US sanctions may forbid the World Congress of Families' involvement in an upcoming family values conference in Moscow. The conference titled "Large Families: The Future of Humanity," will focus on defending "the way of life of large families" and includes workshops on topics such as the "natural family." Two of the WCF's key Russian allies have placed on a list of individuals sanctioned by the US Treasury Department, making the conference possibly forbidden. Read More
Russia LGBT Activists Worried After Crimea Leader Lashes Out
Head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, announced that LGBT people will not be allowed to hold public events and may be deported. Gay Forum Ukraine estimates there are about 10,000 gays and other sexual minorities living in Crimea. Russian activist Kochetkov says they have been caught up in the “general deterioration of human rights” in the region since it was annexed by Moscow where the anti-gay propaganda law has led to increased rights violations and violence since the new law was passed last year. Read More
Countries That Criminalize Homosexuality Don't Just Hurt Adults
Youth leader Abongwa Victor delivers an impassioned plea for Cameroonian youths: Over and over the LGBT youth of Cameroon have been subjected to “corrective” rape, torture, and abuse in detention cells, extended stay in custody before being charged, refusal of family visits, denial of counsel — just because of who they are. Read more
Cameroon AIDS support groups evicted for supporting LGBTs
Two AIDS support groups, Colibri and Humanity First Cameroon, have been evicted from their respective headquarters due to homophobia, according to the organizations' leaders. Both centers provided human rights advocacy, health counseling, STI treatment, and HIV/AIDS prevention programs. Read More
Youth in Chile support same-sex marriage and adoption
A poll undertaken by Chile’s National Youth Institute (INJUV) has found that 70% of young people in the traditionally conservative country said that they supported same-sex marriage, and most approved of adoption for same-sex couples too. Read More
First member of Chile’s armed forces comes out to fight homophobia
Member of the Chilean Navy, 24-year-old Mauricio Ruiz has come out as gay and says his superiors support him. He told the press conference that, as a gay man in the armed forces, he had ‘no reason to hide.’ ‘In life there's nothing better than to be yourself, to be authentic, to look at people in the eye and for those people to know who you are.’ Read More
Kenyan filmmakers at the Toronto International Film Festival did something brave
— they told people their names. Jim Chuchu, George Gachara and Njoki Ngumi are just three of the 10 filmmakers in Nairobi’s NEST collective. They produced Stories of Our Lives, LGBT stories about love, sex, and friendship set in Kenya. The film was anonymously released to protect the crew from retaliation. Premiering at TIFF last week, it received a standing ovation and has been described as one of the top 10 films to watch at this year's festival. Read More
Out and Proud Gay Kenyans
As part of an ongoing series looking at gay rights around the world, DailyXtra talks with one of Kenya’s highest profile LGBT activists. Monica Mbura is a Kenyan judge who is one of the few out lesbians in the country. Watch Now
The Outlook for LGBT Rights in Myanmar
Despite a push among conservatives to strictly enforce the imprisonment of same-sex sexual relations, some parliamentarians are slowly accepting the call for LGBT inclusion. Recently elected MP Aung San Suu Kyi rallied for the removal of Section 377 to allow for HIV/AIDS treatment for marginalized groups. Stigma is high for gay men and especially for gay men with HIV/AIDS in the country. Without greater access to resources and without acceptance of their lifestyles, at-risk gay men continue to engage in high-risk unprotected sex. Read More
90% of China young people accept gays
An overwhelming majority of Chinese young people are fine with gay people, according to a recent survey conducted by internet giant Baidu, the Chinese version of Google and Wikipedia, and asked 7,000 internets users born in the 1990s their views on love, friendship, consumption, family and employment. Read More
South Korea’s gay march forward
An estimated 10,000 participants attended the Queer Culture Festival with concerts, drag and dance performances, booths from different LGBT organizations, representatives from the American, German, and French embassies, and Christian protesters.
Protestors shouted slogans and carried signs that read, “Our youth are getting AIDS because of homosexuality,” and “Homosexuality is not genetic. It’s an acquired choice. Treatment is possible” Read More
Buggery Law No Longer on Trial in Jamaica
A man has withdrawn his Supreme Court case against Jamaica's antigay law out of fear for his safety. Javed Jaghai said he's received death threats since bringing his case before the Supreme Court, which would have considered the constitutionality of Jamaica's law against gay sex. Read More