OLYMPIC ATHLETE COMES OUT AS GAY
A young Canadian Olympic luger has expressed his relief at coming out as a proudly gay man. Nineteen-year-old John Fennell, who competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, spoke to the Calgary Herald about the strain of trying to hide his identity from the world. “It’s suffocating,” Fennell said. “You have to play this […]
TIME MAGAZINE’S FIRST TRANS COVER
American celebrity Laverne Cox has become the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine. The trans actress, reality television star, television producer, and LGBT activist’s historic cover features the headline “The Transgender Tipping Point – America’s next civil rights frontier.” In an interview with the magazine, Cox said that she first […]
MAYA ANGELOU REMEMBERED AS A GAY ALLY
Maya Angelou, the iconic American poet, author and equal rights champion who died on Wednesday, is being remembered as a supporter of the LGBT community. Angelou passed away at the age of 86 at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She had been suffering heart problems and was said to be frail. Born in 1928, […]
CONCERN AS CHIEF JUSTICE URGES INCLUDING RELIGION IN SA LAW
News that South Africa’s Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has called for religion to be brought into the law should be concerning to all South Africans, but especially the LGBT community. According to SABC News, Mogoeng made the disturbing statement at the second Annual African Law and Religion conference at the University of Stellenbosch. The […]
PUTIN SLAMS CONCHITA WURST FOR FLAUNTING SEXUALITY
Russia’s self-professed “liberal” president, Vladimir Putin, has finally spoken out about bearded drag star Conchita Wurst, who recently won the Eurovision Song Contest. Wurst’s win at the competition, in which Russia’s entry came seventh, led to widespread outrage in Russia and the Orthodox Church describing her as an “abomination.” The Telegraph reports that speaking at […]
TEACHERS ASK POPE FOR AUDIENCE OVER GAY FIRINGS
A group of American teachers have asked Pope Francis for an audience to discuss Catholic schools that have unjustly dismissed gay or gay supportive staff. On Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) delivered a letter to the Vatican on behalf of nine teachers who lost their jobs at Catholic schools for either being lesbian, gay, bisexual and […]
GHANA MOB KILLS GAY MAN, SEARCHING FOR PARTNER
A group of Muslim youth in Nima, Accra, who killed a man they accused of being gay, are now trying to track down his partner. According to Daily Guide, the trouble started when two men, Yaw Nkrumah and Salisu Mohammed, described as “suspected homosexuals,” started “flaunting their romantic relationship in the Muslim-dominated area.” Two young […]
COURT CITES MUGABE GAY VITRIOL TO DENY BAIL
A Zimbabwe court has cited President Robert Mugabe’s homophobic views to justify denying bail to a ward councillor being held on homosexuality charges in Harare. MDC-T Councillor Sydney Chirombe, 49, was allegedly discovered having sex with Joseph Muchena, 23, earlier this month. According to New Zimbabwe, the men’s applications to be released on bail were […]
GAY DADS’ BRAINS ALSO BEHAVE LIKE MOMS’
Researchers have discovered that the brains of gay fathers appear to adapt to take on the parenting roles of traditional heterosexual mothers and fathers. Earlier studies have shown that the brains of new mothers became extra sensitive to their children’s behaviour when they become parents. A new Israeli study, published in Proceedings of the National […]
DUDUZILE ZOZO CASE: WHERE’S RAPID RESPONSE TEAM?
Duduzile Zozo’s family’s hope that justice for the raped and murdered young lesbian was in the offing was dashed on Monday. The trial of the man accused of strangling and raping Zozo with a toilet brush has been postponed by another five months. The 26-year-old openly lesbian woman’s brutalised body was found in Thokoza, east […]