International

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UK: Ban on gays in the military was lifted 15 years ago today

It is 15 years to the day since the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the UK armed forces was lifted. Prior to the action, the Armed Forces Policy and Guidelines on Homosexuality claimed that the homosexual lifestyle was “incompatible” with military life “because of the close physical conditions in which personnel often have to live […]

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INTERNATIONAL: Gwen Stefani Supports Her Sons Wearing Nail Polish

In the tradition of celebrity moms like Angelina Jolie and Drea Kelly, pop musician Gwen Stefani recently opened up about actively supporting her kids’ gender expression. In an interview with PrideSource, the former No Doubt front woman explained how important it is that her three sons Kingston, Zuma, and Apollo know that “there’s no wrong way to […]

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INTERNATIONAL: It’s Finally Official – Pope Francis Demotes Highest-Ranking US Cardinal Over LGBT Issues

It’s been in the news. Now it has been confirmed. As of this past weekend, Raymond Leo Burke, America’s highest-ranking cardinal at the Vatican, was officially removed from the Vatican’s Supreme Court, and demoted to chaplain of the Knights of Malta, where he will reign with much less responsibility. The ultra-Conservative and anti-gay cardinal, continuously […]

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INTERNATIONAL: Freaking Out About Age Gaps in Gay Relationships Is Homophobic

In straight relationships with an age gap, words like ‘gold-digger’ and ‘trophy wife’ get thrown around. When it’s a gay relationship, those words change to ‘pedophile’ and ‘pervert.’ When news broke earlier this week that British actor and comedian Stephen Fry, 57, is now engaged to 27-year-old comedian Elliot Spencer, homophobic social media users suddenly […]

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INTERNATIONAL: Goa to attempt to make gay youth ‘normal’

The government in Goa plans to attempt to “cure” LGBT people and make them “normal”, using therapy and “medicines”. The announcement was made by Ramesh Tawadkar, the state minister for Sports and Youth Affairs. Tawadkar said: “We will make them normal. We will have a centre for them. Like Alcoholic Anonymous centres, we will have centres…” […]

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INDONESIA: Anti-Gay Law In Aceh Province Forces LGBT People Into Hiding

By Gayatri Suroyo and Charlotte Greenfield BANDA ACEH, Indonesia/JAKARTA, Dec 28 (Reuters) – Overwhelmed by fear, members of the main gay rights group in the Indonesian town of Banda Aceh started burning piles of documents outside their headquarters in late October, worried that the sharia police would raid them at any moment. Indonesia’s northernmost province […]

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Comment: Why we should reflect on the state of LGBT persecution this Christmas

The head of the Human Dignity Trust writes for PinkNews on why we should look to other countries this Christmas, where LGBT people are still persecuted. 2014 has taken the persecution of gay men and lesbians to a new level. Not content with the existing criminal laws which already outlawed gay sex, Nigeria, Uganda and […]

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EUROPE: European Parliament votes to protect LGBT people in global development

The European Parliament this week voted for a report which will outline its input in the global future development policy, which includes a strong commitment to protect LGBT people, and those living with HIV. In 2000 the UN adopted the Millennium Declaration, specifying concrete targets to be reached by 2015: the Millennium Development Goals. The […]

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IRELAND: Amnesty Disappointed with Ireland’s New Trans Bill

Amnesty International is calling the current draft of a promised and now-delivered gender-recognition bill in Ireland a missed opportunity to truly affirm the genders and human rights of trans Irish people, reports Pink News. “This is a missed opportunity to enshrine the rights of all transgender people in Irish law,” Denis Krivosheev of Amnesty told the […]