Emily Chudy

Taiwan has passed ground-breaking legislation to grant same-sex couples full adoption rights. In 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, and has now approved an amendment to an existing law after years of fierce campaigning by LGBTQ+ activists.  The extension to the Same-Sex Marriage Act, approved on Tuesday (16 May), allows same-sex couples to jointly adopt a child to whom neither of them are related, a right previously only open to heterosexual couples and single people, CNN reported. Previously, if a same-sex couple wanted to adopt a child, only one of them could register as the child’s legal […]

Japan’s main opposition party has submitted a bill calling for same-sex marriage to be legalised. Chinami Nishimura, of the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), submitted the bill today (6 March), the South China Morning Post reported. Japan, which is due to host the G7 summit meeting in May, is the only member of the influential intergovernmental political forum that does not recognise LGBTQ+ marriage. Prime minister Fumio Kishida came under fire last week after claiming that not recognising same-sex unions “isn’t unfair discrimination by the state”. Nishimura, the acting chief of the CDP, responded: “I think it’s discrimination if marriage is recognised legally for […]

Across the UK, trans prisoners are individually assessed and, in most cases, housed in prisons that don’t relate to their gender identity. The issue of where trans prisoners are housed has become a topic of debate following the case of Isla Bryson, a trans woman convicted by a Scottish court of raping two women prior to her transition. It was reported that Bryson was held at the women’s prison Cornton Vale. Two days after she was found guilty, it was confirmed that she was being moved to a men’s prison. First minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I don’t see how it’s possible […]

A report has found that a number of people at risk of being deported to Rwanda are LGBTQ+, even though the UK Government has admitted there is evidence queer refugees could face persecution in the country. Analysis by refugee charity Care4Calais found that of 213 asylum seekers who have received Rwanda Notices of Intent from the Home Office since August 2022, three identified as LGBTQ+ and 13 were women.  In 2022, the UK announced a scheme that would see refugees who arrived in Britain via small boats and lorries deported to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed there. The first […]

Ireland has been ranked the worst place in the EU for accessing trans healthcare, with the system being “bogged down by waiting times” cited as an area of concern. Transgender Europe (TGEU), a network of more than 200 trans-rights organisations, found of 27 EU member states, Ireland had the worst provision of healthcare for trans people, with Malta coming out on top. The countries, laid out on a colour-coded map, were ranked by six criteria, with Ireland scoring just one point out of a potential 12. The countries were ranked on the types of trans healthcare available, if a psychiatric diagnosis is […]

A trans royal reportedly fled from Qatar to the UK in 2015, fearing persecution in his home country. According to leaked documents obtained by The Sunday Times, the unnamed royal is a trans man who escaped from his security during a family trip to London in 2015 and went into hiding with his girlfriend. He was then granted asylum in Britain.  The leaked documents showed that the royal told the Home Office that “growing up in Qatar has been the most difficult thing I have had to do”, because “I never wanted to be put in this body”. He added: “I […]

A young gay couple in Armenia tragically took their own lives because of “intolerance towards them”, according to an LGBTQ+ group. The couple, reportedly named Tigran and Arsen, posted a series of Instagramphotos of themselves on Thursday (20 October) before their tragic deaths. The photos showed the two kissing and appearing to show off engagement rings. “Happy ending. The decisions about sharing the photos and our next steps were made by both of us,” the harrowing caption read. The two then ended their lives in the country’s capital, Yerevan, reports Armenian LGBTQ+ group Pink Armenia. The post has since been flooded with […]

Iceland has published its action plan on LGBTQ+ issues for the years 2022 to 2025, which includes an end to discrimination for queer blood donors, training in LGBTQ+ issues for police, “appropriate and unbiased” healthcare for trans people, and more. The country’s parliament is also pledging 40 million Icelandic Króna (around £250,000) to support ministries’ LGBTQ+ projects within that time period. The UK used to have an LGBTQ+ action plan, established in 2018 under Theresa May’s Conservative government, which included meaningful reform of the Gender Recognition Act and the banning of conversion therapy in all its forms. Neither of those things has come […]