RuPaul and Sarah Paulson are among Time’s 100 most influential people
Drag superstar RuPaul, actress Sarah Paulson and transgender activist Gavin Grimm are three queer figures who’ve been included in Time’s list of 100 Most Influential People of 2017. Writing for Time about RuPaul under the category of “Icons”, model Naomi Campbell said she first met him in the 90s and was impressed by his “wit […]
Iran: 30 men face execution after being arrested, beaten and outed for being gay
A private party in Iran has ended in panic and tragedy after police raided the event and rounded up more than 30 men for being homosexual. According to the group Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees (IRQR), the raid took place on 13 Apil in Bahadoran. Police are reported to have fired shots and attacked and […]
Luke Evans speaks about being an openly gay Hollywood star
Hunky Beauty and the Beast star Luke Evans says that he doesn’t think that being openly gay has affected his Hollywood career. The 38-year-old British actor, who plays Gaston in the live action remake of the classic Disney film, explained why he rarely opens up about his personal life in a new interview with Jackal Magazine. […]
Exxon, BP and Shell must stand against gay persecution in Chechnya
Activists are calling for oil multinationals British Petroleum, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell to take a stand against the kidnapping, detention, torture and murder of gay men in Chechnya. According to OutRight Action International, all three companies have considerable investment and partnerships with state-owned oil and gas companies in Russia, with ventures worth hundreds […]
Tunisian doctors speak out against anal ‘tests’ for homosexuality
Tunisia’s National Council of the Medical Order has called for doctors to stop conducting forced anal exams for “evidence” of homosexual conduct. Tunisia is among several countries that have used these degrading, discriminatory, and unscientific tests over the last six years. Based on discredited 19th century science, the exams usually involve doctors or other medical […]
Nigeria: Couple on the run as 53 arrested at ‘gay wedding’
A group of 53 people have appeared in a court in Nigeria on charges of attending a ‘gay wedding’, while the alleged couple is said to be on the run. According to Premium Times, the accused were arrested on April 15 in a raid on a motel in the city of Zaria, in the northern […]
Alert! Gay joburg man ambushed and robbed on online date
A Johannesburg man says he was abused and robbed after he arranged to meet another man through the gay dating site Manhunt. The victim, who has asked not to be named, reached out to Mambaonline about the traumatic experience in a bid to warn others. On Saturday, after chatting with the person behind the Manhunt […]
7de Laan introduces first transgender actress and character
7de Laan continues to challenge the status quo! After screening its first gay kiss last month, the soap series has broken more new ground by introducing a transgender character, played by a transgender actress. On Tuesday, the show debuted the character of Geneviève, played by 27-year-old Deonay Balie, an art and drama primary school teacher from […]
Chechnya: Journalists threatened over gay purge reports
Instead of assisting the victims, officials and clerics are threatening the Russian newspaper that first exposed the campaign of abuse against gay men in Chechnya. On April 1, 2017, Novaya Gazeta published an article documenting that Chechen police have been rounding up men believed to be gay and holding them in secret detention facilities, where […]
Femme In Public: A creative spotlight on trans & gender non-conforming identities
An American performance artist and a group of South African transgender and gender-non-conforming artists have come together for Femme in Public, a fierce new creative project. In December, US performance artist, activist and poet Alok Vaid-Menon and Joshua Allen teamed up with Cape Town stylists, designers, photographers, musicians, writers, activists and performance artists to document […]