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Lesbian activist brutally stabbed to death after rejecting man’s sexual advances

A lesbian woman has been stabbed to death in Umlazi, South Africa, after reportedly rejecting a man’s advances, leaving the local community “very disturbed”. IOL Daily News reported that 32-year-old Pinky Shongwe was stabbed to death while going to a local shop after an “unknown” man allegedly harassed her with unwanted advances. A spokesperson for Umlazi police, lieutenant-colonel Nqobile Gwala, said that the case is now being investigated as a murder. “She was found lying on the road and was taken to hospital where she succumbed to her injuries on arrival. The motive of the killing is unknown and the matter […]

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Supreme Court rejects case of Christian group and bisexual lawyer

The Supreme Court says it won’t review the case of a Seattle-based Christian organization that was sued after declining to hire a bisexual lawyer who applied for a job. A lower court let the case go forward, and the high court said Monday it wouldn’t intervene. Two justices, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas, agreed with the decision not to hear the case at this stage but said that “the day may soon come” when the court needs to confront the issue the case presents. The case the high court declined to hear involves Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. In […]

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Twitter deems Texas AG’s ‘malicious’ transphobia as ‘hateful’ but ‘in the public’s interest’

Twitter has refused to take down Texas attorney general Ken Paxton’s hateful tweet deliberately misgendering Dr Rachel Levine as it’s within the ‘public interest’.  Paxton – whose career has been marred by misconduct allegations and a state bar complaint – has pushed to classify gender-affirming care as “child abuse” and is currently appealing a court order to conduct “necessary investigations” into the parents of trans kids.  On Thursday, the Texas attorney general decided to continue his anti-trans campaign by intentionally misgendering the nation’s only openly trans four-star admiral in a cruel statement on Twitter.  Despite immense backlash on social media, Twitter decided to let the tweet remain up […]

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Groups opposed to gay rights rake in millions as states debate anti-LGBTQ bills

In today’s heightened culture war, the coffers of the anti-gay movement are overflowing. According to publicly available annual returns, 11 nonprofit groups identified as anti-LGBTQ hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center took in over $110 million in contributions during the financial year ending in 2020. The dollar amount represents a recent high-water mark for the organizations, whose take of donations, grants and other noncash contributions has increased steadily since 2016, when the same 11 groups reported more than $87 million in such contributions.  Florida Senate passes ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill MARCH 9, 202200:26 In just four years, their total […]

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How Russia’s war on Ukraine is a war on LGBTQ people

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As the world continues to watch the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine with horror, one question continues to plague the minds of queer activists in the West: what about the LGBTQ people? Russian leader Vladimir Putin has a long record of oppression of the queer community from public humiliation and imprisonment to encouraging mob violence. Filmmaker David France documented Putin’s anti-gay campaign in his film Welcome to Chechnya [now streaming on HBO Max] which detailed queer oppression in the titular Russia-allied republic. Will Ukraine face the same fate? We sat down with France to discuss the situation for LGBTQ people living in Russia and Ukraine, the state […]

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GOP Indiana Governor Vetoes Anti-Trans Sports Bill

The Washington Post reports: Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, struck down a bill on Monday that would have banned transgender girls from competing in female sports at school — making him an outlier in a party that has passed similar laws in nearly a dozen states. In a letter addressing his decision, Holcomb wrote that the bill “leaves too many unanswered questions.” He also challenged the need for state intervention. “It implies that the goals of consistency and fairness in competitive female sports are not currently being met,” Holcomb said. “After thorough review, I find no evidence to support either claim […]

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Disney employees across the U.S. are walking out today. Here’s why.

Walt Disney Co. employees at corporate locations across the U.S. plan to get up from their desks and head to the exits Tuesday to protest CEO Bob Chapek’s response to Florida legislation that LGBTQ advocates have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. LGBTQ workers and allies are expected to participate in a general walkout at office locations in California, Florida and elsewhere, a group of employees announced last week on a website that calls out Chapek by name. In recent weeks, Chapek has come under intense internal criticism and public scrutiny for not having taken a more forceful stand against HB 1557, […]

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U.S. provides support to LGBTQ groups in Ukraine, surrounding countries

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The special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ rights abroad on Friday said she and her office continue to provide support to advocacy groups in Ukraine and in countries that border it. Jessica Stern told the Washington Blade during a telephone interview that she has held “multiple roundtables” with Ukrainian activists and organizations “to make sure that my office and I both have the relationships and then getting information directly from people on the frontlines.” Stern also noted she has also spoken with LGBTQ rights organizations in Poland, Hungary and other countries that “would be receiving LGBTQI Ukrainian refugees” […]

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Body of trans rights activist Elise Malary found on shore of Lake Michigan

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A body found on the shore of Lake Michigan in a suburb of Chicago has been identified as trans rights activist Elise Malary. Malary was last heard from on 9 March, and on 11 March she was reported as a missing person. Although she was missing and her apartment had been left unlocked, police initially said there was no indication of foul play. On Thursday, 17 March, a body was discovered by 19-year-old Tristan Lambach on the lakefront in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois. Policy later confirmed that it was Malary. She was just 31 years old. Malary was a passionate […]

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Kosovo MPs reject bid to legalise same-sex unions: ‘Homophobes have no place in parliament’

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Lawmakers have rejected legislation that would have made Kosovo the first Muslim-majority country in the world to legalise same-sex civil unions. Kosovo wants to join the European Union, and the bid to introduce same-sex marriage was part of modernising efforts by prime minister Albin Kurti’s government, which also tried to introduce other rights for minorities and business reforms But after hours of debate, just 28 out of MPs out of 120 voted in favour of the motion with some members of Kurti’s Vetevendosje party voting against it, according to Euractiv. Many against the draft code cited religious beliefs and “family values”. Vetevendosje representative Labinote Demi-Murtezi said […]

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