Finbarr Toesland

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The Palestinian activists fighting for LGBTQ+ rights against a neverending backdrop of war

Despite the massive backlash that follows her work, Rauda Morcos has never hesitated to advocate for LGBTQ+ Palestinians. The human rights lawyer and activist helped create ASWAT, the first organization for Palestinian lesbians, also known as the Palestinian Feminist Center for Gender and Sexual Freedoms. “I said to myself if I were to die achieving my goal and putting the word out that we are equal within our Palestinian community as women, as lesbians, and as queer, then it’s worth it,” she told LGBTQ Nation.  ASWAT started out as a humble email group back in the late 1990s. Intending to open […]

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Queer men flocked to these secret 18th-century gay clubs to mingle, have sex, & mock straight people

Until the repeal of the Buggery Act in 1861, gay sex was a capital offense in England, forcing queer people out of public life. However, even during the extremely hostile environment before the repeal, ‘Molly Houses’, often coffeehouses, pubs or taverns, were created where queer people could meet and socialize. Named after the slang term molly, which was usually used to refer to effeminate, homosexual men, Molly Houses quickly became the go-to meeting place for queer men in 18th-century England. In court records from a buggery trial in 1724, a policeman named Joseph Sellers who visited a Molly House reported seeing “a […]

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Police departments across U.S. are mandating LGBTQ training

Following a string of violence against Black trans women, LGBTQ activists in New York took to the streets in summer 2020 to draw attention to the deadly issue.  Jason Rosenberg and Marti Gould Cummings were among those who joined the June 2 demonstration in front of the iconic Stonewall Inn.  City officials set a curfew that night, and shortly after the 8 p.m. deadline, a number of the protesters — who were walking arm-in- arm — were arrested and violently attacked, according to Rosenberg, a member of the activist group AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, or ACT UP. “I felt excessive and violent […]

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Covid crisis is exacerbating LGBTQ alcohol abuse, studies find

Social-distancing measures and lockdowns have disproportionately increased alcohol use in the LGBTQ community, studies find. Abigail Mazzarella, 26, often went to gay bars in Baltimore before Covid-19 stay-at-home measures were introduced. “I don’t live anywhere near my family, so I did depend on that community and friendships to get by and have a type of family here,” she said. When bars in the state closed, this physical community disappeared as Mazzarella needed its support the most. But the liquor store across her street remained open. Around the same time Covid-19 infection rates were increasing early last March, Mazzarella’s mother unexpectedly […]

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Coronavirus Restrictions Highlight LGBTQ Domestic Abuse Crisis

Restrictions on movement introduced to combat the spread of the coronavirus have already greatly affected the day-to-day lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe. But for victims of domestic abuse, or intimate partner violence, lockdown measures can present serious safety risks. “During this time of social distancing and for some quarantine, more than ever survivors are isolated,” said Sabrina Santiago, co-executive director of the Network/La Red, a survivor-led social justice organization based in Boston that works to end domestic abuse in LGBTQ communities. “Being confined with their abuser will lead to escalations of abuse and removes tools […]