Ireland: Leo Varadkar becomes Ireland’s first openly gay minister

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has come out publicly saying, “I am a gay man, it’s not a secret, but not something that everyone would necessarily know but isn’t something I’ve spoken publicly about before.” 

While confirming that the decision to go public about his sexuality had lifted a weight off his shoulders, Mr Varadkar admitted that some people in the Fine Gael party may judge him, but that it was an important precedent to set for future politicians. Read More 

Preacher Scott Lively on trial for role in Uganda anti-gay law

Anti-gay preacher Scott Lively will face trial for crimes against humanity for his role in influencing the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA). A lawsuit was originally filed by the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of umbrella advocacy group Sexual Minorities Uganda. He is accused of direct involvement in anti-gay efforts in Uganda and therefore of aiding persecution – a violation of international law. A Boston Court of Appeals last week denied Lively's petition to have the case dismissed. It will proceed in federal court. 

Lively, who is president of Abiding Truth Ministries, recently described homosexuality as an "infection" and worse than mass murder. He has also accused gay people of being "agents of America's moral decline."  Read More

Rights Bill Sought for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Americans

As barriers to same-sex marriage fall across the country, gay rights advocates are planning their next battle on Capitol Hill: a push for sweeping legislation to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination, similar to the landmark Civil Rights Act that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed in 1964.

Plans for a so-called comprehensive lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights bill are still in their infancy, and advocates say the campaign could take a decade or longer.  Read More

Australia's first minister for equality to reform gay adoption laws

Gay couples will be allowed to adopt children in Victoria and religious organisations will find it harder to discriminate against employees based on their sexuality, under changes to be made by Australia's first minister for equality Martin Foley.  

Hours after being sworn in as part of the new Andrews government, Equality Minister Martin Foley promised to waste no time amending state adoption laws in order bring Victoria into line with NSW, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

At present, gay couples in Victoria can be appointed as foster parents or guardians, but do not have the right to adopt a child together – even if that child has been in their care for years. Read More

Is Namibia’s new president gay-friendly?

The President-elect of Namibia, Hage Geingob is said to be supportive of equal rights for gays and lesbians. According to journalist Clemans Miyanicwe, the 73-year-old statesman, who will be sworn into office in March next year, is “a well-known defender of the rights of sexual minorities.” Read More

The hidden and the hunted: Uganda's war on gay men

Reporter Jonathan Heaf takes an intimate view on the lives of Ugandan gay men in the wake of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) - or the "Kill The Gays Bill", as it has become known - passed by the Parliament of Uganda:

There must be no distinguishable markings on the outside of the building. Nothing indicative of what happens within. The room is airless and empty. Michael Bashaija slumps between his boyfriend - an older man named Apollo - and a lawyer, knees wide apart, on a green plastic garden chair that is cracked and worn.  Read More 

Cuba’s Gay Rights Evolution

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

UK trans people banned from voting unless they provide previous name

Trans people are furious at the UK government's new electoral registration system, forcing them to provide a previous name in order to be eligible to vote.

The new online voter registration system means that trans individuals cannot register to vote unless they provide false information or they out themselves publicly with no guarantee their data will be protected under the Gender Recognition Act 2004. Read More

Taiwan rejects progressive trans policy

This past week, the Ministry of Interior decided to not adopt the recommendation from the Ministry of Health and Welfare that transgender individuals wishing to change their genders should not have to go through psychiatric evaluations nor be subjected to surgery removing their sex organs. The MOI asserted that there is room for discussion on this issue because of the human rights of the transgender individuals, but it also warned that social order and harmony must be maintained.

Transgender activists, including the Intersex, Transgender and Transsexual People Care Association, are understandably upset that a policy recommendation that would have been one of the most progressive in the world in terms of gender transitioning (most jurisdictions that do not mandate surgery still require psychiatric evaluations) is not being adopted. Read More