Reverend Louis Sheldon founded an organisation now classed as an extremist hate group (YouTube/PIJN) Reverend Louis Sheldon, the anti-gay founder of a lobbying group known for opposing LGBT+ rights, has died at the age of 85. Sheldon died on Friday (May 29) in Southern California of a longstanding condition, his son-in-law James Lafferty said. Sheldon
LGBTQ
Volunteers carry sacks of rice on March 20, 2020 in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines (Ezra Acayan/Getty) The LGBT+ community in the Philippines has been recruited to distribute coronavirus relief after packages reportedly went missing in the hands of corrupt officials. Mayor Sara Duterte of Davao City in the southern Philippines noticed a “recurring problem”
Same-sex weddings have been a billion-dollar boon to the US economy (Envato Elements) Same-sex weddings in the US have boosted state and local economies by an estimated $3.8 billion in the five years since they were legalised, new figures show. Nearly 300,000 LGBT+ couples have tied the knot since the US Supreme Court’s landmark ruling
Screenwriter Apurva Asrani (right) with his partner Siddhant (Twitter/@Apurvasrani) Acclaimed Bollywood filmmaker Apurva Asrani has celebrated buying a house with his partner after being forced to hide their relationship for 15 years. Asrani is an award-winning filmmaker best known for Satya (1998), Shahid (2013), and the human rights biopic Aligarh (2016). His drama-comedy series Made in
Starbucks has launched a new campaign to raise funds for the trans youth charity Mermaids. (Starbucks) People who have been “exposed” to LGBT+ people in adverts and other media are more likely to accept them, according to a new study. The research into consumer attitudes towards LGBT+ people was carried out by Proctor & Gamble
Lady Gaga attends the 91st Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on February 24, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Dan MacMedan/Getty Images) In some non-Chromatica but still very much Lady Gaga news, the singer has admitted that the Tiffany diamond necklace she wore to the 2019 Oscars ceremony was confiscated by security. But it doesn’t
The Trocadero Centre in Leicester Square, a hugely popular area for tourism in the West End, London. (Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images) A British LGBT+ community forum welcomed plans on Thursday (May 28) for a Mosque and community centre in the heart of London’s gay district despite seething pushback. With its yellowing walls, the historic
A former EastEnders actor has said that a planned gay storyline in the 1980s was scrapped due to the anti-LGBT+ Section 28 law. The discriminatory Section 28 prohibited local authorities from promoting homosexuality in England, Scotland and Wales, and was enacted in 1988. While the legislation only directly related to local authorities and schools, it
To shave or not to shave pubic hair? Now that is the question. (Stock photograph by Elements Envato) It seems that, for queer men and women, a partner’s hairstyle is pretty important… but we’re not talking about the hair on your head here. An eye-opening study found that, when it comes to pubic hair, more
A trans man described by British authorities as “out of control” has been locked up in a women’s prison for 21 months. Jay Lee Layton, 25, entered his ex-partner’s house in Spennymoor, County Durham, at 8pm on April 6 and threatened to stab her, breaching a civil order in the process. His partner refused to
US voters would prefer a gay candidate over one that’s more than 70 years old. (Mark Wilson/Getty) The Pentagon has cancelled its annual Pride month event for the first time since the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” due to coronavirus. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) was the official White House policy that barred openly
Comediam Kathy Griffin garnered outrage from conservatives for tweeting about US president Donald Trump. (John Sciulli/Getty Images for Playboy Playhouse) Kathy Griffin is making headlines again for doing what she does best – being an indefatigable critic of Donald Trump. The American comedian skewered the US president with a satirical but since-deleted tweet Tuesday (May 26), the
The playwright and AIDS activist Larry Kramer had died (Photo by Melanie Burford For The Washington Post via Getty Images.) Legendary AIDS activist and playwright Larry Kramer has died, aged 84. The former activist, who founded both Gay Men’s Health Crisis and ACT UP during the AIDS crisis, passed away from pneumonia on Wednesday. Known
Gavin Capps was convicted of sexual assault on an EasyJet flight (Facebook/Gavin Capps) An EasyJet passenger has been sentenced to six months in prison for squeezing an air steward’s bottom and calling him a “gay boy”. Gavin Capps, 51, was convicted of one count of sexual assault and one count of threatening words or behaviour
‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic was jailed for trying to have an animal rights activist murdered. (Netflix) Tiger King – that Netflix docu-series that dropped just as a global, viral pandemic paralysed us all – might be in-line for a second season, according to Joe Exotic’s right-hand man, John Reinke. Speaking to The Sun, the 54-year-old
Zambian President Edgar Lungu. (DAWOOD SALIM/AFP via Getty Images) President of Zambia Edgar Lungu has pardoned two men who were jailed for having gay sex in November, 2019. Carrying a 15 yearslong sentence, the imprisonment of Japhet Chataba and Steven Samba by high court judge curdled into international outcry from LGBT+ advocates and diplomats towards
Users of an alt-right 4chan board are conspiring a cyberattack against the LGBT+ community. (4chan) Alt-right 4chan users are plotting to hijack LGBT+ Pride month on June 1 by clogging social media with poisonous homophobia and boycotting supportive brands. Members of the imageboard website plotted “Operation Pridefall” as early May 10 on the /pol/ board,
Bobby Berk. (Rich Fury/Getty) Queer Eye star Bobby Berk has revealed the moving reason he agreed to transform a church volunteer in Georgia, US, as part of the Netflix show’s season two premiere. Since bookmarked by viewers as a fan favourite, the episode saw Berk and the Fab Five drive up to rural Georgia in
Jolyon Maugham (R) suffered criticism after his comment comparing passing on coronavirus to HIV. (TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images) After intense outcry, a British barrister apologised Sunday afternoon (May 24) for comparing Dominic Cummings to “a man with HIV having unprotected sex”. Good Law Project director Jolyon “Jo” Maugham weathered heavy criticism from sexual health advocates
A candlelight vigil to bring awareness to the crisis of AIDS that was affecting the gay community, 1983. (Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty) Three queer elders have explained the lessons they learned about resilience and love during the AIDS crisis, which are now helping them get through the coronavirus pandemic. Although the coronavirus pandemic
Dr Caroline Norma will appear on a panel discussing “the major concerns around the proposed [conversion therapy] ban”. (CarolineNorma76/ Twitter) Students are revolting at an Australian university after a lecturer signed up to be a panellist at a “unscientific and dangerous” gay conversion therapy forum. Dr Caroline Norma is a lecturer in the School of
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
Margaret Thatcher and Liz Truss. (Getty) It’s been 32 years since Section 28 came into law, banning local authorities and schools from the “promotion of homosexuality”, and by proxy, sponsoring discrimination against all queer identities. The clause – an amendment to the Local Government Act 1988 – was born from a homophobia that had become
Minh Khang with his new baby. (Vietnam Insider) Vietnam’s ‘first trans dad’ has given birth to a baby, with his wife at his side. Minh Khang and Minh Anh became parents on May 16, to baby girl Thiên An. Khang, 24, and Anh, 21, are a well-known trans couple in Vietnam, who met in 2017
Kevin Hart attends the FX Networks’ Star Walk Winter Press Tour 2020 at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 09, 2020 in Pasadena, California. (Gregg DeGuire/WireImage) Comedian Kevin Hart, who stepped down from hosting the Oscars in 2019 after backlash over his homophobic jokes, has said he deserves “a chance to move on”. Last year,
Robyn Peoples and Sharni Edwards kiss each other after they became Northern Ireland’s first legally married same sex couple on February 11, 2020. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Flaws in same-sex marriage legislation in Northern Ireland are “blocking many couples” from celebrating their big day, campaigners have warned. Same-sex couples are still unable to have
The nephew of Harvey Milk has said that the best way to protect his legacy is to elect Joe Biden as president of the United States in November. A pioneer of LGBT+ rights, Milk was one of the first openly gay people to hold elected office in the United States. Tragically, his life was cut
Another gay couple were the victims of a homophobic attack in Amsterdam this week, the third attack of its kind in the city in a matter of weeks. The gay couple were in a canoe at JC van Epenstraat when the incident occurred on 21 May, according to NLTimes. While in the canoe, a group
People celebrating Ireland’s historic same-sex marriage referendum in 2015 (Clodagh Kilcoyne/Getty) Five years ago today, people in Ireland went out in their droves and voted in favour of same-sex marriage. Ultimately, 62 per cent of the public voted in favour of amending the constitution to allow same-sex couples the right to marry, with 38 per
Cory Wilson testifies at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in on May 20, 2020. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/ Getty) Republicans have moved a step closer to the lifetime appointment of judicial nominee Cory Wilson, a man who could potentially set LGBT+ rights back decades. Wilson is Donald Trump’s latest nominee to the 5th US Circuit