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LGBTQ beach sanctum faces demolition in New York

LGBTQ beachgoers are wrestling with New York City’s plan to tear down a long-abandoned tuberculosis hospital that has served as a landmark for the community. Graffiti on the outer walls declare “QUEER TRANS POWER” and “KNOW YOUR POWER.” Air conditioning units rust in the shattered windows of Neponsit Beach Hospital, once also a nursing home, but empty since 1998. A shrine on the chain-link fence memorializes a queer icon found dead off the waters nearby. The city wants to create a park on the site, wiping out the decrepit structure facing a clothing-optional beach in the borough of Queens. The […]

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Censoring Sexuality Education is Not a ‘New Idea’

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The “New Ideas” government of President Nayib Bukele appears to be ignoring the potential of sexuality education to foster understanding and reduce violence against sexual and gender minorities. This is not an innovative approach, but rather an antiquated, prejudiced idea. El Salvador’s Education Ministry recently fired the director of the National Institute of Teacher Training and announced a “restructuring” of that institution. The reason? The Institute had greenlit a segment of Let’s Learn at Home—a remote education television show initiated during the pandemic—that explained the concept of sexual orientation. The ministry said the information was not “in adherence with [Salvadoran] reality.” Subsequently, the Institute’s website became inaccessible and currently displays an error message. The segment, […]

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‘Radicalized teenager’ killed two outside Slovakia gay bar, prime minister says

A “radicalized teenager” shot dead two people outside a gay bar in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, Prime Minister Eduard Heger said. The gunman killed two people and wounded another near the Teplaren bar in the city center Wednesday evening, police said. The suspected attacker was found dead Thursday morning, officers added. “I strongly condemn a murder of two young people shot dead in Bratislava last night by a radicalized teenager,” Heger wrote on Twitter. “No form of white supremacy, racism and extremism against communities, incl. LGBTI, can be tolerated,” he added. Police said they have not yet determined the motive behind […]

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Lesbian-Feminist Press Firebrand Books’ Former Home Now a Landmark

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The building that once housed lesbian and feminist press Firebrand Books in Ithaca, N.Y., has been designated a local historic landmark. The city’s Common Council approved the designation unanimously last Wednesday, acting on a recommendation from the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission, The Ithaca Voicereports. Nancy Bereano founded Firebrand Books in 1984, and it was housed in a building at 143 E. State St. on the Ithaca Commons until 2003, the Voice notes. The move came under new leadership. “As an editor and publisher, Bereano influenced not only feminist and LBGTQ publishing but print culture as a whole,” the preservation commission’s resolution says. “Her […]

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GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker mocks transgender people who serve in the military

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Herschel Walker – the former NFL player running for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia as a Republican – mocked transgender people who serve in the military. “Hey, just think about it: Pronoun? In our military?” he joked at a campaign event on Tuesday. “How do you identify? In our military? These are war times. What happened to push-ups? Sit-ups?” “Because I can tell you right now, China, Iran, and Russia are not talking about pronouns,” Walker said, referring to three countries with poor records on human rights, especially when it comes to LGBTQ people. “They got us believing we […]

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Mexico votes to ban all conversion therapy: ‘A historic advance in human rights’

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Mexico’s senate has voted to ban all conversion therapy that aims to alter sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression – putting the UK to shame. On Tuesday (11 October), 69 lawmakers voted for the bill, with two against and 16 abstentions. It will now head to Mexico’s chamber of deputies for a final vote. The vote has been years in the making, with the bill first introduced by senators from the parties Citizen Movement, Morena and the Green Party in October 2018. LGBTQ+ human rights organisation Yaaj Mexico said in a press release: “The eyes of the world are today […]

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Gay Afghan man brutally murdered by the Taliban

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A young gay man has been shot dead by the Taliban in Afghanistan because of his sexuality.  Hamed Sabouri, from Kabul, was killed in August, local activists have told PinkNews. He was just 22. He was reportedly kidnapped by the Taliban and a video showing his murder sent to his family days later. Bahar, another gay Afghan who knew the victim personally, told PinkNews Sabouri had dreams of becoming a doctor, but his hopes were stolen from him when the Taliban seized power in August 2021. He described Hamed as a “shy” gay man with an infectious laugh. “Life is hell for every LGBT Afghan,” Bahar said. “Taliban terrorists […]

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Virgina governor says reviled trans school policy is all about parents’ rights

Virginia governor Glenn Younkin has insisted his trans student bathroom ban isn’t “controversial”, despite widespread outrage. The Republican proposed the policy – which disallows trans students to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender – in September. He claimed during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday (9 October) that it was designed to allow parents to make decisions for their child. n fact, along with making bathroom access dependent on gender assigned at birth, Youngkin’s policy proposal states that schools should defer to parents on names, nicknames and “pronouns, if any” for their children, as well as any “social […]

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Kevin Spacey accuser Anthony Rapp details ‘frightening’ alleged sexual assault as trial continues

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Anthony Rapp testified in federal court about an “incredibly frightening” encounter, in which Kevin Spacey allegedly climbed on top of him when he was a teen.  Rapp, who is suing Spacey for $40 million in a civil trial over alleged sexual misconduct, described to the court on Friday (7 October) how he first became acquainted with Spacey as a teenager on the New York City theatre scene. He testified that Spacey invited him to a party at the actor’s loft in 1986 when Rapp was 14 and the disgraced actor was 26. Rapp, now 50, told jurors he decided to go because he […]

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Vanderbilt to pause gender-affirming surgeries for minors

Officials at Vanderbilt University Medical Center announced Friday that they are pausing gender-affirming surgeries for minors in order to review their practices. The news, delivered in a letter sent to a lawmaker who has demanded an end to the surgeries, was publicly released Friday afternoon. It comes amid mounting political pressure from Tennessee’s Republican leaders — many of whom are running for reelection — who called for an investigation into the private nonprofit hospital after videos surfaced on social media last month of a doctor touting that gender-affirming procedures are “huge money makers.” Another video showed a staffer saying anyone with a […]

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