The lower house of parliament (National Assembly) in South Africa has voted for a historic change to civil union laws. South Africa has recognized civil unions since 2006 but today’s changes will mean that officials will not be able to refuse to marry same-sex couples on the basis of their ‘conscience, religion [or] belief’. Cope(…)
A referendum on whether to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples in Taiwan failed on Nov. 24, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association) The most LGBT-friendly country in Asia has rejected marriage equality. Amnesty International says the Nov. 24 referendum results are a bitter blow to the Taiwanese LGBT community that wishes their(…)
Apparently, being Kevin Hart means never having to say you’re sorry. Just weeks after vehemently defending the controversial “Cowboys and Indians”-themed birthday party he threw for his one-year-old son (on Thanksgiving Day, no less), the comedian is at the center of yet another controversy that he refused to apologize for. This week, homophobic tweets(…)
The Mexican LGBTI community has high expectations for the country’s new president, leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador.He won the community’s sympathy as the first president to include a message of equality in his victory speech. López Obrador reaffirmed it in his first message to the Mexican people during his inauguration. López Obrador, a member of(…)
The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS is set to hold a meeting in March, even though the council still has no members nearly a year after President Trump terminated its remaining advisers without explanation. According to an entry from Department of Health & Human Services set for publication in the Federal Register on Friday, PACHA(…)
Facebook released a new set of community guidelines this week centered around ‘sexual solicitation’. The guidelines specifically harm LGBTI users, by disallowing them from discussing their identities. In justifying the new community guidelines, Facebook wrote in its policy rationale that the discussion of drawing ‘attention to sexual violence and exploitation’ is important, but it wants(…)
Following the death of former President George H.W. Bush at age 94, the nation remembers him for his civil tone in contrast to President Trump and for helping bring the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union to a peaceful conclusion — but his legacy on LGBT rights and failure to confront(…)
Due to work and influence from pro-life and conservative figures, the Trump administrationhas created uncertainty around the future of HIV research. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a contract with the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). The school’s work relies on using fetal tissue for research into diseases like AIDS and Parkinson’s. Now,(…)
Transgender Miss Universe contestant Angela Ponce has said that her victory would send a message to the contest’s former owner, US President Donald Trump. Angela Ponce is set to represent Spain in the Miss Universe 2018 pageant, which is set to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 17. Her participation is particularly poignant as the contest was(…)
Young black American gay and bisexual men are 16 times more likely to acquire HIV than white gay and bisexual men, according to a new study. Northwestern University found black 16-29-year-old men who have sex with men (MSM) are the most at risk of HIV. This is despite reporting fewer sexual partners, more frequent testing(…)