WHITE HOUSE MARKS WORLD TRANS DAY
The White House has issued a statement marking yesterday’s 15th Transgender Day of Remembrance. The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) has taken place every November 20th since 1999 to commemorate transgender people around the world who have been murdered. It also aims to raise public awareness of hate crimes against trans people, provides a space […]
SENEGAL ACCUSED LESBIANS FREED
Four of the five women arrested last week on charges of lesbianism in Senegal have been released due to lack of evidence. The women were detained at a birthday party last week at the Piano Bar in Dakar’s Yoff district, a popular meeting area for gays and lesbians. One of the women was said to work […]
OUTRAGE OVER RINGING BALLS
Anti-gay pressure group One Million Moms is outraged about a humorous television advert for an American retailer featuring men ringing in the holiday season with their privates. The advert for Kmart depicts a group of well rehearsed men wearing boxers shaking their privates in tune to Jingle Bells. The ever-dour One Million Moms, however, is […]
GAYS BLAMED FOR RUSSIAN VIOLENCE
One of America’s most notorious exporters of homophobic hate around the world has proclaimed that gay people are behind anti-gay violence in Russia. Russia has seen a recent spike in violent assaults on gays and lesbians by neo-Nazi groups since the country adopted anti-gay legislation this year. These attacks have included kidnapping young gay men and […]
UK TEEN BULLIED TO SUICIDE
An inquest has heard that a 14-year-old British boy killed himself after being bullied for years for being gay. The Telegraph reported that the inquest in Essex heard the circumstances of Ayden Keenan-Olson’s death in March. Ayden’s body was found by his father after he overdosed on prescription drugs. It was revealed that Ayden, described […]
LESBIANS FREE AFTER 14 YRS IN JAIL
Three lesbian women wrongfully convicted on child abuse charges have been released after spending 14 years in a Texas jail. In 1994, Elizabeth Ramirez was accused of sexually abusing her two young nieces (aged seven and nine at the time). Three other women, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh and Anna Vasquez, were also charged with allegedly […]
1ST GAY BOXER MARRIES BOYFRIEND
Puerto Rico’s Orlando Cruz, the world’s first openly gay professional boxer, has married his boyfriend in New York City. Wearing matching white tuxedos, Cruz and his long-time partner, José Manuel Colón, tied the knot on Saturday in Central Park. According to the Washington Blade, the ceremony was officiated by New York City Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito. […]
SHOCK AT JAMAICA GAY AD RULING
Jamaica’s Constitutional Court has ruled that three television channels have the right to refuse to air a paid-for advert calling for the acceptance of LGBT people. The ad was created by the organisation AIDS-Free World to promoted tolerance as part of its HIV advocacy strategy in the Caribbean. The inoffensive 30-second spot (watch below) shows […]
OLYMPIC SPONSORS MUST SPEAK OUT
Human Rights Watch has accused Olympic corporate sponsors of failing to speak out strongly enough against human rights abuses ahead of the Sochi Winter Games, to be hosted by Russian in February 2014. “Corporate sponsors have a huge stake in making the Sochi Games the celebration of fair play and human dignity that all Olympics […]
UGANDA ACTIVIST’S TABLOID ORDEAL
The humiliating and life-changing arrest of a leading Ugandan gay rights activist has been splashed out across the pages of the country’s tabloids. Last week, Samuel K Ganafa, who works for a telecommunications company and also heads up two LGBT rights groups in Uganda, was arrested, along with three of his house guests. The arrests were […]