International

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One in six homeless LGBT+ youth have been sexually abused by family members, report finds

LGBT+ youth are being forced into homelessness after sexual abuse from family members, a shocking report confirms, with many having casual sex to keep a roof over their head while homeless. Almost a fifth (17 per cent) of LGBT+ young people surveyed by LGBT+ youth homelessness charity akt said they felt like they had to have casual sex to find somewhere to stay while they were homeless. A similar number (16 per cent) said they engaged in sex work as a direct result of being made homeless. The charity asked 161 LGBTQ+ young people about their experiences of homelessness in the last five years […]

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Man mutilated and buried man in a garden ‘because he was gay’

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A South African man is on trial for the brutal murder of a gay man who was butchered and burned in a suspected hate crime. The mutilated remains of 40-year-old Andile “Lulu” Ntuthela were found in a shallow grave 11 days after his murder. He is believed to have been killed simply because he was gay. The 28-year-old suspect, who has not yet been named, appeared at the Kwa-Nobuhle Magistrates Court in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday (13 April). Police spokesperson Col Priscilla Naidu said he was arrested after the man’s family complained to the police that he had burnt […]

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Exorcist disturbingly claims he’s beaten and ‘prayed the gay away’ from 500 people

An exorcist has claimed he has “prayed the gay away” from more than 500 LGBT+ people in Pakistan. Tineenullah Fahad, who works from a clinic above a discount store in the country’s capital, Islamabad, explained to Vice World News that queer people are possessed by lustful demons. The cure, he claims, is reciting verses from the Quran. Since 2012, the 35-year-old has been offering so-called spiritual healing on a case-by-case basis. Such treatments include beating LGBT+ people in an effort to expel so-called evil spirits. Around “60 per cent of the homosexual cases that come to me are the results of black magic […]

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Malaysia pushes for Sharia law to be tougher on LGBT+ Muslims

Malaysia is pushing for Sharia law to be tougher against LGBT+ Muslims even as it makes a bid for a spot on the UN Human Rights Council. On Tuesday (6 April) the Malaysian government announced plans to move forward with an amendment to the Sharia Courts Act that would allow heavier punishments to be imposed on the LGBT+ community. The country’s strict Islamic laws already penalise any form of anal or oral sex with up to 20 years in prison and mandatory caning – but ministers want to push it further still. Religious affairs minister Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad has strongly endorsed the […]

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Germany: New Policy to Champion LGBTI Rights Abroad

The German government has pledged to do more to uphold the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people abroad, Human Rights Watch said today. The commitment is included in its multifaceted strategy for foreign policy and development cooperation, adopted on March 3, 2021. Among its many goals, the LGBTI Inclusion Strategy aims to further Germany’s role in promoting LGBTI people’s rights at international and regional human rights institutions. It commits Germany’s diplomatic missions to do more to engage in dialogue on LGBTI issues with host countries and, where appropriate, with religious, business, and other sectors. The policy also highlights the importance […]

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Amnesty cites ‘transphobic fear-mongering’ in report claiming UK is ‘rushing to abandon human rights’

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“Serious concerns” about hostile attitudes towards human rights in the UK, including the government’s failure to reform gender recognition laws and “transphobic fear-mongering”, have been raised by international human rights group Amnesty International. The stark rebuke of the British government comes in Amnesty’s annual reporton human rights around the world.×ADVERTISING Policies on immigration, housing and current efforts to curtail the right to protest mean the UK is “speeding towards the cliff edge” when it comes to upholding and preserving human rights legislation. In its 408-page report, Amnesty also condemns the Conservative government’s failure to reform the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) in September 2020 […]

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Hundreds protest as brazen homophobes sworn into Israeli parliament

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Hundreds demonstrated in Jerusalem on Tuesday (6 April), protesting the swearing in of a group of viciously anti-LGBT+ Knesset members. The protest was held outside parliament as all 120 members of the Knesset, Israel’s national legislature, were sworn in following last month’s elections, according to AFP. Among them were six members of the far-right Religious Zionism alliance, which includes the parties Noam and Otzma Yehudit, and the Religious Zionist Party (National Union–Tkuma). Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionist Party and self-described “proud homophobe”, helped to organise the 2006 anti-LGBT+ “beast parade”when World Pride came to Jerusalem. The “beast parade” saw right-wing activists trace […]

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Country of Georgia gives trans woman legal recognition for the first time

The deeply conservative country of Georgia has legally recognised a trans woman’s gender identity for the first time ever. On 25 March the Ministry of Justice of Georgia granted a trans woman’s request to change her legal gender status to female. Her birth certificate was also reissued by the authorities, setting a huge precedent for the country. The historic milestone was first reported by Open Democracy and the Georgian women’s rights group WISG, which said the woman had submitted a medical certificate confirming she had undergone gender-affirming surgery. WISG noted that, despite this groundbreaking case, Georgia still lacks adequate legislation for transgender people. Trans […]

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Malaysian man wins landmark challenge against Muslim gay sex ban

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A man from Malaysia has won a landmark ruling against an Islamic gay sex ban, raising hopes for greater LGBT+ rights in the country. The Muslim man – whose name has been withheld by his lawyer to protect his identity – filed the lawsuit after he was arrested in the central Selangor state of Malaysia in 2018 for attempting gay sex. He denied the allegation. Same-sex acts are illegal in Malaysia, although convictions are rare. All 13 states and the federal territory in Malaysia criminalise same-sex relations and gender nonconformity. The federal penal code also punishes any form of anal or oral sex with up […]

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Gay torture victims held on terror charges in Chechnya without a shred of proof

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Two gay men are being held on terror charges in Chechnya, having escaped torture in the homophobic republic before being returned by Russian police. Salek Magamadov and Ismail Isayev, who is just 17 years old, fled to Russia in June 2020 with the help of the Russian LGBT Network. They were relocated by the group to Nizhny Novogorod, a city around 400 kilometres east of Moscow, having been tortured by the Chechen special police for running an opposition Telegram channel.SPONSORED CONTENTPandemic or Not, Don’t Skip These 3 Health ChecksBy Sutter Health Earlier this month, the two gay men went missing and it was […]

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