Gays make gains in China: survey

There's a growing acceptance of gay people in China, the latest survey on LGBT shows. 59% of surveyed city residents said that society should accept homosexuals according to the first annual survey on the social acceptance toward LGBT people by the Shanghai LGBT Professionals and Work For LGBT and Parents, Families, Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).

Ah Qiang, a well-known gay rights activist and founder of PFLAG China, said that the report revealed that gay people can win more acceptance and understanding by coming out: "I appeal to the large number of gay people who are still hiding to come out for the public to better understand the group," Ah Qiang said. Read More 

Op-ed: An Open Letter to Mainstream LGBT Organizations That Have Remained Silent on Black Lives Mattering

Why did we feel the need to write this open letter to mainstream LGBT organizations with a reference to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act?  Because it illuminates the dangers of focusing on one type of identity-based violence -- the violence that impacts LGBT people -- while willfully ignoring the police and vigilante violence that impacts Black queer- and trans-identified people, as well as all Black people:

Mike Brown's bloodied and lifeless body was left on a hot Missouri street for 4.5 hours; the world bore witness to video clips of Eric Garner uttering his final words, "I can't breathe!", as a police officer choked him to death. Read More 

The first LGBT Shelter opened in Tirana, Albania

The first residential shelter for LGBTI who are left homeless, suffer domestic violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, or live in a non safe environment was open in Tirana, marking a milestone for the human rights movement in Albania. Through this temporary housing, beneficiaries will be offered different services including life skills training, vocational training opportunities and psycho-social support. Read More

Protesters Kiss-In At Madrid Burger King After Gay Couple Is Kicked Out

Over 100 people participated in a gay kiss-in at a Burger King franchise in Spain after a same-sex couple was reportedly kicked out of the restaurant for kissing. A security guard had asked two gay men, ages 18 and 19, to leave the Burger King in Madrid's Plaza de los Cubos last month after a patron who was eating there with his kids complained about them kissing, according to El Pais.

“He said to us that we couldn’t do things like that. That there were children around," one of the men told the publication, adding that the pair ultimately left the restaurant because they did not want to cause trouble. Arcópoli, a Madrid-based LGBT rights group, organized the event.  Read More

South Korean LGBT Activists Declare Victory After Seoul Mayor Agrees To Address Discrimination

The mayor of Seoul, South Korea, has apologized for failing to proclaim a new civil rights charter that includes LGBT protections, and agreed to establish a panel to discuss ways to end discrimination, according to a coalition of activist groups. The LGBT coalition, called Rainbow Action, decided to end a six-day sit-in at Seoul City Hall after meeting with Mayor Park Won-soon last week. The sit-in began when Won-soon and the Seoul Municipal Government declined to proclaim the charter on World Human Rights Day as originally scheduled, saying the LGBT protections had caused "social conflict." Read More 

Cuba’s Gay Rights Evolution

Mariela Castro, the daughter of the current president, Raúl Castro, has led the charge on legislative and societal changes that have given rise to an increasingly visible and empowered community. In the process, she has carved out a rare space for civil society in an authoritarian country where grass-roots movements rarely succeed. Some Western diplomats in Havana have seen the progress on gay rights as a potential blueprint for expansion of other personal freedoms in one of the most oppressed societies on earth. Read More

Transgender and transsexual policy launched by The FA Read

The FA has launched a first-of-its-kind policy on transgender and transsexual people playing football – as it continues its drive to make the game open to everyone.

On Tuesday Wembley Stadium connected by EE plays host to a LGB&T-focused workshop where the new guidelines will be discussed.

Any transsexual or transgender person wishing to play in their affirmed gender can seek to do so by contacting The FA to obtain clearance. Read more

Rights and repercussions: The paradox of LGBT life in Georgia

Former Russian republic makes progress on paper as discrimination continues. “It is becoming a dangerous trend in Georgia to condone and leave unpunished the acts of violence against religious and sexual minorities if they are perpetrated by the Orthodox religious clergy or their followers.

It is simply unacceptable for the authorities to continue to allow attacks in the name of religion or on the basis of anyone’s real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia program director at Amnesty International, in the aftermath of the chaos. Read More

Polish Gay Rights Activist Becomes Poland's First Openly Gay Mayor

Robert Biedron already made history once in Poland by becoming the first openly gay lawmaker in parliament in 2011. On Monday, he became the country's first openly gay mayor.

His successes are a marker of how quickly this deeply conservative and Catholic country has changed in the decade since it joined the European Union. Back then, in 2004, gay rights marches were still being banned and homosexuality was treated as a huge taboo. Since then a growing acceptance of gays and lesbians has arrived hand-in-hand with a flourishing economy.  Read More

Fire chief suspended after distributing his anti-gay religious book

Atlanta Fire Rescue Department Chief Kelvin Cochran started a month-long suspension without pay after employees complained about the content of his self-published religious book. Among other things, the book calls “homosexuality” and “lesbianism” a “sexual perversion” morally equivalent to “pederasty” and “bestiality.” Read More