GMB Union, one of the UK’s biggest trade unions, has demanded that the UK government finally reform the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) and tackle transphobia. The union, which counts more than 600,000 members, urged minister for women and equalities Liz Truss to introduce much-needed reforms in a letter earlier this week (August 11). In the
UK
A woman was convicted for hurling transphobic abuse on Southend seafront (John Keeble/Getty) A 23-year-old woman has admitted in court to spewing “disgusting” transphobic abuse at another woman as she walked along an English seafront. Annabel Forbes was accused of hurling anti-trans insults at a woman on the Eastern Esplanade in Southend, Essex, at around
The UK’s notoriously anti-LGBT home secretary Priti Patel is planning to fully decriminalise the sale of poppers. Not usually known for liberal stances on anything, Patel confirmed on Wednesday that she is “minded” to explicitly exempt poppers from laws banning former ‘legal highs’. Alkyl nitrites, popularly known as poppers, are sold in the UK as
Pose star Dominique Jackson and transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf head up the line-up for the digital UK Black Pride festival. Like many Pride events, the physical UK Black Pride gathering was cancelled in 2020 due to coronavirus, but organisers have put their all into creating a day-long celebration of Black queer experiences. The
Thousands of transgender people and their allies take to the streets for London’s first ever Trans+ Pride march on 14 September, 2019. (WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto via Getty Images) The departing chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has said that the “toxic debate” over trans rights will prove damaging to UK society if it
Evgeny Lebedev (L) and JK Rowling. (Stuart C. Wilson/TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty) Evgeny Lebedev, one of 36 new members of the British Parliament’s unelected House of Lords, said in an opinion piece published Saturday (August 8) that he will use his seat in the upper house to “fight to stop online mobs killing free speech”.
Layla Moran has warned the government not to conflate a conversion therapy ban with reforms to the Gender Recognition Act (Vickie Flores/In Pictures/Getty) Lib Dem leadership candidate Layla Moran has warned Liz Truss not to use a conversion therapy ban as “a pawn in the Government’s culture war”. Moran, who is pansexual, wrote to the
Kae Tempest. (Jim Dyson/Getty Images) Kae Tempest – poet, rapper, author and all multi-genre talent – revealed Thursday afternoon (August 5) that they have changed their name and pronouns in a heartfelt message to fans. The author and rapper, known for their work that examines the steely agonises of the modern world, took to their
Authorities in Northern Ireland arrested a 26-year-old man in connection to a suspected homophobic attack which saw two men brutally battered with a tyre iron in their home. The Police Service of Northern Ireland, according to gcn, said that on Tuesday morning (August 4) two individuals broke into the property in Lurgan, in County Amragh,
Edward Enninful. (Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images) British Vogue editor Edward Enninful has confirmed that a recent encounter which saw him racially profiled by security staff at the magazine’s offices wasn’t “an isolated incident”. Enninful, the first gay Black and male editor-in-chief in British Vogue’s 100-year history, revealed in July that he’d been refused entry to the
Rosie Duffield insisted “only women have a cervix” on Twitter. (Nicola Tree/Getty Images) Labour’s Rosie Duffield has slammed accusations that she’s “transphobic” as a “tedious Communist pile on” amid a heated online row about who can get cervical cancer. The controversy began late last night, when Duffield – who last week in parliament suggested a
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
Guardian columnist, Owen Jones speaks at an anti Boris Johnson election rally. (Andres Pantoja/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) One of the three men who violently attacked Guardian columnist Owen Jones outside a north London, England, pub in 2019 was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison on Friday (July 24). James Healy, a
Reni-Eddo Lodge and Emma Watson are redesigning the Tube map to celebrate women and non-binary Londoners. (Getty) Emma Watson and Reni Eddo-Lodge are creating a new Tube map for London, with each stop named after a woman or non-binary person who has played a part in shaping the city’s history. The celebratory project is inspired
Today marks 15 years since PinkNews founder Benjamin Cohen put the very first rudimentary version of this website live. He’s been reflecting on the past 15 years in this Twitter thread. Incredibly, it’s 15 years, to the day, since I first started work on @PinkNews. It’s been a labour of love! We will celebrate later
Northern Ireland’s most prominent conversion therapy advocate Mike Davidson has said the LGBT+ community is “like a cult” that nobody is allowed to leave. Davidson runs Core Issues Trust, a County Down based organisation that claims to “support” people with “homosexual issues” who want to become straight. The conversion therapy advocate told Christian Today that people are
A person draped in a transgender flag. (Drew Angerer/Getty) Trans people in England and Wales are twice as likely to experience crime as cisgender people, according to the first official data on trans crime victims. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that more than a quarter (28 percent) of trans people had
Owain Wyn Evans presented the weather completely with drag references. (Screen capture via Twitter) On this day of true religious importance, International Drag Day, a brief history lesson: The time a Welsh weather presenter delivered the entire forecast in drag references. In 2017 – which was precisely seven decades ago in coronavirus time – BBC
Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has accepted nearly £75,000 in donations from an organisation whose director tweeted in support of so-called conversion therapy. Dr David Landrum, director of an organisation called Faith in Public, tweeted a link to an article protesting against proposals to ban gay conversion therapy in July 2018. It is currently
A golden imprint of JK Rowling’s hands were splashed with red paint and a decorate trans Pride flag left beside it. (Supplied) Harry Potter fans across the world have wrestled with how to reimagine the wizarding world without JK Rowling in light of her views on trans people, but it seems one fan has taken
He found his victims on Grindr. He drugged, raped and killed them. He disposed of their bodies all within walking distance of his east London, England, apartment. All were found in identical positions. Slumped against a wall. Their mobile phones missing. Three in a churchyard. One found in a communal area of the killer’s own
Terrorist Mohiussunnath Chowdhury plotted to kill ‘thousands of homos’ (Screenshot: Independent) A jihadi terrorist who plotted a violent attack on Pride in London had already made extensive plans to decorate his palace in heaven, a court heard. Mohiussunnath Chowdhury pinned to-do lists for the afterlife to his bedroom door while planning an attack on “thousands of homos” at
Bestselling children’s author Gillian Philip was dropped by her publisher for tweeting her support for JK Rowling. (Twitter/Gilian_Philip) Bestselling Scottish author Gillian Philip has been let go by her publisher after putting “I stand with JK Rowling” in her Twitter handle. Philip, from Glasgow, backed Harry Potter author JK Rowling – who’s been labelled “transphobic”
Transgender people and their supporters gather in Parliament Square to protest against potential changes to the Gender Recognition Act on 04 July, 2020 in London, England. (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Barcroft Media via Getty Images) The trans and non-binary community has officially had enough, after JK Rowling launched yet another unprovoked and unnecessary tirade – this time branding
One of the UK’s largest LGBT+ swingers festivals has been cancelled, citing coronavirus safeguarding measures. (Stock photograph via Elements Envato/Aurora Lifestyle Festival) Social distancing measures have imbued every aspect of life – pad-locking the economy, stonewalling loved ones from one another and… leading to the cancellation of Europe’s largest swingers festival. Nothing is sacred, not
Minister for Women and Equalities Liz Truss (WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto via Getty Images) The deputy chair of the LGBT Conservatives has urged the government to show more empathy towards trans people “instead of pandering to a culture war”. Writing in the i, John Cope called on the government to stop punishing trans people for male violence
Joe Ritchie-Bennett, David Wails and James Furlong have been named as the Reading victims. (Facebook) The three Reading victims killed in a suspected terror attack have been remembered as “true gentlemen” and proud members of the city’s LGBT+ community. James Furlong, Joe Ritchie-Bennett and David Wails tragically lost their lives on June 20, stabbed to
Peter Sheward and his father, Peter Sheward Snr, who died of prostate cancer in 2017. (Supplied) Father’s Day will always be special for Peter Sheward-Himpson, a gay man who never dreamed he could have a child. But it is also a reminder of the father he’s lost, and the grandfather his son will never have.
PrEP. (Justin Sullivan/Getty) A life-saving trial of the preventative HIV drug PrEP will be rolled out across Northern Ireland in a two-year pilot programme. PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis) is the most effective protection against HIV transmission. It is provided on the NHS in Scotland and in Wales but has not been as easily accessible in England and Northern
Bear Grylls. (Mike Pont/WireImage) Survival expert and chief scout Bear Grylls has said that the movement must learn from its homophobic, racist founder Robert Baden-Powell. It was announced last week that a statue of Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement, is set to be removed from Poole Quay because it’s feared to be on a