Lily Wakefield

/ /

Activists Call for ICE to Release all LGBT Asylum Seekers because They Can’t Provide Proper Healthcare

Human rights activists have filed a complaint calling for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release all LGBT+ migrants from custody because they say it cannot provide adequate healthcare. 14 groups demanded the release on Wednesday, September 25, which as well as LGBT+ detainees included any migrants living with HIV, because of poor medical and mental health care. According to the Boston Globe, the director of legal services at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, Roger Coggan, told reporters on Wednesday afternoon: “We know that lack of medical and mental health care, including lack of HIV care, is the norm. “By the […]

/ /

A Gay Couple Were ‘Attacked at OK Church and Prayed Over to Make Straight’

A gay couple said they were tricked into attending a church service where they were attacked by the congregation, with one being held down while they prayed over him. Since coming out in Spring this year, Sean Cormie had been asked repeatedly by his family to attend a service at their church, in Oklahoma, and to bring along his boyfriend, Gary Gardner. Cormie told News 4: “I wanted to go to church to make my mom proud and make her happy.” But towards the end of the service at the pentecostal church, First Assembly of God Blackwell, the pastor began making statements […]

/ /

Mormon Church Doubles Down on Opposition to Same-sex Marriage

The Mormon church has doubled down on its stance that marriage is “between a man and a woman”, despite adjusting one of its anti-LGBT+ policies. President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Russell M Nelson, addressed students at Mormon institution Brigham Young University (BYU) on Tuesday, September 17, to tell them about “five truths”. n 2015, the church announced that children of LGBT+ parents would be banned from baptisms and from joining the church, unless they “disavowed” their parents’ relationships. Less that two weeks later, more than a thousand members had quit the church.  This year, the church revoked this policy and said […]

/ /

Activists Win a Grueling Battle Against an Anti-LGBT Church

Activists have won a long battle to stop an anti-LGBT+ church operating out of Texas a public school, after protesting every week for more than a year. Celebration Church, which is openly anti-LGBT+, had been renting space at the Austin Independent School District’s (AISD) Mueller Performing Arts Centre for its services. Protest organiser and pastor for the AntiFascism NonChristian Church, Candace Aylor, said in a press release: “This was the goal, getting bigots out of public spaces. It goes against our closely held beliefs to abide bigotry and oppression, especially when openly, publicly permitted.  “What we learned today, what we confirmed from what […]

/ /

Man Charged with Attempted Murder after Stabbing Man in ‘Homophobic Hate Crime’

Emmanuel Dash, 32, has been held on $40,000 bail and could face a maximum of 25 years in prison if convicted, Brooklyn district attorney Eric Gonzalez announced on Wednesday, August 29. Gonzalez said: “This defendant allegedly violated the sanctity and safety of this couple’s home when he showed up at their door spewing hate, then escalated it to a violent assault.” According to the investigation, in the early morning of June 22, a man and his gender non-conforming partner were allegedly harassed by Dash outside their apartment, where he said: “I’m glad I know where you live, because I don’t like […]

/ /

The Cayman Islands is Trying to Re-criminalize Same-sex Marriage

The Cayman Islands legalised same-sex marriage exactly five months ago, but a new government appeal could reverse the ruling. Chantelle Day and her partner Vickie Bodden Bush applied for the right to be married in the Cayman Islands, a British territory, but had their application rejected because they are a same-sex couple. They then crowdfunded to fight the decision and, on March 29, the chief justice accepted their arguments, modifying the marriage law with immediate effect to allow same-sex marriage. The appeal from the government opened on Wednesday, August 28. At the start of the three-day hearing, one of the couple’s lawyers, Jonathan Cooper, told Reuters: “Marriage […]

/

Lil Nas X First Gay Man to Receive Country Music Award Nomination

Lil Nas X has made history by being the first-ever openly gay man to be nominated for a Country Music Award (CMA). He was nominated for the Musical Event of the Year award for his song ‘Old Town Road (Remix)’ with collaborator Bill Ray Cyrus, with the awards ceremony taking place on November 13. Although ‘Old Town Road’ was originally booted off the US Billboard country charts because the company said the song “does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music”, it made its way back into the charts after a remixed version featuring Cyrus was released. The song […]

/ /

New Mexico LGBT Church Vandalized 6 times in 2 Weeks

According to its website, the “radically inclusive” Metropolitan Community Church of Albuquerque celebrates “all forms of self-expressions, identities and orientations”. Andy Najar, a member of the congregation who has been attending for more than 30 years, told KOB4: “I think it’s really sad. “Really the first time, I thought, oh, maybe it was just a mistake or some kids playing around, but after six times you really feel you’re taking it personally, this is a hate crime, let’s try to figure this out.” “We really celebrate diversity in our community because we’re all different,” Najar added. The pastor, Judith Maynard, said: “After […]

/ /

Syrian LGBT Refugees Arrive in UK in Time to Celebrate Pride

According to The Guardian, the group are the first of 15 LGBT+ refugees finally coming to London after they were accepted onto a resettlement scheme, which is supposed to be faster than the lengthy asylum process, more than two years ago. During that time, they have been waiting in Turkey where, although being gay is legal, homophobic and transphobic abuse are common and the government ruled that the group were in danger in the country. Members of the group received death threats and were having to hide in safe houses to avoid violence, the newspaper reported.  The group took legal action earlier this […]

«‹ 14 15 16 17