, Canada, police in connection with the brutal murder of a beloved DJ, found dead in the laundry room of his apartment block. Peter Elie, 52, was found murdered early Thursday morning (May 14) after emergency services responded to a small fire in

Plymouth Citybus “rebranded” the company’s Pride bus into a “Thank You NHS” bus, sparking confusion and criticism from the LGBT+ community. (Twitter) LGBT+ people and frontline healthcare workers alike were left perplexed after a British bus company rebranded its Pride bus into an “NHS bus”. In a cascading series of barbed jokes, satirical memes and