News

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Indiana town sued for blocking LGBTQ+ Pride festival (again)

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A town in Indiana is being sued once again for blocking an LGBTQ+ Pride celebration by imposing strict regulations on public events — and ignoring organizers even after they met the requirements.  The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has filed both a lawsuit and a motion for contempt against the town of Loogootee over a “new” ordinance that bans special events from taking place within 240 feet of the town fountain, where the annual PrideFest is held. The town passed the resolution in December despite a near-identical policy being blocked by a court in August.  “The City of Loogootee has passed a series of ordinances […]

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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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Grammy-Winning Gospel Singer Accused of Sexually Abusing Young Man In “Pray Away The Gay” Sessions

NBC News reports: Donnie McClurkin, a Grammy-winning gospel singer and pastor, sexually abused a young man over several years and wrote an apology email declaring himself a “dirty ‘old man,’” according to a new lawsuit. Giuseppe Corletto says in the lawsuit that he was struggling to reconcile his sexuality with his faith when he sought out McClurkin in 2003. The lawsuit says Corletto, then 21, went to McClurkin’s church in Long Island, New York, after reading his autobiographical book, which described how God helped him overcome the “curse” of homosexuality. McClurkin began to molest Corletto during “pray the gay away” spiritual […]

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Will Smith sued by male tour violinist over sexual harassment

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Actor and rapper Will Smith is reportedly being sued by a male tour violinist over accusations of sexual harassment, wrongful termination and retaliation. Musician Brian King Joseph, part of Smith’s Based on a True Story: 2025 Tour, claims Smith exhibited “predatory behaviour.” He also alleges Smith was “deliberately grooming and priming” him for “further sexual exploitation”. Smith, 57, is best known as part of a hip hop duo with DJ Jazzy Jeff, as well as starring in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Men in Black.  Joseph names Smith and Treyball Studios Management as defendants in the suit, as reported by Variety. He is pursuing them for […]

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Anti-LGBTQ+ Republican congressman from California dies suddenly

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U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Republican lawmaker representing California, whose career included his opposition to marriage equality and transgender rights, died suddenly this week at 65, according to the House GOP. His death further narrows an already fragile Republican majority in the U.S. House and removes a central figure in the party’s escalating campaign against trans rights. “House Republicans mourn the loss of Congressman Doug LaMalfa,” the party wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “He proudly represented California’s 1st Congressional District from 2013 to 2026, serving as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus.” House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican, wrote in a statement that “Congress is devastated to learn this morning about […]

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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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Distraught woman says ICE killed her wife in video after deadly Minneapolis shooting

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A Minnesota woman sitting in the snow with her dog told a person filming her that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had just shot and killed her wife — now identified as Renee Nicole Good, 37 — according to newly circulating video that has intensified scrutiny of a fatal federal shooting during a sweeping immigration enforcement operation in south Minneapolis on Wednesday. “They killed my wife. I don’t know what to do,” the woman says through sobs in the footage, with a damaged SUV visible in the distance behind her. “We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head,” the woman […]

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All about the Mattachine Society, the first enduring U.S. gay rights group

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Before the National LGBTQ Task Force, before the Human Rights Campaign, even before the Stonewall uprising, there was the Mattachine Society. The organization, formed in 1950 in Los Angeles, can’t claim to be the first gay rights group (no one used LGBTQ+ back then) — that honor goes to the short-lived, Chicago-based Society for Human Rights, founded in 1924, and an inspiration for Mattachine. But Mattachine can claim to be the first one that lasted long — into the 1970s. The founders of the Mattachine Society included labor organizer Harry Hay, Bob Hull, Chuck Rowland, Dale Jennings, Konrad Stevens, James Gruber, and Rudi Gernreich (the latter […]

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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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