A Rapid Response Fund to support HIV services at risk as a result of human rights violations has been launched by the International HIV AIDS Alliance. In its first few weeks the $4 million LGBT Rapid Response Fund received more than 235 applications from organizations providing HIV services. The fund supports organizations working with LGBT(…)
A report that the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas released on Tuesday indicates Uruguay and Argentina are Latin America’s most LGBT-friendly countries. The 2016 Social Inclusion Index notes Uruguay “has been a leader” in the LGBT rights movement that has gained traction throughout the region over the last decade. The report notes(…)
Gay and bisexual men convicted of now-abolished sexual offences in England and Wales are to receive posthumous pardons, the government has announced. Thousands of living men convicted over consensual same-sex relationships will also be eligible for the pardon. Lib Dem peer Lord Sharkey, who proposed the amendment to the Policing and Crimes Bill, said(…)
Canada is exploring the use of gender-neutral options on identity cards, Justin Trudeau told a television station on Sunday as he became the first Canadian prime minister to march in a gay pride parade. Trudeau, who participated in the downtown Toronto parade along with other politicians, did not give details, saying only the government was(…)
The Israeli Government has been accused of ‘pinkwashing’ to attract tourists, while neglecting LGBT groups. Tel Aviv held its pride parade last week and spent $2.86m on advertising to attract tourists from around Europe to attend the event. LGBT campaigners criticised this move stating that the sum was 10 times the annual amount spent on LGBT(…)
Abdelbraki Mezin asked me over coffee last week if homophobia was dead in the United States. “I mean, you’ve had marriage equality for almost a year, surely that’s enough time,” the Tunisian human rights defender said. His partner, Bouhdid Belhedi, laughed, adding, “Yes, much like winning the Nobel Peace Prize solved all of Tunisia’s human(…)
Germany is set to annul the convictions of gay men under a law criminalising homosexuality that was applied zealously in post-war Germany. Justice Minister Heiko Maas is to overturn the convictions and create a “right to compensation”. About 50,000 men were convicted between 1946 and 1969, under a 19th-Century law that the Nazis had(…)
A mob in Senegal have “burned” and “ransacked” buildings at a university in search of a gay student. The crowd formed last Tuesday at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, after one student accused another of hitting on him in the showers. Amateur footage showed the group going around various buildings of the institution,(…)
A number of MEPs have condemned Hungary’s decision to block a Europe-wide agreement on LGBT rights. The Dutch government, which currently holds the EU Presidency, had tabled a draft agreement at the Council of the European Union this week, which called on the European Commission to tackle homophobic and transphobic discrimination, promote measures to(…)
Portugal legalized same-sex marriage in 2010, but a right-leaning Parliament who prevented couples from adopting made the country an outsider in the marriage equality movement. The 2015 elections ushered in what’s called the Left Bloc majority in the Portuguese Assembly and the Bloc made the adoption bill one of their first priorities since being sworn(…)