News

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California to Send First Openly Gay Immigrant to Congress

Long Beach voters ushered in two historical election firsts for the region during this year’s election.  Robert Garcia, the current mayor of Long Beach, is set to become the first openly gay immigrant in the U.S. house of Representatives, after a decisive showing from voters in the 42nd Congressional District, which includes Long Beach and southeastern Los Angeles County, according to the Los Angeles Times.  Garcia has declared victory in the heavily Democratic district. He tweeted that he received an “incredibly gracious call from President Joe Biden. … He’s in great spirits and feeling good. I told him I’m ready to […]

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Indian trans men who took on the system and won: Powerful tales of survival, defiance and liberation

Trans men in India are often made to feel invisible – but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist, and that they can’t thrive. In 2014, India’s Supreme Court ruled that trans people should be recognised as a “third gender”, and that they should not be denied fundamental human rights. However, some still struggle to access education, healthcare, and employment. In 2019, a law was passed to prohibit discrimination in these areas, but requires trans people to provide proof of gender-affirming surgery before they can gain legal recognition, something activists have said goes against the 2014 ruling. The law also makes abusing trans […]

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In Latin America, mothers of LGBTQ children fight against prejudice

Fabu Olmedo is so nervous about clubs and restaurants in Paraguay that before a night out she often contacts one to make sure that she’ll be let in and won’t be attacked or harassed. Olmedo doesn’t know if she can go out in public safely because daily life is hard for transgender people in the capital, Asunción. Now, a new group of allies in Latin America is trying to make life better by changing minds in this socially conservative and often highly religious region. Founded in 2017, the Latin American Movement of Mothers of LGTB+ Children lobbies governments to eliminate […]

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‘Terrified’ trans royal fled from Qatar to UK, leaked documents reveal

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A trans royal reportedly fled from Qatar to the UK in 2015, fearing persecution in his home country. According to leaked documents obtained by The Sunday Times, the unnamed royal is a trans man who escaped from his security during a family trip to London in 2015 and went into hiding with his girlfriend. He was then granted asylum in Britain.  The leaked documents showed that the royal told the Home Office that “growing up in Qatar has been the most difficult thing I have had to do”, because “I never wanted to be put in this body”. He added: “I […]

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Same-sex couples wary despite federal marriage rights bill

Mary and Sharon Bishop-Baldwin were jubilant after winning a decadelong fight for the right to wed in Oklahoma. But eight years after tying the knot — on the day they won their lawsuit challenging a state ban on gay marriage — and seven years after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed same-sex couples’ constitutional right to marry, they no longer take their union for granted. While they’re happy that Congress is moving swiftly to ensure nationwide recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages, they — like many in LGBTQ communities — are frustrated it’s even necessary after so many years and are unsure whether it’s […]

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Transgender politician wins Indian election in big step for LGBTQ+ representation

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A trans woman won a major Delhi region for her party during an election on Wednesday (7 December). Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Bobi won the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election after votes were counted this week. The trans politician won Sultanpur-A ward against Congress candidate Varuna Dhaka by 6,714 votes according to Indian Express. Her win came just hours before it was announced that the AAP crossed the finish line with 134 seats, winning against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The win means that the AAP now holds a strong majority over the municipal corporation, which makes up one […]

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An Oakland tattoo artist is funding trans initiatives in the South with a thousand pansies

Csillagi, who is nonbinary, lives in Oakland with their fiancée, stepson, and two cats. Originally from Texas, they explained transphobia and homophobia in their home state and others motivated them to start the project. “I was upset about the legislative attacks that were happening to trans people, queer people in the South … and I was racking my brain to figure out how to help my community — the queer community, and trans community, and the people hit the hardest, trans people of color.” Once Csillagi decided to fundraise for trans organizations through tattoos, they had to create an appropriate […]

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LGBTQ students wrestle with tensions at Christian colleges

As monks chanted evening prayers in the dimly lit Saint John’s University church, members of the student LGBTQ organization, QPLUS, were meeting in a dedicated, Pride flag-lined lounge at the institution’s sister Benedictine college, a few miles away across Minnesota farmland. To Sean Fisher, a senior who identifies as nonbinary and helps lead QPLUS, its official recognition and funding by Saint John’s and the College of Saint Benedict is welcome proof of the Catholic schools’ “acknowledging queer students exist.” But tensions endure here and at many of the hundreds of U.S. Catholic and Protestant universities. The Christian teachings they ascribe […]

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Finding support, acceptance outside of our biological families

James was just 16 when Mom and Dad found out he was gay. Faced with the choice of accepting his orientation, they chose not to and forced him to leave. They couldn’t tolerate his “lifestyle choice.” In the small rural town in Georgia where he lived, he became an outcast with no support system. He ended up on the streets of Atlanta, where he eventually found his chosen family, which embraced him and fulfilled his need for support, comfort, and kinship. James’s story is hardly unique. Roughly 40% of queer adults have faced rejection from their biological families. As for […]

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South Korea’s LGBTQ community confronts crushing headwinds in fight for equality

 Lesvos rolls out of bed each morning before the sunrise, heads to work, then punches her time card at exactly 6 a.m. By day, she’s a chef at a traditional Korean restaurant in downtown Seoul, but by night, she runs South Korea’s first lesbian bar. The venue, Lesvos Bar, is located in a section of the Itaewon neighborhood known as “Homo Hill,” one of this country’s few queer-friendly areas.  Lesvos, who said she legally changed her given name more than two decades ago and is only known by her mononym, said her bar provides LGBTQ Koreans the type of identity-affirming […]

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