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Florida Republicans Submit 4 Anti-gay Bills on Last Day to File

Seven Republican lawmakers in Florida filed anti-LGBTQ bills late Monday, just hours before the deadline to file new bills for the coming legislative session. If passed, the bills would ban gender-affirming health care for transgender children, repeal municipal and county ordinances protecting LGBTQ workers, and legalize so-called gay conversion therapy in places that had banned the medically debunked practice. The state lawmakers — Rep. Anthony Sabatini, Sen. Dennis Baxley, Rep. Bob Rommel, Sen. Joe Gruters, Rep Michael Grant, Sen. Keith Perry, and Rep. Byron Donalds — together introduced the four pieces of legislation, each with a companion bill in the […]

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Trump-appointed Judge Dismisses Trans Defendant’s Chosen Pronouns

Stuart Kyle Duncan, a judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, issued an advisory opinion Wednesday that dismissed a transgender defendant’s chosen pronouns and the broader concept of gender identity, just less than two years after LGBTQ advocates warned that Duncan would not rule fairly if confirmed to the bench. Kathrine Nicole Jett, a transgender woman who was known as Norman Varner when she pleaded guilty in 2012 to attempted receipt of child pornography, moved to have her conviction records updated to match her changed name, according to the decision. A lower court judge dismissed her motion because there was […]

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Democratic Lawmakers Call on ICE to Release Transgender Migrants

A group of 45 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday demanding the agency release all transgender migrants in its custody. “This already vulnerable population faces a heightened and unique set of injustices while in immigration detention,” the letter stated. “Transgender migrants and asylum seekers are particuarly vulnerable to sexual harassment, solitary confinement, physical assault, and medical neglect.” At least two transgender migrants have died in ICE custody in the past two years. Roxsana Hernandez Rodriguez, a Honduran, died of complications from untreated HIV in 2018. Rodriguez did not receive antiretroviral therapy while in ICE custody, despite […]

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Worldwide Attitudes Towards Lesbians Are more Positive than Gay Men, Study Finds

Around the world, attitudes towards lesbians are more positive that they are towards gay men, according to new research. The study was published in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science and looked at attitudes towards gay men and lesbian women in 23 countries, “representing both Western and non-Western societies”. The authors of the study analysed Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States. The researchers found that in every one of the 23 countries, lesbians were viewed less negatively than gay men. […]

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More than 300 Human Rights Activists were Killed in 2019, with 100 in Colombia

A total of 304 human rights defenders in 31 countries were killed in 2019 as space for those defending LGBT+ rights “remains extremely constrained”, a new report has revealed. The report by Front Line Defenders (FLD) detailed attacks on activists as they worked to defend the environment, free speech, LGBT+ rights and indigenous lands. Two thirds of the murders took place in Latin America, with Colombia emerging as the most dangerous country after 103 were killed in the past year. The Philippines was the second deadliest country with 43 killings, followed by Honduras, Brazil and Mexico. Eighty-five per cent of those killed had previously been threatened, either as […]

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Half of Cisgender Americans ‘Don’t Care’ about Violence Against Black Trans Women

Only half of cisgender people in the US consider violence against trans women a major problem, despite increasing numbers of fatal attacks on Black trans women in particular. Just 42 per cent of cis men and 59 per cent of cis women see violence against trans women as an issue, according to the Black Futures Lab report ‘Beyond Kings and Queens: Gender and Politics in the 2019 Black Census’. In 2019, at least 22 trans and gender non-conforming people were killed and 91 per cent of them were Black trans women, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT+ advocacy organisation that tracks anti-trans violence in the […]

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NY Times: Grindr is Sharing Personal Info With Advertisers

The New York Times reports: Popular dating services like Grindr, OkCupid and Tinder are spreading user information like dating choices and precise location to advertising and marketing companies in ways that may violate privacy laws, according to a new report that examined some of the world’s most downloaded Android apps. Grindr, the world’s most popular gay dating app, transmitted user-tracking codes and the app’s name to more than a dozen companies, essentially tagging individuals with their sexual orientation, according to the report, which was released Tuesday by the Norwegian Consumer Council, a government-funded nonprofit organization in Oslo. Grindr also sent a user’s […]

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HIV-positive Man Makes History as first in Europe to Pilot Airliner

A HIV-positive man has said he is “proud and overwhelmed” after becoming the first-ever person in Europe with HIV to become a commercial air pilot. James Bushe, 31, wanted to be a pilot since he was a child. He began learning to fly at just 15 years old, and by the age of 17 he had his private pilot’s license – before he could even drive a car. Five years ago, Bushe was diagnosed with HIV. In 2017, when he was offered a place on an airline’s training programme, but he was denied the medical certificate needed to obtain his […]

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Journalist Fired after Claiming a Man Launched a ‘HIV Attack’ by Spitting in Cop’s Mouth

CBS New York has confirmed that a reporter who named a man and revealed his HIV status in a dangerously misleading report has been dismissed. The journalist was sacked after writing an article suggesting that a man put a police officer at risk of acquiring HIV by spitting in his mouth after he had been arrested for stealing a yoghurt at LaGuardia Airport.ADVERTISING The alleged incident was described as a “HIV attack” in a tweet penned by the reporter, who also wrote that the “suspect admitted they spit into an officer’s mouth knowing they had HIV”. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes […]

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Bali Guesthouses Investigated for ‘Catering to Gays’ and ‘Tainting’ Island’s Reputation

At least four villas in Bali, Indonesia, are being investigated for “marketing themselves specifically for the gay community”, amid increasing anti-LGBT+ sentiment on the island. Although the island of Bali has historically been seen as one of the most tolerant places in country, in general discrimination and violence against LGBT+ people is on the rise in Indonesia. Gay sex is currently legal in most regions of the country, including Bali, but there are no discrimination protections for LGBT+ people and same-sex relationships are not recognised. In 2018, an Indonesian province where LGBT+ people face rife persecutionannounced that it wanted to […]

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