Why do individuals make the decision to engage in sex work? The Red Umbrella Diaries is different from other explorations of sex work because its driven by first person stories and though we collaborated with filmmakers who are not sex workers, we had the final say about the content and representations in the film. It's also unique in the spectrum of sex worker media representations because of the variety of people in the film - all are LGBTQ identified, three are women of color (one of whom is trans), and two are men. Read More
Surveying Nepal’s Sexual and Gender Minorities: An Inclusive Approach
In a recent survey of sexual and gender minorities in Nepal over 60% of respondents reported experiencing abuse or discrimination.
The survey utilized Nepal’s inclusion of a third gender category in its national census, the first such attempt in the world. LGBT people in Nepal face many obstacles, including widespread bullying in schools, lack of protection from discrimination by employers, paucity of programming for reproductive health of lesbians, and the lack of sensitive HIV healthcare for transgender women and gay men who are at exponentially higher risk of HIV infection than the general population. Read More
Young U.S. Catholics overwhelmingly accepting of homosexuality
Fully 85% of self-identified Catholics ages 18-29 said in a 2014 Pew Research Center survey that homosexuality should be accepted by society, compared with just 13% who said it should be discouraged. Older age groups are less likely to favor acceptance. But even among Catholics ages 65 and older, 57% say that homosexuality should be accepted. Read More
Meanwhile, antigay politician Rick Santorum claims young people support LGBT rights only because gay activists have kept them from hearing the alternative view. Read More
Turkey gets its first umbrella LGBTI organization to fight homophobia
A new organization, the first in Turkey to ensure LGBTI websites, groups and organizations has been established to fight homophobia and transphobia in the Islamic country that straddles Europe and Asia. In existence since less than two months, the organization was created in order to ensure unity and solidarity among LGBTI groups, LGBTI websites and LGBTI organizations. Read More
Gay in Nunavut: How politics, culture, religion and the English language shape sexuality in the North
This February Inuit people were confronted with questions over homosexuality which had perhaps been brewing for a while: Was homosexuality part of traditional Inuit society? Does it matter? What do the elders say? Are gay people born that way or is it a choice? Are gay kids killing themselves? What should leaders be doing?
The answers to those questions will vary, depending on who you ask, and will be influenced by bravado, wisdom, Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, bigotry, self-righteousness, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, vocabulary, experience, ignorance, fear, courage, and love. Read More
Rainbow Sudan seeks LGBTI rights in Sudan
The LGBTQI community of Sudan rarely appears in the media, but Sharon Wagiella of SOGI News recently interviewed a leader of that community’s anti-AIDS, pro-human rights group Rainbow Sudan, which was founded on Feb. 5, 2012. Read excerpts from that interview: here
Because You Are, Therefore I Am: African leaders discuss sexuality, religion, and equality
Leaders from Botswana, Cameroon, Lesotho, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe gathered for a historic consultation. Rev. Dr. Kaypa Kaoma and I worked with leaders from the World Council of Churches and Dr. Gerald West, University of KwaZulu-Natal in organizing this consultation.
We are committed to changing the narrative in Africa from persecution of LGBTI persons and their families to acceptance. We are committed to making change happen in faith communities, theological schools, universities and in civil society.
Padmini Prakash is India’s first transgender news anchor
The United States isn’t the only place experiencing something of a cultural transgender revolution. It’s happening in India, too, where the country recently witnessed a broadcast by Padmini Prakash.
Prakash, 31, is India’s first transgender news anchor. She works at the Tamil language channel based in Coimbatore in the state of Tamil Nadu.
She’s done all sorts of work — everything from transgender rights activism to teaching dance to acting in a soap opera to competing in transgender beauty pageants. Prakash worked for Lotus News, based in Coimbatore for about a month before she was promoted in August to anchor its 7 p.m. broadcast. Read More
15 Responses To The Question: “What Does The Word ‘Queer’ Mean To You?”
Fifteen people in their 20s and 30s describe what 'queer' means to them.
“Queer is what you make it.”
“I know many people use ‘queer’ as an umbrella term, and I understand why they do, but I think it’s really reductive to forget that while it may be an umbrella term for some, it’s very specific for others. Queer is what you make of it — and, for me, being queer means that my sexuality is not fixed, that it can evolve over years and that I can be sexually and romantically attracted to various degrees to the spectrum of gender identities that exist. When people ask me what my sexuality is, I say queer, and if they don’t know what that means, I’ll say that I don’t label my sexuality at all — I have a very complicated relationship with the term ‘bisexual’ because of the associations of promiscuity that my LGBT-phobic straight peers attached to it. In that instance, bisexual felt like a word that I could not control in my own social circles. Queer feels like a term that I can make my own.” —Andrea Garcìa-Vargas, 23
Meet Television’s Groundbreaking Intersex Character
In the Season 2 premiere of MTV’s Faking It, which explores the spectrum of sexuality, a main character reveals that she was born with an intersex condition. Here’s what went into that decision — and why it was so important to get it right. Read More
Brazil schoolboys wear skirts to support trans classmate
A group of boys at São Cristóvão do Colégio Pedro II high school in Rio de Janeiro wore skirts to class after a transgender student was fined for breaking the school's dress code. Seventeen-year-old Maria Munez, born Mario Munez, recently came out as transgender by wearing a skirt to school but was fined for not wearing trousers. Read More