Rights Bill Sought for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Americans

As barriers to same-sex marriage fall across the country, gay rights advocates are planning their next battle on Capitol Hill: a push for sweeping legislation to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination, similar to the landmark Civil Rights Act that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed in 1964.

Plans for a so-called comprehensive lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights bill are still in their infancy, and advocates say the campaign could take a decade or longer.  Read More

Australia's first minister for equality to reform gay adoption laws

Gay couples will be allowed to adopt children in Victoria and religious organisations will find it harder to discriminate against employees based on their sexuality, under changes to be made by Australia's first minister for equality Martin Foley.  

Hours after being sworn in as part of the new Andrews government, Equality Minister Martin Foley promised to waste no time amending state adoption laws in order bring Victoria into line with NSW, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

At present, gay couples in Victoria can be appointed as foster parents or guardians, but do not have the right to adopt a child together – even if that child has been in their care for years. Read More

Student gives excellent answer when school asks ‘how should we punish gays?’

When a school in Korea asked its students in a survey on how it should punish gay kids, one gave a strong answer which may surprise you. The survey was conducted in response to a rumour that there was a lesbian couple in one of the school years, and in an attempt to find out who. 

It assured students that it would enable them to help create “a safe and healthy school environment." Read More

Is Namibia’s new president gay-friendly?

The President-elect of Namibia, Hage Geingob is said to be supportive of equal rights for gays and lesbians. According to journalist Clemans Miyanicwe, the 73-year-old statesman, who will be sworn into office in March next year, is “a well-known defender of the rights of sexual minorities.” Read More

Should You Speak Up When Someone Makes a Gay Slur at a Memorial Service?

Since his death on Nov. 23, Washingtonians have continued to mourn the passing of Marion Barry, Washington, D.C.’s idiosyncratic four-term mayor and longtime city councilmember. Earlier this week, a group of Barry’s colleagues and supporters held a small public memorial service on the steps of the mayor’s office.

But remembering Barry’s life was suddenly sidetracked when the event’s emcee unexpectedly spouted homophobic and sexist sentiments. Some prominent event participants are now taking flack for not intervening. But when is it appropriate to confront a person who unleashes offensive speech? Read More

Documentary about transwoman and her troupe gets warm welcome by cinema-goers in Vietnam

Described by a local newspaper as a 'respectful, true, and positive perspective on the LGBT community' in Vietnam, The Last Journey of Madam Phung tells the story of chi Phung, a trans-woman (another news report however describes Phung as a gay man) who leads a troupe of 'transvestite "social outcasts" just like himself' performing from central to southern Vietnam to earn a living. Read More

First gay-themed series on Aussie television

A landmark new Australian series with LGBTI high school students could potentially appear on national TV screens in the near future.

Should it be successful, it would be the first time a show on national TV where most of the leading characters are LGBTI.

Executive producer and director Daniel Mercieca has said his show, Subject to Change, would be a coming-of-age drama. An online crowdfunding campaign via Pozible for the series pilot was successful, reaching just over $27,000 on the November 27 deadline and surpassing the initial target of 15,500. Read More

Gays make gains in China: survey

There's a growing acceptance of gay people in China, the latest survey on LGBT shows. 59% of surveyed city residents said that society should accept homosexuals according to the first annual survey on the social acceptance toward LGBT people by the Shanghai LGBT Professionals and Work For LGBT and Parents, Families, Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).

Ah Qiang, a well-known gay rights activist and founder of PFLAG China, said that the report revealed that gay people can win more acceptance and understanding by coming out: "I appeal to the large number of gay people who are still hiding to come out for the public to better understand the group," Ah Qiang said. Read More 

Church members charged with beating gay man

For Matthew Fenner, a crowd of parishioners gathering around him in a church sanctuary after a prayer service was a sign of trouble. Within minutes, he said they began to berate him because he was gay. One woman told him he was "disgusting." Then for two hours, they pushed and hit Fenner, screaming at him as they tried to "break me free of the homosexual 'demons,'" he said in a police affidavit. 

Nearly two years later, five Word of Faith Fellowship church members have been indicted for kidnapping and assault in connection with Fenner's beating. But the case has opened new wounds in the rural North Carolina community where the church has been a lightning rod of controversy.  Read More

Op-ed: An Open Letter to Mainstream LGBT Organizations That Have Remained Silent on Black Lives Mattering

Why did we feel the need to write this open letter to mainstream LGBT organizations with a reference to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act?  Because it illuminates the dangers of focusing on one type of identity-based violence -- the violence that impacts LGBT people -- while willfully ignoring the police and vigilante violence that impacts Black queer- and trans-identified people, as well as all Black people:

Mike Brown's bloodied and lifeless body was left on a hot Missouri street for 4.5 hours; the world bore witness to video clips of Eric Garner uttering his final words, "I can't breathe!", as a police officer choked him to death. Read More 

Why it is not a sin to be gay

Nigerian pastor Elizabeth Funke Obisanya explains why Jesus loves gays but African Christians do not:

To win the struggle to change men and women’s hearts and minds, one must consider what the Bible calls strongholds – ideologies, views or thinking that have been held on to for a long time. When that thinking is wrong, the challenge is great.

Many African strongholds include the view that homosexuality is paganistic and paganism is bad. The second is that gay white men want to pollute black children (see the justifications for Uganda's anti-gay laws). The issue is not whether one agrees with them or not, but that these perceptions are there and need to be dealt with. Read More