LGBTQ

Celia Quansah, Tom Bosworth, Demi Stokes, Tom Daley. (Getty) We’re spoilt for choice at this year’s Olympics as the number of out LGBT+ athletes has more than doubled since the 2016 Summer games. The US is leading the way with 47 out athletes, including the phenomenal Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird, Erica Sullivan and Kayla Miracle. They’re followed by Canada with a total of 33, while the Netherlands is third with 30. Team GB still has a strong showing though, with 13 out and proud British LGBT+ athletes travelling to Tokyo...

Britney Spears and her boyfriend Sam Asghari. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic) Britney Spears’ boyfriend Sam Asghari has addressed rumours that the pair have secretly married. The “Toxic” hitmaker sparked speculation that she and Asghari got hitched after she was spotted wearing a large rock on her ring finger this week. Britney recently said in court that she wants to marry and have children with her boyfriend, who she has dated since they met in 2016 on the set of her “Slumber Party” music video. In photographs obtained by the Daily Mail, Britney swung...

Some teachers told OFSTED the homophobic book was in the boarding school library for "research purposes". (Envato) A horrific book calling for gay people to be murdered was found by OFTSED inspectors in a boarding school library. The Institute of Islamic Education in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was inspected on 18 and 19 May, 2021, by the schools watchdog. According to the report, published on Tuesday (20 July) a book was found by inspectors in the independent boys’ boarding school library titled Islam on Homosexuality. OFSTED noted that the “book had...

Curtis Jackson, AKA 50 Cent, attends a ceremony honouring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 30 January, 2020. (Getty/ Albert L Ortega) 50 Cent, who once suggested that men who do not sleep with women should “just kill” themselves, said it “stings” when people call him a homophobe. Speaking to The Independent, the rapper, real name Curtis Jackson, discussed a queer storyline in his new TV show Power Book III: Raising Kanan. The crime drama is the second spin-off of his original TV series Power, and serves as...

A Pride protest in Budapest, capital of Hungary, in 2019. (Getty/ATTILA KISBENEDEK) Ahead of Budapest Pride, 30 embassies from across the world have demanded “freedom from violence” for queer people in Hungary. The open letter, published Monday (19 July) was signed by the embassies of Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was also signed by 12 cultural institutes in...

Taya Ashton, a 20-year-old Black woman. (Twitter) Taya Ashton, a 20-year-old Black woman, was shot to death Saturday (17 July) in Maryland, US, in the latest transphobic killing that has left activists alarmed. Slain in her Suitland-Silver Hill apartment in Prince George’s County, Ashton, was found by law enforcement suffering from a gunshot wound. Ashton, the granddaughter of community activist Stuart Anderson, was pronounced dead in the 2300 block of Brooks Drive at around 10PM, the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Homicide Unit said in a statement. Investigators said that...

Elin Stillingen was honoured in the first church name changing ceremony in Norway. (Facebook/ Elin Stillingen) A church in Norway held a beautiful naming ceremony for a trans person, in what is thought to be the first ceremony of its kind in the country. Elin Stillingen, 49, came out as transgender nine years ago, and legally changed her gender and name last year. But as a Christian, she felt it was important to mark the important change in her life in a church. On Saturday (17 July), Stillingen was honoured...

Aidelen Evans. (Port Arthur Police Department) Police are finally investigating the death of Aidelen Evans, a 24-year-old Black trans woman, as a homicide after she was found dead in March. Evans, described by family as a fun-loving woman, was found dead in a canal running adjacent to Motiva, the nation’s largest oil refinery, in the coastal industrial city of Port Arthur by police on 18 March. Evidence has since surfaced that Evans may have been killed in Beaumont and her body dumped in Port Arthur. Beaumont police have now taken over the...

FEAR STREET PART 1: 1994 - (L-R) KIANA MADEIRA as DEENA and OLIVIA WELCH as SAM. (Netflix) The stars of Netflix’s new Fear Street film trilogy have heaped praise on the writers for their “groundbreaking” approach to queer representation. The films, based on the book series by RL Stine, follows lesbian high-school couple Deena (Kiana Madeira) and Samantha (Olivia Scott Welch) as they grapple with an evil force responsible for horrifying murders in the town of Shadyside. LGBT+ fans have already heaped praise on Fear Street for its candid approach to queerness –...

Trans kids have been targeted with a wave of Republican-backed laws in the US. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/ Getty) One mum’s response to a wave of anti-trans sports bans that could affect kids like her’s truly puts the meaning into the phrase “devoted parent”. Katie and her daughter, Maddie Jenifer, live in North Carolina – one of 37 US states that have put forward anti-trans bills that would bar trans women and girls from playing on female sports teams A Guardian feature describes how Maddie, 13, has always been one of a gang...

Lorkeyla Jamia Spencer (L), Brittney Monique Mills (C) and Jordan Jarrode Richards-Nwankwo (R) were arrested over the shocking video. (Atlanta Police Department) Three people have been arrested on child cruelty charges after video footage was circulated online showing a 12-year-old boy being abused for doing “gay s**t”. Jordan Jarrode Richards-Nwankwo, 18, Lorkeyla Jamia Spencer, 19, and Brittney Monique Mills, 35, have been charged with cruelty to children by the Atlanta Police Department over the shocking video. Richards-Nwanko is facing an additional charge of battery, police said. The boy’s mother reportedly...

So you’ve just got an Xbox (or PC) with Game Pass and you’re looking for some LGBT+ games? Don’t worry, we’ve got you. Game Pass is an absolute steal, offering a wealth of games – both old and new releases – as part of a single subscription. And there are plenty of LGBT+ games included, especially as Xbox is heavily focused on diversity – and not just for Pride. Here are some of the best LGBT+ games available right now on Xbox Game Pass. 1. Tell Me Why (PC, console) Tell...

Olly Alexander arrives at The BRIT Awards 2021 at The O2 Arena on 11 May 2021 in London, England. (Photo by JMEnternational/JMEnternational for BRIT Awards/Getty Images) Out singer Olly Alexander has thanked fans for an overwhelming outpouring of love and support after he opened up about “feeling a bit low recently”. The Years & Years frontman celebrated his birthday via a post on Instagram. The post included videos of Alexander singing and dancing in a bathroom to Britney Spears‘ hit song “Unusual You”. The now 31-year-old also practised some self-care...

Queer as Folk. (Showtime) From The L Word and Queer as Folk to late night series and powerful documentaries, Showtime is packed with brilliant LGBT-inclusive content. When deciding to sign up to a new streaming service one of the main attractions for LGBT+ people is the representation of the community in its content. Showtime – which comes with a 30-day free trial and then costs $10.99 per month – has a number of LGBT+ favourites and new gems to discover. This includes classic series like Queer as Folk and The L...