International

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Brutal Police Raid on LGBT-friendly Venue in Azerbaijan

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Last month, Azerbaijani police raided a venue in the capital Baku, known as a safe space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, and detained over 100 people. According to witnesses and independent media, those detained were abused by police who made it seem like the operation was to target sexual and gender minorities rather than routine law-enforcement. According to a witness Human Rights Watch spoke with, police arrived shortly after midnight, confiscated patrons’ mobile phones, demanded passwords and searched through private photos and videos without warrants. Officers took at least 106 people to the Nasimi District Police Department, then forced […]

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US claims vital UN human rights policy is too ‘woke’ to pass

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The US has twice been the only country to vote against UN human rights policies over what it has branded “globalist” woke ideology. Last month, deputy US representative Jonathan Shrier denounced a set of resolutions protecting humanitarian workers as “nothing more than a globalist wish list of divisive cultural causes”. The resolutions, dubbed the “Safety and Security of Humanitarian Personnel and Protection of United Nations personnel and the “International Cooperation on Humanitarian Assistance in the Field of Natural Disasters, from Relief to Development” would both implement fundamental human rights protections in line with UN mandates on human rights development across […]

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Ten guilty of transphobic cyberbullying of Brigitte Macron, court rules

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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 […]

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Is ‘Homonationalism’ really on the rise, and what does the term mean?

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There’s a good chance you may have heard the term homonationalism used in political or public debate recently. In fact, just a couple of days ago, Spiked published an article claiming that homonationalism is “on the rise” and suggesting that it is linked to the fact that “across Europe, gay voters are moving rightwards.” But what exactly does the term mean?  First coined by Rutgers University professor and Gender Studies scholar Jasbir Puar in her 2007 book Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times, the phrase has skyrocketed in usage over the past two decades and has yet to reach its peak, according to […]

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Just four people complained about trans people in toilets in UK since 2022

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Only four people in the UK have formally complained about a trans woman entering a “single-sex” facility, an eye-opening report has revealed. A report published by advocacy group TransLucent found that only four official complaints were documented across 382 public bodies since 2022. Between 2022 and 2024, the group’s members submitted hundreds of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests across multiple investigations to local councils, NHS hospitals, domestic abuse refuges, and other major public authorities in England. Its first investigation examining council-owned buildings such as swimming pools and leisure centres found that 35 of the 40 responses reported zero complaints about trans people […]

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Kazakhstan signs Russian-style anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda bill into law

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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 – […]

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BBC ‘apologizes’ to ex-presenter for ‘homophobic abuse’

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The BBC has allegedly issued a “formal, full and unconditional apology” to a former radio presenter for “repeated incidents of homophobic and discriminatory abuse” which he received while working at the corporation.  Jack Murley, who worked as a presenter for BBC Radio Cornwall for five years, was sacked in 2024 for breaching the BBC’s editorial and social media policies with posts that criticised cuts to local radio and which the broadcaster said failed to be impartial.  Murley took the BBC to employment tribunal in which he alleged he was discriminated against for being a gay man as well as a union […]

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Burkina Faso issues first sentence for ‘homosexuality and related practices’

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Burkina Faso has issued its first known conviction for homosexuality since banning same-sex sexual relations earlier this year.  An individual identified as K.M. was charged with sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment, a fine of 2,000,000 CFA francs (approximately $3,581), and ordered expelled from the country following completion of the sentence, the African Human Rights Coalition has confirmed. The official charges were “homosexuality and related practices.” “AHRC expresses grave concern over this conviction, particularly given the sweeping and vague language of the new law, its application against a vulnerable foreign national, and the penal severity including post-sentence expulsion,” the organization said in a statement. “This represents the […]

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Dominican Republic: Court Ends Security Forces Gay Sex Ban

(New York) – The Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court has struck down provisions in the Codes of Justice of the National Police and the Armed Forces that criminalized consensual same-sex conduct by officers, Human Rights Watch said today. The ruling, made public on November 18, 2025, is a landmark victory for equality, ending a regime of state-sanctioned discrimination that violated the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) officers.  In Judgment TC/1225/25, the court held that article 210 of the Code of Justice of the National Policeand article 260 of the Code of Justice of the Armed Forces violate constitutional guarantees to nondiscrimination, privacy, free development of […]

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Kazakhstan’s parliament passes law against ‘LGBT propaganda’

The lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament passed a law on Wednesday banning “LGBT propaganda” online or in the media, mandating fines for violators and up to 10 days in jail for repeat offenders. The legislation resembles laws passed in countries including Russia, Georgia and Hungary. It will now be sent to the Kazakh senate, where it is likely to pass. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, whose signature is necessary for the bill to become law, has in recent months repeatedly stressed the need to uphold what he calls “traditional values”. Lawmakers in parliament, which is controlled by parties loyal to Tokayev, voted unanimously in favour […]

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