Pickle jars and pineapple on the right. Breakfast cereal and bagels over there. Riley Williams muttered these words as he ran his hands along the shelves.

Familiarizing himself with his new job at a grocery store in Orange County, he stopped by the break room and noticed the work schedule. His hours were listed next to the name his parents had given him, not the name he had chosen since he had come out as transgender. 

“I felt an overwhelming sense of dread and panic,” said Williams. When he asked his bosses to change the name, they refused.

In the next few months, his employers reminded him of an identity he did not associate with every time they placed his work schedule on the wall. When colleagues called Williams by his old name, he felt they were making fun of him. 

Williams’ experiences led him to the job of LGBTQ Health & Trans* Services Coordinator at the Orange County LGBTQ Center in Santa Ana. Now, he creates training material for the Cultural Competency Training program, the center’s workforce initiative to educate businesses about the LGBTQ community.

“It’s really about stopping [discrimination] before it happens to the next person,” said Williams.

A survey from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law found that 0.45% of adults 25 or older in the U.S. are transgender, while the percentage is nearly three times as high among those 18 to 24 years old. 

As these openly transgender youth enter the workforce in higher numbers, more companies are using training programs to help employees adjust. More than 400 businesses have used the Cultural Competency Training to educate workers on matters such as bathroom use and gender-affirming care. Their lessons include the difference between gender identity and sex, the usage of pronouns, and the importance of hormone therapy. Clients include the city of Irvine, Southland Integrated Services and Jamboree Housing.  

Today’s transgender youth are finding a more accepting work environment compared to past generations.

“I’ve had a lot of people in my life who want me to be strong and who’ve encouraged me to be strong, and that strength has led me to have confidence,” said Aspen Strawn, a transgender high school student in Orange County.

Strawn pointed to transgender rights pioneers who have led the way through the creation of workforce training programs. Started by the Human Rights Campaign, the Corporate Equality Index is a nationwide scale that indicates how equitable a business is toward the LGBTQ community. The index (scored from -25 to 100) bases its grades on workforce protections, inclusive benefits and culture and social responsibility. These days, major companies often post their CEI scores on their websites.

Although many large businesses, such as Walt Disney Co. and Apple Inc., have perfect CEI scores and are known to support workforce inclusion, not all corporations go that far. 

“I’m just not a big believer that big business has any strong interest in improving conditions,” said Arielle Rebekah, a transgender activist based in Chicago.

Hobby Lobby, for example, has been known for its anti-LGBTQ stances. In 2021, the company fought a legal battle to deny a transgender employee access to the women’s restroom. Businesses such as Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Twitter attained low scores, 30 and -25, respectively, on the 2023 CEI Index.

However, Assemblymember Chris Ward, D-San Diego, is not deterred by these corporations. 

He believes AB 1955 (SAFETY Act), his recently introduced bill, which will prevent forced outings of LGBTQ students, provide resources to their parents and protect educators who support them, is a step in the right direction.

“It’s important that … we don’t cower to the opposition forces that are trying to deny us identity and deny us who we are,” Ward said. “That we stand up, that we affirm and we really recite our pride in who we are.” 

Maya Desai is a reporter with JCal, a collaboration between The Asian American Journalists Association and CalMatters to immerse high school students in California’s news industry.

Kenya’s LGBTQ community has decried homophobia in the country’s places of worship leaving some of them with the option of embracing a new queer-friendly church in the capital Nairobi.

The queer people, while sharing homophobic experiences they encountered in Kenyan churches, stated that clerics and other believers have weaponized religious faith as a tool of violence against them.

This hate and discrimination, according to the LGBTQ community, has driven most of them into religious trauma and they are seeking spiritual refuge in the Cosmopolitan Affirming Church (CAC), which is open to queer individuals.   

“As a pastor, I have worked in a [religious] space that as someone who I identify myself as a queer priest, I have been excluded from that very space out of lies that lack the truth to justify my exclusion,” said Godfrey Adera, an associate pastor at CAC.   

Adera spoke during the International Day commemorating victims of violence based on faith and belief marked last Thursday where more than 1,700 queer Kenyans engaged in an X forum.

The forum organized by the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) noted that Uganda’s enactment of the draconian anti-homosexuality law last year has contributed to an increase in homophobic hatred and discrimination in Kenyan churches.

“I have seen a queer person talk about how he was in a church just last week and there were overtly no queer undertones going on in the church and the pastor unprovoked spoke about how he supports President Yoweri Museveni’s decision to deal with gays in Uganda, which is basically calling for a lot of homophobic violence,” said Elle Khaoma, the forum’s moderator from NGLHRC.

The queer community also noted that the plan by Kenya’s opposition MP Peter Kaluma to introduce a punitive anti-homosexuality draft law in parliament and supported by religious leaders and others has increased homophobic hate and stigma in places of worship.

Such actions have seriously impacted the LGBTQ community in terms of religious trauma, mental health, falling away from faith, feeling discriminated against and being perceived as outcasts, and battling stigma to the point of dying by suicide, according to experiences shared by several queer persons.

Some disclosed they decided to flee their homes after being disowned by their parents and siblings for identifying as LGBTQ contrary to religious faith and belief their families and churches subscribe to.

“After the hate and discrimination, I started to recognize my religious trauma. My motivation to overcome it has been that I’m not alone as a queer person to be impacted by religious trauma,” said Wanjiku, a journalist and lawyer.

She reiterated that sharing experiences with other queer persons about religious trauma from various churches, how they have dealt with it, and deconstructing hateful religious ideologies have helped her overcome the stigma.

Pastor Adera affirmed that queer persons should first acknowledge that religion and belief are used as a tool of violence in diversity to target them.

“After acknowledging, it is important to ask critical questions by interrogating the scriptures and finding alternative messages of love, justice, fairness, and God the creator of all humanity then making these messages more heard than the messages of hurt and hate that come with religious narratives,” he said.

He stated that alternative and balanced scriptures that promote inclusivity, diversity, and love that every church should stand for are what the Cosmopolitan Affirming Church teaches to demystify religious narratives of hate against queer individuals in mainstream churches.    

“Religion comes with social control in terms of shaping what morality and norms look like and how we relate to each other, which is not a positive thing as it forms the basis of excluding other people like the queer,” Adera said. “It needs to be talked about and challenged in queer forums and advocacy by calling out people using religion to fuel bigotry, hate, and hurt in the nation.”

The CAC cleric asked the queer persons to take religion seriously since it has a huge influence on society and also urged them to examine it critically to push for inclusive conversations and accommodative norms to enhance social cohesion.  

Adera assured the queer Christians that CAC is one of their alternative religions with resourceful materials like theological books, articles, and scriptures that are interpreted to suit their faith and belief.   

“Mainstream churches have been more of gatekeepers by barring us, the queer persons, from experiencing our religious beliefs like other believers,” he opined.       

During the forum, the queer persons were advised to have trusted and supportive allies who readily come to their protection and deconstruct religious narratives of hate and homophobia passed from generation to generation.     

The LGBTQ community was further urged to be alert and proactive in countering legal, social, and cultural norms or violence that come with religious stigma both at small and large scale.

Hundreds of queer community members water-partied, danced, dined, and patronized a variety of local organizations at the 9th annual DTLA Proud Festival in Downtown Los Angeles this past weekend. 

The event featured a pop-up waterpark dance party and stage performances from DJ’s and drag queens, Aug 24 and 25, including a mini ball Sunday night when dancers competed for cash prizes. While past festivals were hosted at Pershing Square, this year’s festivities were relocated to the historic DTLA “gayborhood” at the 200 block of Spring Street, according to DTLA Proud Founder and Executive Director Oliver Alpuche.

“The ‘Gayborhood’ offers four queer safe spaces that have their doors open 365 days a year to our community and highlight and create an anchor in this area that is for us and by us,” Alpuche said. “We want to reset roots and carve out an area of DTLA that fosters inclusion, creativity and love. There is so much history that people don’t know about when it comes to Main Street.”

Muralist and graphic designer Coco Nella was live-painting a set of four paintings at the festival, and said each one is dedicated to one of the four queer bars in DTLA: Precinct, Bar Franca, New Jalisco Bar, and Kiso, which opened earlier this year.  

“This event is basically in my backyard, and I really just wanted to do something very local with people I know,” Nella said. “Oliver and I talked about donating each painting to each of the bars just to kind of tie them all together.” 

Nella was painting near one of two stages at the event, SummerTramp, where attendees swam in an above-ground pool and danced to musical performances throughout the weekend. The second stage, Proud, featured Preciosa night and a mini-ball. 

Hosted by the House of Gorgeous Gucci, as featured on season one of HBO’s ball TV show ‘Legendary,’ the ball on Sunday was one of the most popular and activated parts of DTLA Proud Fest. Participants danced for a performance spot in the ball, and joined teams to battle each other for the one thousand dollar cash prize.  

Jam, one of the house members walking the ball, was excited for the house to be featured at the festival. 

“It’s exciting to see that they’re posted and flagged,” Jam said. “People are out and proud, and I am loving everybody’s outfits.”

Other attendees, Jeremy Dow and Gerardo Cruz, said they were disappointed by the amount of white people in the space, and said that the event attendance had been more inclusive in past years than this year. 

“We live in East LA, so we’re pretty aware of the events that happen nearby, including downtown LA. I think based on the attendance, there are a lot of white, cis, gay men that seem to attend,” Cruz said. “So I think [DTLA Proud] can reach out to more, other communities.”

Many of the artists, businesses and organizations who hosted booths at the festival are entities who work to close those gaps within the community, including Bienestar, a local organization offering health services such as HIV management to Latinx and/or LGBT+ clients.  

Another vendor was Clitorati, the latest project of Jackie Steele, Alana Roshay and Trish Sweet, who have collectively helped produce a host of visibility and community events such as BiPride, Queer Women’s Visibility Week, Women’s Freedom Festival, Dyke Marches, and Lez Do Brunch. 

Sweet said they hope to build more relationships and community through similar networking events and fundraisers, such as a chest cancer awareness event, and partnerships with organizations like the TransLatin@ Coalition, to whom they donated a portion of their proceeds from Clitorati’s Pride sales this year.

“It was important for us to be a business versus a nonprofit, even though we do so much work in the community,” Steele said. “We also wanted to show other women, you don’t always have to belly crawl through fire for free and give everything away. You can develop something for yourself. You can build something a little bit bigger.”

The fifth annual Transgender Visibility March returned to D.C. on Saturday, Aug. 24. This marked the first time the march has been back in D.C. since the inaugural event in 2019, which featured “Pose” star Angelica Ross and then-Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David. 

The Washington Blade caught up with Hope Giselle-Godsey, executive director of the march, as she got ready for the festivities. 

BLADE: Would you mind telling me a little bit of background about yourself? How did you end up in the position of executive director of the Trans Visibility March?

GISELLE-GODSEY: I started with the March in 2018 when Marissa [Miller, the founder of the march,] reached out to me and asked me for my help. She realized that with my platform and everything that has been built, I would be the perfect person to do public-facing events. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity because when Marissa Miller calls you answer.

That turned into me just being called upon every year. This year I got that call, but it was a little different. She says to me, “Hope it is time for me to move out of the way, and I want there to be some new leadership, and I want to know if you’re willing to take on the mantle of leader of the March?”

That took me by surprise, one because I just wasn’t I didn’t know that I was in the running. It was a full circle moment, and it felt really good that someone who had mentored me in the space was willing to trust me with something that her and her partner, Lynn, had built from the ground up.

BLADE: Could you tell me a bit about the march? Why does it exist? What are its goals? 

GISELLE-GODSEY: The March has a goal of making sure that we create visibility around the issues that are facing trans people every year, because, contrary to popular belief, they are not always the same. They don’t always look the same, and they are not maintained year to year. 

For instance, this year, we’re heavily talking about the idea of voting. We’re also really digging deeper into our sexual health and what that component of the conversation looks like. What will be to truly figure out what sexual freedom looks like for people who are often taught that abstinence is the only way to feel sexually free? We just know that that’s not simply true.

We also have a focus on the youth. They’re going to have the torches passed to them at some point. We want to make sure that as we are activating and growing in this fight for trans visibility and equality that we are including the voices of tomorrow that are going to be taking up the mantle.

We have Jay Jones, who is the first trans student body president at Howard University, who is going to be opening the march with me tomorrow. We want to make sure that her voice is heard, and that folks understand that she is creating history at an HBCU as a Black trans woman. Those things deserve to be celebrated.

BLADE: Trans people face outsized violence. Protesters have faced rising violence. It is a point of bravery to be out on the streets like this, I am sure some people are nervous. Do you have any words about what it means to be marching, as a trans person?

GISELLE-GODSEY: It’s a true testament of being tired of following the status quo and allowing your fear to dictate what your freedom can look like. 

People don’t understand the need to be visible in order to feel free. Marches like this help people to understand that if we aren’t seen, people can pretend like we don’t exist. That does us a disservice. 

By creating the space in this March, you have to do it alone. It offers a lot of folks who would normally never speak up about issues that they are passionate about because they would feel like if they did it, there was a higher chance for violence or there was a higher chance for something to go wrong.

In spaces where you have not only community, but you have allies and accomplices, it creates a space that opens a new world. It helps us to truly begin to change the narrative around what it looks like to feel and be safe as trans people. 

BLADE: The last time you all marched in Washington, we were in a different political climate. Trump was in office versus Biden. Anti-trans legislation was just beginning its tidal wave. Can you reflect on this juxtaposition and the stakes it means to be marching for trans visibility on this distinctly political stage?

GISELLE-GODSEY: It reminds us that we are never safe in the eyes of the social public that wants to make everyone believe that we are a threat to their existence, when, in fact, it is the opposite.

It forces us to be mindful about how we take breaks from work. We may feel like “Well, we got this passed, this TV show was created, so we can pause.” [Marching in D.C.] reminds us that until the most marginalized of us are free, none of us are truly free. That quote is overused but for all the right reasons.

Until all of us have the opportunity to be in TV shows, host spaces, graduate, and all of these things without it being a huge hoopla, without people having to make an article about it, then we might be able to take a little break. 

Over these last five years, some of us have gotten a little comfortable with the idea of trusting that the system that is rigged against anyone different. 

BLADE: Are there any ideas, events, people, or motivations you all are holding when you march?

GISELLE-GODSEY: Illuminate, educate, and advocate. Those are three pillars this year. 

We are standing firm on amplifying those things, owning those things, making those things our bread and butter. When folks leave [the march], they leave with the ability to feel like they can do those things on their own.

There is space for you to illuminate your problems or your areas of opportunity, whether it be with your boss or whether it be with your city council member. You can educate them about why these things are important. You can become a stronger advocate. 

We want to make sure that folks understand that these are not just pillars for the march, but these could be pillars for your life.

BLADE: What does your vision of the future for the transgender community look like?

GISELLE-GODSEY: I see us having a transgender president, though I’m not sure if I want to be that person.

I see a future where trans people can dream in the same way that other marginalized groups of people have been able to dream and see themselves actualized.

As a person from the intersection of both transness and Blackness, seeing Obama being sworn into office felt amazing.

As children you get told you can be whatever you want to be, but for so long, as Black folks, we also understood that there was a silent list of things that we probably shouldn’t strive to do. 

What I see for the future is that in the same way that that glass ceiling is being broken for certain marginalized people, with the example of Obama being one of them, I would love to see that being broken for trans people. 

I do see that being broken for trans people. I think that we are on the brink of having our first woman president — not to mention she’s a biracial, Black woman. In the next eight years, there might be another cultural shift, and we could have a trans president.

It feels amazing to remind people that those are actual possibilities now, and not just things to ponder over with friends at a kiki in a basement.

BLADE: Anything else?

GISELLE-GODSEY: There is an idea that we only need visibility because of the deaths that are happening. What I’m trying to showcase to folks is that the visibility March is not just because we are being murdered, it is also because we are not being heard. Our issues are not being heard. 

We want trans men to be able to have access to proper health care. We want to be able to access safe-sex practices that are taught by and fostered for TGN people. There are so many things that are important to us. 

When we have these conversations, we’re often whittled down to this idea of just being trans people who are upset – rightfully so – about the fact that some of our siblings are being killed. But that is not the only reason that we march. I want folks to understand and know that this isn’t just about a death toll. 

AUSTRALIA

SYDNEY, Australia – A federal court in Australia handed down a historic victory for trans women on August 23, in a discrimination case that establishes for the first time that existing protections against sex discrimination extend to transgender women.

The case was filed by Roxanne Tickle, a trans woman who claimed she was discriminated against when she was barred from using an app for women. 

In 2021, Tickle had downloaded the app “Giggle for Girls,” an online forum that billed itself as a safe space where women could share their experiences and men were not allowed. In order to gain access to the app, Tickle had to upload a photo of herself to confirm her gender. 

Nevertheless, seven months after joining the platform, she was removed.

Tickle claimed she was discriminated against due to her gender identity, and sued the platform and its CEO for 200,000 Australian dollars (approximately $135,000), citing anxiety she suffered due to the misgendering, and the hateful comments she received due to Giggle CEO Sall Grover’s public comments about the case.

Grover is a self-declared trans-exclusionary radical feminist and refused to refer to Tickle as a woman or use female pronouns and titles for her throughout the case. 

Giggle claimed that the app was entitled to discriminate against Tickle based on her biological sex, in order to create a space for women only. But the federal court rejected that argument, finding that case law has consistently found sex is “changeable and not necessarily binary.” 

The court also rejected Giggle’s argument that the federal government did not have the constitutional authority to ban discrimination.

It found that that Giggle indirectly discriminated against Tickle.   

Giggle was ordered to pay Tickle 10,000 Australian dollars (approximately $6800) plus legal costs. Grover has vowed to appeal the decision to the High Court of Australia, the country’s top court.

This case was the first time the federal court in Australia has ruled on gender identity discrimination. 

The federal sex discrimination commissioner, Dr. Anna Cody, intervened in the case on Tickle’s behalf, and released a statement supporting the court’s ruling.

“The 2013 changes to the Sex Discrimination Act make it clear it is unlawful under federal law to discriminate against a person on the basis of gender identity,” Cody says in the statement. “We are pleased this case has recognised that every individual, regardless of their gender identity, deserves equal and fair treatment under the law.” 

Anna Brown, CEO of the LGBTIQ+ advocacy group Equality Australia, applauded the court’s decision.

“Justice Bromwich has correctly and sensibly interpreted the law to ensure it does not exclude marginalised people who are in need of protection,” Brown says in a statement. “This judgment confirms that discrimination laws exist to protect all of us, particularly groups such as trans women who have experienced historical exclusion and disadvantage. The judgment also confirms that gender identity as a protected ground of discrimination is constitutionally valid.”

BULGARIA

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Amid ongoing fallout after parliament rushed through a bill to ban “LGBT propaganda” in schools earlier this month, some lawmakers have announced plans to attempt to amend the legislation to remove anti-LGBT language.

The centrist and pro-European “We Continue the Change” party has vowed to introduce a bill to amend the law this week, to either alter or remove the law’s definition of “non-traditional sexual orientation,” which is banned from promotion or discussion in classrooms and colleges under the law.

Currently, the law defines non-traditional sexual orientation as that which differs from the widely accepted and entrenched ideas of emotional, romantic, sexual, or sensual attraction between individuals of opposite sexes.

The law has sparked unrest across Bulgaria, with teachers’ unions, feminist groups, human rights groups, and LGBTQ advocacy organizations staging protests against it for weeks in the capital. 

In turn, the European Commission – the executive arm of the European Union – has demanded an explanation of the law from the Bulgarian government, in what may be the first step before taking legal or punitive action against the country.

Meanwhile, the far-right, Kremlin-associated Revival Party, which introduced the propaganda law in parliament, circulated a threatening letter on social media last week, naming more than two dozen teachers in Varna, Bulgaria’s third-largest city, who had signed a petition opposing the law. The post directed Revival’s followers to contact the teachers’ employers in an obvious bid to harass and intimidate them. 

The post has since been deleted, but a criminal complaint has been filed against Revival in reaction to the post, and Revival has in turn filed a criminal complaint against the named teachers, accusing them of planning to violate the “propaganda” law.

Amidst these developments, the Ministry of Education and Science issued a statement asserting that discrimination and repression would not be tolerated in Bulgarian schools.

Revival has also stepped up its attacks on LGBTQ groups, alleging that a network of “foreign agents” is engaging in “hybrid warfare” by promoting non-traditional values among Bulgarian youth. They’ve requested the prosecutor’s office to take action against these groups. 

Like “LGBT propaganda” laws, “foreign agents” laws have recently been passed in Russia and Georgia as a means of discrediting and defunding opposition and nongovernmental groups. These laws have drawn harsh criticism from European and Western governments. Revival  may be laying the groundwork for introducing a Bulgarian “foreign agent” law.

NEPAL

KATHMANDU, Nepal — The first Pride festival since same-sex marriage was legalized by the Supreme Court last November was a huge success, with hundreds of participants, including a government minister, rallying in the capital city, Kathmandu.

Nepal’s Blue Diamond Society, which advocates for LGBTQ rights, has organized the annual rally every year since 2003 as part of the city’s Gai Jatra Festival. Gai Jatra is a local tradition that honors family members that have passed away during the year. 

The festival has long welcomed the queer community, and the queer celebrations continue the tradition of honoring community members who have passed. Often, LGBTQ Nepalis are rejected by their families, leaving no one else to perform funeral rites or honor them in the festival.

“Even though times have changed, many LGBTQIA+ members still face abandonment from their families,” says Blue Diamond Society president Pinky Gurung. “Many still don’t have their families at their funerals. Only a few cases come to us, but there must be many others. This parade represents the commemoration of our deceased community members, so their souls can rest in peace.”

This year, the Blue Diamond Society was honoring three community members whose families gave no support for their funeral rites. 

“It breaks my heart to think that if I were to die, my family might not even come to see me one last time,” one participant told The Kathmandu Post. “But events like these reassure me that at least someone will be there for us… If death is supposed to end all enmities, why does discrimination against our community persist even after we’re gone?”

The queer parade has thus sometimes been described as something quite different from Western Pride festivals, but still raises awareness of and helps to build up the queer community.

LGBT people in Nepal have seen their rights rapidly expand over the past two decades. The 2015 constitution includes an article barring discrimination based on sexual orientation, and trans and non-binary people are allowed to choses a “third gender” option on their government documents.

In November 2023, a Supreme Court order required the government to begin registering same-sex marriages. Though the court decision is not yet final, and these marriages do not yet have the full constellation of rights associated with heterosexual marriages, several same-sex couples have already taken advantage of the order to register their marriages.

JAPAN

TOKYO, Japan – Political turmoil in the governing Liberal Democratic Party could lead to an expansion of LGBT rights, if the right candidate is selected as the party’s new leader and prime minister at a party presidential election September 27.

Current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced he would not run for reelection on August 13, amid slumping poll numbers and approval ratings. That’s opened up the possibility of a new generation of leadership taking over after the 67-year-old Kishida leaves office.

LGBT rights have proven controversial among LDP leadership for a long time. Last year, Kishida unsuccessfully attempted to pass a comprehensive anti-discrimination bill in the run up to Japan hosting the G7 summit. In the end, the National Diet passed a watered-down bill to promote understanding of LGBT people that contained no new legal protections.

The LDP has also ignored calls to legalize same-sex marriage or civil unions at the federal level, even as 29 of Japan’s 47 prefectures and more than 400 municipalities have created same-sex partnership registries that do not offer the same legal rights as marriage.

There are already ten declared candidates to succeed Kishida, with more possibly entering the race. 

Among the declared candidates, only two have publicly supported same-sex marriage, according to a survey conducted by The Asahi Shimbun and the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Law and Politics: Taro Kono, current Minister for Digital Transformation; and Seiko Noda, current Minister-in-charge of Measures against Declining Birthrate.

The winner of the leadership race will be chosen in a two-round ballot system, in which LDP members of the Diet and dues-paying members of the LDP will both be able to vote, with only the top two contenders advancing to the second round. 

LGBTQ activists in Mauritius have applauded Michelle Karla, the first transgender woman to reach the final of the Miss Universe Mauritius pageant that took place on Aug. 10.

Karla was among the top 15 finalists who were vying for the ultimate crown, which Tania Renée, a cisgender woman, won.

“Queer visibility has often been weaponized against the LGBTQ community and the participation of Karla in Miss Universe Mauritius one year after the advancement of the transgender rights project where trans people have started being positively represented is a powerful message and symbol of a door being opened by us for us,” said Hana Telvave, an LGBTQ activist. “It is important that we back Karla up so that, she knows that the whole community is behind her and that her participation is courageous in a climate that still encourages online transphobia and online hate speech.” 

Telvave added Karla’s participation in the pageant was a powerful message of hope to other aspiring trans models.

“Now we get to write our own history and our own journeys, and it is through such powerful opportunities where the whole nation can see us perform, represent and being our best where we can in a subtle way start positive change,” said Telvave. 

Telvave noted the Miss Universe organization has allowed trans women to compete since 2012, but added “it took a long time for one transgender woman to join Miss Universe Mauritius, and it shows the gap between our administrative and legal systems.”

However, this is a powerful message of hope but it also shows us how much work we still have to do when it comes to legal gender recognition so that people can freely express their gender identity, and their dreams,” added Telvave.

Daniel Wong, another LGBTQ activist, said Karla’s participation in the beauty pageant is an epitome of the inclusion of LGBTQ people in society.

“This is a true and real example of inclusion that says much about moving into the right direction for the advocacy work for transgender persons to acquire equal civil rights,” said Wong. “The participation of Karla is a milestone that values and respects all transgender women wishing to participate in future beauty pageants. Hats off to the Miss Universe Mauritius organization for that bold and pioneer move of supporting the LGBTQIA+ cause in Mauritius.” 

Wong, however, criticized the lack of full consultation of LGBTQ people and organizations in the drafting of the Gender Equality Bill, which would ban discrimination based on gender identity in Mauritius.

“Long is the way though, as the policy makers in Mauritius are demonstrating a lack of political will as the Gender Equality Bill is not being given its due recognition because most of the civil society organizations are yet to be consulted,” said Wong.

Miss Universe Mauritius says Karla is the first trans woman to work in the country’s financial sector, and is studying to become Mauritius’s first trans flight attendant. She is also the vice treasurer of the Young Queer Alliance, and has won several pageants that include Miss Fashion Mauritius 2015 and Miss Universe T International 2023/2024. 

The Supreme Court last October declared unconstitutional Article 250 of the country’s penal code that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations. This landmark ruling also paved way for Mauritius’s first Pride month in two years.

A prominent activist in Puerto Rico says he is once again unable to access his verified Facebook page.

Pedro Julio Serrano, founder of Puerto Rico Para Todes, a Puerto Rican LGBTQ advocacy group, sent to the Washington Blade a screenshot of an email he sent to Meta, Facebook’s parent company, on July 24 that said he has “been trying to recover my page since July 19 when it was hacked.”

The link to Serrano’s Facebook page has been changed to facebook.com/beonrightpath.

“The Meta Pro Team is telling me that I can no longer recover it,” wrote Serrano. “I have to file this impersonating report in order to close the other page that is impersonating me, but it tells me that the url of the impersonating profile is invalid, even though my friends and family can still see the page. I was verified previous to the Meta Verified program because I am a public figure.”

“I beg you to delete the account whose url is facebook.com/beonrightpath,” he added.

Dev, a Meta Pro Team representative, responded to Serrano’s email on July 25. The representative provided him with his case number, and added “your call has been scheduled and you might receive a call shortly.” 

Hitesh, a Meta Support Pro representative, on July 30 emailed Serrano and asked him to provide a copy of a photo ID and a signed statement. The same Meta Support Pro representative in an email to Serrano on July 23 provided him with steps on how to report the issue to Facebook. 

Arthur, another Meta Pro Team representative, sent a similar email to Serrano on July 19. Joy, yet another Meta Pro Team representative, sent a similar email to Serrano the next day. 

Nick, a second Meta Support Pro representative emailed Serrano on Aug. 11.

“I completely understand that the delay in the response from the dedicated team might be affecting your work,” wrote the representative. “I apologize for the inconvenience. Trust me, I am continuously trying to get in touch with (sic) the regarding the update and I am very positive that we will be getting a revert soon.”

“Now my request to you is that please allow me few more time (sic) so that once I get the update I will myself deliver the message to you,” added the representative. “I really appreciate your patience, I do.”

“One of my main tools for activism is my Facebook page because it connects me to a network of leaders and activists who spread the word and take action on matters related to our struggle,” Serrano told the Blade on Friday. 

“My page was verified before the subscription service because of my public profile nationally and internationally,” he added. “It’s the way that people can know that what is posted comes from me. I need this tool to continue the work against the bigots who want to take us back.”

Serrano said he last spoke with a Meta representative on the telephone two weeks ago. He did acknowledge “they have been writing to me almost every day asking me for more time to resolve the issue.”

“I thank the Meta support group for always responding, even if it takes a few days; but the issue hasn’t been resolved,” Serrano told the Blade on Friday. “They have all my info, copies of my IDs, a signed statement, everything. They know it’s me. They just need to help me recover my page.”

Meta has not responded to the Blade’s requests for comment.

Religious fundamentalists launch ‘campaign of harassment and threats’ against Serrano

Serrano in 2020 was unable to access his Facebook pages for more than two months.

He received an alert in August 2020 that said he violated community guidelines and was “pretending to be a well-known person or public figure.” Serrano on Oct. 21, 2020, received a message from Facebook that said his suspension was a “mistake” and his access had been restored.

Serrano in a complaint he filed with the Puerto Rico Police Department on July 12 said “fundamentalist leaders” in the U.S. commonwealth have launched “a campaign of harassment and threats” against him. Serrano lost access to his verified Facebook page a week later.

Serrano on Friday told the Blade his inability to access his Facebook account is “related” to the complaint he filed.

“The last time that it happened in 2020 I was subjected to a similar public attack from fundamentalist leaders,” he said. “It is not a coincidence.”

Kenya’s largest umbrella LGBTQ organization has partnered with Grindr to allow their members to access vital information about their rights.

GALCK+, which is a coalition of 16 LGBTQ rights groups, announced its partnership with the gay hookup app earlier this month under the Grindr for Equality initiative. GALCK+ is the second LGBTQ rights group in Africa to enter into such a collaboration with Grindr.

Grindr on July 11 announced the partnership with IntraHealth Namibia, a non-profit health care provider in Windhoek, the country’s capital. IntraHealth Namibia is the first African organization to provide Grindr users with essential information on sexual and mental health and safety.

Grindr’s collaboration with the two African organizations to provide crucial information to its LGBTQ users directly through the app brings such partnerships to 30 countries around the world.  

“A key pillar of Grindr for Equality’s work towards a world that is safe, just, and inclusive for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities is supporting initiatives that advance safety and sexual health for the LGBTQ+ community,” Grindr said in the latest partnership statement.

Grindr stated its new partnerships with organizations around the world will provide its users access to localized and real-time information on the issues that matter to them via a side drawer on the app’s home screen.  

“We’ve also partnered with GALCK+ to provide our users in Kenya with in-app access to ‘Know Your Rights,’ a safety page designed to empower the Kenyan LGBTQ community by informing them of their rights,” said Grindr. 

GALCK+, while acknowledging the partnership with Grindr, expressed optimism that its ‘Know Your Rights’ resource on the platform not only informs LGBTQ Kenyans about their legal rights but also offers critical information about free therapy, handling extortion and other issues.

“The brand new tab ‘Do I Have Rights?’ on Grindr app specifically for our community in Kenya is packed with essential safety and sexual health resources to help you navigate your experiences with confidence and peace of mind,” GALCK+ said on X.  

GALCK+, through its Grindr resource tab, affirms queer rights are human rights meant to promote a position of social and legal equality for the LGBTQ people in society. It further notes the rights highlighted seek to address injustices that queer people face by outlawing homophobic discrimination and violence and pushing for changes to laws for easy access to health, education, public services, and recognition of same-sex relationships. 

GALCK+, however, notes that despite queer people having the same rights as other Kenyans, laws criminalizing consensual same-sex partnerships remain in place. There are laws that protect intersex and transgender people, but they continue to suffer discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. 

The Kenyan LGBTQ group also cites several constitutional provisions and statutes.

“According to Article 19 (3) (a), the constitution states that your rights belong to you because you are a human being and are not granted by the state,” GALCK+ states. “Although some rights can be limited in some situations (Article 24), some rights cannot be limited at all.”

GALCK+ also highlights to Grindr users Sections 162 and 165 of the Kenyan penal code that outlaw homosexuality by listing sexual activities involved and the fines, including a 14-year prison term if convicted. It notes the two sections affect queer people’s sexual rights because criminalizing consensual same-sex conduct interferes with their lives.

“A person’s sexual orientation is an important part of an individual which, when not fully and freely expressed, negatively affects a person’s search for happiness,” GALCK+ states.

GALCK+ stresses laws that criminalize adult, private, and consensual same-sex acts contribute to violence and discrimination against individuals on the grounds of their sexual orientation. 

“In some cases, members of the transgender and intersex community face violence and discrimination after being mistaken for being gay, lesbian, or bisexual,” GALCK+ states. 

It informs Grindr users that identifying as LGBTQ is not a crime because Kenya’s anti-homosexuality laws only criminalize acts, and not identities that are protected freedom of speech and expression under the constitution. GALCK+ also tells Grindr users that an employer cannot fire or deny them employment based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

“According to the Employment Act, it is the duty of the government and an employer to promote equality of opportunity between employees,” GALCK+ states.

The Employment Act covers equal chances of being employed; promoted; and equal treatment in the workplace without any form of discrimination, although it does not explicitly mention sexual orientation. 

GALCK+ also educates Grindr users about their right to shelter without discrimination by a landlord based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression under Article 43 (1) of the constitution. It states that every person has the right to “accessible and adequate housing, and reasonable standards of sanitation.”

CHICAGO — Closing out the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a rousing acceptance speech in which she laid out the case against Donald Trump and touched on a number of high-priority policy issues.

Harris began by describing her immigrant parents and their family’s middle class life in the Bay Area, detailing how a formative experience in her girlhood — helping a friend who was being sexually abused — had shaped her decision to become a prosecutor.

From the courtroom to the San Francisco district attorney’s office to the California attorney general’s office to the Senate and vice presidency, Harris detailed her journey to become her party’s presidential nominee — explaining how she was serving the people every step of the way.

“Kamala Harris for the people,” she would tell the judge each day in the courtroom, while Trump, by contrast, has only ever looked out for himself, she said.

In keeping with the theme of many speeches during the convention this week in Chicago, Harris explained how she would chart a new, brighter way forward as commander-in-chief, working to uplift Americans regardless of their differences.

“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past,” she said. “A chance to chart a new way forward. Not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.”

She repeatedly made the case against Trump, detailing how he is not only “unserious” but also dangerous — a threat to world peace, America’s democratic institutions, the rule of law, women’s rights, and more.

The vice president presented another argument that had been a throughline in remarks by other primetime speakers, the “fundamental freedoms” at stake in this election, and how she would protect them while Trump has vowed to take them away.

She ticked off “the freedom to live safe from gun violence — in our schools, communities, and places of worship” as well as “the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride” and “the freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis.”

Harris noted that the “freedom to vote” is “the freedom that unlocks all the others,” retreading some of her earlier remarks about Trump’s efforts to undermine American elections.

The vice president’s second reference to LGBTQ rights came with her proclamation that “America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives, especially on matters of heart and home.”

CHICAGO — Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz rebuffed Republican attacks against the LGBTQ community, reproductive freedom, and other foundational, fundamental liberties in an electrifying speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night.

“While other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” said the former teacher and football coach, who agreed to serve as faculty advisor to his high school’s gay-straight alliance club in 1999.

“We also protected reproductive freedom, because in Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make, even if we wouldn’t make those same choices for ourselves,” Walz said. “We’ve got a golden rule: Mind your own damn business. And that includes IVF and fertility treatments.”

The governor discussed his family’s struggles with infertility. He and his wife had children through IVF.

“Some folks just don’t understand what it takes to be a good neighbor,” Walz said, pointing to the Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees. “Take Donald Trump and JD Vance: Their Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives.”

“They spent a lot of time pretending they know nothing about this,” he said, “but look, I coached high school football long enough to know, and trust me on this, when somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re going to use it.”

Walz added, “here’s the thing, it’s an agenda nobody asked for. It’s an agenda that serves nobody except the richest and the most extreme amongst us. And it’s an agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in need. Is it weird? Absolutely. But it’s also wrong, and it’s dangerous.”

“We’ve got 76 days,” he said. “That’s nothing. There will be time to sleep when you’re dead. We’re going to leave it on the field. That’s how we’ll keep moving forward. That’s how we’ll turn the page on Donald Trump. That’s how we’ll build a country where workers come first, where health care and housing are human rights, and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom.”

“That’s how we make America a place where no child is left hungry,” Walz said, “where no community is left behind, where nobody gets told they don’t belong. That’s how we’re going to fight. And as the next president of the United States always says, when we fight [crowd: we win!] When we fight, [crowd: We win!] When we fight [crowd: We win!]”