LGBTQ

Joan Bellingham was training to be a nurse when she was admitted to a psychiatric ward for being a lesbian. (1 News) A New Zealand nurse who was repeatedly hospitalised for 12 years and given electroconvulsive therapy more than 200 times has said her fight for justice has been “almost as bad as the abuse”.

A police officer in Kolkata, India, has been arrested for harassing, molesting and using obscene language and gestures towards a transgender rights activist. According to The Times of India, inspector Abhishek Bhattacharya is facing the charges for targeting Ranjita Sinha, a well-known local activist who leads sensitivity training efforts on LGBT+ issues. The outlet reports that

The sperm donor claims he is not “homophobic” despite not wanting his donations to go to same-sex couples. (Envato) A sperm donor who insisted same-sex couples should not raise children conceived with his sperm has won a lawsuit against a fertility clinic that used his donations to help queer families. Neil Gaskell, 49, began donating

Billie Day Wakefield was an LGBT+ activist from Bristol. (Supplied) One of Bristol’s most prominent LGBT+ campaigners, Billie Dale Wakefield, has tragically passed away at the age of 78. Described by local leaders and loved ones as a “hero”, Dale Wakefield founded the Bristol Gay Switchboard in 1975, and became one of the founders of

A queer couple have shared photos of their beautiful “micro wedding” held virtually with only with queer, Black and plus size vendors in attendance. Chaya Milchtein and Morgan told PinkNews their stunning ceremony proves it’s possible to have a “unique, passionate, and memorable” ceremony “without people actually being there”. The couple, who met four and a

Amy Coney Barrett was told at her 2017 confirmation hearing: “The dogma lives loudly in you.” (YouTube) Donald Trump is expected to nominate the staunchly anti-LGBT+ Roman Catholic judge Amy Coney Barrett today (September 26) to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the US Supreme Court. According to CBS, “multiple sources involved in or familiar with

Liz Truss leaves 10 Downing Street in central London on February 13, 2020.(TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty) The Conservative minister for women and equalities, Liz Truss, has been accused by Liberal Democrat peer baroness Liz Barker of hiding details of meetings she had about the Gender Recognition Act. Baroness Barker, who is the LGBT+ spokesperson in

Police said it was ‘reasonable force’ to shoot Roxanne Moore 16 times. (Getty) Police officers who fired 16 shots at Black trans woman Roxanne Moore used “reasonable force”, says the Pennsylvania district attorney. Moore, 29, remains in hospital, in critical but stable condition, after being fired at by officers on September 13. At a press

Matt Bomer in American Horror Story. (Netflix) Matt Bomer has spoken of his struggle growing up gay in an ultra-conservative religious family, describing his upbringing as a “bifurcated” environment. The award-winning American Horror Story actor explained in an interview with the Guardian that he had to navigate his family’s shifting religious values as child. He realised he

Tory MP Crispin Blunt has called for his colleague Liz Truss to be sacked as minister for women and equalities. (Luke Dray/Getty) Tory MP Crispin Blunt has called for Liz Truss, the Conservative minister for women and equalities, to be sacked as she doesn’t have “the empathy for the role”. In an extraordinary move, Blunt

Gay and bisexual men still face outdated restrictions on blood donation. (Pexels) A study has revealed that when a lifetime ban on blood donation for queer men in the US was lifted, there was no “statistically significant” increase in HIV-positive blood. New research has revealed that there was “no increase in HIV incidence or HIV

Emmerdale stars Max Parker (L) and Kris Mochrie (R). (Instagram) The prophecy was fulfilled: Emmerdale stars Max Parker and Kris Mochrie, who play each other’s brothers on the British soap, have confirmed they are in a relationship. In an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper, Parker and Mochrie discussed how the pair hit it off

US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been blasted by LGBT+ activists for her rollbacks of trans protections. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Betsy DeVos, the US education secretary, should “butt out” of trans teens’ lives and the sports they play, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said Monday (21 September). The Democratic party lawmaker and business leader tore

The red area shows the municipalities in Poland that have signed the ‘LGBT-free’ pledge. (Atlas of Hate) In a narrow vote, councillors in Kraśnik, in eastern Poland, voted Tuesday (22 September) to keep their municipality an “LGBT-free zone” in an open challenge to the scores of European Union pressure to undo such patches of open

Carole Baskin wore hot pink tiger print and her signature flower crown for her Dancing with the Stars debut. (ABC) Carole Baskin is reportedly being sued for defamation by the family of her missing husband Don Lewis over jokes about his death on Dancing with the Stars. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Lewis’s

Professor Jane Ward said straight couples can learn from queer couples to have deeper and happier relationships. (Envato) A gender and sexuality professor has written a book explaining the secret to straight people having happier relationships — be more like queer couples. Jane Ward, a gender and sexuality studies professor at University of California, Riverside,

Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the same-sex marriage case Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that could determine the constitutionality of marriage for same-sex couples, smiles as he walks out of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, June 18, 2015. (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty) Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the case which legalised marriage equality across

Sam Serrano says homophobic incidents in public have become “commonplace” (Instagram/@samserranoham) Young gender-fluid comedian Sam Serrano says they were called a homophobic slur and spat on in front of children for wearing makeup in public. Serrano, 20, has been wearing makeup since they were 17 and performing in local comedy clubs for the past four

C is for Country by Lil Nas X will come out on January 5, 2021. (LilNasX/ Twitter) Lil Nas X has written a children’s book in which he and Panini the pony embark “on a joyous journey through the alphabet”. The “Old Town Road” singer, who came out as gay in July 2019, announced on

Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci have said their 20 year friendship helped inform their on-scren gay romance in upcoming film Supernova. Supernova follows gay couple Sam (played by Colin Firth) and Tusker (played by Tucci) as they journey around England in an RV visiting friends, family and places from their past. The couple’s journey is an

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley attends the 2019 Global Citizen Festival: Power The Movement in Central Park on September 28, 2019 in New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for Global Citizen) A BBC journalist asked the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, if people should be “allowed” to be gay – and she did not

Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay presidential candidate for a major party, has one message for LGBT+ youth in the run up to the US election: Vote. Buttigieg, the gay mayor from Indiana who was the surprise break-out star of the Democratic race earlier this

The governor of the Cayman Islands has pleaded with people to be kind to each other, just a week after leaked messages from a Christian WhatsApp group showed members threatening to “lovingly” hang “one or two gays”. Governor Martyn Roper said recent public discussion about LGBT+ people had been “irresponsible” and “shocking” during a COVID-19

From cooking to delivery, every staff member at the restaurant is a member of the trans community. (ANI News/ YouTube) A restaurant in India completely run by trans staff that opened during the COVID-19 pandemic has become so successful that it is already opening a second location. The Covai Trans Kitchen opened in the Coimbatore

A lesbian couple take selfies during an event to raise awareness of gay rights in Hong Kong in 2019. (PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images) A Hong Kong court has thrown out mixed messages for the protection of LGBT+ rights, with two verdicts that constitute one win and one loss for LGBT+ campaigners. The High Court

Suspect Ivan Arturo G.P. has been arrested by Mexican authorities in connection with the trans activists death. (Chihuahua attorney general’s office) Police in Mexico have arrested a man in connection with the fatal stabbing of trans activist Mireya Rodriguez Lemus. Lemus, a trans woman from Chihuahua state, was found stabbed to death in her home

Maria Paola Gaglione (R) died in a motorcycle accident after her brother, enraged she was marrying a trans man Ciro Migloiore (L), tailed her. (Facebook) A trans man was seriously injured and his fiancé, a cisgender woman, tragically slain by her transphobic brother who wanted to “teach her” a lesson. Maria Paola Gaglione, 22, was

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

Fred Upton’s supporters described Jon Hoadley as a “pedo sex poet”. (Jon Hoadley/ Facebook) Republican congressman Fred Upton has been described as running the “most homophobic campaign” in the US after refusing to put a stop to his supporters calling his gay opponent a “paedo sex poet”. Upton is running to be reelected as US