Elizabeth Kuhr

In the early hours of Friday, June 11, three men were assaulted and subjected to homophobic abuse near a pub in Liverpool, England, by a group of teenagers, one of whom had a knife, according to police.  “Due to the abhorrent verbal abuse the victims were subjected to, we’re treating this as a hate crime,” Detective Inspector Chris Hawitt said in a statement at the time, calling the attack “despicable” and saying the Merseyside Police would not “tolerate people being targeted in this manner because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.” A few weeks after the incident, the Merseyside Police released […]

In a landmark change to existing policy, the United Kingdom will allow sexually active gay and bisexual men to donate blood, with the new criteria focusing on individual behaviors and lifting the outright ban on blood from men who have sex with men. “This is such a fundamental change and victory,” Ethan Spibey, a blood donation advocate, said. “It’s a groundbreaking, pioneering new policy for gay and bi men in the U.K.” Under the new guidelines, donors who have had only one sexual partner for more than three months will be eligible to give blood. A health check questionnaire completed […]

Six in 10 gay and lesbian Europeans avoid holding hands with same-sex partners in public, and over half of LGBTQ people in Europe are almost never open about their sexual orientations or gender identities, according to a new survey. “The overarching finding was that not much has changed and there’s a long way to go,” Miltos Pavlou, the survey’s project manager, told NBC News. “Hate and inequality remain a major challenge in our society.” “Changing laws are incredibly important first steps, but really building meaningful acceptance takes years.” EVELYNE PARADIS, ILGA-EUROPE The report, “A long way to go for LGBTI […]