News

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Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes have risen around the world since 2020: report

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Hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people are rising around the world as politicians target them through legislation and rhetoric. Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes have increased in the past five years across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, according to a new report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, with transgender and gender nonconforming people particularly affected. The spike may in part be attributed to world governments passing anti-LGBTQ+ policies, which has “escalated internationally in tandem with political rhetoric.” Some of the high profile incidents cited in the report include the mass shooting at the LGBTQ+ bar Club Q in Colorado that left five dead, the 2023 murder of a woman in California who was […]

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LGBTQ+ food pantries prepare for end of SNAP benefits

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As the federal government remains closed for business, LGBTQ+ community centers and nonprofits with food pantries are preparing to fill the hole that will be left when SNAP benefits end.  The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest anti-hunger program in the U.S. After it runs out of funds on November 1, over 42 million people will be left wondering where their next meal is coming from. As they turn to food banks, those nonprofits will be left wondering how to provide for the sudden influx of people needing aid.  The “Pride Pantries” at the LGBT Life Center in Virginia already provide assistance to about 650 households a […]

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U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether to revisit marriage equality

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The U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider whether to hear a challenge that could reopen the question of who can get married. The challenge to marriage equality is being brought by Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who in 2015 defied a federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. As SCOTUSblog reports, the justices will privately discuss Davis’s petition on November 7. Davis, who was briefly jailed a decade ago after citing “God’s authority” in refusing to issue licenses to a gay couple, is now asking the high court not only to reverse her loss in the lower courts but to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the […]

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First-of-its kind trans immigrant support center opens permanent space after years without one

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A grassroots organization supporting transgender people from South Asia (often known as Hijrah or Kinnar) has opened a physical location in San Francisco after operating for 6 years without one. Parivar Bay Area opened its brick-and-mortar doors on October 20, during Diwali. The group’s founder, Indian immigrant Anjali Rimi, was brimming with emotion when she cut the ribbon.  “I’m feeling very grateful,” she told KQED. “We have tried many times to see if we can actually have a place where we can belong, we can be ourselves. And being in this physical space, it gives us that rooting.” “It also looks at […]

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Overwhelming majority of trans people facing ‘abject terror’ in UK, poll reveals

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New research has revealed that transphobia in the UK has left 84 per cent of trans people feeling unsafe. The YouGov poll, commissioned by the Good Law Project and published last week, revealed that almost two-thirds of transgender and non-binary people in the country had been verbally abused in public, and almost 25 per cent had suffered physical violence. Fifty-nine per cent of trans people also reported facing barriers in accessing general NHS care. Conducted in the wake of the UK Supreme Court’s judgement which determined that the 2010 Equality Act’s definition of a woman related to biological sex only, […]

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Philadelphia will open historic Pride visitors center to mark 250th anniversary of the United States

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Philadelphia, the “City of Brotherly Love” and birthplace of American democracy, is adding an inclusive destination to the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding next year: the Philly Pride Visitors Center, one of the country’s first LGBTQ+ visitor centers.  “We don’t just welcome diversity — we celebrate it,” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center Corporation. “Philadelphia is a city that shows up for everyone.” The new LGBTQ+ destination will open early next year in the heart of the city’s LGBTQ+ neighborhood in Midtown Village. The 2026 Semiquincentennial is expected to draw record […]

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Viral meme highlights real rape comments made by prominent anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans

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Activists have thrown a spotlight on past comments made about rape by prominent anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans. An online post from left-wing outlet Occupy Democrats revealed the comments made by six officials over the years, apparently justifying or downplaying the rape of women and girls in the US. The post on Facebook and Instagram included quotes from Clayton Williams, Todd Akin, Rick Santorum, Richard Mourdock, Jodie Laubenberg and Lawrence Lockman. Fact-checked by Snopes, the quotes included Todd Akin (R-MO) saying: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that thing down.” Santorum, a notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ former US senator, was quoted as […]

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Brazil Launches AI Monitor Of Anti-LGBTQ Hate Speech

Semafor reports: Brazil has launched an AI platform that continually scans the internet and collects statements that it considers disinformation or hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community, which can then be used to prosecute offenders, Brazilian news site GP1 reported. The offense falls under Brazil’s hate crime law, which in 2019 expanded to include homophobia and transphobia, and threatens prison time for the convicted. With blowback from conservative circles, it tests what governments and the public consider acceptable use of the technology. Read the full article.

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Where does Ireland’s new president Catherine Connolly stand on LGBTQ+ rights?

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Newly-elected Irish leader Catherine Connolly has vowed to be an “inclusive president for all”. The independent left-winger secured 63 per cent of the first-preference votes last week, and will become the Republic of Ireland’s 10th head of state, succeeding Michael D Higgins, who has served the maximum-allowed two terms in office. The result was announced from Dublin Castle. Speaking in Irish and English, Connolly said: “I will be a voice for peace, a voice that builds on our policy of neutrality, a voice that articulates the existential threat posed by climate change.”  She also promised to advocate for those who have no […]

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Employees at VA hospital say they could be fired for wearing rainbow colors to work

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Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Hampton Medical Center in Virginia say they were warned during the week of October 13 that they could be fired or disciplined for wearing or displaying rainbow-themed items, including official VA Pride lanyards, according to messages reviewed by The Advocate. The employees are being kept anonymous out of fear of retaliation. The exchanges suggest that the directive, which employees say came from local leadership, cited an “executive order,” creating confusion and fear among staff. That order appears linked to the Trump administration’s rollback of protections for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex veterans. As The Advocate previously reported, the VA in March rescinded Directive 1341, a […]

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