Lily Wakefield

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British gay man recalls ‘terrifying’ exorcism in church basement

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The Church of England has launched an investigation after a gay man claimed he was subjected to a conversion therapy exorcism in a Sheffield church. Matthew Drapper, 34, says he was “born into a Christian cult [and] was raised believing Satan is at war with Christians and God is at war with the gays”. He told the Huddersfield Examiner that he moved to Sheffield from Buxton in 2013, at the age of 25, and joined the Church of England church St Thomas Philadelphia. Drapper said by that point he had come out as gay, but that he had vowed to remain celibate. In […]

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School official compares young student’s Pride artwork to Nazi flag

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Parents in Georgia have reported that an elementary school administrator took down a young child’s Pride artwork and compared it to a Nazi flag. The artwork featured a rainbow Pride flag, an umbrella, and the words “Gay is OK”, and was drawn by a student at Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary School, in Athens, Georgia, which teaches children aged five to 11. The child’s teacher proudly displayed the drawing in their classroom, but according to local TV station WXIA-TV, was told to remove it by school administrators. When the teacher questioned why they should take it down, an administrator reportedly compared the adorable Pride […]

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Conversion therapy survivor explains how ‘insidious’ counsellor lured her in with kindness

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A trans woman has shared her heartbreaking experience of conversion therapy to warn how the barbaric practice can at first come across like “kindness”. Warning: Discusses mental health, suicidal thoughts, sexual assault and conversion therapy.  In a Twitter thread that has gone viral, Meghan explained that she attended Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute between 2009 and 2012. While there, she claimed, she underwent horrific conversion therapy. Megan said that she knew that she was a girl from the age of four. “When I first learned about trans people I asked a parent about them,” she wrote. “They told me, ‘Transsexuals are deeply […]

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Tesla sued by Black, gay employee over ‘festering’ racism and being anti-LGBT+

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Kaylen Barker was a contract worker at a Tesla Inc factory in Lathrop, California, inspecting brake parts, according to Bloomberg, and her complaint filed Tuesday (1 February) alleges that she was also subject to physical violence. She claims a white colleague called her the n-word, “stupid”, “dumb” and a “bitch” while they hit her with a hot grinding tool. The worker was fired, according to her complaint, but “shockingly rehired without any forewarning or explanation” just two weeks later. Barker, 25, was hired at the California sub-assembly plant via a staffing agency, but was fired just eight month later in “retaliation”, she […]

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‘F**k you bender’: UK Police officers ‘joked’ about being gay and rape, damning report finds

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A “shocking and offensive” report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has shown that Metropolitan Police officers engaged horrific bullying and harassment, including calling each other “f**king gay” and threatening to “hate f**k” each other. In 2018, the IOPC investigation initially “focused on teams formed to tackle crime and disorder in the Westminster area”, but was expanded when further officers came forward. It eventually expanded to nine investigations, linked to become Operation Hotton. Investigators “reviewed thousands of messages exchanged by officers, including many which were highly sexualised, discriminatory or referred to violence”, and which were “generally described as banter by […]

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New highly-infectious and damaging strain of HIV discovered in the Netherlands

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A new highly-infectious and damaging strain of HIV, resulting from a mutation in the virus, has been discovered in the Netherlands. Scientists working on the BEEHIVE project, a study of HIV genomics and virulence across Europe and Uganda, published their findings in the journal Science on Thursday (3 February). According to UNAIDS, 38 million people around the world are currently living with the most prominent strain of the virus, HIV-1, and it has caused, to date, around 33 million deaths. HIV-2 is the other most prominent type of HIV, and is most commonly seen in West Africa. The newly discovered mutation, a subtype of HIV-1, has been named […]

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‘Extremely drug-resistant’ strain of STI shigella is on the rise

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The UK has seen a sharp rise in an “extremely drug-resistant” strain of the STI shigella among gay and bisexual men, according to a government report. Although not well-known, a shigella infection, from a bacterium that causes dysentery, can be very serious. Shigella is transmitted through the accidental ingestion of faecal matter containing the bacteria, such as by licking skin, condoms, toys or fingers that have been contaminated during rimming, fisting, or giving oral sex after anal sex. Even a tiny amount can cause infection. The infection affects the gut, and can cause severe and long-lasting diarrhoea, stomach cramps and a fever. Because […]

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New York Times accused of being anti-gay over gay cruise boat story

A gay cruise company has described a New York Times story which questioned whether 2,000 gays would be safe on a boat during COVID as “homophobic” and “sensationalised”. This week a New York Times article was published which looked at the safety of an upcoming cruise by LGBT+ tour operator Atlantis Events, which will carry almost 5,000 passengers. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is carefully monitoring cruise ships as Omicron cases continue to spread. The story interviewed various prospective gay cruise passengers, with some expressing the desire to sell their tickets for fear of catching COVID, and others looking forward to “dirty dancing, sex, […]

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LGBT+ activist flees Jordan and is finally ‘supported, seen and heard’ in Australia

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After an 18-month fight, an LGBT+ activist who fled Jordan is finally “supported, seen and heard” in their new home in Australia. AlShaima Omama AlZubi, 25, who identifies as a non-binary lesbian, has been a “victim of rape, sexual assaults, torture, forced marriage, forced conversion therapy, forced hospitalisation, and forced veiling abuse that dates back to their childhood”, according to Amnesty. AlZubi, an LGBT+ and women’s rights defender, comes from a powerful family, with many members working for Jordan’s government, and whose “influence extends across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq”. They first fled to Turkey from Jordan in July 2020, and later […]

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The Times forced to issue corrections after spreading ‘anti-trans’ misinformation

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The Times has been forced to issue two corrections within two days after publishing ‘anti-trans’ misinformation. On Tuesday (4 January), the newspaper finally offered a correction to a story on inclusive language around birthing which it published almost a year ago. In February, 2021, a Times article claimed that in new guidance, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust was telling staff in perinatal services to “say ‘chestfeeding’ instead of ‘breastfeeding’”, and to “replace the term ‘mother’”. A quick glance through the trust’s guidance proves this claim to be categorically untrue, as it clearly states that it will be “taking a gender-additive approach”, which it says […]

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