US Conservative groups seeking to overturn Roe v Wade have spent millions on global campaigns against reproductive and LGBT+ rights, an investigation has found. OpenDemocracy says the groups have spent at least $28 million on international campaigns, including anti-abortion efforts in Poland, Colombia and El Salvador. The outlet scrutinised seven organisations it says have been involved
Current Affairs
Pete Buttigieg has spoken about his first experience of homophobia in a moving speech as he made history with a nomination for a role in Joe Biden’s cabinet. The former South Bend, Indiana mayor made history on Tuesday (15 December) when he was announced as Biden’s pick for transportation secretary. The 38-year-old will become the
Former NFL player Martin Jenkins is the first openly gay man to be nominated California’s highest court (Twitter/@gavinnewsom) Martin Jenkins, the man poised to become the first openly gay justice on the California Supreme Court served on the bench for decades without coming out to most friends and colleagues. Jenkins, 66, was appointed by governor
US Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died at the age of 87 after suffering from pancreatic cancer. Ginsburg died at home in Washington DC surrounded by her family. She was a member of the US Supreme Court since 1993 and was well regarded as a champion for LGBT+ rights. In a statement, US
A health board in Scotland has claimed to be the first region in the world to “effectively eliminate” hepatitis C. NHS Tayside, one of 14 NHS Scotland boards, started pioneering efforts to tackle the blood-borne virus in 2012. After targeting people who inject drugs — an approach the health board developed because 90 per cent
GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis in 2019. (Jerod Harris/Getty Images for ‘BEYOND’ Spirit Day Concert 2019) Sarah Kate Ellis, president of LGBT+ advocacy organisation GLAAD, is calling for LGBT+ people and their allies to do three crucial things ahead of the US election. “We have 100 days to impact the course of history and put
View of Creek Street in Ketchikan, Southeast Alaska, USA. (Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images) A small Alaskan city has unanimously voted for a new law protecting LGBT+ people from discrimination after a local florist allegedly refused to make the wedding bouquets for a gay couple. Ketchikan, population 8,289, is a seaside city on Alaska’s southeastern
Stock photo. (Unsplash) International Gay Rugby has slammed a leaked World Rugby report proposing to ban trans women from the game, saying it is “irrational” and “lacks evidence”. The world governing body for rugby is reportedly considering banning trans women from playing on women’s teams, after a forum earlier this year that was attended by
Antonella Lerca launched her campaign to run as an independent candidate in District 2 of Bucharest on July 20. (Supplied) An out transgender woman is making a historic bid for public office in Romania. Antonella Lerca, a Roma woman and sex worker, is campaigning to run as an independent candidate for District 2 in the
Trans performers rally for LGBT+ rights in Bankok. (Getty/Lillian Suwanrumpha) Thailand is set to become the first southeast Again country to legalise same-sex unions and allow queer couples to adopt – but will not introduce full marriage equality. Same-sex couples could have their love recognised under a new bill approved by the Thai government Wednesday
A woman holds a sign that says: “The traditional family is in danger, come together to defend it!” during a protest against homosexuality in Bucharest, May 20, 2017. The senate in Romania has passed a bill that, if signed by the president, will make it illegal to discuss gender identity in every school and university
Justice Smith posted photos of him with boyfriend Nicholas L Ashe after chanting ‘Black Trans Lives Matter’ at a New Orleans protest. (Instagram) Jurassic World actor Justice Smith has come out as queer by sharing photos of him and his boyfriend in solidarity with Black Trans Lives Matter. Smith, 24, shared the powerful statement on
Madonna at London’s Black Lives Matter protest, June 6. (Twitter) Madonna showed up to a Black Lives Matter march on crutches to protest racism, chanting “No justice, no peace” in central London. The pop star and longtime LGBT+ ally, on crutches because of a recent knee injury, was reportedly at the June 6 Black Lives
Protesters gather for a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Paris, France, on June 2. (Pierre Suu/Getty Images) Police officers in France have been caught privately sharing hundreds of racist, sexist and homophobic messages. The messages were shared in a private Facebook group, which is made up of more than 8,000 police officers, gendarmes (paramilitary police)
Donald Trump inexplicably entered the arena to the Village People at a rally in India in February 2020. (Getty) Village People lead singer Victor Willis has told US president Donald Trump to stop playing their music at his rallies. This is a marked change of tune from the band, who in February 2020 said they
Munroe Bergdorf speaking at the Pride In London Gala Dinner 2019. (Venla Shalin/Getty Images for Pride in London) Munroe Bergdorf has broken her silence on L’Oréal’s controversial Black Lives Matter message that said “speaking out is worth it”. The company has been widely and heavily criticised for the June 1 message, given it abruptly dropped
Pakistan’s transgender community, already forced to the fringes of society, are being deprived of crucial support during the country’s coronavirus lockdown. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images) Existing inequalities that mean trans people are more likely to have mental and physical health problems are being exacerbated by coronavirus, according to scientists who are urging governments to act. The
Aimee Stephens with her wife, Donna, outside the US Supreme Court on October 8, 2019, before judges heard her historic case. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Aimee Stephens, the woman who brought the first-ever transgender civil rights case to the Supreme Court, has tragically died. Stephens, 58, had kidney disease and had been receiving hospice
World-renowned illusionists and conservationists Siegfried and Roy (right) pose with their white tiger in an undated photo. (Photo courtesy of Siegfried and Roy/The Mirage via Getty Images) Roy Horn, the tiger-levitating entertainer who dazzled Las Vegas audiences as half of magic duo Siegfried and Roy, has died from COVID-19 complications. Roy Horn died at MountainView
A police officer asks for documents at a checkpoint on April 21, 2020 in Bogota, Colombia. (Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images) Gender-based lockdown rules in Bogotá, Colombia, will be lifted after they fuelled a wave of violence against transgender people living in the city. Bogotá’s mayor, Claudia Lopez, said in a virtual press conference on Friday (May
Amal Fashanu, pictured here in 2019, told The Sun that at least five famous footballers are secretly gay. (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images) At least five famous footballers in the UK are gay and in the closet, according to the niece of Justin Fashanu – the UK’s first, and only, out gay footballer who died
Stonewall historian David Carter speaking in New York in 2009. (Screenshot/Fora TV/YouTube) David Carter, the gay historian who authored the “definitive history” of the Stonewall Uprising, has died from a heart attack at the age of 67. Carter died May 1 in his New York apartment, according to the Washington Blade. His brother, Bill, told
Aimee Stephens outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, October 8, 2019. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Aimee Stephens, the woman who brought the first-ever transgender civil rights case to the Supreme Court, is receiving hospice care at home after her health took a turn for the worse. Her case was one of a
Michael Brown urges people not to “rejoice” over the birth of Anderson Cooper’s son (YouTube/ASKDrBrown_ On Thursday evening CNN’s Anderson Cooper celebrated becoming a first-time father, announcing that he had welcomed a healthy baby boy into the world. The joyful news brought some much-needed positivity in the midst of a global pandemic, but predictably it
Freddy McConnell. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival) Trans man Freddy McConnell has lost a ruling today in his fight to be registered as the father of the child he gave birth to. McConnell, a journalist who gave birth to his child in 2018, has been fighting a drawn out and highly publicised legal
Naofal Moussas Instagram Live video where she instructed her followers to make fake accounts on gay dating apps. Screenshot/Supplied) Gay men in Morocco are living in terror after a beauty influencer instructed her hundreds of thousands of followers to use gay dating apps to identify them, in a country where homosexuality is illegal and violent
Stock image of blood donation. (Pexels) After pressure from politicians and LGBT+ advocates, the rules on gay and bisexual men donating blood in the US have finally been relaxed amid the coronavirus crisis. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revised its guidelines to allow for more blood donations from gay and bisexual men, as
Owen Paterson (R) leaving Downing Street on October 22, 2019. (Leon Neal/Getty Images) Tory MP Owen Paterson, who strongly opposed equal marriage in the UK, makes £100,000 a year from a company that is privately selling coronavirus testing kits. As the Northern Ireland secretary in 2012, Paterson became the first cabinet member to publicly say
Pete Buttigieg has quit the race to become the next US President. (Twitter/PeteButtigieg) Pete Buttigieg, the first-ever openly gay major presidential candidate, has announced he is ending his campaign for the White House. The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg made an ambitious run for the Democratic nomination to take on Donald Trump. He
Kemi Badenoch, junior minister for equalities and Saffron Walden MP. (Chris McAndrew/Official portrait of Kemi Badenoch) Boris Johnson’s new junior minister for equalities, Kemi Badenoch, abstained on the extension of same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland. Badenoch has also criticised young people for having a “puritanical” approach to sexual harassment. Johnson handed Badenoch, 40, the role