LGBTQ

People in the LGBTQ+ community may be more susceptible to mental ill-health so it's important to know what resources are out there for queer people and their loves ones. (Pexels) Today marks World Mental Health Day, and the conversation around mental health has never been louder – especially for the LGBT+ community. Inequality and mental health have been two of the biggest conversations over the past couple months. So it’s fitting that 2021’s World Mental Health Day theme is “mental health in an unequal world”. Countless studies have found people...

A protester wrapped in a trans Pride flag holds a 'Never Stop Fighting' placard during the trans rights demonstration. (Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty) The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been urged to focus “more on healthcare access” for the trans and LGBT+ communities on World Mental Health Day. In a poignant open letter published by openDemocracy, Chrissy Stroop beseeched WHO to do more to champion access to vital healthcare needs for the LGBT+ community in the US. Stroop began by saying she endorsed WHO’s “vision you’ve laid out in...

Kiér Laprí Kartier was shot dead in Texas on 30 September, 2021. (Human Rights Campaign) A 21-year-old Black trans woman called Kiér Laprí Kartier has been shot dead in Texas. Her death is at least the 38th violent death of a trans or gender non-conforming person in the US in 2021. Kartier was shot on 30 September in an apartment complex in Arlington, Texas. Police were called when a citizen noticed an unresponsive person in a parked car with its passenger door open and the engine running. Kartier was taken...

An image showing the living conditions of people in the Reynosa camp in Mexico. (MSF/Esteban Montaño) A gay refugee who was forced to flee El Salvador because of anti-gay discrimination has opened up about his painful efforts to start a new life in the United States. Martin – not his real name – is currently residing in a refugee camp in Reynosa, Mexico, where water supplies are short and living conditions are inhumane. He never intended to leave El Salvador – he lived “peacefully” in his home country and even...

Victoria Scone. (BBC) Since Drag Race UK launched in 2019, the world has fallen even more in love with British drag than it was before. But it’s not just about the vulgar humour, hun culture references and British guest judges – as hilarious as they are. This year, the show broke boundaries by including the first cisgender woman ever to compete on Drag Race. Victoria Scone, from Cardiff, stormed into the workroom and redefined mainstream ideas of what a drag queen can be. Unfortunately, after two strong weeks in the...

For some, they’re part of a good night out. For others, they make sex more sensual, more free. Some people prefer to sniff poppers at home by themselves, where they can reach a high and climax in solitude. They mean different things to different people, but within the queer community, poppers are most often seen as a source of pleasure. They are such a major part of queer culture today that it’s easy to forget that there’s a long, fascinating history behind those little bottles. This remarkable story is told in...

Joyce Carol Oates, writer, Ronchi Di Percoto, Italy, 2010. (Leonardo Cendamo/Getty) Acclaimed writer Joyce Carol Oates has apologised after she suggested that the singular “they” pronoun will never become “part of general usage”. On Wednesday (6 October), Oates tweeted a link to a New York Times op-ed by linguist John McWhorter. In his article, McWhorter argued in favour of the use of gender-neutral pronouns such as “they” and “them”. Sharing the article, the 83-year-old author added: “‘They’ will not become a part of general usage, not for political reasons but because there would...

Harry Styles at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for HS) This week, pop legend and occasional lesbian icon Harry Styles finally confirmed that his hit “Watermelon Sugar” is, indeed, about oral sex. “The song is about – it doesn’t really matter what it’s about,” Styles said on 1 October while performing at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The Fine Line singer continued: “It’s about, um, the sweetness of life! … It’s also about the female orgasm but that’s totally different, it’s not really relevant. So that settles that.”...

Grindr serial killer Stephen Port. Grindr serial killer Stephen Port had an “absolutely incessant” obsession with date rape porn, a London inquest has heard. Port was given a whole-life order for the murders of Anthony Walgate, 23, Gabriel Kobari, 22, Daniel Whitworth, 21, and Jack Taylor, 25, in 2016. He lured the men through gay hookup sites and drugged them with GHB before dumping their bodies near his flag in Barking, east London, between June 2014 and September 2015. A long awaited inquest into the men’s deaths is now underway in...

Sajid Javid delivers his keynote speech during the Conservative party conference on 5 October 2021 (Ian Forsyth/Getty) UK health secretary Sajid Javid has reportedly claimed that using trans-inclusive language in healthcare settings could literally cost lives. Javid made the shocking claim at the annual Conservative party conference on Tuesday (5 October), at a fringe event organised by the right-wing think tank Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). The minister suggested that gender-neutral language could cost lives, The Times reports, and that the NHS must talk about “women” when sending invitations for...

Prosecutors are considering bringing forward obscenity charges over LGBT+ themed books. (Envato Elements) Librarians in Wyoming could face criminal “obscenity” charges for stocking LGBT+ books in sections aimed at teenagers. Prosecutors are reportedly considering whether to bring charges against Campbell County Public Library staff over their decision to stock young adult books about sex education and LGBT+ issues. The library, which is based in the city of Gillette, has faced protests and backlash in recent weeks over a number of books focusing on LGBT+ issues, according to the Associated Press. Those...

Tory culture secretary Nadine Dorries has belatedly admitted she regrets opposing same-sex marriage, saying she now wishes she could “turn the clock back”. The woman who supposedly has her finger on the UK’s cultural pulse has repeatedly voted against marriage equality and once compared it to incest. “If the gay marriage bill takes sex out of marriage could a sister marry a sister to avoid inheritance tax?” she asked parliament in 2013. She labelled the bill “political suicide” and argued that same-sex marriage could never be valid because queer couples...

People take part in a rally organised by an activist group to support the LGBT+ legislation in Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan on 6 June 2021. (Philip Fong/AFP via Getty) Gen Suzuki, a Japanese trans man, has filed a request with a Japanese court legally change his gender without having to undergo surgery and be sterilised. Suzuki, 46, filed a request on Monday (4 October) with the Hamamatsu branch of the Shizuoka Family Court to alter his family registry to align with his gender identity, Mainichi reported. Currently, Japanese law...

Elliot Page poses on the runway during the Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2022 show as part of Paris Fashion Week. (Getty/ Richard Bord) Elliot Page walked the Balenciaga red carpet-runway at Paris Fashion Week, and the internet is losing its mind over his platform goth Crocs. On Saturday (2 October), the Spanish fashion house held its Spring 2022 show, a red carpet film premiere where the celebrities themselves were the models, and paparazzi frantically took photos from the sidelines. Bizarrely, the “premiere” was for the first screening of a Balenciaga-themed episode of...