Television star Rodrigo González came out via Facebook with a picture of his boyfriend in support of the LGBTI equality march.
Apologizing for not being able to attend the rally in person, González stated his support for the movement and revealed his sexuality, saying that he hoped his coming out would help the cause. Read More
An estimated 3,000 Peruvians in support of LGBT rights marched Saturday in the capital city Lima after the country's Commission of Justice repeatedly failed to address a bill that would recognise civil unions for same-sex couples. The bill had its hearing postponed until after the Easter holiday. If passed, the civil union legislation would expand inheritance laws for same-sex couples in Peru.
The march's main objectives were to encourage citizens to demand equal rights for people LGTBI; support the legal and equal recognition of same-sex couples (gay marriage); and support passing laws that explicitly protect sexual orientation and gender identity with the inclusion of these categories in the criminal offenses against discrimination and hate crimes. Read More
Long before Joe Wong surgically removed his breasts and uterus, he was Joleen, who once used an entire roll of brown duct tape to flatten her chest in an effort to look less feminine at her new secondary school in Singapore.
To escape the violence and find acceptance, many LGBT people migrate abroad - including Wong, who moved to Bangkok, where he currently works for a LGBT rights group. Read More
Prominent United Kingdom-based Nigerian lesbian and gay rights activist, Aderonke Apata, had her lengthy legal tussle to claim asylum in the country thrown out of the highest court of the land, the Royal Courts of Justice – after a judge ruled that she was pretending to be lesbian.
A Home Office barrister argued last month that Ms Apata cannot be a lesbian as she has children. He claimed that while she “indulged in same-sex activity” she was not “part of the social group known as lesbians”.
Ms Apata, 47, came to Britain in 2004 and has won awards for her gay-rights campaigning. She is engaged to her long-term partner Happiness Agboro, also from Nigeria, who has already been granted asylum based on her sexuality. Read More
In another horrific LGBTI hate crime, a 30-something bisexual mother of three in Limpopo has reportedly been raped by a group of men who said they wanted to show her that her “lifestyle is wrong.”
Activist Cindy Molefe, from the group Limpopo LGBTI Proudly Out, told Mambaonline that the woman, Abby*, who has often worked with the organisation canvassing for LGBTI rights, was brutally attacked on Saturday night. Read More
The story of Aris, 26, will resonate in the minds of all those who have suffered violent setbacks after their homosexuality was suddenly revealed to their family.
Makékéné, is a village on the line dividing the Central region of Cameroon, and the Western region. It is there, in March 2015 that Aris, launched an SOS to his friends back in Yaoundé, the country’s political capital, to tell them the drama that transformed his life a few weeks earlier.
Aris, unwittingly, was outed by his younger brother, with whom he lived. And for this student, smoothly promoted to a bright future, everything in his life collapsed for one reason … he is gay. Read More
A court in St. Petersburg has authorized the government to block the social-network page of an online support group for LGBT teenagers in Russia.
A lawyer for Deti-404 (Children-404), Maria Kozlovskaya said that the group had been preparing for a court hearing on the issue on April 6.
But when the activists arrived in court on April 6, she said, they were told that a decision had already been made on March 25 to include the group's page on the social network VKontakte on a list of banned websites. Read More
Kafkas University student and LGBTI activist Birkan Perincek has been the victim of a homophobic attack by a group of 4-5 people.
Perincek said that he did not report the assault to the police because of past experiences with discrimination by the police based on his sexual orientation. He recounted that, in the past year, when his computer was stolen, instead of finding the offender, the police had directed him questions such as “Who have you slept with from the organization?” Read More
Taylor Alesena, a transgender teen that candidly documented her struggles with loneliness and bullying at a San Diego-area high school on YouTube, died April 2nd in an apparent suicide. The 16-year-old Fallbrook High student took her own life during spring break, the school district confirmed.
Max Disposti, the executive director of the area's LGBTQ Resource Center, said that Alesena was frequently cyber-bullied and called names by her peers, even as her YouTube channel became an inspiration to others facing a similar ordeal. "[Alesena] felt unsafe, she felt beat up every day she needed to go to school," Disposti said. Alesena's suicide comes one month after another transgender teen named Sage who frequented the LGBTQ Resource Center killed himself. Read More
Murder squad detectives are appealing for people who knew a “high class” transgender escort to come forward after she was found beaten and strangled in west London. Vanessa Santillan, 33, was found dead inside a £400,000 first-floor flat in Fulham.
Ms Santillan, a glamour model and escort who is originally from Mexico, has a personal website which describes herself as “one in a million” and states: “I’m a Ts girl visiting from MIAMI FL.” It is understood she has spent the last few years as a high-end call girl and made regular trips to London. Read More
Armed men in northwest Pakistan abducted and gang-raped a transgender person after killing two others in a pre-dawn incident, police said. The incident took place in the Yar Hussain neighbourhood of Swabi district, where the group was returning home after performing a music and dance show at a wedding party.
Sajjad Khan, district police chief of Swabi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the men were waiting for them in a field and tried to abduct all of them but they refused.
“The attackers opened fire after the refusal. One transgender and one drummer died on the spot while another was wounded,” Khan said. The armed men then abducted one transgender who was released hours later after being raped by four persons, Khan said. Read More
President Obama is calling for an end to such therapies aimed at “repairing” gay, lesbian and transgender youth. His decision on the issue is the latest example of his continuing embrace of gay rights. His official statement was posted alongside a WhiteHouse.gov petition begun in honor of Ms. Alcorn, the trans teen whose suicide note mentioned undergoing conversion therapy. The petition has received more than 120,000 signatures in three months.
Mr. Obama condemned the practice, sometimes called “conversion” or “reparative” therapy, which is supported by some socially conservative organizations and religious doctors. Read More