International

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Is Steam blocking LGBTQ+ content in China?

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Reports have suggested that Steam’s digital storefront is blocking LGBTQ+ content in accordance with Chinda’s “local laws and regulations.” Given the country’s policies around LGBTQ+ people and content, that might not be surprising, especially as Steam has agreed to censorship before.  But what’s actually happening might be a lesser compromise. The first reports of the issue came from user Neha on Resetera, who posted a screenshot of Steam with an error message in Chinese, which translates to “An error occurred while processing your request: The content on this page has been identified as inappropriate because it violates local laws and regulations, […]

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76% of UK adults support same-sex marriage, poll shows

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YouGov UK’s bimonthly tracker surveying UK adults’ support for same-sex marriage has released data for 29 June showing that 76% of those surveyed support same-sex couples’ right to marry. The responses, collected from between 1,627 and 3,416 adults living in the UK, reveal that 51% of responders “strongly support” same-sex marriage, while 25% marked “tend to support”. In comparison, just 8% answered “tend to oppose” and 7% marked “strongly oppose”, while an additional 8% answered “don’t know”. Support for same-sex marriage has grown since the survey’s initial release in August 2019, with only 45% of those surveyed selecting that option at the time. The […]

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Missing gay couple from Chicago found dead in mass grave outside of Mexico City

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A gay couple from Chicago who were living in Mexico City have been found dead in a grave that included two other bodies, per Chicago ABC affiliate WLS. Zafar Padamsee Mawani and Guillermo Jaffet Hidalgo Ortiz had been missing since May, per WLS. The couple had only recently moved to Mexico in October and were living in a neighborhood in the southern part of Mexico City. The bodies were found on June 17 in a wooded area on the outskirts of Mexico City, per People. The couple went missing on May 20 while trying to get equipment from a contractor for Mawani’s […]

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Gay students from countries that criminalize homosexuality extorted with ‘outing’ threats

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A hate crime inquiry has heard that international students from countries which criminalise homosexuality have been targeted on gay dating apps before being assaulted and threatened with being outed. Police in Victoria, Australia have identified 95 attacks on gay or bisexual men since June 2024. Chad Hughes, Thorne Harbour Health’s chief executive said 42 arrests have been made in relation to the attacks. However, Hughes said he believes the “true number” is much higher, with victims reluctant to come forward over mistrust of the police. Jenna Tuke, from Switchboard Victoria, said some victims were scared they could be outed to family members in their home countries, […]

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200,000 Turn Out For First Post-Orban Budapest Pride

The Associated Press reports: Tens of thousands of people gathered in soaring temperatures in Hungary’s capital on Saturday to celebrate the 31st annual Budapest Pride, the first such LGBTQ+ march since former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who had sought to ban the event, was ousted in an April election. The march began Saturday afternoon as temperatures reached at least 100 degrees amid a record-breaking heat wave that has gripped most of Europe. Organizers distributed water bottles to marchers, and the city’s public water utility opened fountains along the route. Participants set off from Budapest’s iconic Opera house and wound through the […]

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At least 50 people detained by police at Istanbul Pride event

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At least 50 people were detained this weekend at a banned Istanbul LGBTQ+ Pride event, organisers have said. The event, which took place on 28 June, went ahead despite a ban imposed by the local authorities and a lockdown of all the city’s main gathering points. Iron barriers were installed around Istanbul’s famed Taksim Square, while subway transport in certain areas was also restricted. The Turkish Journalists’ Union has also confirmed that one of the people who were detained was Muberra Unsal, who holds a press card. “Journalists covering the Istanbul Pride March faced unlawful interference again this year. Despite repeatedly identifying […]

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Russia sentences nightclub owner and staff to jail under ‘LGBT movement’ ban

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A Russian court has jailed the owner and two employees of an LGBT nightclub in Orenburg after convicting them of organising and participating in the activities of an “extremist organisation”. Authorities claim it is the first prosecution under the country’s ban on the so-called “LGBT movement”. Vyacheslav Khasanov, 37, the owner of the Pose club, was sentenced to seven years in jail and ordered to pay a fine of 1 million roubles (£9,745/$12,902), as per The Independent. Two other staff members who were arrested were also convicted. Club manager Diana Kamilyanova, 30, was sentenced to six years and three months, and art director Alexander Klimov, […]

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Best and worst countries to be LGBTQ+ in Europe in 2026 revealed

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Malta is no longer Europe’s LGBTQ+ rights hot spot, after Spain has won the title in ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map for 2026. In ILGA-Europe’s 18th annual Rainbow Map, 49 countries in Europe were ranked on laws and policies which affect the LGBTI community. Spain’s move to the top spot comes after the country introduced new legal protections, a new independent equal treatment and non-discrimination authority, and a fully functioning depathologisation of trans identities in healthcare, among other achievements. Sadly, positive moves with legal policies do not mirror the lived experience of those in the LGBTI community. In Spain, assaults on LGBTI people have risen from […]

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Gilbert Baker’s original Pride flag takes a trip to Ireland

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In 1978, artist and activist Gilbert Baker designed the original rainbow flag — which remains the basis for all modern variations of the famous Pride symbol. The first flag, hand-stitched and dyed by Gilbert and a handful of friends and volunteers, was unveiled at San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade that same year. Baker’s rainbow flag is now making a historic journey across the Atlantic Ocean, where it will be on loan to the city of Cork, Ireland, for four months. Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five […]

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New Africa “charter” attempts to impose Christian nationalist ideology across the continent

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In Ghana last week, participants from 20 African nations advanced the latest iteration of the African Inter-Parliamentary “Family, Sovereignty and Values” Charter, a document African rights activists say threatens to dismantle protections for women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in service of a Christian nationalist worldview. Attendees at the annual conference have set an ambitious goal to realize the document’s illiberal agenda: ratification of the charter by the African Union General Assembly. Organizers hope to take it to the pan-African governmental body next February, where it would be put to a vote. “It is a license to oppose, regress on, or […]

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