Vic Parsons

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Six Trans and Non-binary Democrats Say They were Disqualified ‘Because of their Gender’

Six trans candidates said they have been eliminated from the race to represent their communities at county level by the Brooklyn Democratic Party because of their gender. In March, Nandani Bharrat, Casey Bohannon, Michael Donatz, Derek Gaskill, Paige Havener and Angela LaScala-Gruenewald all submitted petitions to run for seats on the governing body of the Brooklyn Democratic Party. They are all trans, non-binary, or gender non-conforming, and had all left the gender field blank when they applied to run in the upcoming June and December elections, because there was only a male or female option. On April 22, the six […]

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Gay Man Commits Suicide after being Outed by Trans Influencer

LGBT+ activists have confirmed that at least one gay man in Morocco has died by suicide after being hunted down and publicly outed by a transgender beauty influencer. Gay men in Morocco have been living in terror for the past fortnight, after beauty influencer Naofal Moussa, also known as Sofia Talouni, instructed her hundreds of thousands of followers to use gay dating apps to identify them. Moussa, whose verified Instagram account had 627,000 followers before it was deleted, used a series of Instagram Live videos to encourage straight women in Morocco to create fake accounts on Grindr and Planet Romeo. She […]

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Meet the UK’s First-ever Openly HIV-positive Mayor

The UK’s first-ever openly HIV positive mayor, Philip Normal, has been elected in Lambeth, South London. He has pledged to support LGBT+ rights and de-stigmatise living with HIV. Philip Normal, 38, is an artist who has a shop in Brixton Village Market and has represented Lambeth’s Oval ward since the May 2018 local government elections. Normal, who lives in Kennington, was elected the Labour mayor at Lambeth’s first-ever virtual annual general meeting on April 22. “I am incredibly honoured to become your mayor today,” he said in his acceptance speech. “I look forward to working with you all, and with the diverse […]

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Medical Expert: there’s no Scientific Reason for Banning Trans People from their Sport

On March 30, the eve of Trans Day of Visibility, Idaho governor Brad Little signed two anti-trans bills into law. One barred trans people from updating the gender on their birth certificate, the other barred trans girls and women from playing sport at school or college. The second law, HB500, bans schools and colleges from letting trans and intersex girls play sports, and means that any girl whose gender is called into question will be forced to undergo genital examinations, chromosome analysis or blood testing to “prove” that she is female. This is being done in the name of safety and fairness […]

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Florida Gay Police Officer and ‘Protector of the LGBT Community’ Dies from Coronavirus

An “out and proud gay law enforcement deputy” from Florida who died of complications from coronavirus is being remembered by as a “protector of the LGBT+ community”. Deputy sheriff Shannon Bennett was 39 when died on April 3, just a week after testing positive for COVID-19. He had left work on March 23 feeling unwell, and went to the hospital the following day where he was tested for coronavirus. Bennett was a proudly out gay man who was due to marry his fiancé, Jonathan Frey, later this year. He is believed to be the first such line-of-duty death from COVID-19 in Florida. Tributes […]

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America’s First LGBT+ Elected Official Wants more Queer People to run for Office

Forty-one years ago yesterday, on April 2, 1974, out lesbian Kathy Kozachenko made history as the first openly gay person elected to political office in the US. Three years before Harvey Milk, the more well-known gay-rights advocate commonly given the accolade of “first elected openly gay elected official”, Kozachenko was elected to the Ann Arbor City Council in Michigan. Then a 21-year-old University of Michigan student, she was part of the now-defunct left-wing Human Rights Party, which consisted mostly of college students and recent graduates. “This is the first time in the history of the U.S. that someone has run openly as […]

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Doctor Treating Coronavirus Patients Dies in his Husbands Arms

Two days ago, an emergency-room doctor called Frank Gabrin died in his husband’s arms due to complications from coronavirus – just a week after showing symptoms. Gabrin, 60, who worked at hospitals in New Jersey and New York, had been on the frontlines for two weeks as the number of COVID-19 cases rapidly increased. According to Gabrin’s husband, Arnold Vargas, shortages of personal protective equipment had meant he was forced to reuse face masks and hospital gowns between treating patients. “He was a person who just wanted to help people,” Vargas told Chris Cuomo, who also tested positive for COVID-19 […]

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Marathon Runner to Make History as First Trans Woman to Compete in a US Olympic Trial

A 29-year-old marathon runner will be the first out trans woman to compete in a US Olympic trial. In Atlanta on February 29, Megan Youngren and 62 other women will compete for a spot on the US Olympic team. The winners at the trials will represent the US in the Summer Games in Tokyo later this year. Youngren came 40th at the California international marathon in December with a time of 2:43:52 – good enough to qualify for the Atlanta marathon trials. Her California qualifying time came after running the Los Angeles marathon in 3:06:42 last year, too. Youngren says […]

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Israel Kowtows to Russia’s Demands and Bans LGBT People from Adopting Russian Kids

Israel and Russia have signed a deal banning LGBT+ people from adopting Russian children, after a decade of negotiations. The agreement, signed on January 22, stipulates that same-sex couples cannot adopt children from Russia. Ze’ev Elkin, Jerusalem affairs minister, met with a senior Russian delegation Wednesday ahead of president Vladimir Putin’s scheduled Thusday visit to attend the Fifth World Holocaust Forum. The senior Russian delegation included Russia’s foreign minister, economics minister and education minister, according to the Jerusalem Post. Israel and Russia finalised two agreements at the meeting, one on same-sex adoption and the other regarding cooperation between the two countries’ foreign ministries. […]

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Trans Man becomes First Person in Kosovo to Legally Change Name, Gender on Passport

A trans man in Kosovo has become the first named person in the country to update his name and gender marker on his ID documents. Blert Morina won a two-year court battle to exercise his right to change the name and gender marker on his documents, requests that had previously been denied. In December, the Basic Court of Prishtina affirmed his right to change the name and sex marker on his documents – only the second time a court in the country had legally backed someone’s right to do so. The first person remained anonymous, according to Kosovo Two Point Zero. Morina, […]

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