Shannon Power

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First Hotel Owned and Run by Trans Women Opens in India

A group of trans women has realized its dream and will open their own hotel in Kerala, India. The women planned to open the hotel called Hotel Ruchimudra in the state capital of Kochi in south east India. Aditi Achuth, Saya Mathew, Preethi Alexander, Pranav, Ragaranjini and Meenakshi received US$14,320 in local government funding to set up the hotel. The six women decided to start their own business to help promote a more positive representation of trans people in Kerala. ‘The major aim of ‘Ruchimudra’ is to change the negative attitude of the society towards transgenders,’ she told Mathrubhumi. Along with the […]

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Horrific Evidence Emerges of more Torture in Chechnya’s Gay Purge

Graphic new evidence has emerged of the torture of gay men at the hands of authorities in Chechnya. The new evidence comes from the most recent crackdown of the LGBTI community. Earlier this year new reports revealed Chechnya had conducted another round up of LGBTI people in its ‘gay purge’. Authorities rounded up about 40 people and detained them at the Grozny Internal Affairs Department in the region’s capital. Two people died as a result of torture. Chechnya, a Russian federal subject in the Northern Caucasus, began its ‘gay purge’ in 2017. It is a highly conservative majority-Muslim society and homosexuality is […]

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Body of LGBTI Activist Found Dumped in a Ravine in the Philippines

The body of a beloved Philippines LGBTI activist was found only a few hundred meters from his home in Cebu City. Locals found Raymond Mabini, also known as Rica Reyes, dead in a ravine on Tuesday (23 April). They found his body at the bottom of a slope in the mountain area of Babag. Police said he had several wounds to his head and body. Police also found him with his underwear and shorts below his waist. The 25-year-old student studied agriculture at the Cebu Technological University and lead Babag’s LGBTI group. He was last spotted at 7pm on Monday […]

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LGBTI Journalist Lyra McKee Shot Dead Reporting on Northern Ireland Riots

A 29-year-old LGBTI journalist has been murdered while reporting on ‘dissident republican activity’ in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. A masked gunman allegedly shot Lyra McKee to death while she covered riots in Londonderry – also known as Derry – on Thursday (18 April). Police said a group known as the New IRA ‘are likely to be the ones behind this’. Cell phone footage shows a masked gunman crouching down and opening fire with a handgun at about 11pm. McKee was wounded as she stood by a police SUV according to police. ‘A single gunman fired shots in a residential area of […]

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Banks Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank Boycott Brunei-owned Hotels

Some of the world’s biggest banks have stopped their employees from staying at hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei. This follows his decision to change laws which would stone people to death for having homosexual sex. Last month, Gay Star News exclusively reported the country of Brunei would introduce strict Sharia (Islamic) law to the Kingdom in south east Asia.  The new laws include stoning to death for those convicted of sodomy. Those convicted of abortions, adultery or rape will receive a public flogging and the amputation of hands and feet for convicted thieves. Since the news broke celebrities and […]

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‘Surprising’ Research Finds STIs among PrEP Users not Linked to Condom Use

People on PrEP are at risk of acquiring STIs, but it is not because they’re using condoms less new research shows. Researchers found a 20% increase in the rates of new STIs among people on a PrEP trial in the Australian state of Victoria called PrEPX. PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a proven effective HIV preventative medication. The study included 2,981 mainly gay and bisexual men. Researchers published their results in the Journal of the American Medical Association. They found there was an increased risk of acquiring an STI while on PrEP compared to before starting PrEP. But they also found there was […]

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After HIV Data Breach, Businesses Promise to End HIV Discrimination

Eighty businesses in Singapore have made a pledge to end workplace discrimination against people living with HIV (PLHIV). Major LGBTI organizations in Singapore including Action for AIDS (AFA) and support group, Oogachaga, collaborated with social enterprise, Be Inclusive, to end HIV discrimination in the workplace. Global multinationals such as Google and Barclays are some of the signatories to the pledge alongside local companies such as restaurant booking platform, Chope. AFA’s advocacy manager Avin Tan said that workplaces play a crucial role in ending discrimination against individuals with HIV. ‘The challenge of being gainfully employed without the fear of being sacked because of one’s HIV infection must […]

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Controversial PrEP Drug with Less Potential Side Effects Coming Soon

A new drug to prevent HIV could hit markets very soon. The results of the world’s biggest ever HIV prevention studies revealed the drug, Descovy, was as good as Truvada when it came to preventing HIV. Truvada and generic versions of it are used around the world as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). For two years, pharmaceutical giant Gilead has conducted the DISCOVER trial. The trial measured the efficacy of Descovy as a potential new PrEP drug. The study conducted across 50 sites in the United States, enrolled 5,387 cis men who have sex with men (MSM) and trans women at risk […]

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Lesbians Are Also Being Killed in Chechnya

A lesbian who escaped the ‘gay purge’ in Chechnya has bravely shared her story, even though it could get her killed. The woman – who remains anonymous for her safety – shared the horrors of growing up LGBTI in Chechnya and how she wasn’t even safe from her own family. In early 2017 the world started learning how Chechnya – a region in the north Caucasus of Russia – had started rounding up, detaining, torturing and executing men because of their real or perceived sexual identity. But in 2018 Chechen authorities turned their sights onto lesbians and trans people. ‘In two years, […]

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Fostering Respect is Key to Ending Anti-LGBTI Views at Religious Schools

Using the principles of religion is vital for challenging anti-LGBT+ prejudice in faith schools. Some of those principles include, commitment to be kind and respect one’s neighbor. A report from Goldsmiths, University of London found that all children had heard transphobic or homophobic bullying in the playground. Goldsmiths’ Dr Anna Carlile’s evaluated Educate & Celebrate’s year-long work in faith schools. Educate & Celebrate is a charity employing qualified teachers and youth workers. The charity spent a year working at faith schools and secular schools serving faith communities. Carlile visited each school at the start and end of the school year to conduct […]

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