Sophie Perry

Asylum seekers given refugee status in the UK will now only be offered protection for a temporary time, a change which will put vulnerable LGBTQ+ at constant risk of danger, a charity has warned.  Home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the move as part of a shake-up of the government’s asylum rules, which represents most substantial reform to the UK asylum system in a generation.  The changes come into force on Monday (2 March) and revoke the permanent protection given to refugees who are granted asylum, instead adults and accompanied children claiming asylum will now only receive a 30-month period of […]

Hate crimes targeting people on the grounds of their sexuality, gender identity or disability would be made an aggravated offence, under a proposed new law.  If passed, an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill would see hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ and disabled people brought in-line with racially and religiously aggravated hate crimes, meaning they too will carry a higher maximum sentencing penalty.  The bill is currently progressing through the House of Lords and is intended to tackle anti-social behaviour alongside crimes including offensive weapons, sexual offences and stalking and public order.  Stonewall CEO Simon Blake described the amendment a “major step in the journey […]

A new human rights report has claimed the US is undermining LGBTQ+ and wider human rights across the world, with the second Trump administration marked by a “blatant disregard for human rights and egregious violations”. The report from Human Rights Watch, entitled World Report 2026, examines the state of human rights in countries across the globe, with a focus on key events that happened throughout 2025.  “The global human rights system is in peril,” Philippe Bolopion, executive director at Human Rights Watch, said in the introduction to the report.  “Under relentless pressure from US President Donald Trump, and persistently undermined by China and […]

A human rights organisation in Uganda that supports members of the LGBTQ+ community was ordered to shut down by the government just days before the country’s election.  Chapter Four Uganda, which is dedicated to the protection of civil liberties and promotion of human rights – including LGBTQ+ rights – in the East African nation, had its operating permit suspended with immediate effect by the National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organisations under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.  The suspension came just days before the country’s election, which incumbent president Yoweri Museveni – who has led the country since 1986 – won with 72 per […]

Ten people in France have been found guilty of cyberbullying first lady Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, by claiming she is secretly a transgender woman.  A court in Paris on Monday (5 January) ruled the defendants, which includes eight men and two women aged between 41 and 65, had spread false claims about her gender and sexuality alongside making “malicious remarks” about the 24-year age gap between the couple.  The court noted “particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious” comments made by the defendants about Macron’s gender, amid a wide-ranging conspiracy theory that she is secretly a trans woman who was […]

Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has signed a Russian-style anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda bill into law, with those who violate the legislation set to face fines or detention.  The country’s lower chamber of parliament passed the bill, which bans “information containing propaganda of pedophilia and/or non-traditional sexual orientation in public spaces, as well as in the media”, back in November.  The bill’s passage came despite urgent calls from international rights groups – including Access Now, Civil Rights Defenders, Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, International Partnership for Human Rights, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee – […]