World
Out in the World: LGBTQ+ news from Europe & Asia
LGBTQ+ stories from around the globe including the UN, Russia, Latvia, France, Poland, the EU, & Indonesia focusing on events that matter
UNITED NATIONS
GENEVA, Switzerland – In its review of the United States’ record on civil and political rights released earlier this month, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) condemned a flood of discriminatory state legislation restricting the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
The summary of the UN’s Human Rights Committee was first reported on by Human Rights Watch.
The United States ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1992. Every four years, the HRC reviews laws and policies in countries that have ratified the treaty to evaluate where they are in compliance with the treaty and where they fall short. The review of the US was postponed during the Covid-19 pandemic, making this the first review of the US in nine years.
Among the worrying US laws are those restricting access to gender-affirming care and prohibiting transgender children from participating in school sports or using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. Also concerning are laws banning books as well as prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity, LGBT people, and their families in schools.
In its concluding observations, the committee expressed concern about laws limiting transgender people’s access to healthcare, athletics, and public accommodations, and restricting discussions of race, slavery, sexual orientation, and gender identity in schools. It underscored the prevalence of discrimination against LGBT people in the US, including in housing, employment, correctional facilities, and other domains.
The committee also condemned derogatory speech aimed at LGBT people, including from public officials, and violence against LGBT people and members of other minority groups.
RUSSIA
MOSCOW, Russia – TNT Music, which is owned by parent company Fonbet- the largest sports betting company operating in Russia and Kazakhstan, altered a video of the South Korean K-Pop boy band Seventeen’s hit song “God of Music” that showed a rainbow.
TNT Music transformed the rainbow featured in the original video into a gray cloud.
According to the English-language Russian news outlet the Moscow Times, TNT Music appears to have erred on the side of caution after a Moscow court fined its owner Fonbet TV 1 million rubles ($10,800) in July for violating the country’s draconian “LGBT propaganda law” when it aired Finnish singer Alma’s music video for the song “Summer Really Hurt Us.”
In a March 2019 article in British publication Gay Times, Alma confirmed she is a lesbian and in a relationship with Finnish poet and human rights activist Natalia Kallio.
The channel faces another fine of up to 16 million rubles ($174,000 USD) on four administrative charges of spreading “LGBT propaganda” among minors, according to Russian state media.
The Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as Roskomnadzor, has been directed to ban any websites that contain information about LGBTQ+ identities or anything that could be construed as promoting LGBTQ+ related materials.
According to the Moscow Times, there was fear that the rainbow and an all-boy band would provoke Roskomnadzor into fining TNT again.
LATVIA
RIGA, Latvia – In a vote November 9, The Saeima [unicameral parliament] voted to allow same-sex couples to establish civil unions-partnerships, which gives same-sex couples in this Baltic state legal recognition, but fewer rights than married couples.
The country’s Prime Minister, Evika Siliņa, issued a statement applauding the actions by lawmakers.
“This is a good day. Society has taken an important step in creating a modern and humane Latvia. With the Saeima supporting the introduction of registered partnerships, the state has fulfilled its legal obligations and given a clear signal that all families are important. Thanks for the intelligent vote!” the prime minister said.
The action by Latvia’s Saeima comes five months after lawmakers in Estonia approved a law that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples in that Baltic nation. However, while the new law allows hospital visiting rights, as well as some tax and social security benefits, the law falls short in other critical areas say LGBTQ+ rights campaigners.
Speaking with Reuters, Kaspars Zalitis, a gay rights activist, noted same-sex couples would still not be able to adopt children and would continue to face inheritance issues.
“This is a great beginning… Latvia is not one of the six countries in the European Union that have no recognition for same-sex couples,” he said.
EUROPEAN UNION
BRUSSELS, Belgium – A new global call for civil society organizations (CSO) projects with a projected total budget of 36 million euros under a expanded program on Human Rights and Democracy (part of NDICI/Neighborhood, Development, and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe) was announced on Nov. 7.
The present Global Call for Proposals targets:
- “Fair, Accountable and Inclusive Trade and Business – Flagship Action on Business and Human Rights, Forced and Child Labour and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights;”
- Global, regional or multi-country projects targeting high-risk sectors, value or supply chains that will contribute to the accompanying measures of the upcoming Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive and Forced Labor Regulation.
- CSOs will be better equipped to monitor, report, access remedies, partner with the private sector and/or social partners and advocate for the implementation of relevant EU and international human rights principles and legislations. Projects financed will contribute to the sustainable implementation of the Global Gateway Strategy by reinforcing relevant social and environmental standards.
- “Global actions on human dignity, non-discrimination and inclusion;”
- Projects will promote equality, inclusion and respect for LGBTQ+ persons at global, regional or national level and more specifically in Sub-Saharan countries where consensual same-sex sexual acts between adults in private are criminalised. Priorities will include advocacy for anti-discrimination laws, support to social inclusion and empowerment of CSOs working on LGBTIQ rights.
- Promote Freedom of Religion or Belief, and prevent and combat discrimination, intolerance and violence on grounds of religion or belief through regional projects. Under this lot, intersectionality between freedom of religion or belief and gender issues is encouraged.
Projects will be global, multi-country or regional. The lead applicants should be international organizations given the size of the grants and geographic scope, with at least one local co-applicant and mandatory financial support to local organizations.
FRANCE
PARIS, France – Attorneys representing Groupe des familles LGBT filed a criminal complaint against Seattle-based Amazon Prime for replay of the Sept. 24 football [soccer] match between teams Paris Saint-Germain & Marseille, where homophobic chants were clearly audible.
According to the French English-language news outlet Le Monde, During the match between the bitter rivals, thousands of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) supporters chanted homophobic slogans referring to their opponents. An Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter covering the game said the chanting in PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium went on for around 10 minutes.
Four PSG players, including Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembélé, were given suspended one-match bans for also chanting insults directed at the Marseille players while celebrating their 4-0 thrashing of their opponents.
In the legal complaint filed, Groupe des familles LGBT noted that under the French criminal code, that while broadcasters are not responsible for offensive content that may occur during a live match they are liable for content offered on replay.
The complaint says that during the replay, “you can hear several chants from fans coming from the stands, some of which are distinctly homophobic in nature.” Two other LGBT rights groups, Mousse and Stop Homophobie, have said they will also join the complaint against Amazon for public insults and incitement to hatred or violence against people based on their sexual orientation.
An Amazon spokesperson told AFP the match was no longer available on Prime Video at the time the complaint was announced and that, as a broadcaster, it did not condone the comments or behavior of certain fans.
“Homophobia has no place in sport or in society, and we condemn it, like all forms of discrimination, in the strongest possible terms”, the spokesperson said.
POLAND
ŚWIDNIK, Poland – In March of 2019, local elected officials of the Polish conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party passed a regional government resolution backed by Radosław Brzózka, who led a vocal and vitriolic anti-LGBTQ+ campaign. Brzózka, is now chief of staff to the country’s education minister Przemysław Czarnek, who labeled LGBTQ+ people, “deviants who do not have the same rights as normal people.”
Earlier this month after the threat of pulling 3.6 million Polish zloty (€810,000 or $867,955 USD) in funding by the European Union the local council rescinded the 2019 resolution.
According to the Polish investigative journalism media outlet OKO.press, in Świdnik, Jakub Osina, a local elected official announced that the resolution has now been repealed and replaced with one that makes no mention of LGBT issues but pledges to protect “the moral development of the young generation and the institution of the family based on Christian values.”
In September of 2021, the executive branch of the European Union, the European Commission, sent letters out to the governors of five of Poland’s voivodeships, (provinces) warning that pandemic relief funds totaling over 126 million euros ($150 million) will be withheld over anti-LGBTQ measures passed in their jurisdictions.
Poland has seen a resurgence in the past three years of rightwing religious ultra-conservative groups backed by nationalistic extremists in this heavily Catholic country of 38 million, which have led to passage of measures to restrict pride parades and other LGBTQ+-friendly events from taking place.
Proponents of these measures claim the necessity of the provinces to be “free of LGBTQ ideology” saying this is mandated by average Poles as well as by the anti-LGBTQ+ views of the Catholic Church.
ILGA-Europe, a Brussels based advocacy group promoting the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people, at the European level, in a statement it sent to the Blade in June of 2021 after the EU letter was issued, noted that both Hungary and Poland, another EU country in which lawmakers have sought to restrict LGBTQ rights in recent years are at odds with the EU position on LGBTQ+ people.
“For quite some time now, we’ve been informing EU ministers about systematic breaches of EU law committed by Hungary and Poland, which impact on LGBTI rights and the lives of LGBTI people,” says ILGA-Europe.
The threat of losing funds led many Polish local authorities to begin repealing the resolutions local non-profit Polish news outlet Notes from Poland reported.
INDONESIA
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Roughly a hundred conservative Muslims took to the streets of the Indonesian capital city protesting the upcoming concert by British rock band Coldplay on Nov. 15 at Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno stadium.
The protestors are angered by the group’s support of the LGBTQ+ community. Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin has been known to wear rainbow colors and wave gay pride flags during performances.
The Asian leg of Coldplay’s “Music Of The Spheres World Tour” has been a sell out in every major city on the tour. The AP reported that more than 70,000 tickets were scooped up in less than two hours when sales opened in May as Jakarta is one of the band’s top streaming hubs with 1.6 million fans in the city.
The Associated Press reported that demonstration was organized by Islamist group the 212 Brotherhood Alumni, whose name refers to the Dec. 2, 2016 mass protests against the polarizing Christian politician Basuki Tjahaja Purnama. The crowd chanted “God is Great” and “We reject Coldplay” as they marched to the heavily guarded British Embassy in Jakarta.
“We are here for the sake of guarding our young generation in this country from efforts that could corrupt youth,” Hery Susanto, a protester from West Java’s city of Bandung told AP journalist Fadlan Syam. “As Indonesian Muslims, we have to reject the Coldplay concert.”
Novel Bamukmin, a protest coordinator, gave a speech criticizing the government for allowing the band to hold a concert in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country. He said if the concert was not canceled, thousands of protesters would confront the band on its way from the airport.
“Coldplay has long been a strong supporter of LGBT and its lead singer is an atheist,” Bamukmin said, standing on the top of a truck, “We must reject their campaign, their concert here.”
Security concerns in this deeply conservative nation have previously caused other Western musical artists who support the LGBTQ community to cancel their scheduled shows.
Lady Gaga canceled her sold-out show in Indonesia in 2012 over security concerns after Muslim hard-liners threatened violence if the pop star went ahead with her “Born This Way Ball” concert.
Additional reporting by Human Rights Watch, The Moscow Times, Agence France-Presse, Le Monde, Reuters, OKO.press, The Associated Press, and the BBC.
World
Top 10 international LGBTQ news stories of 2024
Pope reaches out, Oct. 7 aftermath, Trump rattles activists
The extension of marriage rights to same-sex couples, anti-LGBTQ crackdowns, war, and elections are among the issues that made headlines around the world over the past year. Here are the top international stories of 2024.
#10 African countries move to criminalize homosexuality
Ghanaian MPs on Feb. 28 passed the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill that would, among other things, criminalize allyship. Outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo did not immediately sign the bill, citing the outcome of a Supreme Court case.
Burkina Faso Justice Minister Edasso Bayala on July 10 announced consensual same-sex sexual acts are illegal in the country. Mali’s Transitional National Council on Oct. 31 adopted a draft penal code that would criminalize acts of homosexuality.
The Dominica High Court of Justice, on the other hand, on April 22 struck down provisions of a law that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations in the Caribbean nation. A judge on St. Vincent and the Grenadines’s top court on Feb. 16 dismissed two cases that challenged the country’s sodomy laws.
#9 More countries extend marriage rights to same-sex couples
Greece, Liechtenstein, and Estonia in 2024 extended marriage rights to same-sex couples.
Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Sept. 24 approved a marriage equality bill that lawmakers passed earlier in the year. It is slated to take effect on Jan. 22, 2025. Liechtenstein’s marriage equality law will take effect on New Year’s Day.
The Dutch Supreme Court on July 12 ruled Aruba and Curaçao must extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. Czech lawmakers in February rejected a marriage equality bill.
#8 Gay, lesbian lawmakers make headlines
Steve Letsike, a lesbian who founded Access Chapter 2, a South African advocacy group, on May 29 won a seat in the South African National Assembly. President Cyril Ramaphosa later named her to his Cabinet.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Jan. 9 named Gabriel Attal as the country’s first openly gay prime minister. Attal resigned in July after Macron’s party lost its overall majority in the National Assembly.
Then-Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on March 20 announced his resignation. He became the country’s first gay prime minister in 2017.
#7 Algerian boxer Imane Khelif faces questions over gender at Olympics
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif faced questions over her gender during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Khelif won the Olympic gold medal in the women’s 66-kilogram competition on Aug. 10. She was born female and does not identify as transgender or intersex. The International Olympic Committee said Khelif “is not a man fighting a woman.”
Khelif after the games filed a criminal complaint against JK Rowling and Elon Musk with French authorities. The lawsuit claims the two engaged in “acts of aggravated cyber harassment.”
#6 Mexico bans ‘conversion therapy’
The Mexican Senate on April 25 overwhelmingly approved a bill that bans so-called conversion therapy in the country.
The measure passed by a 77-4 vote margin with 15 abstentions. The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Mexico’s congress, in March approved the bill that, among other things, would subject conversion therapy practitioners to between two and six years in prison and fines.
Canada, Brazil, Belgium, Germany, France, and New Zealand are among the countries that ban conversion therapy.
#5 Germany’s Self-Determination Act takes effect
A German law that simplifies the process for transgender or nonbinary people to legally change their name and gender in official documents took effect on Nov. 1.
The country’s Cabinet on Aug. 21 approved the Gender Self-Determination Act.
#4 Russia’s anti-LGBTQ crackdown continues
The Russian government in 2024 continued its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
President Vladimir Putin last month signed a bill that bans the adoption of Russian children in countries where gender transition is legal.
Media reports indicate authorities on Nov. 30 raided three Moscow nightclubs that have hosted LGBTQ-specific events. Authorities in October raided two bars in the Russian capital and in Yekaterinburg. The raids coincided with National Coming Out Day events.
#3 Pope Francis continues outreach to LGBTQ Catholics
Pope Francis in 2024 continued his outreach to LGBTQ Catholics.
The pontiff on Oct. 12 met with a group of transgender and intersex Catholics and LGBTQ allies at the Vatican. Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founders of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based organization that advocates on behalf of LGBTQ Catholics, arranged the meeting that took place at Casa Santa Marta, Francis’s residence in Vatican City.
Clare Byarugaba of Chapter Four Uganda and Rightify Ghana Director Ebenezer Peegah met with Francis at the Vatican on Aug. 14.
Francis earlier this year during an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell said priests can bless gays and lesbians who are couples, as opposed to their unions. Francis in a declaration the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released on March 25 condemned gender-affirming surgeries and “gender theory.”
#2 LGBTQ Israelis, Palestinians grapple with Oct. 7 aftermath
The Washington Blade traveled to Israel in October to cover the first anniversary of Oct. 7 and how LGBTQ Israelis and Palestinians continue to grapple with its aftermath.
Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance, Pride House of Be’er Sheva, the Aguda, the Israeli Transgender Association, and other Israeli advocacy groups continue to offer access to mental health services, housing programs, and other needs to those directly impacted by Oct. 7.
The Blade interviewed Omer Ohana, who successfully lobbied Israeli lawmakers to amend the country’s Bereaved Families Law to recognize LGBTQ widows and widowers of fallen Israel Defense Forces soldiers. Hamas militants on Oct. 8, 2023, killed his fiancé, IDF Maj. Sagi Golan, in a kibbutz near the Gaza Strip.
LGBTQ aid workers who have worked with queer Palestinians in Gaza over the last year also spoke with the Blade.
“It became very apparent to me that everything we did was like pouring water into the desert,” said Rain Doe Dubilewski of Safebow, which helped more than 300 people evacuate Gaza. “There was nothing we can offer that is lasting or stable for the Palestinian people.”
#1 Trump re-election sparks concern among LGBTQ activists around the world
President-elect Donald Trump’s election in November sparked concern among LGBTQ activists and advocacy groups around the world.
“I worry that Trump’s win means no protection for global LGBTQ+ human rights,” Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha told the Blade.
Esteban Paulón, a long-time LGBTQ activist in Argentina who won a seat in the country’s Congress in 2022, echoed Mugisha. Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin in an email to their group’s supporters after the election said the results “have raised deep concerns for many of us who care about fundamental human rights, freedoms, and democratic norms for LGBTIQ people and everyone else around the world.”
Trump during his first administration tapped then-U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to lead an initiative that encouraged countries to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Activists with whom the Blade has previously spoken questioned whether this effort had any tangible results.
World
Out in the World: LGBTQ+ news from Asia, Europe, and Canada
Japanese prime minister backs marriage equality without legislative commitment
JAPAN
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told parliament that he believed legalizing same-sex marriage would make the country happier, although he has no plan to bring forward legislation to make that happen.
The remarks, which were echoed days later by Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki, have buoyed the spirits of equal marriage campaigners in the country, despite the government’s lack of commitment to progress on the issue.
“Compared to other prime ministers, there is a big difference in Ishiba’s tone, his direction and his outlook and we are clearly getting to the stage for Japan to take the next step in the right direction,” marriage equality activist Alexander Dmitrenko told This Week in Asia.
Equal marriage advocates have been waging a long battle through both the courts and the political process to win same-sex marriage rights.
Earlier this month, a third appellate court ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage violates the Japanese constitution, finding for the first time that the ban violates the constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness. Five out of six lower courts that have heard cases seeking equal marriage have also ruled for equality.
Elections in October yielded a parliament that has a majority in favor of equal marriage, but is still dominated by the largely conservative Liberal Democratic Party, which has formed a minority government.
While Ishiba says he will not bring forward same-sex marriage legislation and is instead following the progress of cases through the courts for now, it is possible that other parties may try to force the issue by introducing their own bills.
“The Fukuoka court has clearly said that the Diet must legally permit same-sex marriages in the same way that marriages between people of opposite sexes are recognized,” Takeharu Kato, one of the lawyers in the equal marriage case that was heard in Sapporo.
“We intend to continue to put strong pressure on the government to realize these changes because we are confident that we are nearly there.”
PHILIPPINES
Government workers in the Philippines now have the right to dress according to their gender identity, under a new official dress code issued by the Civil Service Commission issued this month.
The Philippines’ civil service is known for its strict dress code for government workers. Workers are required to wear specific locally inspired outfits on Mondays and have been required to wear gender-conforming smart casual office attire on other workdays.
Under the revised dress code, workers are freer to dress according to their gender identity, and female workers are freer to wear either skirts or pants. The new code also relaxes standards relating to tattoos, facial piercings, and hairstyles, as long as they don’t interfere with the employee’s work or with safety standards.
Gender-inclusive dress codes have become a much-debated topic in the Philippines in recent years, particularly in schools and universities, where uniforms and dress codes are often strongly enforced. A growing number of institutions have adopted gender-neutral dress codes and uniforms, while the national government says it is studying creating a standard for gender-inclusive dress codes to promote equality.
In another positive development for LGBTQ+ Filipinos, Globe Telecom, one of the country’s largest mobile providers, has announced it will provide spousal benefits to same-sex partners of its employees.
Same-sex couples have no legal recognition in the Philippines. A civil union bill has been proposed several times in Congress, but has never advanced.
LITHUANIA
Lithuania’s constitutional court struck down an “LGBT Propaganda” law this week, in a ruling that ought to bring relief to queer activists, publishers, and media outlets.
The “Law on the Protection of Minors,” which was passed in 2009, banned the promotion of sexual relations or non-traditional conceptions of marriage or family, and drew sharp criticism from queer and civil liberties groups across Europe. It has been used in attempts to ban Vilnius Pride and led broadcasters to restrict advertisements for queer events and causes.
In one landmark case, government censors used the law to restrict distribution of books of children’s stories due to its depiction of two same-sex couples. That decision was eventually appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which found last year that the law violated the European Convention’s guarantee of free expression.
Following the ruling, the previous government tried to repeal the law, but after its bill was voted down by parliament, the government filed this legal challenge to the constitutional court.
“Finally, we are normalizing the portrayal and life of our community, and I believe that LGBT youth will live a freer life,” Vladimiras Simonko, head of the Lithuanian Gay League, told LRT.
The court ruled that the law’s anti-LGBTQ+ sections were unconstitutional restrictions on free expression, and were also too vague, as they did not define what kinds of information disparage family values.
The court also found that the implications of the law also unfairly narrow the definition of family found in the constitution.
Same-sex couples are not legally recognized in Lithuania. A bill to recognize civil unions was introduced by the previous government but awaits a final vote before it can be brought into law. The current government has not made passing the bill a priority.
CANADA
The province of New Brunswick has finally repealed regulations that required schools to notify parents and receive their consent if a student wishes to use a different name or pronoun in class, following a change in government in October.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which had brought a legal challenge against the original policy, hailed the changes.
“We will discuss with our legal counsel and affected community groups, but expect that these changes will resolve legal issues in our constitutional challenge,” CCLA Director of Equality Programs Harini Sivalingam told CBC.
The controversial regulation, known as Policy 713, was brought forward by the province’s previous Progressive Conservative Party government under former Premier Blaine Higgs. The regulation, which was introduced with limited consultation, led several of Higgs’ Cabinet ministers to resign in protest, and led the charge for provincial conservatives to campaign on anti-trans policies across Canada.
That strategy tended not to work for conservatives. In October, Higgs’s government was voted out in favor of the New Brunswick Liberals under Susan Holt, who had pledged to rescind the policy and ensure schools are welcoming for all LGBTQ+ students.
Similarly, Manitoba’s PC government was voted out in May after pledging to introduce a similar policy, and the British Columbia Conservatives lost their bid to replace the province’s NDP government in elections in October.
Still, Saskatchewan’s conservative government won reelection in October after introducing a similar policy earlier in the year, and Alberta’s conservative government just passed some of the most sweeping anti-transgender legislation Canada has seen in quite some time, including bans on classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ issues and participation in gender-appropriate sports.
Alberta’s anti-trans laws have already been challenged in court, but Saskatchewan’s government used a constitutional provision to prevent any legal challenges to its anti-trans laws for five years after an initial loss in court.
But conservative governments in Ontario and Quebec, which had initially announced plans to introduce parent notification and consent rules for trans students, have yet to bring forward such policies or regulations.
India
Harish Iyer continues his fight for LGBTQ+ rights in India
Long-time activist challenged sodomy law, continues marriage equality fight
The Indian LGBTQ+ community has long grappled with systemic neglect and societal prejudices, but significant victories like the striking down of Section 377 in 2018 and progressive Supreme Court verdicts have sparked hope. The fight for equality nevertheless remains arduous.
Amid this struggle, Harish Iyer has stood out as a beacon of courage, leading the movement with unwavering commitment and inspiring others to unapologetically embrace their identities.
Iyer, with a slight smile, noted to the Washington Blade during a recent interview that he was born into privilege. As the first male child in a patriarchal society, he explained this status came with inherent advantages.
Despite being born into privilege, Iyer’s early life was marked by profound challenges.
At just 7-years-old, he endured and survived a traumatic experience of rape, an event that deeply impacted his childhood. Iyer said he was gang raped at 11, four years after a relative sexually assaulted him. Iyer told the Blade these assaults impacted his confidence.
“Children go through sexual assault but they do not understand what is happening with them,” said Iyer. “Because they are children, they do not know its language. We do not call a penis a penis, we do not call a vagina, a vagina. I am 45 years of age, and I am talking about 1987 or 1988. People had very little understanding. When you do not have language to say what it is, you don’t say about it.”
Iyer said it is easier for girls to talk about sexual assault compared to boys, and as a result it was harder for him to speak out. He also struggled living in two worlds: One of morals and fairy tales, and another filled with hardships that he tried to mask.
“I opened up about my abuse at 18, after 11 years of continuous trauma,” said Iyer. “That was a different battle altogether. It was 1998-1999, a time with little awareness about child sexual abuse. When I told my parents, my mother understood that a child could be abused. My father, however, was not supportive and didn’t understand what was happening.”
Iyer shared how these events shaped his thoughts, values, and empathy for others facing similar challenges.
At 22, he began to understand his sexuality and came out to his parents as gay. At 40, he realized his gender could be fluid and has identified as gender-fluid since then.
Iyer shared his struggles in finding a job as an openly gay man in India’s conservative society. He now works at Axis Bank, one of India’s largest private banks. Iyer said joining the bank was a unique journey — he did not have any other job opportunities at the time.
“I applied for every job on LinkedIn,” said Iyer. “Axis Bank responded. I thought I’d be unhappy there, but I needed the money, so I applied. The process took a long time, but after several interviews, I was selected. During the interviews, I realized I could be myself. People saw me for who I truly am, and that worked wonders.”
“A week after joining, I started pushing boundaries,” he added. “The chief human resources officer called me to her office. After our conversation, she held me close and said, ‘You should not have to fit in — be who you are.’ Within six months, we created a charter with policies for the LGBTQ community. It’s called ‘Come As You Are.'”
Iyer told the Blade that Chief Human Resources Officer Rajkamal Vempati was upset with him.
She felt he was free to express himself at the company, but wasn’t doing so. Iyer said Axis Bank has a dress code policy for employees — one for men, one for women, and one for LGBTQ+ employees that allows them to choose the gender in which they want to present themselves.
He said he never expected to see such inclusion in a private sector bank in India before joining Axis Bank.
Iyer challenged sodomy law, continues to fight for marriage equality
On the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling that struck down Section 377, the provision of the country’s penal code that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations, Axis Bank in 2021 introduced policies and a charter for the LGBTQ+ community. Iyer, a long-time LGBTQ+ activist, continues to fight for equal rights.
He said Axis Bank became the first private bank in India to specifically welcome customers from the LGBTQ+ community.
“I was invited by the Social Justice Ministry for a consultation on LGBTQ+ rights,” noted Iyer. “During the discussion, it was proposed that all banks in India should open their doors to the LGBTQ+ community.”
Iyer was one of those who challenging Section 377.
The Supreme Court struck down the colonial-era law on Sept. 6, 2018. Iyer was also a plaintiff in Supriyo v. Union of India, which sought legal recognition of same-sex marriages in India. The Supreme court heard this case in 2023.
“Culture is an evolving phenomenon,” said Iyer. “It is not static. As culture evolves, we as people need to evolve. I would like to believe that my organization is always evolving and we will get better.”
Iyer told the Blade he doesn’t have a specific game plan for the future. As one of Axis Bank’s prominent figures, however, he feels LGBTQ+ people are equal citizens in India.
Nepal
Two transgender women make history in Nepal
Honey Maharjan and Mouni Maharjan ran in local elections last month
November 22 was a milestone for Nepal’s LGBTQ+ community.
Two transgender candidates, Honey Maharjan and Mouni Maharjan, members of the People’s Socialist Party-Nepal, ran in local elections. It marked the first time that trans people ran for office in the country.
Honey Maharjan ran for mayor in Kirtipur, a municipality outside Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital. Mouni Maharjan ran to become a ward chair in the same municipality. Although both candidates lost the election; experts, and activists consider their participation a significant milestone for LGBTQ+ representation in Nepalese politics.
Honey Maharjan, 44, is a former tour guide who faced discrimination because she is a trans woman. Maharjan nevertheless became a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.
Mouni Maharjan, 29, advocates for local infrastructure and LGBTQ+-inclusive education. Her campaign focused on introducing an LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum in schools and creating employment opportunities for marginalized groups.
The Supreme Court in 2007 ruled the government must legally recognize a third gender. Six years later, in 2013, Nepal hosted its first-ever Pride parade, signaling growing visibility and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. The country’s new constitution, which ensures equal rights for LGBTQ+ people and all other Nepalese citizens, took effect in 2015.
The Supreme Court in 2018 issued a ruling that expanded protections for LGBTQ+ people in marriage, inheritance, social recognition, and other areas.
Sunil Babu Pant, founder of the Blue Diamond Society, a Nepalese LGBTQ+ rights group, in 2017 became the first openly gay person elected to parliament. Nepal since 2020 has allowed trans people to legally change their gender in official documents without surgery.
A study that UN Women and the Blue Diamond Society published in June 2023 found 81 percent of LGBTQ+ people in Nepal have faced physical violence, discrimination, and verbal abuse. Traditional societal norms and a lack of awareness make this situation worse.
Nepal is seen as a leader in LGBTQ+ rights in South Asia in terms of legal protections and a debate over marriage rights for same-sex couples. A large gap remains between policies and their implementation.
Political representation of LGBTQ+ people remains low.
Pant left office in 2023. There are currently no openly LGBTQ+ people in parliament or in the country’s policy-making policies.
During their campaign in Kirtipur, Honey Maharjan and Mouni Maharjan outlined key promises. They pledged to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion, especially in politics, and vowed to fight discrimination in education, healthcare, and employment.
Their campaigns also focused on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for marginalized groups. Honey Maharjan and Mouni Maharjan promised to raise awareness about LGBTQ+ issues to reduce stigma and discrimination in society.
Honey Maharjan told the Washington Blade said she was happy about running for office, and noted her family and friends supported her.
“Since Kirtipur has a large LGBTQ community still they did not come out to support me,” she said. “Nepal has other political parties like Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) and many others, we did not had budget like theirs, so it was also our struggle. It is also challenging for us as people are not supporting us for what we are trying to do. They are supporting only prominent political parties in Nepal. So, these are our challenges as a transgender political candidate in Nepal.”
Honey Maharjan told the Blade she would have worked to provide education, health care, and better roads if she were elected.
“I did not win, so I am a little sad this time,” she said. “But I am happy that the media has covered my campaign, so I am grateful to all journalists.”
“Every community member needs to be inspired because we are not alone and we need to think that we have a large number of community members,” added Honey Maharjan. “If we do not come out, there will be difficulty, it’s our right.”
She also dismissed the idea that many trans people are sex workers.
“Many people are working in different sectors. I would request everyone to come out and support the transgender candidate in the next election,” said Honey Maharjan. “Elections are important because it creates awareness about the candidate otherwise everyone would think that transgender community is engaged in sex work only that is not true.”
Ghana
Ghanaian Supreme Court dismisses challenges to anti-LGBTQ+ bill
Measure would further criminalize homosexuality, penalize allyship
The Ghanaian Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed challenges to a bill that would further criminalize LGBTQ+ people and penalize allyship.
Lawmakers on Feb. 28 approved the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill. Two lawyers, Amanda Odoi and Richard Sky, challenged it.
Outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo had previously said he would not sign the bill into law until the Supreme Court issued its ruling. His successor, President-elect John Dramani Mahama, will take office on Jan. 7.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Dec. 10 honored Ebenezer Peegah, executive director of Rightify Ghana, a Ghanaian LGBTQ+ advocacy group, and six other human rights activists from around the world during a ceremony at the State Department.
Blinken noted the pending Supreme Court ruling — and discrimination and violence that LGBTQ+ Ghanaians continue to face — before he presented Peegah with the Secretary of State’s Human Rights Defender Award.
“In Ghana, vigilante groups use social media platforms to organize mobs to attack LGBTQI+ people, as well as to entrap, to blackmail, to harass them,” said Blinken. “As these attacks increase, Ghana’s Supreme Court is considering legislation that would criminalize people for identifying as LGBTQI+, as well as threaten Ghanaians’ constitutionally protected freedoms of speech, press, and assembly.”
Kenya
Man convicted of killing Kenyan activist, sentenced to 50 years in prison
Edwin Chiloba’s partner murdered him in Eldoret on New Year’s Day in 2023
Kenyan queer rights organizations have welcomed the sentencing of a freelance photographer to 50 years in prison for murdering prominent LGBTQ+ activist and fashion designer Edwin Chiloba nearly two years ago
Justice Reuben Nyakundi on Monday sentenced Jacktone Odhiambo, 25, Chiloba’s partner, after the Eldoret High Court in western Kenya two weeks ago found him guilty of murder.
The 2-year trial, which comprised evidence from 23 witnesses and DNA tests the prosecution presented that placed him at the scene of the crime on New Year’s Day in 2023. Chiloba had disappeared and his body was found stuffed in a metal box that had been dumped along the side of a road.
The court was told that Chiloba and Odhiambo were last seen together at Tamasha Club in Eldoret on the night of Dec. 31, 2022, only for the deceased’s decomposing body to be discovered three days later. His brutal murder sent shockwaves through the LGBTQ+ community in Kenya and attracted both local and international condemnation and calls for the conviction of perpetrators.
Nyakundi in his sentencing ruling noted the prosecution provided evidence beyond a reasonable doubt and described the brutal murder of Chiloba, 25, as “premeditated, malicious, and aggravated homicide.”
“The footprints of the murder are all traceable to the accused (Odhiambo),” Nyakundi said.
The judge noted Odhiambo showed no respect for the sanctity of life and Chiloba’s brutal killing left a void that cannot be filled.
Odhiambo became the prime suspect after three other accused people were freed due to a lack of evidence linking them to the murder.
Johansen Oduor, the government pathologist who conducted Chiloba’s autopsy, told the court during the trial that the victim had been smothered to death using six pairs of socks stuffed into his mouth and his face was wrapped with a piece of denim.
Despite overwhelming evidence linking Odhiambo to the murder, the court noted the accused did not show any remorse for his actions during the trial and described him as a “vengeful person.” This lack of remorse influenced the severity of his 50-year sentence, even though he fell and wailed after the judge sentenced him.
“The accused deserves the death penalty, which is not implemented in Kenya,” Nyakundi ruled.
Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions acknowledged the judge’s verdict, noting the death sentence “would have been unnecessary” because the country has not executed anyone on death row since 1987. The death penalty, however, has not been abolished from Kenyan criminal laws for offenses like murder, robbery with violence, treason, mutiny, and other crimes.
There have been calls by human rights groups, such as the International Commission for Jurists-Kenya, for Kenya to abolish the death penalty. A bill in parliament would repeal the death penalty.
Additionally, Nyakundi could not sentence Odhiambo to life in prison, which the ODPP also noted as “undesirable” because of the uncertainty surrounding offences that constitute a death sentence.
The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in response to Odhiambo’s sentencing said it marks a significant step toward justice for Chiloba, his family, and all LGBTQ+ people in Kenya, Africa, and around the world.
“This verdict marks a long-awaited moment of accountability, offering a glimmer of justice for Edwin and a reminder that no act of violence against any LGBTQ+ resident of Kenya will go unchallenged or unchecked,” NGLHRC stated.
NGLHRC also remembered Chiloba as a fondly celebrated, vibrant young queer activist, and budding fashion model whose promising future was robbed from him. NGLHRC added his murder also sent a chilling message of fear and injustice to marginalized queer Kenyans.
“We continue to call on the Kenyan government, law enforcement agencies, and the judiciary to strengthen their commitment to addressing violence against LGBTQ+ residents of Kenya as espoused and guided by Resolution 275 of the African Charter on Human and People Rights,” NGLHRC stated.
The Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination, a local queer rights group, acknowledged the court’s 50-year sentence for Odhiambo “deemed appropriate for the gravity of the offense.” INEND also applauded NGLHRC and other queer organizations for “pursuing justice for our sibling Chiloba” in the corridors of justice without relenting.
The Vatican
LGBTQ+ pilgrimage to take place during Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee
Event not ‘sponsored or organized by’ the Vatican
A group of LGBTQ+ Christians in Italy has said the Vatican has approved its request to make a pilgrimage during the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee.
The National Catholic Register on Dec. 11 reported La Tenda di Gionata (Jonathan’s Tent) — an Italian Christian group that helps “LGBT people and their families feel welcome in their church” — asked members to “save the date” of Sept. 6, 2025, and invited “all associations and groups dedicated to supporting LGBT+ individuals and their families to join us as we officially cross the Holy Door of the Jubilee at St. Peter’s Basilica” at 3 p.m.
The National Catholic Register notes the pilgrims have also been invited to a Mass at the Jesuit Church of the Gesù that Msgr. Francesco Savino, vice president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, will celebrate.
Church Jubilees take place every 25 years.
Jubilee 2025 officially begins on Christmas Eve.
Jubilee spokesperson Agnese Palmucci confirmed to the National Catholic Register that La Tenda di Gionata’s proposed pilgrimage has been “included in the general calendar as a pilgrimage, along with all the other pilgrimages that other dioceses will make,” but noted it is “not a Jubilee event sponsored or organized by us.”
“It is a pilgrimage organized by this association which, like the other dioceses, bodies and associations, will make the pilgrimage as they wish,” said Palmucci.
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based LGBTQ+ Catholic organization, on Dec. 10 noted he traveled to Rome in 2000, the last Jubilee year, and spoke at the first WorldPride that took place that summer.
“One of the things I remember most about that time was the anger expressed by the Vatican and the pope himself that World Pride was taking place in Rome during the Jubilee year,” wrote DeBernardo on New Ways Ministry’s website. “Perhaps particularly galling to John Paul II was that the pride event was taking place in the first week of July, which was the same week that pilgrims from the pope’s native Poland were scheduled to flood the city. And indeed, everywhere you looked you saw people with bright red neckerchiefs, a symbol of Polish heritage.”
DeBenardo noted the “mood in” Rome “was incredibly tense.”
“Vatican anti-gay rhetoric had fueled anti-gay sentiment beyond the Catholic Church, and many right-wing Italian political groups were denouncing World Pride, which was to culminate in a march from the Porta San Paolo to the Colosseum,” he wrote. “Anti-gay messages were plastered all over the city buildings. One message in particular remains strong in my memory: ‘Gay al Colosseo? Sì, con i leoni.’ (Translation: ‘Gays at the Colosseum? Yes, with lions.’)”
DeBenardo wrote the inclusion of an LGBTQ+ pilgrimage during the 2025 Jubilee “touched my heart.”
“While 2025’s event may seem like a small step, when compared with how the Vatican reacted to the presence of gay people in Rome during 2000, we can see what a sea change has taken place in terms of responding to LGBTQ+ people,” he said.
The Vatican’s tone towards LGBTQ+ and intersex issues has softened since Pope Francis assumed the papacy in 2013.
Francis publicly backs civil unions for same-sex couples, and has described laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust.”
He met with two African LGBTQ activists — Clare Byarugaba of Chapter Four Uganda and Rightify Ghana Director Ebenezer Peegah — at the Vatican on Aug. 14. Sister Jeannine Gramick, one of the co-founders of New Ways Ministry, organized a meeting between Francis and a group of transgender and intersex Catholics and LGBTQ+ allies that took place at the pontiff’s official residence on Oct. 12.
Francis during a 2023 interview with an Argentine newspaper described gender ideology as “one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations” in the world because “it blurs differences and the value of men and women.” A declaration the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released in March with Francis’s approval condemned gender-affirming surgeries and “gender theory.”
World
Out in the World: LGBTQ+ news from Canada, Asia, and Europe
Another Japanese court has ruled the country’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional
CANADA
The mayor of Emo, Ontario, had his bank account garnished after he announced he would refuse to pay court-ordered damages of $5,000 to a local Pride organization.
The drama started in 2020 when the small town of 5,000 people about 1,000 miles northwest of Toronto on the border with Minnesota refused a request by Borderlands Pride to issue a proclamation declaring June Pride Month in the town and fly a rainbow flag for a week.
The town council voted down the request in an acrimonious debate in which now 76-year-old Mayor Harold McQuaker argued that flying the Pride flag was unfair because there’s no flag for “the other side.” Borderlands Pride then presented a petition asking the council to reconsider their request, but the council was unmoved.
Four years later, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal finally issued a ruling in the case, ordering the town to pay Borderlands Pride C$10,000 (approximately $7,000) and McQuaker to pay C$5,000 (approximately $3,500) and take the province’s “Human Rights 101” one-day course.
McQuaker later told reporters that he would refuse to pay the judgement against him. That gave Borderlands Pride the ability to get a court order for garnishment of his bank account for the fine.
“Sure, sex is great, but have you ever garnished your mayor’s bank account after he publicly refused to comply with a Tribunal’s order to pay damages?” Borderlands Pride posted on their Facebook account.
Emo Town Council has not yet announced if it will pay its portion of the judgment.
The case has drawn attention from right-wing and far-right news outlets around the world, many of which are working overtime to paint McQuaker as a mild-mannered great-grandfather who is not at all homophobic.
But Borderlands Pride pushed back against that narrative with receipts. In another post on Facebook, the group shared letters McQuaker had published in newspapers going back nearly 20 years, when same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada.
“Isn’t it funny we have all kinds of money to spend on same-sex crap and gun control, both of which will hurt our great nation,” McQuaker wrote in one letter.
“If a free vote had been allowed instead of party leaders forcing their MPs to their way, Mr. Harper would have defeated homosexual marriage legislation,” he wrote in another.
Five separate fundraisers on GiveSendGo and GoFundMe have raised around $28,000 for McQuaker and Emo’s legal defense, although none of these fundraisers appear to be directly linked to either.
JAPAN
The Fukuoka High Court ruled that Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, in the latest court victory for couples seeking equal marriage rights in the country.
The ruling on Dec. 13 was the third appellate-level ruling to find the ban unconstitutional, following rulings earlier this year from the Tokyo and Sapporo High Courts. It was also the first ruling to find the ban violates the constitution’s protection of the “pursuit of happiness.”
“[The judge] understood our suffering, and I felt very reassured,” one of the plaintiffs, Masahiro, told reporters.
Six lower courts have ruled on same-sex marriage since 2021, with all but one finding the ban to be unconstitutional. Many of these cases are still being heard at the appellate level, and the issue is likely to be taken up by the Japanese Supreme Court.
While the rulings do not have immediate effect in changing the law, they add pressure on legislators to address the issue.
A report from Mainichi Shinbum suggests that there is now a majority in Parliament in favor same-sex marriage, following elections in October. Still, the Liberal Democratic Party, which leads the government, is largely opposed to equal marriage.
POLAND
QueerMuzeum, the first museum dedicated to the history of Poland’s LGBTQ+ community, opened in Warsaw this month, the first such museum in a post-communist country in Europe.
The new museum is operated by the Lambda Warsaw Association, the oldest operating Polish LGBTQ+ organization, and it has more than 150 artefacts on display, including items dating back to the 16th century.
“We are on Marszałkowska Street, in the heart of Warsaw,” said Miłosz Przepiórkowski, Lambda’s president. “This sends a message to politicians: ‘Look, we are opening the fifth queer museum in the world in a country with the worst legal situation for queer people in the EU.’”
QueerMuzeum is also a way to bring Lambda’s aid and advocacy work into the public eye, Przepiórkowski says.
The organization has more than 100,000 artifacts in its collection, including letters, photographs, and early activist materials. Preserving these materials has been challenging, as much of the records of Poland’s LGBTQ+ community have been private or discarded.
Key figures from Poland’s queer activist circles during the communist era in the 1980s were on hand for the opening ceremony, and had donated important personal materials to the museum.
Ryszard Kisiel donated a decades-old safe-sex pamphlet, while Andrzej Selerowicz donated a photograph of himself with his partner that is 45 years old.
LGBTQ+ rights remain a polarizing topic in Poland more than a year after a center-left coalition was elected to replace a far-right government. The new government has struggled to pass a long-promised civil union bill and update hate speech laws to protect LGBTQ+ people, amid conflicts among more conservative coalition partners.
UNITED KINGDOM
The UK government has announced that it is indefinitely prohibiting the prescription of puberty blockers for use with transgender children, Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced on Dec 11.
The ban applies across the UK and was put in place following consultations with the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
It comes following the much-disputed Cass Review on gender treatment in the UK, which had recommended new restrictions on puberty blockers. Earlier this year, the previous Conservative government brought in emergency legislation to ban puberty blockers. Streeting’s announcement makes that ban indefinite, with the government saying it will review the legislation in 2027.
The ban applies to new patients only; patients already receiving puberty blockers as a form of care can continue to receive it.
Streeting says there is a plan to begin a clinical trial on puberty blockers next year, which would help “establish a clear evidence base for the use of this medicine.”
But trans activists rejected the government’s framing of the ban, as they have much of the findings of the Cass Review.
“The government is entirely disregarding the voices of trans youth, who made clear their deep opposition to the restriction of private prescriptions for puberty blockers during consultation,” Laura Stoner, the chief executive of the trans rights group Mermaids, told the Guardian.
Trans rights have become a notably polarizing issue in the UK over the last several years, as “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling has become one of the world’s most vocal critics of trans people, and successive UK governments have sought to weaken protections for trans people and restrict access to gender care or to women’s spaces, often in the name of women’s rights.
Other British stars like Daniel Radcliffe and David Tennant have been notable allies for trans people.
Ghana
Activists: Ghanaian presidential election results will not improve LGBTQ+ rights
Supreme Court on Dec. 18 to rule on anti-LGBTQ+ law
Former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama from the opposition National Democratic Congress has won Saturday’s general elections, defeating current Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party.
The NDC before the election had pledged its support for the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which would further criminalize LGBTQ+ people and those who support them.
The bill, which MPs approved in February, has yet to be signed by outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo because of a ruling the Supreme Court is expected to issue on Dec. 18. Richard Dela Sky, a journalist and private lawyer, challenged the law in March.
The NDC, NPP and other parties used recognition of LGBTQ+ rights to persuade Ghanaians to vote for them. Mahama during a BBC interview last week said LGBTQ+ rights are against African culture and religious doctrine.
Berinyuy Hans Burinyuy, LGBT+ Rights Ghana’s director for communications, said homophobic attacks and public demonstrations increased during the campaign.
“The passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill into law will institutionalize State-sanctioned discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ individuals, leaving little to no legal recourse for those affected,” said Burinyuy. “The climate of fear and uncertainty that has gripped Ghana’s LGBTQ+ community cannot be overstated.”
“While the political atmosphere remains hostile, there is still hope that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of human rights and constitutional protections,” added Burinyuy. “Should the court strike down the bill, it will be a significant victory for LGBTQ+ rights and a blow to the growing wave of homophobia that has swept the country.”
Awo Dufie, an intersex person and cross-dresser, said the LGBTQ+ community is going to be at increased risk under the NDC-led government because it supports anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
“Mahama supported the anti-LGBT bill as well as the arrest and prosecution of human rights defenders,” noted Dufie. “Politicizing queer rights as a distraction actually started under Atta Mills (the-late president of Ghana) and the NDC government in 2011, and it was an NDC MP (Sam George) who furthered this in 2021 vocalizing support for the anti-LGBT bill.”
Dufie added Ghanaians “voted out a worse corrupt government who had no respect for human rights, and brought in a former corrupt president who has also promised to not respect human rights.”
Activism Ghana, another LGBTQ+ rights group, said the attacks against LGBTQ+ Ghanaians are a series of political ploys designed to win votes as opposed to accelerating development.
“Hate the gays, win the votes, and when they win and fail to deliver development and prosperity, they scapegoat the gays to take away attention from real problems,” said Activism Ghana.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday congratulated Mahama’s election, and noted Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang will become the country’s first female vice president.
“The United States commends the Electoral Commission, its hundreds of thousands of poll workers, civil society, and the country’s security forces, who helped ensure a peaceful and transparent process,” said Blinken in a statement. “We also applaud Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia for his gracious acceptance of the results.”
Mahama’s inauguration will take place on Jan. 7.
Advocacy groups continue to urge Akufo-Addo to veto the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill or amend sections that further criminalize LGBTQ+ people and allies.
Colombia
Claudia López mum on whether she will run for president of Colombia
LGBTQ+ Victory Institute honored former Bogotá mayor in D.C.
Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López did not specifically discuss the growing speculation over whether she will run for president of Colombia in 2026 when she spoke at Saturday’s LGBTQ+ Victory Institute’s Annual International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C., or with the Washington Blade.
“In a week I am going to return to Colombia and I’m coming back with a very, very punctual task,” she said in a speech she gave after the Victory Institute inducted her into its LGBTQ+ Political Hall of Fame at the JW Marriott. “Democracy in the world in general needs emotional reconnection.”
López, 54, was a student protest movement leader, journalist, and political scientist before she entered politics.
She returned to Colombia in 2013 after she earned her Ph.D in political science at Columbia University.
In her speech, López said Juan Francisco “Kiko” Gomez, a former governor of La Guajíra Department in northern Colombia, threatened to assassinate her because she wrote about his ties to criminal gangs. A Bogotá judge in 2017 convicted Gómez of ordering members of a paramilitary group to kill former Barrancas Mayor Yandra Brito, her husband and bodyguard, sentencing him to 55 years in prison.
López in 2014 returned to Colombia and ran for the country’s Senate as a member of the center-left Green Alliance party after she recovered from breast cancer. López won after a 10-week campaign that cost $80,000.
“I was the only woman, the only LGBTQ member of my caucus,” she said in her speech. “Of course I had the honor, but also the responsibility to represent them particularly well, [and] of course all the citizens who trust me and all the citizens of Colombia.”
“Once you are elected, you are elected to represent equally and faithfully all of the people, not only your own people,” added López.
In 2018, López was her party’s candidate to succeed then-President Juan Manuel Santos when he left office. López in 2019 became the first woman and first lesbian elected mayor of Bogotá, the Colombian capital and the country’s largest city.
“This of course speaks incredibly well of my city,” she said in her speech.
López took office on Jan. 1, 2020, less than a month after she married her wife, Colombian Sen. Angélica Lozano. (López was not out when she was elected to the Senate.) Lozano was with López at the Victory Institute conference.
López’s term ended on Dec. 31, 2023. She will return to Colombia once her Advanced Leadership Fellowship at Harvard University ends this month.
“I ended my mayorship,” López told the Blade. “It has been, of course, the honor of my life to be the first female mayor of my city. It was an absolutely beautiful job, but very challenging.”
“I needed a year of rest, of relaxation, and I was fortunate to receive a Harvard scholarship this year,” she added.
López during the interview called for an end to polarization and reiterated her support for democracy.
“We need to listen to each other again, we need to have a coffee with each other again, we need to touch each other’s skin,” she said.
López said parties, candidates, and their political coalitions in Colombia and around the world need to “listen, reconnect, and organize with people” at the grassroots level. López also told the Blade there is a “global crisis of democracy.”
“Each country has its own contexts and challenges, but it seems to me that there is a common element there,” she said.
“So, I return to Colombia rested, grateful after a year of reflection, with proposals in mind, but determined to dedicate time to what I consider the most important work for democracy at this time, which is to reconnect from the grassroots,” added López.
‘I know what love and education can do for any person’
López took office less than three months before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“We were full of hope, ready to go to offer a new social and environmental contract for Bogotá society for the 21st century,” she said. “But a couple of (months) after being sworn into office, the pandemic of COVID-19 came.”
Unemployment and poverty rates soared in Bogotá during the pandemic, and the city’s residents had less access to health care and other basic services.
López noted her administration in response to the pandemic offered scholarships to young people, supported businesses, and increased funding of the city’s social services. López also said her administration implemented Latin America’s first city-based care system for female care givers, and build three more LGBTQ+ community centers in poor and working-class neighborhoods.
“I know what love and education can do for any person,” she said.
The U.N. Refugee Agency says upwards of three million Venezuelans are now in Colombia.
Then-Colombian President Iván Duque in February 2021 announced Venezuelan migrants who register with the country’s government will be legally recognized.
Former Bogotá Mayor Gustavo Petro, a former senator who was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement that disbanded in the 1990s, succeeded Duque as president on Aug. 7, 2022. Colombia and Venezuela restored diplomatic ties less than a month later.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council on July 28 declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the country’s disputed presidential election. Tamara Adrián, the country’s first transgender congresswoman who ran in the presidential primary earlier this year, are among those who denounced voting irregularities.
WPLG, a South Florida television station on March 16, 2021, reported López sparked controversy after she told reporters there have been “some very violent acts from Venezuelans.”
“First they murder, and then they steal,” she said. “We need guarantees for Colombians.”
López made the comments after a Venezuelan migrant murdered a Colombian police officer in Bogotá.
“The problem is not migration from Venezuela,” López told the Blade in response to a question about Venezuela. “The problem is authoritarianism in Venezuela and you have to keep the focus on it.”
“The problem is what it is: It is not the migrants, it is in Maduro, it is in the dictatorship, it is in authoritarianism.”
More than 200,000 people died in the war between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that began in 1962.
Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia Commander Rodrigo “Timochenko” Londoño on Sept 26, 2016, signed an LGBTQ-inclusive peace agreement. Colombian voters a few days later narrowly rejected it a referendum that took place against the backdrop of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from religious and conservative groups.
Santos and Londoño less than two months later signed a second peace agreement, which also contains LGBTQ+-specific references.
López described herself as “a person totally committed to the peace process.” She added, however, she has “a bit of a bad taste in my mouth now that I look back.”
“The peace process with the FARC, which was to demobilize the FARC, period, certainly tried to have and had a gender focus, of course a diversity focus, a focus on human rights for all victims, and certainly (the) many LGBT victims who had been victims of FARC recruitment, abuse, stigmatization, etc.,” López told the Blade. “So, in some sense, or in many senses, having that gender and diversity perspective was a way of recognizing the victims of our community.”
She noted opponents lied about the LGBTQ+-specific provisions “to deceive and delegitimize the peace agreement.”
“It is not about making anything invisible, or even downplaying anything, but rather about being much more strategic in understanding that we do not want our flags and causes to be exposed in a way that ends up being a boomerang for our own community,” López added. “So, I say that is why it is a disappointment, because I think it is a lesson. At least for me, it made me think and it makes me think, and I have said it openly since then, that we have to be much more careful and much more, above all, strategic, in how we raise our flags so that they really do not only have symbolic, but real advances and so that in no case do they become a boomerang against ourselves.”
‘I know how you feel’
López during the interview praised the recent elections of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Uruguayan Vice President Beatriz Argimón, and other women in Latin America. She also expressed sympathy with LGBTQ+ Americans who are concerned about the incoming Trump-Vance administration.
“I know how you feel,” said López in her speech. “I’ve been there when we lost the peace referendum in 2016. I’ve been there when three candidates who represented independent, new alternatives in Colombia, and policies were killed by mafia groups in 1990. I’ve been there when a mafia cartel was able to fund and elect a president for all of us. I’ve been there when paramilitary groups were able to support and elect another president in Colombia.”
“I know how obscure and difficult and challenging and painful democratic times are, but we cannot (back) democracy only when we win,” she added. “It’s precisely when things are challenging, when we suffer defeats that are painful, that we need to attach to our democratic and humanistic values and principles.”
-
White House2 days ago
President of anti-LGBTQ+ Catholic group nominated to become next Vatican ambassador
-
World2 days ago
Out in the World: LGBTQ+ news from Asia, Europe, and Canada
-
Books4 days ago
A tale of lesbian romance and growing into your place in life
-
Movies3 days ago
A mom goes to the dogs in ‘Nightbitch’
-
World4 hours ago
Top 10 international LGBTQ news stories of 2024
-
a&e features2 hours ago
Looking back at the 10 biggest A&E stories of 2024