As part of a wider rollback on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (DEI), the Ivy League university will no longer designate residential proctors or tutors specifically for LGBTQ+ or first-generation/low-income undergraduates, according to the college newspaper, The Harvard Crimson.
The tutors and proctors will have their tasks folded into “specialty” roles. The change was reportedly announced last week in an email from associate dean of students Lauren Brandt.
Proctors and tutors are live-in advisers who support and help plan activities for students in their first year at Harvard.
A document included with Brandt’s email informed students that “Culture and Community” proctors and tutors would now work to “foster cultivation of bonds and bridges to enable all members of our community to grow with and learn from each other”, The Crimson reported.
“The description of the responsibilities of the… tutors does not mention providing support to students with specific backgrounds or identities,” the report went on to say.
Nepal has held its first Pride since President Donald Trump cut foreign aid funding. Hundreds of LGBTQ+ people and allies rallied in support of the queer community at Nepal’s Pride parade 2025.
During the annual Gai Jatra festival in the capital of Kathmandu, which honours relatives passed away throughout the year, the LGBTQ+ community and allies came together as part of Nepal Pride 2025 to advocate for queer rights.
Hundreds of people attended the event on Sunday (10 August), holding Pride, Trans Pride, Lesbian Pride and Asexual Pride flags, while signs proclaimed, “Pride for all intersectional queer identities”, “Transgender men are men”, and “Transgender women are women”. A large Progress Pride flag was also carried down the street by a group of people attending the event.
The country’s LGBTQ+ community has, in particular, been hit by Trump’s cuts to foreign aid, which saw over 80 per cent of USAID programs being cancelled as of March this year.
Members of the LGBTQ+ community participated in the Nepal Pride parade 2025. (Ambir Tolang/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Many help centres for Nepal’s LGBTQ+ community have remained closed since USAID was dismantled, leaving thousands without support, as per the Independent. The organisation partnered with local help centres to roll out HIV prevention and care and safe sex counselling.
Funds from USAID were said to be “vital” for the day-to-day operation of the centres and clinics, which helped distribute free condoms, sexual health screenings, and follow-up treatment for people living with HIV. The USAID office in Nepal is currently closed.
Cuts also affected LGBTQ+-inclusive programs in India and the UK.
LGBTQ+ people and supporters rallied for “Pride for all intersectional queer identities” at Nepal Pride parade 2025. (Ambir Tolang/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In 2023, Nepal’s Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage could be legally registered. Last year, a lesbian couple made history as the first sapphic pair to have their marriage recognised in Nepal.
Nepal is the second Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage, following Taiwan, whose parliament passed a law to legalise equality in 2019.
Marks & Spencer’s bra-fitting services are for designed for “biological females”, a spokesperson for the high-street store has said, following a row where a member of staff, claimed to be transgender, asked a customer if she needed help.
The 141-year-old retailer recently apologised to a mother who complained complained that an employee she believed to be trans offered to help her and her teenage daughter while in a store.
The mother claimed the member of staff was a “biological male”, according to The Telegraph, causing her daughter to be “visibly upset” and “freaked out”. She added that it was “obviously the case” that the employee was transgender because they were “at least 6ft 2in” tall.
A customer service spokesperson said M&S was “truly sorry” for the “distress” and assured the mother and 14-year-old daughter that they would “receive assistance from a female colleague”. The employee does not carry out bra fittings but works in the clothing section, and so offering to help was part of their job, they added.
JK Rowling responded by calling for a boycott of M&S, seemingly forgetting that there was already meant to be one after campaigners complained that the retailers use of the phrase “First bras for fearless young things” in an advert last year erased women.
The M&S apology sparked complaints. (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the apology led a number of customers to complain and hundreds signed an open letter saying the complaint “should never have been legitimised, let alone publicised and appeased.”
It continued: “By doing so, M&S has not only failed to support its employee but has [also] inadvertently signalled that discriminatory views will be entertained – if not validated – under the guise of customer feedback.”
The retailer has since now issued a statement to clarify the situation.
“Our bra-fitting service has been developed for our female customers and all our bra fitters are female,” a spokesperson told The Scottish Sun. That meant “biological females”, they said.
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The controversy came in the wake of the UK Supreme Court ruling that the protected characteristic of “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act did not include trans people.
In the days that followed the judgement, the Equality and Human Rights Commission issued draft guidance calling for service providers to bar trans men and women from single-sex services and facilities.
It was later clarified that the “circumstances” were where “reasonable objection” could be taken to a trans person’s presence, including – such as in the case of female spaces – when “the gender reassignment process has given [a trans man] a masculine appearance or attributes”.
A leaked version of the EHRC’s finalised guidance, published by The Times last week, is said to be not too dissimilar to the draft guidelines and will ban trans people from changing rooms, wards and sporting competitions, as well as other spaces and services.
Speaking to The Scottish Sun, Fiona McAnena, campaign director of gender-critical group Sex Matters, called on M&S to “rethink its priorities and remember that women and girls have rights too”, adding: “Retailers that meet one group’s demands for special treatment without considering the impact on others are going to get into this sort of tangle.
“No matter how well-intentioned, policies built on the falsehood that ‘trans women are women’ inevitably compromise other people’s rights. Single-sex spaces become mixed sex as soon as a trans-identifying man is allowed to access a women’s toilet or changing room.”
Meanwhile, Virgin Active recently announced that its changing and bathroom facilities will be divided according to “biological sex”.
The Polari Prize has announced it will “pause” its 2025 awards competition following controversy over its inclusion of author and self-proclaimed ‘TERF’ John Boyne in its long list.
In a statement issued on Monday (18 August), organisers of the LGBTQ+ writing award confirmed that this year’s proceedings had been put on hold in the wake of the backlash, which has seen other nominated authors withdraw from the competition.
Public backlash was ignited earlier this month after the Polari Prize included Earth, the latest novel from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas author Boyne, on its long list.
In July, Boyne described himself as a “TERF” – a trans exclusionary radical feminist – in defence of his friend and fellow author, JK Rowling, whose views on trans issues are well-documented.
Writing in a column for the Irish Independent, Boyne expressed support for the Harry Potter author, claiming that “grown women” who publicly disagree with her are “astonishingly complicit in their own erasure” while comparing them to characters in The Handmaid’s Tale who are “ready to pin a handmaiden down as her husband rapes her.”
Author Sacha Coward, who was nominated for his book Queer as Folklore, was among those who withdrew from the competition in protest at Boyne’s inclusion, writing on X/Twitter that he could not “continue in good faith” to participate in the event.
Multiple nominated authors had withdrawn from the Polari Prize 2025 over the inclusion of ‘TERF’ author John Boyne (Polari Prize)
The Polari Prize issued several statements in the face of the backlash, stating it was committed to the principles of “diversity and inclusion” while defending Boyne’s inclusion as a decision based on “merit as judged by our jury.”
In its latest statement, Polari acknowledged that the awards ceremony had been “overshadowed by hurt and anger”, which it described as “painful and distressing for all concerned.”
The organisation wrote that it plans to undertake a review of its policies, including its “aims and values”, to better support LGBTQ+ authors from across the community, including trans and non-binary people.
“Many discussions have been undertaken over the last two weeks – with authors, judges, stakeholders, and funders – about the impacts and ramifications of the longlisting of John Boyne’s novel and how we can learn from this experience and move forwards.
“We extend our heartfelt apologies to everyone affected this year, for the disappointment and despair this has caused.”
Iris Mwanza’s debut novel The Lions’ Den is inspired by a real criminal case from Zambia that has stayed with her since the 1990s.
The book follows rookie lawyer Grace Zulu, who takes on the pro bono defence of Willbess “Bessy” Mulenga, arrested for an offence “against nature” and facing 14 years in prison.
For Mwanza, who grew up in Zambia and now works in the US as a staunch advocate for gender equality, the case is emblematic of wider struggles against injustice.
“Police brutality is a manifestation of impunity,” she tells PinkNews. “It’s happening everywhere, not just in Zambia or developing countries, it’s happening right here in this country [US]. And it’s the most vulnerable who suffer the most. I wanted to bring it to the fore unflinchingly.”
A climate of fear
Same-sex sexual activity remains prohibited under Zambia’s Penal Code, carrying a penalty of up to 14 years’ imprisonment. However, as noted by the Human Dignity Trust, a 2019 case saw two gay men convicted and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for same-sex sexual activity.
“I feel like human rights are universal, and we all need to be fighting for them,” Mwanza says. “My motivation for writing the book was to show the impact of discrimination on families, communities, societies and the nation, and it’s bad. We are going in the opposite direction.”
She recalls that while living in Zambia she witnessed a “deeply homophobic society”, but law school opened her eyes to the fact that “almost all constitutions in the world guarantee fundamental human rights, so not only is it morally wrong, it’s legally wrong”.
On her last trip home, Mwanza met clandestinely with LGBTQ+ Zambians to protect their identities. “People have a legitimate fear of prosecution, but also persecution societally. They told me what hurt most was when their communities wouldn’t accept them.”
The Lions’ Den by Iris Mwanza.
She recalled having “mixed feelings” upon holding the illicit book reading: “I was incredibly proud to be able to have a conversation with the community in Zambia and get honest feedback. It felt very gratifying to hear that they felt seen and appreciated that I’d written the book.
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“But it was also very sad, and deeply heartbreaking, that I grew up in a society that has not evolved – that’s actually going in the opposite direction, where people are afraid to just live their lives as human beings.”
‘Everybody has fundamental rights’
One thread running through The Lions’ Den is the influence of conservative religious movements. “Fundamentalist or deeply evangelistic religions can give cover to obnoxious, unacceptable behaviour,” Mwanza says. “It’s very systemic.”
Of Zambia’s regressive laws, she is blunt: “It’s baffling, especially when you see younger people being super conservative and not open-minded.” She links this to a wider culture of polarisation, both online and in politics: “The more extreme you are, the more responses you attract. Politicians take extreme positions to get attention.”
Mwanza is equally concerned by developments in the US, where she says the “gender space” is becoming politicised. “A lot of people of colour are leaving their positions because they don’t feel supported, or they were hired under DEI,” she says.
But she finds hope in young people: “They’re fighting and they’re willing to fight. The question is: how do we further empower the next generation to do things better than we did? We’ve taken things for granted,” she adds, pointing to the2022 overturning of Roe v Wade.
“I don’t think people really understand the consequences of an authoritarian government, but when everyone’s rights start getting stripped away, that’s another thing. Everybody has fundamental rights. It isn’t about your own individual prejudices, it’s about us all being human beings, and we all need and deserve protection.”
More than half of citizens in China believe LGBTQ+ people should be treated with dignity, which flies in the face of some of the country’s restrictive laws.
Responding to a survey on attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people in China, 53 per cent said queer people should be accepted in society. A similar number felt same-sex couples should be able to marry, while 46 per cent said they would personally attend a same-sex wedding. 48 per cent believed gay couples would make capable parents.
Published by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, the study also showed that respondents who knew an LGBTQ+ person were more likely to show support for the community.
Sixty-two per cent of those surveyed said LGBTQ+ people should be treated fairly at work, and 68 per cent felt the government should improve protections for queer students.
Protestors in Hong Kong showing solidarity to the Chinese LGBTQ+ community. (Getty)
Ilan Meyer, the Williams Institute’s distinguished senior scholar of public policy and the study’s lead author, highlighted the disparity between public opinion and Chinese law.
“Little is known about the general Chinese public’s view of LGBTQ+ people and issues,” Meyer said. “This study shows evidence of high approval of LGBTQ+ rights and protections among an influential segment of the population, which may impact attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people over all.”
According to the study, at least 70 per cent of Chinese people know at least one person who is out as LGBTQ+, while 47 per cent know at least two.
The state of LGBTQ+ rights in China
Because of censorship laws imposed by the Chinese Communist Party, not much is known about public opinion regarding LGTBQ+ people, but tracking website Equaldex ranks it 58th out of 197 countries when it comes to queer rights.
Homosexuality has been legal since 1997, after the country updated its penal code. However, same-sex marriage is still illegal, and there are virtually no protections for LGBTQ+ people.
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Same-sex couples have been able to apply for a “guardianship appointment” since 2017, which affords them certain rights to share assets and inheritance, but they are not allowed to adopt.
Trans citizens are only permitted to change their gender after undergoing gender-reassignment surgery. Gender-affirming care is only permitted for people over the age of 18, and they must have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, have applied for gender-reassignment surgery for at least five years, have no criminal record and be unmarried.
Earlier this month, a set of payment processors, including Visa and Mastercard, forced video game marketplaces to remove thousands of adult video games from their storefronts.
The financial companies forced gaming marketplaces Steam and Itch.io to remove their library of Not Safe For Work (NSFW) video games, or else customers would be prevented from using their credit cards to make purchases on the platforms.
Itch.io was forced to “deindex” its entire NSFW library, saying it was vital to “ensure we can continue to operate and provide a marketplace for all developers.”
Visa and Mastercard forced Steam and Itch.io to ban adult content from their platforms. (Screenshot/Cyberpunk 2077)
“This is a time critical moment for itch.io. The situation developed rapidly, and we had to act urgently to protect the platform’s core payment infrastructure,” a spokesperson for the gaming platform said. “Unfortunately, this meant it was not realistic to provide creators with advance notice before making this change. We know this is not ideal, and we apologise for the abruptness of this change.”
Steam, meanwhile, reportedly removed hundreds of titles from its storefront and has since enacted policy changes
Visa and Mastercard’s ultimatum against Steam and Itch.io was met with heavy backlash from those arguing that the move is a slippery slope towards payment processors “controlling what we watch, read, or play.”
Why are Visa and Mastercard forcing NSFW game bans?
Both Visa and Mastercard made the demand towards Steam and Itch.io after facing pressure from the anti-pornography group Collective Shout.
The right-wing Australian lobby group issued an open letter on 11 July demanding that the payment processors take action against the gaming platforms after highlighting a video game featuring themes of rape and sexual assault. It called for all NSFW games to be banned as a result.
A spokesperson for the organisation wrote that it believed adult content on both platforms to be too “distressing” to be left open for the public, demanding the credit card companies take action immediately.
“We request that you demonstrate corporate social responsibility and immediately cease processing payments on Steam and Itch.io and any other platforms hosting similar games,” they continued.
In response, both organisations demanded that the marketplaces remove their NSFW library or they would rescind the right for customers to buy products using their credit cards.
In a statement on the situation, Itch.io creator, Leaf Corcoran, wrote that its hand had been forced while apologising for the “sudden and disruptive change.
He added that a “comprehensive audit” would take place and that all NSFW-labelled titles would be deindexed – made unavailable to locate on the website’s storefront – until the review was complete.
Visa and Mastercard face overwhelming backlash
The decision prompted major worldwide backlash from the site’s users, as well as other groups arguing that the decision amounts to “moral policing.”
One petition, which has nearly 200,000 signatures at the time of reporting, argues that the move amounts not just to “overreach,” but “blatant hypocrisy.”
“Adults are capable of choosing what they want to watch, read, or play,” the petition continues. “If someone doesn’t like a certain type of entertainment, the solution is simple: walk away.
“Nobody is forced to engage with content they find offensive, but they have no right to dictate what others are allowed to enjoy, especially when it’s within the bounds of the law.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) similarly blasted the move by Visa and Mastercard, writing in a petition with over 155,000 signatures that the policy “only applies to websites that host adult content – when all available evidence indicates that these problems proliferate across all kinds of sites.”
The petition continues: “In reality, all Mastercard’s policy actually does is make it harder for platforms to host adult content – destabilizing the websites that sex workers use to make a living … Sex workers’ livelihoods shouldn’t depend on the whims of corporations.”
In the wake of the controversy, both payment companies are reportedly receiving an overwhelming number of complaints via email and phone calls, according to Polygon.
One user in a now-deleted post on Reddit reportedly said they called customer service teams for both payment processors and was told they were already aware of the problem.
Cuba has taken a significant step forward in trans rights by approving a law that allows individuals to self-declare their gender without requiring surgery.
The law, approved earlier this month by The National Assembly of People’s Power, also amends Cuba’s national civil registry, giving legal recognition to common-law partnerships and setting out a process for digitising paper records.
Minister of justice Oscar Silvera Martínez wrote on X/Twitter last week that the law “will allow the country to have a modern civil registry,” including “the issuance of digital documents with full validity and efficiency”.
The latest move in trans rights for Cubans marks one of the most significant LGBTQ+ legal reforms since 2022, when citizens approved a broad family law code that ushered in same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ+-inclusive measures, including the right to adopt children.
Minister of foreign affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla welcomed the family code, saying: “Our people opted for a revolutionary, uplifting law that drives us to achieve social justice for which we work every day. Today, we are a better country with more rights.”
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
A Columbian man, Yostin Andres Mosquera, has been found guilty of the gruesome double murder of a same-sex couple, Albert Alfonso and Paul Longworth, whose remains were found dumped in suitcases last year.
On 15 July 2024 the Metropolitan Police said Yostin Andres Mosquera, 34, of Scotts Road, in Shepherd’s Bush, had been charged with the murders of 62-year-old Albert Alfonso and 71-year-old Paul Longworth.
Yostin Andres Mosquera was convicted on Monday (21 July) of the murders, which took place on 8 July 2024. Sky News reports that it is thought Mosquera, a 35-year-old who worked in the adult film industry, first met Mr Alfonso online.
The court also heard that that three men struck up a friendship, with the couple visiting Mosquera in his home country of Colombia, and they flew Mosquera to the UK to stay with them at their flat in London on several occasions.
During the course of the trial, it was revealed that Mosquera killed Mr Longworth by hitting him with a hammer, shattering his skull, before hiding his body in a divan bed.
Later that evening, during sex with Mr Alfonso, Mosquera stabbed him 22 times with a knife.
However, the room was equipped with cameras, which recorded the murder. CCTV footage was “repeatedly” shown to the jury, according to Sky News.
Sky News correspondent Alice Porter was in court when the video was shown, and described it as the “worst” she had ever seen, adding: “The judge warned the jury about the graphic video, reassuring them that, if they felt unable to proceed due to its content, they would be excused.
“One jury member did not come back the next day and I could completely understand their discomfort. The sound of screaming was hard to forget.”
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Mosquera then decapitated the bodies – the heads were stored in a freezer which he had delivered on 9 July.
The other remains were put in suitcases and on 10 July, Mosquera hired a van with a driver to transport him and the bags to Clifton Suspension Bridge, where it was claimed he planned to hurl the remains off the structure.
The court was told that, in the weeks leading up to the murders, Yostin Andres Mosquera was planning his attacks. He looked for a freezer online and, on the day of the killings, searched for: “Where on the head is a knock fatal?”
He repeatedly tried to find the price of the couple’s property in Scotts Road, Shepherd’s Bush online, as well as stealing cash from Mr Alfonso after murdering him, leading the prosecution to argue that the double murder was financially motivated.
Paul Longworth and Albert Alfonso. (Met Police)
Investigating officer DCI Stride said it was “one of the most disturbing” murder cases he has investigated.
He went on to add: “The video that we found of the murder is really shocking. Within seconds of the murder… he [Mosquera] appears to dance, sings a short song, and immediately after that, whilst Mr Alfonso is still lying on the floor, he’s straight on the computer and starts searching for… and logging into bank accounts.”
The judge, Mr Justice Bennathan KC, said he would sentence Mosquera on 24 October, and asked for a psychiatric report to be prepared beforehand.
The results are in for the world’s most sexually liberated cities in 2025, and a surprising UK city has made the top 10.
Global research by escort consultancy group Erobella analysed cities around the world and ranked them based on the number of gay bars they have, the frequency of LGBTQ+ events there, access to contraception, transgender rights, the legality of sex work, and laws protecting against homophobic and transphobic behaviour.
This year, eight European cities have made the top 10 most sexually liberated cities, whilst only one US city has made the list. This marks a clear shift from last year’s rankings, when seven US cities dominated the top 20 (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have all dropped out of the rankings this year).
Amsterdam, known for its Red Light District, is the most sexually liberal city in 2025. (Getty Images)
Amsterdam, which is known for its Red Light District, unsurprisingly claimed the top spot. The capital city of the Netherlands was praised for its “comprehensive legal protections, abundant sexual health resources, and vibrant LGBTQIA+ scene”.
Sex work was legalised in the city in 2000, with the Dutch government aiming to give sex workers “more autonomy over their profession, reduce criminal activity, and improve their labour conditions”, as per Humanity In Action. The city is widely considered to be “the birthplace of LGBTQ+ rights” after homosexuality was decriminalised in 1811.
Coming in at number two is this year’s only US city on the list, San Francisco. The city is home to one of the first gay neighbourhoods in the US, The Castro, while San Francisco Pride has continued to stand strong in the face of DEI rollbacks in the US.
San Francisco, California, is the only US city on the list this year. (Getty Images)
Cologne, Germany; Vancouver, Canada; Lisbon, Portugal; and Berlin, Germany, claim the top three, four, five and six spots, respectively.
Meanwhile, the UK has thrown a curveball in the form of Manchester, a city in northwest England, which sits at number 7. The city has a thriving LGBTQ+ scene, particularly in the Gay Village near Canal Street, which hosts over 30 gay bars and clubs, as per Wanderlog.
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Unmut
5
Hamburg, Germany; Vienna, Austria; and Barcelona, Spain round off the top 10 most sexually liberated cities.
