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Trans Activist who Campaigned against Transphobia Murdered in Canada

A trans woman and activist who tirelessly worked to battle transphobia was allegedly murdered last weekend in Canada and a suspect has been arrested. Julie Berman, 51, based in Toronto, had for years exerted energy in raising awareness of the rocketing rates of anti-trans violence across the city. She lit candles and delivered potent and inspirational speeches at Transgender Day of Remembrance vigils, loved ones and colleagues said. But according to authorities, she was killed in a downtown boarding home near the corner of Brunswick Avenue and Harbord Street, a residential neighbourhood with fish and chips eateries and university accommodation. Toronto Police […]

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Liberty Counsel: Send Us Money To End Lengthy Prison Terms For Those Convicted Of Anti-LGBT Hate Crimes

Via press release from hate group leader Mat Staver: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1990 that burning the American flag is First Amendment protected speech. But if you burn an LGBT flag, it’s another story. An Iowa court just sentenced a man to 16 years in prison after he torched an LGBT flag. That’s a hate crime in Iowa, which means Adolfo Martinez, who stole the pro-homosexual banner off a church and used lighter fluid to set it aflame, will spend the next decade-and-a-half behind bars. What he did was wrong, but no one was hurt or verbally threatened. […]

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Tennessee Hate Group Files To Undo Marriage Equality

Nashville’s Fox News affiliate reports: Eleven Christian ministers and the Tennessee Independent Baptists for Religious Liberty (TIBRL) are challenging the legality of marriage certificates issued to same-sex couples. The group filed a Declaratory Order with the Tennessee Department of Health on Thursday, arguing while the state is following a federal order allowing same-sex couples to wed in the state, there is nothing in the Tennessee Constitution which defines marriage as anything other than that between a woman and a man. In a statement release by The Family Action Council of Tennessee’s Constitutional Government Defense Fund (FACT), which is representing the case, […]

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Alex and Felipe: Migrants’ Desperate Journey Ends in Love

Alexander and Felipe are gay immigrants from Nicaragua and El Salvador living in D.C. Their home is one bedroom festooned with Barbie dolls, rainbow flags and their national flags. How they made it to this small brick rowhouse off of Georgia Avenue, N.W., is a journey fueled by violence, fear, desperation and ultimately love. In early 2018, the young men left their respective homelands because of homophobic violence. Alexander, who owned a successful fried food kiosk called a fritanga in his hometown of Ayapal, Nicaragua, was forced to flee because he says neither his parents or siblings accepted his homosexuality. The neighbors in his […]

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The UK Told Malaysian Man he Wasn’t ‘Gay Enough’ to Stay in the UK. Now, he’s been Given Asylum in Time for Christmas

A 67-year-old man who the Home Office said wasn’t “gay enough” to stay in the UK has received an early Christmas present – asylum status from the government. Yew Fook Sam, known as Sam, lives in Kirkby, Liverpool, and has lived in fear of being deported to Malaysia, where homosexuality is illegal, for the past three years. When he heard about being granted asylum, Sam told the Liverpool Echo: “I am so happy. I was crying and screaming with joy when I got the phone call from my lawyer. This will be my best Christmas ever!” Home Office officials had previously said that they […]

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ZAMBIA: State Department To Pull Ambassador After Govt Slams His “Horror” Over Imprisoning Gay Men

Yahoo News reports: The U.S. has decided to withdraw its ambassador to Zambia, after the president of the southern African nation said he didn’t want him there for criticizing the jailing of two men for having a consensual relationship, according to two people familiar with the matter. The State Department is “dismayed” with Zambia for having effectively declared Foote a persona non grata, it said in an emailed statement. The U.S. government strongly opposes abuses against sexual minorities, it said, without confirming Foote’s withdrawal. Zambia denounced Foote after he said he was “horrified” at the news that two allegedly gay men […]

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Gay Santa Retires after 30 Years of Spreading Cheer and Making the Yuletide Gay

A gay Santa is retiring after 30 years of impersonating the most famous North Pole resident, and he is donating his family collection of Santa suits to a historical society where they will appear alongside archives of his LGBT+ activism. Leo Treadway, 76, is an AIDS and LGBT+ activist, a mental health counsellor, a church leader and an official member of Minnesota’s “real-bearded” North Star Santas. Among many other projects, he served on the Governor’s Task Force on Gay and Lesbian Minnesotans, was an adult leader in the Lesbian and Gay Youth Together organisation and worked as a consultant for Minneapolis schools […]

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Influencers Face Backlash for Promoting Saudi Arabia Music Fest despite Treatment of LGBT Community

Several actors, DJs, models and Instagram influencers have come under fire for promoting a music festival in Saudi Arabia, a country with a horrific human rights record. Electronic festival MDL Beast took place on 21-23 December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, with a lineup that included DJs David Guetta, Dish Dash, Tiesto and Steve Aoki. While the model Emily Ratajkowski reportedly rejected the festival out of concern for human rights, the actors Armie Hammer and Ed Westwick both attended, as did supermodels Jazelle, Joan Smalls, Amy Jackson and Alessandro Ambrosio. The Conde Nast publication Glamour UK also included a sponsored campaign from the festival. They are now […]

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School Sued for Failing to Protect 12-year-old Who Took Own Life after Anti-gay Bullying

A school district is facing legal action from the mother of a 12-year-old who took his own life after homophobic bullying. Marcy Peterson has filed a lawsuit against the school district in Upper Deerfield, New Jersey, after the suicide of her son Tristan in 2017. Tristan faced bullying and taunting from his classmates at both Elizabeth Moore School and Woodruff School before taking his own life. The lawsuit alleges that the school district failed to address “an extended and persistent period of bullying, intimidation, and harassment related to Tristan’s sexual orientation and identity.” School district sued for ‘failing to act’ […]

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Thai Legislator Forced to Apologize Over Gay Kiss in Parliament

A senior Thai legislator has been forced to apologise after two gay men kissed at a press conference in parliament on Wednesday. The conference was held by the Future Forward party to highlight Thailand’s marriage laws, with LGBT coordinator Ekkawat Pimsawan ceremoniously submitting a proposal calling for a legal change to allow same-sex marriage. TV footage of the conference shows an MP standing next to the two men, James Panumas and Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree, and applauding as they embraced. The simple kiss was so extraordinary that it sparked widespread accusations of “improper” behaviour in parliament. Senator Somchai Sawengkarn reportedly wrote on Facebook that he […]

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