World
Out in the World: LGBTQ+ news from Europe & Asia
LGBTQ+ stories from around the globe including Nepal, Malaysia, The Vatican, the United Kingdom, Ireland & Russia
NEPAL
KATHMANDU, Nepal – The marriage between Maya Ram Bahadur Gurung and Surendra Pandey this past week in the Nepalese capital city is being hailed by the country’s LGBTQ+ rights activists. Gurung, a transwoman and Pandey, who is gay was registered by the local municipality ward office four months after the Himalayan nation’s highest court legalized same-sex marriages in an interim order.
The former Executive Director/CEO and founder of the Blue Diamond society, first LGBTQ+ rights organization in Nepal, Sunil Babu Pant, who has also served in the country’s parliament was present for the civil ceremony telling the Associated Press: “After 23 years of struggle, we got this historic achievement, and finally, Maya and Surendra got their marriage registered at the local administration office,” Pant said.
In a later interview with Naya Prakashan news Pant noted. “A wedding in Nepal today can become the signpost in South Asia for a more equal tomorrow.”
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that Gurung, a transgender woman who is legally recognized as male, and Pandey, a cisgender gay man, held a Hindu wedding ceremony in 2017. They first attempted to legally register their marriage in June this year at the Kathmandu District Court, following an interim order by Nepal’s Supreme Court instructing authorities to register same-sex marriages while considering a case that argues for marriage equality across the country.
When that court rejected their registration, saying it did not need to recognize a couple that was not one legal male and one legal female, they appealed to the Patan High Court in September.
But the high court judges rejected the appeal, saying that it was the responsibility of the federal government to change the law before the lower authorities could register such marriages, HRW reported.
Nepal’s civil code currently only recognizes marriages between one man and one woman. The Supreme Court attempted to rectify that by ordering the creation of an interim registry for nontraditional marriages until parliament changes the law. The two lower courts then reversed the logic by claiming that the national law must be changed first.
MALAYSIA
JOHOR, Malaysia – Malaysian LGBTQ+ rights activists are decrying efforts by the Johor state government to establish a “rehab” centre for “people in same-sex relations,” which would use the globally debunked conversion therapy to change sexual orientation.
Malaysian society is predominately Muslim and conservative. Human Rights Watch has noted that the government authorities in the Malay Archipelago are willing to enforce the rigid gender roles by which they compel all Malaysians to abide with few exceptions.
Speaking at the Johor state assembly on Wednesday, the state’s Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman Mohd Fared Mohd Khalid said 400,000 ringgit ($86,000 USD) has been allocated for the rehabilitation center, which was expected to open in July next year the South China Morning Post reported.
“This rehabilitation center is established … for them to get back on the right path,” Fared told the assembly.
Aside from same-sex individuals, Fared proclaimed that the center would also house “those who are deemed deviant” from the state-prescribed religious Islamic orthodoxy, which includes the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and Baha’i among some 42 groups, the state’s religious affairs body has identified as “deviant.”
The Malaysian government relies on the force of law to prohibit expression and conduct that fall outside of a heterosexual, cisgender norm. It is one of only a handful of countries that explicitly makes gender nonconformity a criminal offense.
Reacting to the rehab news, transgender rights group Justice for Sisters told the South China Morning Post that detaining people was a violation of the Malaysian constitution, which safeguards personal liberty, privacy, dignity, equality and prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender.
“Detaining people on the grounds of changing their SOGIE – sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression – amounts to torture without a doubt,” said the group’s spokesperson Thilaga Sulathireh.
Malaysia also criminalizes consensual same-sex conduct at both the federal and state levels. Its officials frequently insist that the laws criminalizing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are intended not primarily to punish, but rather to return them to “the right path,” statements echoed this past week by Johor’s Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman.
Human Rights Watch notes that officials under successive Malaysian governments have typically coded their approach to sexual and gender diversity in a logic of “prevention” and “rehabilitation,” backed by the threat of punishment. Former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who was in office between March 2020 and August 2021, described LGBT people as a threat to Islam, backed by “foreign influences,” and a “disorder” that requires counseling.
THE VATICAN
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis this past week further disciplined another American prelate, retired Cardinal Raymond Burke, who has publicly critiqued Francis over the Pope’s ongoing efforts for reforming the Catholic Church, especially over issues centered on LGBTQ+ Catholics and the LGBTQ+ community.
The Associated Press reported that Pope Francis revoked Burke’s subsidized Vatican apartment and retirement salary, according to sources because he was a source of “disunity” in the church.
The move is “unprecedented in the Francis era”, Christopher White, a Vatican observer who writes for the National Catholic Reporter, told the BBC.
“Typically, retired cardinals continue to reside in Rome after stepping down from their positions, often remaining active in papal liturgies and ceremonial duties,” he said. “Evicting someone from their Vatican apartment sets a new precedent.”
Burke, who spends much of his time in the U.S. at the Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine he founded in his native Wisconsin, has not yet been notified of the Pope’s actions according to the AP.
At the end of October, the Pope convened a month long conference, known as a Synod of Bishops, followed an unprecedented two-year canvassing of rank-and-file Catholics. During the conference Jesuit Fr. James Martin, a popular spiritual author and editor of the LGBTQ Catholic publication Outreach, noted that on LGBTQ+ issues, “There were widely diverging views on the topic,” he said.
In early November, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Eastern Texas was “relieved” of his position as head of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas by Pope Francis after Strickland’s refusal to resign in a dispute over the Church’s LGBTQ+ inclusion in Catholic practices. Strickland often had echoed Cardinal Burke’s positions.
Although retired in 2014, Burke had an incredibly anti-LGBTQ public record since, especially in vocalizing his opposition to plans to be inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community. Burke was once a high-ranking U.S. archbishop and head of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican court, but was repeatedly demoted under Pope Francis and then forced to retire.
In March of 2020, Burke laid blame on the coronavirus pandemic on the LGBTQ+ community. As churches were forced to close during the lock-downs ordered by health officials, Burke wrote:
“Worship is particularly needed now because of ‘how distant our popular culture is from God,’ he wrote, noting abortion and euthanasia, then attacking the LGBTQ equality movement, particularly activism for recognition of transgender identity.
“‘We need only to think of the pervasive attack upon the integrity of human sexuality, of our identity as man or woman, with the pretense of defining for ourselves, often employing violent means, a sexual identity other than that given to us by God,’ he said. ‘With ever greater concern, we witness the devastating effect on individuals and families of the so-called “gender theory.”‘ Burke went on to say, ‘There is no question that great evils like pestilence are an effect of original sin and of our actual sins.’”
Burke once compared lesbian, gay, and bisexual people to murderers.
UNITED KINGDOM
LONDON, UK – Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss is said to be backing a private bill to be introduced into the House of Commons that will ban minor children under the age of 18 from accessing hormone therapy and block the National Health Service and the UK government from recognizing their social transition.
After Truss was one of 20 backbencher MPs to be selected to bring forward a bill, a source reportedly said she chose the legislation because she believes under-18s need to be protected from “making irreversible decisions about their bodies.”
PinkNewsUK pointed out that argument fails to consider the fact that trans under-18s are typically prescribed physically reversible puberty blockers and are only permitted to do so after lengthy medical checks.
Physically reversible puberty blockers are also typically only given to teenagers over the age of 16. It is exceptionally rare for under-16s to be prescribed puberty blockers.
Despite this, Truss is expected to formally present the bill on Wednesday (6 December) during a House of Commons hearing where its MP backers will also attend, PinkNewsUK also reported.
A spokesperson for the UK government said in a statement: “This government is clear on the fundamental importance of biological sex.
LIVERPOOL – A magistrate’s court found a fifty-one-year-old man guilty of a hate crime in an assault on Drag Race UK star The Vivienne this past June at a local McDonald’s. Alan Whitfield told the court that he had struck James Lee Williams, aka The Vivienne, in the face claiming that his actions were not motivated by homophobia but by what he described as “banter.”
During his testimony, 31-year-old Williams said he was subjected to a “barrage of abuse” from Whitfield after entering the fast food restaurant PinkNewsUK reported.
“He [Whitfield] carried on, then after the fourth ‘look at the state of you’ I said ‘look at the state of you’, I said ‘look at the state of your face’, to which he said ‘I’ve got skin cancer’ and then punched me straight in the face.”
PinkNewsUK reported that the RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star, who took home the crown in the first series in 2018, argued that the attack was motivated by homophobia because there were “countless other people” in the McDonald’s at the time.
Whitfield maintained throughout the proceedings that the assault “was nothing to do with him [Williams] being gay”, reiterating that he has LGBTQ+ members of his family.
After court deliberation, Justice Anthony Canning said that Whitfield’s evidence was “not credible”.
“Having considered this incident from beginning to end, we believe beyond reasonable doubt that the hostility shown by yourself from that outset was motivated and down to the perceived sexuality of the complainant and this was homophobic in nature.”
Whitfield will be sentenced in January 2024.
IRELAND
CORK CITY, Ireland – A 25-year-old 2nd year Law student at the University College Cork is set to make history as the first openly transgender person in history to run for local election in the Republic of Ireland.
Saoirse Mackin, who co-founded Trans+ Pride Cork in 2022, was nominated by the Social Democrats to run in Cork City North West’s 2024 election. Mackin, who transitioned in 2017, told LGBTQ+ media outlet GCN – Ireland, that if elected, one of her top priorities will be eliminating the excessive healthcare barriers that are in place for transgender women in Ireland.
Mackin also advocates for better cycling infrastructures, as well as affordable housing and improved public services GCN noted.
She said, “If elected, my priority areas will include the provision of more affordable housing, improved public services, universal access to healthcare and the development of quality cycle infrastructure in Cork. I will also campaign for better local amenities, such as upgraded parks, green spaces, playgrounds and sports facilities.”
In addition to being a transgender activist, Mackin is also a law student and community organizer who has bravely spoken up against the growing far-right movement in Ireland. She was also named in the Irish Examiner‘s 100 Women of 2022 list.
RUSSIA
MOSCOW – Russia’s Supreme Court this past week on Thursday ruled that “the international LGBTQ movement” is “extremist” which, legal experts and human rights advocates say will lead to all LGBTQ groups and organizations in Russia being banned.
The Russian Ministry of Justice had lodged an administrative legal claim with the High Court to recognize the International LGBTQ public movement as extremist and ban its activity in Russia. Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko did not specify whether it was seeking the closure of any specific groups or organizations, or if the designation would apply more broadly to the LGBTQ community, causes and individuals.
Speaking with Agence France-Presse, the head of the Sphere human rights group, which advocates for the Russian LGBTQ community, had criticized Minister Konstantin Chuychenko actions.
“Russian authorities are once again forgetting that the LGBTQ+ community are human beings,” said Sphere head Dilya Gafurova, who has left Russia.
Authorities “don’t just want to erase us from the public field: They want to ban us as a social group,” Gafurova told AFP. “It’s a pretty typical move for repressive non-democratic regimes — the persecution of the most vulnerable. We will continue our fight,” he added.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk in a statement issued from Geneva, Switzerland after the ruling said:
“This decision exposes human rights defenders and anyone standing up for the human rights of LGBT people to being labeled as ‘extremist’ – a term that has serious social and criminal ramifications in Russia,” said the High Commissioner.
“No one should be jailed for doing human rights work or denied their human rights based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“I call on the Russian authorities to repeal, immediately, laws that place improper restrictions on the work of human rights defenders or that discriminate against LGBT people. The law must uphold and defend the principles of equality and non-discrimination. The law must never be used to perpetuate inequality and discrimination,” Türk added.
Laws that must be reformed include those prohibiting gender-affirming medical and administrative procedures, and banning so-called “LGBT propaganda”,which made it illegal to discuss LGBT issues in Russia on penalty of substantial fines, Türk said.
The High Commissioner also pointed out the wide use of the “extremist” label is more generally used to prosecute all those perceived as opponents, including politicians, journalists, human rights defenders and others.
“LGBTIQ people exist in every country, and a legal ban on the undefined ‘international LGBT movement’ will result in more violence, discrimination, and isolation of LGBTIQ people in Russia, who are already targeted for being who they are,” said Maria Sjödin, Executive Director at Outright International.
“Russia, which has already restricted access to information about LGBTIQ issues, is yet again violating the human rights of LGBTIQ people by restricting freedoms of association and expression. This is a great concern not just for human rights defenders focused on protecting the rights of LGBTIQ people but for everyone who believes in human rights for all,” Sjödin added.
Within 48 hours of the High Court’s ruling, multiple Russian law enforcement agencies executed a series of raids at multiple queer venues in the Russian capital. At one club located on Ulitsa Malaya Yakimanka street in the center of the city, there were approximately 300 people gathered when Russian security forces burst in under the pretext of searching for drugs in the establishment. Several persons were detained.
“In the middle of the party, they stopped the music and began to enter the halls [the police]. There were also citizens of other countries at the party. At the exit, they photographed passports without permission to do so,” an LGBTQ rights activist who had previously spoken to other media outlets told the Blade in a phone call Sunday.
The raids took place in at least four venues, and were reportedly expected by the clubs management and owners.
Security forces arrived at an establishment near the Avtozavodskaya metro station and a themed strip club for guys near the Polyanka metro station in central Moscow. The administration of the clubs warned visitors about the events in advance, the Moscow Times reported.
According to an eyewitness to the police raid on Mono, a bar also located in the city’s central district on Pokrovsky Boulevard, “there was the usual party, then the owner came out and said that within an hour law enforcement would arrive in connection with the recent ruling by the Supreme Court. Within 20 minutes the dance floor started to empty,” Ostorozhno Novosti, an independent Russian news outlet reported.
The Moscow Times could not independently verify Ostorozhno Novosti’s reporting, and employees from at least two of the clubs believed to have been targeted on Friday denied the reports, which they called “fakes.”
“I wake up… and I’m reading the news, and, of course, it’s hilarious. Where was [this raid] when we had nothing going on?” the manager of the club Mono said in a video posted on social media Saturday.
The Blade has also been unable to verify Ostorozhno Novosti’s reporting on the Mono bar raid but in a series of phone calls and Telegram chats was able to determine that multiple raids had in fact taken place across central Moscow and that gay clubs and LGBTQ+ safe spaces were targeted.
In the Baltic city of St. Petersburg, the largest gay club, Central Station, according to independent news outlet Sota, reported the club’s management said that they were denied further rental of the site due to the “new law.”
Additional reporting from Pahichan Media, the South China Morning Post, Human Rights Watch, The BBC, PinkNewsUK, Agence France-Presse, The Moscow Times, GCN Ireland, The Vatican News and The Associated Press.
El Salvador
‘Mani Fiesta tu Orgullo’: memoria, resistencia y celebración marcan inicio del Mes del Orgullo en El Salvador
Actividad reunió a cientos de personas en un espacio de encuentro, cultura y reivindicación
Entre los sonidos vibrantes de la batucada, las luces de colores, la música y los mensajes de reivindicación, el 5 de junio se llevó a cabo una nueva edición de “Mani Fiesta tu Orgullo”, un evento que durante los últimos cuatro años se ha convertido en una de las actividades más emblemáticas para dar inicio a las celebraciones y acciones de incidencia política, cultural y comunitaria del Mes del Orgullo en El Salvador.
La actividad, organizada por la Federación Salvadoreña LGBTI en conjunto con el Centro Cultural de España en El Salvador, congregó entre 200 y 300 personas que se dieron cita para compartir un espacio de encuentro, reflexión, memoria histórica y celebración de la diversidad.
Desde las 7 p.m. y hasta las 10 p.m., el recinto se transformó en un punto de reunión para activistas, artistas, organizaciones de la sociedad civil, personas de la comunidad LGBTQ+ y aliados que año con año encuentran en esta actividad una oportunidad para reafirmar su identidad y fortalecer los lazos comunitarios.
Más allá de una fiesta, los organizadores destacan que “Mani Fiesta tu Orgullo” representa un acto político y social de gran importancia, pues marca oficialmente el inicio de las actividades que diversas organizaciones desarrollan durante junio y permite posicionar públicamente las demandas, preocupaciones y aspiraciones de la comunidad LGBTQ+ salvadoreña.
Cuatro años construyendo comunidad y visibilidad
La iniciativa nació hace cuatro años como una propuesta para abrir el Mes del Orgullo desde un espacio cultural, inclusivo y accesible para todas las personas. Desde entonces, la actividad ha evolucionado hasta convertirse en una referencia dentro de la agenda de junio, permitiendo que organizaciones, activistas y miembros de la comunidad encuentren un espacio para compartir experiencias, fortalecer alianzas y proyectar mensajes de incidencia.
Para la Federación Salvadoreña LGBTI, uno de los aspectos más significativos ha sido el respaldo constante del Centro Cultural de España, institución que ha abierto sus puertas para albergar la actividad y contribuir a la promoción de los derechos humanos y la diversidad.
“Para nosotras y nosotros es muy gratificante contar con el apoyo del Centro Cultural de España, que ha sido un aliado importante para poder desarrollar este espacio y hacerlo crecer cada año”, destacaron integrantes de la Federación.
La continuidad del evento también refleja la capacidad de resistencia y organización de la comunidad LGBTQ+ en un contexto que continúa presentando desafíos relacionados con la igualdad, el reconocimiento y la garantía de derechos.
Durante estos cuatro años, “Mani Fiesta tu Orgullo” ha servido como un espacio de expresión artística, pero también como una plataforma para visibilizar las realidades que enfrenta la población diversa en el país.
Un hecho histórico: la participación activa de la Asamblea Feminista
Uno de los aspectos que marcó esta edición fue la participación activa de la Asamblea Feminista, organización que desde el año pasado se ha incorporado de manera más directa a la coordinación y desarrollo de las actividades del Mes del Orgullo.
Aunque históricamente mujeres lesbianas y bisexuales han formado parte de las marchas y acciones impulsadas por la comunidad LGBTQ+, su participación en los procesos organizativos había sido limitada. La incorporación de la Asamblea Feminista representa, según activistas, un paso importante hacia la construcción de un movimiento más amplio, inclusivo y articulado.
Para Karla Guevara, secretaria general de la Federación Salvadoreña LGBTI, este acercamiento constituye un hecho sin precedentes dentro de la historia reciente del movimiento.
“Creo que esto es inédito, y a nosotras y nosotres como Federación nos llena de orgullo que las compañeras lesbianas y bisexuales se hayan podido sumar a estas actividades del Mes del Orgullo”, expresó.
La participación de organizaciones feministas también evidencia una creciente convergencia entre distintas luchas sociales que comparten principios relacionados con la igualdad, la dignidad humana y la defensa de los derechos fundamentales. Para muchas personas asistentes, esta articulación representa una oportunidad para fortalecer redes de apoyo y construir agendas comunes frente a desafíos que afectan a diversos sectores históricamente excluidos.
Arte, música y celebración como herramientas de resistencia
La jornada estuvo marcada por expresiones artísticas que aportaron energía y color a la celebración. La reconocida batucada Las Musas fue una de las agrupaciones encargadas de animar la noche, aportando ritmos vibrantes que acompañaron gran parte de la actividad.
Asimismo, la participación de la DJ Drag Alexa Evangelista contribuyó a crear un ambiente festivo y diverso, donde la música se convirtió en un lenguaje común para las personas asistentes.
Más allá del entretenimiento, las expresiones artísticas desempeñan un papel fundamental dentro de los movimientos sociales, especialmente en aquellos relacionados con la diversidad sexual y de género.
El arte, la música, la danza y las expresiones culturales permiten construir comunidad, fortalecer identidades y generar espacios seguros donde las personas pueden expresarse libremente. En este sentido, “Mani Fiesta tu Orgullo” demuestra cómo la celebración también puede convertirse en una forma de resistencia frente a la discriminación y la exclusión.
Un manifiesto dedicado a la memoria y la gratitud
Uno de los momentos más significativos de la noche fue la lectura del manifiesto del orgullo correspondiente a este año. A diferencia de otros años, el documento estuvo enfocado principalmente en la memoria histórica y el reconocimiento de quienes construyeron los primeros espacios de organización y resistencia en condiciones mucho más adversas.
El mensaje recordó a aquellas personas que, en décadas pasadas, comenzaron a construir comunidad desde la clandestinidad, cuando la discriminación social era aún más intensa y los espacios seguros prácticamente inexistían. También rindió homenaje a quienes fallecieron durante la pandemia del VIH/Sida en las décadas de 1980 y 1990, una de las etapas más dolorosas para la población LGBTQ+ a nivel mundial.
El manifiesto destacó además la importancia de recordar la primera Marcha del Orgullo realizada en El Salvador en 1997, un acontecimiento histórico que marcó un antes y un después en la visibilidad pública de la comunidad diversa. Asimismo, se hizo un reconocimiento especial a las personas adultas mayores de la comunidad, incluyendo mujeres lesbianas, hombres gays, personas bisexuales y mujeres trans, cuyas experiencias y luchas han contribuido a abrir camino para las nuevas generaciones.
Para muchas de las personas presentes, este enfoque representó una invitación a mirar hacia atrás con gratitud, reconociendo que los avances actuales son el resultado de décadas de trabajo, organización y valentía.
El orgullo como memoria, comunidad y esperanza
Aunque junio suele asociarse con celebraciones, desfiles y manifestaciones públicas, para muchas organizaciones LGBTQ+ el orgullo también implica memoria, reflexión y compromiso con las generaciones futuras.
Eventos como “Mani Fiesta tu Orgullo” permiten recordar que detrás de cada conquista existen historias de personas que enfrentaron discriminación, violencia y exclusión para abrir espacios de participación y reconocimiento. Al mismo tiempo, estas actividades fortalecen los vínculos comunitarios y generan oportunidades para que nuevas personas se integren a los movimientos de defensa de derechos humanos.
La edición de este año dejó en evidencia que la comunidad LGBTQ+ salvadoreña continúa apostando por la organización colectiva, la construcción de alianzas y la recuperación de la memoria histórica como herramientas fundamentales para avanzar. Con una asistencia que superó las expectativas de los organizadores y una creciente participación de distintos sectores sociales, “Mani Fiesta tu Orgullo” reafirmó su lugar como una de las actividades más significativas del inicio del Mes del Orgullo en El Salvador.
Más que una celebración, fue un espacio para recordar, agradecer y reconocer que cada paso dado en la búsqueda de igualdad ha sido posible gracias a quienes, desde distintos momentos de la historia, decidieron levantar la voz y construir comunidad. Y precisamente allí radica la esencia de esta actividad: en recordar que el orgullo no solo se celebra, también se hereda, se construye y se comparte.
The Netherlands
Netherlands to ban conversion therapy
Dutch Senate on Tuesday approved prohibition bill
The Dutch Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would ban so-called conversion therapy in the Netherlands.
NL Times, an online Dutch newspaper, reported 57 of 75 senators backed the proposal. The Dutch House of Representatives, the lower house of the country’s parliament, approved the measure last September.
Conversion therapy practitioners could face up to two years in prison and a €25,000 ($28,980) fine under the bill once it becomes law after King Willem-Alexander gives his royal assent.
“We have been fighting for the ban with victims and colleague organizations for almost 15 years and are very happy with this result,” said COC Nederland, a Dutch LGBTQ+ and intersex rights group, in a statement after Tuesday’s vote. “We see it as a victory for the victims.”
Seven EU countries — Belgium, Cyprus, France, Malta, Norway, Portugal, and Spain — have banned conversion therapy outright.
Greece in 2022 banned the practice for minors. German lawmakers in 2020 passed a law that prohibits conversion therapy for minors and for adults who have not consented to undergoing the widely discredited practice.
The European Parliament in April voted in favor of prohibiting conversion therapy across the EU. The European Commission last month said all EU countries should ban it.
Rob Jetten, the country’s first openly gay prime minister, took office in February.
This year’s World Pride will take place in Amsterdam from July 25-Aug. 8.
World
War, geopolitical tensions with U.S. overshadow Pride month events
Hungary’s new government has lifted Budapest Pride ban
Activists around the world are marking Pride month this year against the backdrop of war and geopolitical tensions with the U.S.
KyivPride on June 21 will hold its annual Pride march in the Ukrainian capital. The group, which is raising funds for the country’s air defense, on June 14 hosted KyivPride Park, an event that highlighted LGBTQ+ service members and veterans.
Russia in 2022 launched its war against Ukraine.
Oleksandr Demenko is the head of Ukrainian LGBT Military for Equal Rights. He also fought to defend Azovstal, a sprawling steel mill in Mariupol, a city in eastern Ukraine that Russian forces occupied after a months-long siege that ended on May 20, 2022.
Demenko in a KyivPride press release said that “almost no one talked about LGBTIQ+ servicemembers” before the war.
“Today we have our own platform, and every year more and more people are ready to speak openly,” he noted. “This is the best proof of how the country is changing.”
“When we talk about rights and equality, we are talking about specific people — service members who defend Ukraine. We carry out the same duties as everyone else, yet we still do not have the same rights,” added Demenko. “That is why it is so important that the state finally recognizes our families. On June 21, we will remind everyone of this at the KyivPride March.”
More than 100,000 people participated in Tel Aviv’s 28th annual Pride parade on June 12.
“Each year, we share a joyful day in Tel Aviv-Yafo,” said Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai. “It is a day when we come to celebrate the society we strive to be: one where people are valued not for who they are, whom they love, where they fall on the spectrum, or the kind of family they choose to create.”
Tel Aviv authorities last year cancelled the parade, which was to have taken place hours after Israel launched airstrikes against Iran. Tehran, in turn, launched hundreds of missiles toward the Jewish State.
President Donald Trump on June 23, 2025, announced a ceasefire that ended the 12-day war.
Israel and the U.S. on Feb. 28 launched airstrikes against Iran. The Jewish State continues to carry out airstrikes against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia militant group the U.S. and Israel have designated a terrorist organization, in Lebanon.
Reports indicate the U.S. and Iran this week are poised to formally sign a ceasefire agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said his government would continue its efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, killed roughly 1,200 people, including upwards of 360 partygoers at the Nova Music Festival, when they launched a surprise attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip. The militants also kidnapped more than 200 people.
A case that South Africa filed with the International Court of Justice accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Hamas-controlled enclave after Oct. 7.
Roma Pride organizers earlier this month banned two Jewish LGBTQ+ groups from having floats in their June 20 parade in the Italian capital because they refused to categorize the Israeli government’s post-Oct. 7 war in Gaza as a genocide. The decision has sparked outrage among Jewish organizations around the world.
“The participation of a float in Roma Pride therefore also assumes — regardless of the sexual orientation, identity, religion, ethnicity or nationality of the person you see — a clear and unequivocal position of condemnation of the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli government,” said Roma Pride in a May 26 statement. “The history of our republic is a history of resistance. The history of our movement is a history of resistance. Roma Pride, therefore, supports the right to exist and to resist (for) the Palestinian people oppressed by Israeli government’s criminal and genocidal conduct.”
Sipineq+, a Greenlandic LGBTQ+ rights group, organized its annual Pride parade that took place in Nuuk, the mineral-rich island’s capital, on June 13.
Trump since he took office for the second time has called for the U.S. to take control of Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory with a population of less than 60,000 people. Trump claims the U.S. needs to control the island in the Arctic Ocean between Europe and North America because of national security.
Cuba’s National Center for Sexual Education, a group that Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro directs, last month held a series of events that commemorated the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia.
The IDAHOBiT commemorations took place against the backdrop of widespread blackouts and a severe fuel shortage after Venezuela stopped oil shipments to Cuba after American forces seized now former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Jan. 3. Federal prosecutors last month also indicted Raúl Castro over his alleged role in the 1996 shooting down of four planes that Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based Cuban exile group, operated over the Florida Straits that separate Cuba and the Florida Keys.
Raúl Castro, 94, was Cuba’s defense minister when the incident took place.
New Hungarian government lifts Budapest Pride ban
The Budapest Pride march will take place in the Hungarian capital on June 27, less than two months after Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office.
Hungarian lawmakers last year passed a bill that banned Pride events and allowed authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify participants. MPs later amended the Hungarian Constitution to ban public LGBTQ+ events.
More than 100,000 people defied the ban and participated in last year’s Budapest Pride parade. The event became one of the largest protests against then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government that Magyar and his center-right Tisza party ousted on April 12.
Hungarian police on May 29 announced they will allow the Budapest Pride march to take place.
“We will march freely in fresh air for our rights, for the democratic Hungary,” said Budapest Pride on its Facebook page.
Erika Hilton, a Black travesti and former sex worker who has been in the Brazilian Congress since 2022, is among those who spoke at the annual São Paulo Pride Parade that took place on the city’s Paulista Avenue on June 7. Reports indicate more than 1 million people took part in the event.
Equal Namibia will hold several events in the country.
The Namibian High Court in 2024 struck down Apartheid-era statutes that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations — the country gained its independence from neighboring South Africa in 1990. The Namibian Supreme Court the year before ruled the country must recognize same-sex marriages legally performed elsewhere.
Patrick Reissner, co-founder of Equal Namibia, on Monday told the Los Angeles Blade the organization is preparing to file a marriage equality case. Reissner said two Equal Namibia staffers are planning to participate in this year’s World Pride, which will take place in Amsterdam from July 25-Aug. 8.
“By staying visible, engaging with the international (business) community, and pushing for more research in queer spaces — Namibian, regional, and continental — we hope to prove to our government that the economic and social costs of discrimination cause more damage, affect productivity, limit innovation, and hold back our nation’s investment attractiveness,” Reissner told the Blade. “Diversity and inclusion — across the board — are not only social values, but increasingly vital arguments in shaping our local economies for future generations.”
South Korea
South Korea marriage equality movement gaining momentum
Seoul court on June 5 ruled same-sex couple deserved legal protection
On Oct. 30, 2025, a same-sex couple in South Korea filed a petition with the country’s human rights commission after a public institution denied marriage leave to one of the men and later reduced his pay and performance bonus for taking time off for their wedding ceremony. The commission last month completed its investigation and continues to consider the case.
The petition comes as South Korea’s same-sex couples have won a series of legal victories in recent years, even though the country does not extend marriage rights to them. Courts have increasingly been asked to decide whether existing laws and workplace policies can extend equal treatment to LGBTQ+ people, often in the absence of legislative change.
The employer’s policy granted marriage leave, but it did not define marriage or specify who could claim the benefit. After the employee submitted a wedding invitation and requested a brief leave for a ceremony with his same-sex partner, the institution denied the request and treated his absence as unauthorized.
The South Korean Supreme Court ruled on July 18, 2024, that denying dependent health insurance benefits to same-sex couples while extending them to opposite-sex couples amounted to discriminatory treatment. The court said the unequal treatment infringed on human dignity and the right to pursue happiness.
South Korea’s marriage equality movement has evolved gradually, moving from social taboo and legal nonrecognition toward greater public visibility and limited judicial victories.
In 2004, a same-sex couple unsuccessfully sought a division of assets under a de facto marriage. Nearly a decade later, filmmaker Kim Jho Gwang-soo and his partner, Kim Seung-hwan, applied to register their marriage, but South Korean courts rejected their bid, as well as subsequent attempts by same-sex couples to gain legal recognition.
In February 2023, the Seoul High Court ruled that the National Health Insurance Service must extend dependent health insurance benefits to same-sex partners, marking a landmark legal victory for LGBTQ+ couples. The Supreme Court’s 2024 decision made it final.
Under South Korean law, a de facto marriage generally refers to a couple who live together and hold themselves out as married without formally registering their union. While such relationships may receive limited legal recognition in certain circumstances, a marriage is not legally recognized unless it satisfies legal requirements and is registered with the government.
In a ruling made public on June 5, a Seoul court found a same-sex couple had built a life partnership similar to a common-law marriage and deserved legal protection. The court ordered a third party whose affair led to the relationship’s breakdown to pay 10 million won ($6,611.59) in damages.
The court, however, said existing law did not allow it to recognize the relationship as a common-law marriage, underscoring the legal limits that same-sex couples continue to face.
“There is no evidence that the plaintiff and the former partner held a wedding ceremony or revealed their relationship to acquaintances outside their families,” said the court. “From September 2019, when they shared their finances, or at the latest from June 2023, when they lived with the plaintiff’s family and received engagement rings from the plaintiff’s parents and were recognized as a couple, they shared an emotional, physical and financial relationship with a mutual intent to marry, forming a life partnership similar to a common-law marriage.”
On May 31, 2024, South Korean lawmakers introduced the country’s first marriage equality bill. Former Justice Party member Jang Hye-yeong proposed the legislation that 12 lawmakers from across the political spectrum co-sponsored. and co-sponsored by 12 lawmakers from across the political spectrum. The legislation failed later.
While consensual same-sex relations are not criminalized in South Korea, marriage equality remains unrecognized. Reports suggest many LGBTQ+ people continue to live with limited public visibility.
Recent opinion surveys suggest public support for marriage equality in South Korea has declined.
A 2025 Hankook Research poll found that 31 percent of respondents supported extending marriage rights to same-sex couples, down from 36 percent in 2021. A separate Gallup Korea survey found that 34 percent backed marriage equality while 58 percent opposed it, reversing gains in public support and returning attitudes to levels seen nearly a decade ago.
The report attributed the decline in support to South Korea’s broader social and political climate.
Activists told the publication that far-right mobilization, heightened political tensions, and growing online radicalization among some young men had likely contributed to the shift. They also argued politicians routinely cite a lack of public consensus to delay measures such as the Life Partnership Act and the Marriage Equality Act, describing the argument as an excuse for inaction.
Kiyong Shim, an activist with Chingusai, a Korean gay rights group, told the Los Angeles Blade that the marriage leave dispute illustrates the challenges same-sex couples continue to face in South Korea. Shim said the country’s Civil Act contains no provision that explicitly prohibits same-sex marriage, but that marriage registrations by same-sex couples are refused as a matter of administrative practice.
“Because their relationships have no legal standing, exclusion arises in nearly every area of daily life: marriage leave, family allowances, medical decision-making, inheritance, housing, and more,” said Shim.
He said the marriage equality movement is advancing along two tracks: one is public campaigning, lectures, workshops, and community networking centred on the Marriage for All Korea campaign and the second is through litigation. Fourteen same-sex couples are now plaintiffs in various lawsuits that have been before South Korean courts since 2024.
Shim told the Blade that change is also beginning to take root in South Korea’s judiciary, pointing to the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling that recognized dependent health insurance benefits for same-sex partners.
“Those holding political responsibility — in the legislature, the executive, and beyond — continue to turn away from the rights of LGBTQ+ people,” said Shim. “LGBTQ+ individuals remain exposed to discrimination and hatred in everyday life, and many live by painfully concealing who they are. This is precisely why the campaigning cannot stop, and why the work of organizing must continue.”
Shim told the Blade that public opinion is moving in a more favorable direction, albeit gradually. He said attitudes toward homosexuality, sexual minorities, and marriage equality have steadily become more accepting.
“The problem lies in politics,” said Shim. “In Korea, the forces driving anti-homosexuality sentiment are largely conservative Protestant church groups, and these church groups are deeply entangled with politicians in the ruling Democratic Party. As a result, even within the ruling party, this issue is difficult to address. So we are in an asymmetric situation: the judiciary and public opinion are moving forward, while the very political actors charged with legislation and administration remain stationary.”
Taiwan, Nepal, and Thailand have extended marriage rights to same-sex couples. Shim told the Blade there is a growing sense that South Korea is falling behind.
“Society’s perceptions shift most deeply when the fact that LGBTQ+ people are right beside us becomes a natural part of daily life, but this cannot be left to those individuals alone,” he said. “The conditions that make coming out possible must be built by allies together with the community — building workplaces, schools, families, and neighborhoods where discrimination and hatred need not be feared.”
“What Korea needs right now is exactly this kind of broad, everyday solidarity,” added Shim. “Change in the law and change in daily life have to move together, and that is why the work of campaigning and organizing must not stop. There are already many same-sex couples in Korea living as families, caring for one another. The question is not whether they exist — it is when the state will finally recognize this reality in law.”
Niger
Niger recriminalizes homosexuality
Country’s military junta announced new penal code took effect June 12
Niger is the latest African country to recriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations.
The Associated Press on June 12 reported the country’s military junta announced a new penal code under which anyone who “commits or attempts to commit an immodest or unnatural act or practices lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA+) acts” will face between five and 10 years in prison and a fine.
“This same penalty is applicable to persons who officiated the marriage, to the witnesses of the alleged spouses, as well as to persons who have given their consent for the celebration of the marriage and to the organizers,” reads the new code that took effect on June 11.
Niger borders Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Algeria, Libya, and Chad.
The AP notes homosexuality had not been criminalized in Niger. Anti-LGBTQ+ stigma, however, was widespread.
Lawmakers in Burkina Faso last September recriminalized homosexuality in the country. Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on March 31 signed into law a bill that increased the penalty for anyone convicted of engaging in consensual same-sex sexual relations from one to five years in prison to five to 10 years.
Ghanaian lawmakers late last month approved a bill that would, among other things, criminalize LGBTQ+ allyship.
Germany
German group slams White House’s LGBTQ+ rights record ahead of World Cup
LSVD says trans, nonbinary soccer fans safety ‘not guaranteed’ in US
A German advocacy group on the eve of the 2026 World Cup sharply criticized the Trump-Vance administration over its anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
The World Cup will take place in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico through July 19. The tournament began on Thursday in Mexico City with Mexico beating South Africa 2-0.
“In the USA, democracy is being gradually dismantled,” said Julia Monro of Federation Queer Diversity, a German LGBTQ+ and intersex rights group known by the acronym LSVD, in a statement released on Wednesday. “In particular, the human rights of trans, intersex, and nonbinary individuals, as well as other queer people, are facing massive attacks and political instrumentalization by the Trump administration.”
The LSVD statement notes sports “has a special responsibility in this situation because it conveys values worldwide that extend beyond the playing field: fairness, respect, and inclusion.”
“This must apply to everyone, including trans* and nonbinary people,” says LSVD. “Those who love sport must also protect those who can only experience it under difficult circumstances.”
“The public visibility of queer people is being pushed back, companies and organizations with diversity strategies are being pressured, and laws for trans*, intersex, and nonbinary people are being tightened,” added the group. “This is not a fringe issue, but directly affects everyday life, mobility, and safety. The way minority rights are treated is a measure of the state of a democratic society. Inhumane measures must not be normalized. The international community must not remain silent as attention on the host country, the USA, increases. The Trump administration could exploit this media platform for further inhumane purposes, in order to transfer its homophobic agenda to other countries.”
LSVD also stressed the “safety of trans* and nonbinary soccer fans is currently not guaranteed in the USA.”
“We advise all queer fans to inform themselves carefully beforehand and to take precautions for their safety,” it said.
The Council for Global Equality is one of the more than 100 organizations that issued a travel advisory for the U.S. ahead of the World Cup.
LSVD in its statement pointed out the German government in 2025 issued a travel advisory for trans and nonbinary people who are planning to visit the U.S. The warning specifically noted President Donald Trump’s executive order that banned the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers.
InterPride, the organization that coordinates WorldPride events, issued a travel advisory for trans and nonbinary people who planned to travel to the U.S. for WorldPride that took place last summer in D.C.
“Due to an executive order issued by the U.S. president on Jan. 20, all travelers must select either ‘male’ or ‘female’ when applying for entry or visas. The gender listed at birth will be considered valid,” read the InterPride advisory. “If your passport has ‘X’ as a gender marker or differs from your birth-assigned gender, we strongly recommend contacting the U.S. diplomatic mission before traveling to confirm entry requirements.”
LSVD notes the German government reiterated its 2025 travel advisory ahead of the World Cup.
“Anyone traveling with a different gender entry, with an ‘X’ marker in their passport, or who does not conform to the state’s expectations during checks, must expect problems in the USA,” said LSVD.
Hungary
Charges against Budapest mayor for organizing Pride march dropped
Country’s new government took office last month
Hungarian authorities on Thursday dropped charges against Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony over his role in organizing the city’s 2025 Pride march.
Karácsony spoke at the event, even though then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government banned it.
More than 100,000 people defied the ban and participated in the march that took place on June 28, 2025. The Associated Press notes the Budapest Chief Prosecutor’s Office in January charged Karácsony with “organizing the unlawful assembly despite a prohibition order.”
Karácsony, who has been Budapest’s mayor since 2019, described himself as a “proud defendant” after his indictment.
“It seems that in this country, this is the price you pay if you stand up for your own freedom and the freedom of others,” he said in a statement, according to the AP. “If anyone thinks they can ban me, deter me, or prevent me and my city from doing so, they are gravely mistaken.”
Budapest is Hungary’s capital and largest city.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office last month after his center-right Tisza party ousted Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition in elections that took place on April 12.
Hungarian police on May 29 announced they will allow the Budapest Pride march to take place this year.
The European Union’s top court, the EU Court of Justice, days after Orbán’s ouster struck down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law that MPs approved in 2021. The BBC notes Hungarian authorities cited the decision in their decision to drop the charges against Karácsony.
Authorities in Pécs, a city near Hungary’s border with Croatia, have also dropped charges against Géza Buzás-Hábel, who organized a 2025 Pride event.
Hungary
Hungarian authorities lift Budapest Pride ban
Country’s new government took office last month
Hungarian police on May 29 announced they will allow the annual Budapest Pride march to take place.
“The Budapest Metropolitan Police has approved the 2026 Budapest Pride Parade and also has issued restrictive orders in relation to three counter-demonstrations,” a Budapest Metropolitan Police spokesperson told Politico.
Budapest is Hungary’s capital and largest city.
Hungarian lawmakers last year passed a bill that banned Pride events and allowed authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify participants. MPs later amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ+ events.
More than 100,000 people defied the ban and participated in last year’s Budapest Pride parade. The event became one of the largest protests against then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government since he took office in 2010.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office last month after his center-right Tisza party ousted Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition in elections that took place on April 12. The European Union’s top court, the EU Court of Justice, days after Orbán’s ouster struck down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law that MPs approved in 2021.
The EU on May 29 announced it will release more than €16 billion ($18.59 billion) in funds to Hungary that it withheld while Orbán was in office.
The Budapest Pride march will take place on June 27.
“We will march freely in fresh air for our rights, for the democratic Hungary,” said Budapest Pride on its Facebook page.
Colombia
Claudia López comes up short in Colombian presidential election
Former Bogotá mayor would have been country’s first lesbian head of government
Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López on Sunday finished fifth in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election.
López, a centrist who ran as an independent, received 225,517 votes. This figure is .95 percent of the total votes cast.
López was the Colombian capital’s mayor from 2020-2023. She was a member of the Colombian Senate from 2014-2018. López, whose wife is outgoing Colombian Sen. Angélica Lozano, would have become the country’s first female and first lesbian president if she would have won the election.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute honored López in D.C. in 2024.
“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 told the Los Angeles Blade during an interview. She hadn’t yet declared her candidacy, and did not specifically discuss her plans to run.
Runoff to take place June 21
Abrelardo de la Espriella, a far-right lawyer who has praised U.S. President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, on Sunday finished first with 43.74 percent of the vote. Senator Iván Cepeda, a member of outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s Historic Pact party, came in second with 40.9 percent of the vote.
Neither men received a majority of votes. A runoff between them will take place on June 21.
Ghana
Ghanaian lawmakers approve anti-LGBTQ+ bill
Measure that would criminalize allyship awaits president’s signature
Ghanaian lawmakers on Friday approved a bill that would, among other things, criminalize LGBTQ+ allyship.
Reuters reported MPs approved the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, in a voice vote after parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee backed it.
MPs in 2024 approved a similar bill, but it faced legal challenges and then-President Nana Akufo-Addo didn’t sign it. Lawmakers last year reintroduced the measure after President John Dramani Mahama took office.
The bill awaits his signature.
Rightify Ghana, a Ghanaian LGBTQ+ advocacy group, in a series of social media posts notes MPs passed the bill days before the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty will take place in Accra, the country’s capital.
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