A Norwegian transgender politician, representing the Green Party (MDG), has advocated for transgender Americans to be granted asylum in Norway due to the anti-trans discrimination they are facing in the US.
Karina Ødegård, who is on track to becoming Norway’s first transgender member of parliament, has told Norwegian newspaper Afterposten that the challenges faced by trans people in the US are similar to the persecution experienced by marginalised groups in 1930s Germany.
Referring to the rise of fascism in Europe and the persecution of Jewish people and other minorities, she said: “What would we have done in the 1930s if we knew what was about to happen? That’s where we are now. Then we have to act,” she said.
Ødegård has said that in contrast to the US, the state and healthcare system in Norway helped her to be herself.
“One thing is that you see [in the US] the development of an illiberal democracy. I find that extremely problematic. Then it gets even worse because the Trump administration has singled out transgender people as scapegoats to be hanged and removed,” she explained.
This comes after President Trump signed a raft of executive orders targeting trans people, preventing them from serving in the military, banning trans women from participating in women’s sports, and requiring official documents to only list their gender registered at birth.
LGBTQ+ rights in Norway
Norway is considered very safe for LGBTQ+ people. (Getty)
Norway is generally considered to be a very LGBTQ+ friendly country, as it was one of the first countries to pass an anti-discrimination law that explicitly included sexual orientation in 1981.
Also, same-sex marriage and adoption has been legal there since 2009.
Unfortunately, Norway doesn’t yet legally recognise non-binary identities, nor does it offer gender-affirming care for under-18s, stating a “lack of comprehensible research” despite the majority of Norwegian people believing that it should be accessible.
Norway has laws (The Tenancy Act, the Housing Association Act and the Residential Building Association Act) that all prohibit housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Married and committed same-sex couples are permitted to adopt under Norwegian law, and self-ID is also allowed: to change their gender, trans citizens only have to send a notification to the National Population Register.
As we enter the last days of the US presidential campaign, voters are deciding who to vote for and what each candidate – Donald Trump and Kamala Harris – stands for. And queer people will be paying special attention to their views about LGBTQ+ rights as the culture war against the transgender community rages on.
A CBS News poll published on Sunday (27 October) showed that Harris has the slightest of leads over Trump nationally: 50 per cent to 49. But with eight days to go, a lot could still change.
The Trump presidency led to a roll-back of protections and anti-discrimination laws for LGBTQ+ people, and it doesn’t look as if a second term would be any different if he is re-elected, based on campaign promises and the detailed policy proposals outlined in Project 2025 – although Trump has tried to distance himself from the right-wing proposals.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, a new Trump administration would “reinstate and significantly escalate the removal of anti-discrimination policies… proactively require discrimination by the federal government [and] weaponise federal law against transgender people across the country”.
So, what are Trump’s views about LGBTQ+ rights, and what exactly might he do?
Erase federal non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people
Trump’s first term was extremely detrimental to the rights and protections of LGBTQ+ people, and a second term could roll back protections once again.
LGBTQ+ people might no longer be guaranteed to be free of discrimination across several federal government programmes, such as Social Security, Medicare, housing and employment.
Exclude openly transgender people from the military
The first Trump administration reversed policies allowing trans people to serve in the military, and it is not difficult to foresee the president doing so again.
Another ban on trans people in the military would force out active-duty transgender service personnel as well as prevent trans people enlisting in the future.
This is despite a report in 2016 revealing that trans-inclusive policies have “little or no impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or readiness”.
In fact, trans-inclusive military policies could benefit all active service members by “creating a more inclusive and diverse force”.
Trans people could once again be banned from serving. (Getty)
Withhold federal funding if school officials affirm transgender students
Trump has said he would act to stop any school district introducing or maintaining trans-inclusive policies and practices.
This would include withholding federal funding that allow trans students to use toilets and changing rooms that align with their gender identity, or even acknowledging that they are trans, as well as arguing that trans-inclusive policies violate the rights of cisgender pupils.
Discrimination against trans students, causing significant harm to the community as a whole, would be the likely result of such a move.
During a recent campaign rally, Trump said he was not going to “let” trans women compete in sporting events at all if he becomes president again.
He said invoking the ban would “not [be] a big deal”, citing recent sporting events in which trans women competed against cisgender women, claiming that the trans athlete had a competitive edge over their opponent.
“Physically, from a muscular standpoint… look at what’s happened in swimming. Look at the records that are being broken,” he said.
Prohibit gender-affirming care in federal healthcare programmes
His website also promises that on his first day in the Oval Office, he would issue an executive order “instructing every federal agency to cease all programmes that promote the concept of sex and gender transition, at any age”.
The administration would also probably deny Medicaid funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care, forcing medics to deny trans people the care they require.
Access to healthcare for more than 100,000 transgender youngsters in 24 states has already been halted in the past three years.
Allow employers to discriminate against LGBTQ+ staff
A second Trump administration could bring in provisions to allow employers to discriminate against LGBTQ+ members of staff based on the boss’ stated religious beliefs, a reversal of existing non-discrimination laws.
This would not require congress or bipartisan support, and could be pushed through using an executive order from the president.
The administration could go one step further to prevent state and local governments enforcing non-discrimination laws if the defendant says the discrimination was based on religious belief.
Laws protecting LGBTQ+ people and other minorities from discrimination based on protected characteristics might also disappear.
Donald Trump has continued to target the LGBTQ+ community. (Getty)
Criminalise gender-non-conformity in public life
Project 2025 – a hard-line right-wing blueprint for a future Republican president – suggests the use of criminal laws to punish gender-non-conformity in public life, with pornography being the crux of the issue.
The authors of the plan, the Heritage Foundation, inexplicably link pornography with “transgender ideology” and argue that neither has a “claim to First Amendment protection” and therefore should be outlawed.
“The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned,” they demand. “Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders, and telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be [closed down].”
That means any discussion of transgender people in schools and libraries could be criminalised, and trans people might face jail time for being themselves.
Trump would only be able to put this into practice with congress’ approval and there is unlikely to be bipartisan support for such a law, but even the slim possibility is terrifying.
The US Navy unveiled a brand new submarine last week; the first of its kind as it is designed to hold both male and female sailors.
Dubbed the USS New Jersey, it was announced during a ceremony at the Naval Weapons Station Earle, NJ.
The submarine will hold a crew of nearly 135 Navy personnel and has been created to ensure safety and privacy for both male and female sailors, including accommodations such as increased privacy in washrooms and sleeping areas as well as access to top bunks and overhead valves being designed with the height, reach, and strength of women in mind.
Other submarines in the Navy’s fleet were originally designed to only have male crew members, so there have been concerns about the living quarters onboard being ill-suited for female physiology, as well as offering a distinct lack of privacy, since the ban on women in submarines was lifted in 2010.
The Navy previously retrofitted older submarines to accommodate women but the USS New Jersey is the first to be outlined with women in mind from the outset.
Despite this being a major step forward for gender equality within the Navy as a whole, some people are angry at the concept of what they’re describing as a “gender neutral” submarine in the Navy’s fleet.
Angry right-wingers have posted on X to express their annoyance, with one person mockingly declaring that the submarine would be named “the USS TikTok and go by they/them pronouns”.
Another said: “This is a f***ing joke! I hate this country for what they are doing to it.”
Other members of the anti-woke brigade argued that having a gender neutral submarine would make the US a mockery to other countries. One person said: “This is what our military has come to. Gender Neutral Submarines. People wonder why the U.S is being laughed at.”
“Our enemies tremble in terror at the thought of our gender neutral submarine,” a self-proclaimed Donald Trump supporter sarcastically posted.
A third said: “Our enemies are laughing directly in our faces with weak propaganda bullshit like this.”
“Even our subs have been (dragged) into this woke gender mess,” a fourth person wrote.
Even though some people are losing their minds over a submarine being designed to make the lives of both male and female sailors better while they are on-board, underwater, the Navy have said that this won’t be the last “gender neutral” submarine in their fleet.
Vice Admiral Robert Gaucher, commander of Submarine Forces Atlantic, said all future nuclear-powered attack submarines and ballistic missile submarines will be designed “gender neutral from the keel up”, military news outlet Stars and Stripes reported.
Australian pro surfer Tyler Wright is a two-time world champion – but now she’s going for gold at the Olympics… although she won’t be anywhere near Paris.
This will be Wright’s first Games – amid what she calls a “sausage-fest” in the sport.
“As a young girl becoming a woman in surfing, 12 years ago, it was an era of ‘sex sells’,” she previously told The Sydney Morning Herald. “Sexy, straight, blonde, female” surfers were most coveted and she didn’t fit into those stereotypes.
“I’m built like an athlete, I’m not straight, I don’t have blonde hair. While men were allowed to go out and be athletes – and get paid for doing it – a lot of women weren’t. If you invest in women, you’ll see them excel.”
While she’s definitely going to the Olympics, she’ll be almost 10,000 miles from the French capital. Instead, she’s headed to Tahiti, the South Pacific archipelago in French Polynesia which is hosting the surfing events.
Wright comes from a family of surfers, including brother Owen who won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Does Tyler Wright have a partner?
Wright identifies as bisexual and met her future wife, Lili Baker, in 2021.
“Lily is just a vibe,” Wright told The Sydney Morning Herald. “She was working in a cafe in Newcastle [in New South Wales] when I was in town for a contest. I felt so respected and appreciated [by her]. Eventually, I asked her out, she said yes and here we are.”
The pair have “an ease and openness” coupled with “love, respect and appreciation”.
Does Tyler Wright have a chronic illness?
Wright suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome in 2018, telling the media that she thought she was “gonna die”. She missed 14 months of surfing after winning world titles in 2016 and 2017.
She has also suffered from a respiratory issue because of narrow airways that left her struggling to breathe during competitions. She underwent a “life-changing” procedure to put “seven screws” in her head to improve her breathing.
“Through one of the specialists, we ended up finding that most of the time I’m under-oxygenated and I’m semi-suffocating all the time through my nose, and my airways are really small. I shouldn’t be able to do what I do, according to my brain scans and my anatomy. It’s really unusual that I am a professional surfer,” Wright told The Guardian earlier this year.
“I feel different going out and competing this season.”
She also once spent three days in hospital, suffering debilitating period pain.
Filipino trans boxer Hergie Bacyadan will make his Olympics debut at the Paris 2024 Games.
Five Filipino boxers – out of 15 total athletes – will be representing the Philippines in the French capital. Bacyadan will be competing in the women’s 75kg division, the heaviest weight class.
He is competing in the women’s division because he has not undergone hormone replacement therapy or gender reassignment therapy, despite identifying as a trans man.
In fact, Bacyadan has proudly claimed several times that he has never taken testosterone and even stood up to the Russian vovinam team in 2023 after they requested that his gold medal win be nullified because he was a “man”.
Bacyadan won the 2023 world championship in women’s vovinam, a Vietnamese martial art that combines elements of boxing, judo and wushu, a Chinese martial art.
“We will perform better to make a difference,” he said. “My biggest motivation is my family, my tribe in Kalinga, and the people who believe I can win a medal at the Paris Olympics.”
Is Hergie Bacyadan married?
Bacyadan married his long-term partner Lady Denily Digo in November 2022, tying the knot over Zoom and legally becoming married in the US state of Utah.
The couple first met on TikTok when Digo joined Bacyadan’s live stream on the platform. More recently, theypublicly supported the passage of legislationthat would protect Filipinos from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Turkey is an extremely popular destination, both for holidays and for people looking to get cost-effective dentistry and weight-loss surgery. But is it safe for LGBTQ+ people to visit?
Firstly, same-sex relationships and queer or trans people are not illegal in Turkey, but the country doesn’t offer any legal protection from discrimination in employment, education, housing or health care.
Same-sex marriages and civil partnerships are not recognised and, in general, the country is very conservative. People outside big cities can hold negative attitudes towards members of the LGBTQ+ community – but that’s not to say the major areas are liberal havens either.
Istanbul aerial shot. LGBTQ+ rights are complicated in Turkey. (Getty)
According to Intrepid Travel, gay couples should be wary of displays of affection except in private because kissing in public is frowned upon in relationships of any kind, but particularly risky for same-sex couples.
Following anti-government protests in 2013, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan placed censorship restrictions on the press and social media, which halted Turkey’s EU membership application, and a failed coup in 2016 led to a state of emergency being declared.
This gave Erdoğan the opportunity to impose further restrictions on civil liberties and human rights. As a result, Istanbul Pride was banned in 2015 – shut down through police intervention– and banned again for the following two years. There were reports of widespread arrests and police violence against anyone who tried to defy the authorities.
A Turkish policeman detains a demonstrator during a Pride march in Istanbul. (Getty)
In 2017, Turkey’s capital Ankara banned all LGBTQ+-rights-related events, saying there was a need to provide “peace and security”.
The Guardian has previously reported that queer Turkish people were “fearful of what may follow” and felt the president was waging a war against them.
In 2021, then interior minister Süleyman Soylu dismissed student protestors as “LGBTQ+ perverts” and said the government would not tolerate the “perverts who attempted to occupy the rector’s office” just days after Erdoğan praised the young people in Turkey who did not identify as LGBTQ+.
Istanbul Pride was banned in 2015 and police took strong action against anyone who defied the order. (Getty)
“We’ll carry our youth to the future, not as LGBTQ+ youth, but the youth from this glorious past. You are not the LGBTQ+ youth. You are not the youth who vandalises, but you are those who mend those vandalised hearts,” the president said.
It’s clear that Turkey is not particularly friendly towards LGBTQ+ people, despite no laws being in place to actively discriminate against the community.
Azoulay told of being harassed, beaten and scalded with boiling water by his fellow inmates, in homophobic attacks. He was jailed for 16 years but released in 2021.
What’s arguably even more significant when considering your travel plans is the fact the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office currently advises against travel to all parts of Turkey, whether you’re LGBTQ+ or not.
Your travel insurance could be invalidated if you travel against FCDO advice and British embassy staff cannot travel to areas where FCDO advises against travel to help you in person.
An independent non-profit think tank based in the US has created an interactive map to show which states in the US are safest for LGBTQ+ people to live and work – and which are not.
It has then scored each state based on those laws and policies – the higher the score, the more protective its laws are towards LGBTQ+ people while the lower the score a state receives, the more harmful its policies are towards LGBTQ+ people. The states are then put into five categories: High, Medium, Fair, Low, and Negative.
States must score between 75 to 100% of possible points to end up in the High category, between 50 to 74.9% for the Medium category, between 25 to 49.9% for the Fair category, 0 to 24.9% for the Low category, and less than zero to be placed in the Negative category.
The interactive map is colour-coded, with states highlighted in red being places where LGBTQ+ people have barely any protection under the law or are actively stopped from living freely as an LGBTQ person and thus have scored negatively on MAP’s criteria. This includes Texas, Arkansa, Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee, South Caroline, and Louisiana.
LGBTQ+ safe states
By comparison, states who score in the highest category are highlighted in green on the map are considered places where LGBTQ+ people are safest and offered the most amount of protection under the law.
The map only reflects current laws and policies. (MAP)
This includes states like California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New York, Vermont, Illinois, Minnesota, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, and Washington D.C.
MAP is keen to stress that their map only reflects existing laws and policies that are already in place and not does include bills currently under consideration by the state legislature nor does it look at how each state enforces these laws.
“These scores are an excellent measure of the current LGBTQ policy landscape across a wide range of issues, but the scores do not necessarily reflect the entire political or social landscape for LGBTQ people,” it writes.
According to the organisation’s research, 27% of the overall LGBTQ+ population in the US currently live in states with low scores while 44% of the overall LGBTQ+ population live in states with high scores.
The think tank was founded in 2006 with the mission to “create a thriving, inclusive, and equitable America where all people have a fair chance to pursue health and happiness, earn a living, take care of the ones they love, be safe in their communities, and participate in civic life”.
