LGBTQ

Tell Me Why. (DontNod) Diversity, inclusion and accessibility are all key to the Xbox strategy, according to the head of Xbox Studios publishing. In an interview with Polygon, Peter Wyse reiterated that inclusivity is a core tenet for Xbox, both within its games and beyond. Anyone who watched the Xbox E3 presentation and its wealth of forthcoming titles can see the importance of diversity, with new title Redfall standing out in particular for its cast of heroes. And with so many of its games coming to the Game Pass subscription...

A pitch invader ran out with a Pride flag at the start of the Germany v Hungary game. (Markus Gilliar/Getty) The crowd erupted into cheers at Wednesday evening’s football match between Hungary and Germany when a supporter ran out onto the pitch with a Pride flag as the Hungarian national anthem played. The football fan ran out wielding the flag and stood in front of the teams, but they were tackled to the ground by security guards just moments later. Supporters continued to cheer the defiant football fan on as...

The Pride flag was removed from the church in Ballyfermot after the diocese intervened. (Facebook) People in Dublin are preparing to hold a solidarity vigil after a church in Ballyfermot was ordered to take down a Pride flag by Catholic leaders. Ballyfermot Assumption Parish Church put up the Pride flag and an Irish flag last Tuesday (15 June) in an effort to show that everyone in the community is welcome. Speaking to parishioners at mass on Sunday (20 June), Father Adrian Egan said the pastoral council decided to fly the...

New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard has received an outpouring of support from prime minister Jacinda Ardern. Hubbard, 43, became the first openly trans athlete to be selected for the Olympics when she was picked for the New Zealand women’s weightlifting team for Toyko 2020. Ardern offered Hubbard her full support. “All parties here have simply followed the rules,” the New Zealand prime minister said. “That’s the case for Laurel but also the team in New Zealand, they have followed the rules.” Hubbard became eligible after a rule-tweak during the coronavirus...

An Emmy statuette pictured at the 71st Emmy Awards in 2019 (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty) Emmy nominees will now have the option to use the gender-neutral term “performer”, the TV Academy has announced. Starting with the Daytime Emmy Awards next month, nominees in any category will be able to choose the non-gendered description on their nomination certificate rather than “actor” or “actress”. Likewise, winners can ask for their statuette to use the gender-neutral option. The Academy will still use actor, actress, supporting actor and supporting actress in its categories, but the move...

A man on a train. (Envato Elements) Being part of the LGBT+ community can mean being a target for hate. But as journalist Louis Staples writes, small acts of solidarity can come as a comfort to those who find themselves singled out – and it’s something we need more of. Queer people have a lot of stories: the realisation that we are different, that first crush and our first time in an LGBT+ venue. Navigating the world can be a hailstorm of awkward and life-affirming moments. But too many of us have another...

Elizabeth Rondón. (Twitter) A trans woman was reportedly beaten and brutally dismembered by her friends after going for drinks in an attack that has fuelled fear in Miranda, Venezuela. Elizabeth Rondón, a 33-year-old vegetable seller, was slain Monday morning (13 June) after at least three people beat her, according to activists and witnesses. Loved ones described Rondón as a quiet but charismatic person who traded vegetables for food in the Santa Cruz del Este neighbourhood of the Baruta municipality. But her friends, they said, “bothered her a lot” for being trans, often...

The women endured two years of misery at the hands of their neighbour (Stock image: Envato) Police have apologised to a gay couple who were subjected to a horrifying two-year campaign of harassment from a homophobic neighbour from hell. Jessica and Lisa from Chatham, Kent, suffered a torrent of homophobia and intimidating behaviour from the middle-aged family man, who has now been ordered not to have any contact with them. Their two-year ordeal included tyres being slashed, food waste emptied in the garden, a rock lobbed through their window and...

Father Paulo Antônio Mueller hurling homophobic slurs from the pulpit (YouTube/Jacques Gosh) A Brazilian priest is under investigation after he was filmed delivering a homophobic slur-filled homily about a gay reporter. Father Paulo Antônio Mueller, a preacher in the city of Tapurah, is being investigated by Mato Grosso State prosecutors for a vile anti-gay sermon during Pride month. The video shows him standing in the pulpit and repeatedly using the Portuguese slur “viados”, which is best translated as “f****ts”. “Dating for us is not like Globo showed this week. Two viados,...

Mexico fans at a friendly football match with Honduras on June 12, 2021, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Elijah Nouvelage/AFP) Mexico will play its next two World Cup home matches in an empty stadium as punishment for fans’ homophobic chanting, FIFA has announced. All spectators will be banned from the World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica (2 September) and Canada (7 October) after two CONCACAF Olympic qualifier games in March were marred by homophobic slurs. The Mexican soccer federation (FMF) will also be fined $65,000 following an investigation by FIFA, the world governing...

YouTube has been slammed for completely deleting Australian gay comedy channel Ding Dong I’m Gay during Pride month. The gay, sex-positive comedy web series follows Cameron, a gay man who came out six years ago and moved to Sydney, trying to prove to his newly-out cousin that his is “an all-knowing gay guru”. Released last year, the show’s six-episode first season, released weekly, was a huge hit. But during Pride month, the entire channel was unceremoniously removed from YouTube, the series’ creator Tim Spencer. He told Star Observer that it was...

Meghan McCain has been slammed for 'disrespecting' Whoopi Goldberg in a heated exchange over President Joe Biden on The View on 17 June 2021. (YouTube/The View) Meghan McCain has been slammed for ‘disrespecting’ Whoopi Goldberg in a heated exchange over President Joe Biden on The View. On Thursday’s The View (17 June), the panel discussed a tense chat between Biden and CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins during a news conference the day prior. McCain declared that Biden‘s treatment of Collins was “100 per cent Trumpy”. She added: “Just because Trump was so...

Police seized a "f**k the police" tote bag as evidence. (Twitter/ dirozevepave) Cops in Glasgow seized a “f**k the police” tote bag as “evidence” from the window of queer, anarchist Jewish café, and its founders are now facing criminal charges. Pink Peacock is ‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏a queer, Jewish, anarchist, pay-what-you-can café on Glasgow’s Victoria Road, which declares that everyone is welcome “except cops and TERFs“. The café is yet to even open its doors to the public, but has already been in trouble with local police after displaying a “f**k the police”...

Conservative Christian baker Jack Phillips. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty) A Colorado baker has been fined by a district judge after he refused to bake a blue and pink birthday cake celebrating a trans customer’s transition. Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop – which in 2018 won a narrow Supreme Court victory over its refusal to bake a cake for a same-sex couple – was sued by Autumn Scardina, a transgender lawyer based in Denver, Colorado. Scardina filed a lawsuit after Phillips refused to bake her a cake in the colours of the trans flag. On Tuesday (15 June),...