Cherry Valentine posing in an iconic drag look. (Twitter) As well as being a one-of-a-kind drag artist, Cherry Valentine knew exactly how to shut down anti-drag arguments with class. The drag icon’s family – whose real name was George Ward – tragically passed away last Sunday (18 September) at just 28-years-old. The genderfluid artist’s family
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LGBT+ Conservatives will no longer distribute their sloganed condoms at the party’s conference. (Envato/CCHQ logo) Internal emails from LGBT+ Conservatives suggest the group was told to pull its branded condoms from conference by the prime minister. The party’s LGBTQ+ group announced on Thursday (22 September) that it would no longer be distributing its sloganed condoms
Stefani Steel was one of the drag performers set to attend the event. (Instagram) An LGBTQ+ community event has been reluctantly cancelled amid rising hateful messages directed at organisers and borough officials. Organisers of LGBTQ+ OutFest in West Chester, Pennsylvania, shut down the event ahead of it’s scheduled date on 1 October due to an
England captain Harry Kane will wear an armband for the OneLove campaign during matches at the Qatar World Cup. (Getty) England captain Harry Kane will wear a rainbow anti-discrimination armband at World Cup matches in Qatar, where LGBTQ+ identities are criminalised. Kane and captains from several other countries that qualified for the World Cup –
Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić allowed the march to go ahead, but on a smaller route. (Getty) Serbia’s government has been forced into a screeching u-turn after its decision to ban EuroPride’s parade was met with fierce opposition. EuroPride is an international celebration of the LGBTQ+ community hosted by a different European country each year. Serbia
A woman take a photo using her mobile phone of the EuroPride flags fluttering during the opening ceremony of the EuroPride 2022 in Belgrade. (Oliver Bunic/Getty) EuroPride organisers have vowed to fight Serbia’s “disgraceful” ban on its planned march in Belgrade. The European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA) are preparing to mount a legal challenge after
Police secure serbian LGBT Info centre during the ‘Litiya for salvation of Serbia’ in Belgrade. (Getty) Politicians from across Europe have condemned the Serbian government over the effective ban of this year’s EuroPride. Serbian police announced a ban on the route of the march on Tuesday (13 September) after weeks of hostile back-and-forth between EuroPride
Lyra McKee was shot dead while observing riots in Derry. (PH) A man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for possessing the gun police believe was used to kill journalist Lyra McKee. Niall Sheerin, 29, from Derry, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possession of the pistol between 11 September 2018 and
EuroPride flags flutter during the opening ceremony of the EuroPride 2022 in Belgrade, on September 12, 2022. (Photo by OLIVER BUNIC / AFP) (Photo by OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images) The EuroPride march route has been officially banned by Serbian police following mass anti-LGBTQ+ protests. The event, which takes place in a different European city
People walk by the campus of Yeshiva University in New York City on August 30, 2022. (Spencer Platt/Getty) A religious university has been granted permission by the Supreme Court to temporarily ban an LGBTQ+ student group. Manhattan’s Yeshiva University was ordered by a state court in June to recognise an LGBTQ+ student group in a
A protester holds the trans flag and snaps in solidarity with other speakers, during a trans rights demonstration. (Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty) Trans people in Montana have been permanently banned from changing their birth certificates in yet another devastating blow to LGBTQ+ rights. Health officials in the state adopted a proposed rule change on
Dr Demetre Daskalakis at a monkeypox briefing (L) and posing shirtless (R). (Getty/Instagram) Right-wing trolls are mocking a gay monkeypox doctor because he’s hot and has dared to wear a harness. Dr Demetre Daskalakis, one of the White House’s most senior figures appointed to respond to the monkeypox outbreak, has faced smears from right-wing media
The Pride March in the city of Katowice, Poland. (Twitter/ milosc_) Two Pride marches in Poland have gone ahead peacefully after years of violence, with participants crediting their activism for “changing reality”. The Pride event in the city of Katowice, Poland, took place for the sixth year on Saturday (3 September), and drew around 4,000
Sareh (Zahra) Sediqi Hamedani was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for “promoting homosexuality” in October 2021. (YouTube/6rangIran) Two LGBTQ+ activists have been sentenced to death in Iran for “promoting homosexuality”. According to the Kurdish human rights organisation Hengaw, Zahra Sediqi Hamedani, also known as “Sareh”, 31, and Elham Chubdar, 24, were both sentenced
The trans pub customer was injured during Brighton Pride. (Supplied and Getty/ Tristan Fewings) A non-binary Pride-goer has said they were injured in Brighton after a pub worker “policing toilets” during the celebrations “flew into a rage”. Sam (not their real name) described themselves to PinkNews as a masc-presenting non-binary trans person. Sam says that
Maria Walsh speaks in an Instagram clip. (Maria Walsh/Instagram) MEP Maria Walsh has urged EuroPride to continue despite backlash from anti-LGBTQ+ groups. The Midlands-North-West member of the European Parliament insisted that the Pride festival – which is hosted in a different European city each year – should go ahead as scheduled from 12 to 18
LGBTQ+ activists and allies gathered outside the Independent House to demand an end to the Irish Indepdent’s “anti-trans crusade”. (Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin) Protesters outside the Irish Independent’s offices have rallied the publication’s continued “anti-trans crusade”. Over 100 people gathered outside Independent House in Dublin on Saturday (27 August) to highlight a rise in
Trans youth are being hit hard by the cost of living crisis. (Getty) The cost of living crisis is forcing queer young people out of safe homes and into potentially dangerous situations. The economic crisis is hitting young people in the UK especially hard as landlords demand higher rents and inflation hits more aspects of
Pete Buttigieg thanked LGBTQ+ teen Zander Moricz for his “voice and adovacy” in the fight against Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law.(Paras Griffin/Getty for Essence) US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg sent a heartfelt letter to a teen activist who is part of a lawsuit challenging Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law. Zander Moricz gained widespread media attention
Tevin Campbell attends the 7th Annual Black Music Honouurs on May 19, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Paras Griffin/Getty) R&B icon Tevin Campbell has come out as gay in a heartfelt discussion about his life and career. The “Can We Talk” singer-songwriter talked about coming to terms with his sexuality during an episode of the People Every Day podcast
Dr Will Nutland says the team wanted to offer monkeypox vaccines at UK Black Pride after seeing a “huge inequality in who’s getting the vaccine”. (Twitter/@TeamPrepster/PinkNews) A not-for-profit team gave free monkeypox vaccines to attendees at UK Black Pride to address the “huge inequity” in who is able to get the vaccine. Dr Will Nutland
Elana Dykewomon was a celebrated author, writer, and playwright. (Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images) Celebrated lesbian author and activist Elana Dykewomon has died at the age of 72 of cancer. The trailblazing writer died on Sunday (7 August) in Oakland, California. Her brother David Nachman told the Mendocino Beacon that Dykewomon
Tom Daley has warned that “something monumental will happen” if the so-called “debate” over trans athletes in elite sport escalates further. The diver, who won his fourth (and first gold) Olympic medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, has previously spoken out against bans that prohibit trans athletes to compete in elite sports. FINA (the administrative
The Wickes float at Brighton Pride. (Twitter/ FlouncyMcGee) Hardware store Wickes has been praised by the queer community for its powerful float at Brighton Pride. A Wickes float joined the Brighton Pride parade on Saturday (6 August), featuring two huge signs – one which read, “No LGB without the T, we stand by our trans
Adam Beales, known as Adam B on YouTube, says he felt the “best I’ve felt in my entire life” since coming out as gay. (YouTube/Adam B) Adam B, a popular children’s TV presenter from Northern Ireland and YouTuber, has come out as gay in a heartfelt and “vulnerable” video. The YouTuber – whose real name
Protesters at Trans Pride Brighton. (PinkNews) Trans Pride Brighton saw its largest turnout ever on Saturday (16 July), with around 20,000 protesters marching for trans liberation. Trans Pride Brighton, the first and largest trans Pride event outside of the US, has been running since 2013. This year, it finally returned in person, after two years of
Janelle Monáe, Mae Martin and Hikaru Utada are among the non-binary people making change for the better in the world. (Getty/Paras Griffin/BET/Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic for HBO/Kevin Mazur/Coachella) As representation permeates more aspects of society, more non-binary people are starting to take centre stage and advocate for the community. Gender, like sexuality, is a spectrum. Many people
Kate Winslet played Mary Anning in Ammonite. (Natural History Museum Picture Library and YouTube/ BFI) Fossil hunter Mary Anning, portrayed by Kate Winslet in the film Ammonite, will finally be honoured with a statue in her hometown of Lyme Regis. Until recently, Anning, born in 1799, was almost forgotten by history despite being a pioneering
Arthur Duncan and Betty White. (YouTube and Getty) Betty White, star of The Golden Girls and gay icon, once defended a Black dancer on her 1950s variety show in the face of racist calls for a boycott. White, who passed away on Friday (31 December), just three weeks before her 100th birthday, was a long-time
A “besotón”, or kiss-a-thon, has been staged at the Six Flags Mexico theme park after a queer couple visiting said they were victims of “homophobia”. A friend of the couple went viral on Twitter after he described how his friends were reprimanded for kissing at the theme park on Wednesday (29 December). He wrote: “The