LGBTQ

John Weaver, a former adviser to the late GOP senator John McCain, helped set up the Lincoln Project in 2019 Moderate conservative campaign group the Lincoln Project has denounced its founder, John Weaver, after he faced sexual harassment allegations from 21 men. Weaver, a former adviser to the late GOP senator John McCain, helped set up the Lincoln Project in 2019 – with the group’s videos challenging an extremist drift in the Republican Party quickly earning viral success ahead of the presidential election. The veteran strategist, who has a wife...

Humza Yousaf put forward the proposed amendment to his hate crime bill. (Getty/Fraser Bremner) The Scottish government has pulled an amendment that sought to exempt “criticism of transgender identity” from hate crime laws. The country’s justice minister Humza Yousaf announced via Twitter on Monday (1 February) that he had pulled a planned amendment to the proposed Hate Crime and Public Order bill, which seeks to modernise and consolidate hate crime laws in Scotland. Yousaf apologised “for any hurt caused” by the “freedom of expression” amendment put forward in his name...

One Million Moms has accused dating website eHarmony of “brainwashing” children for featuring a lesbian couple eating ice cream in its latest ad. The puritanical campaign group, which is operated by the anti-LGBT+ American Family Association, has turned its fire on the formerly straights-only dating service over its “Here for Real Love” ad campaign. The ad, launched in November, features two women cooking together and, after a disaster in the kitchen, sharing a pint of ice cream and a kiss instead. A voiceover explains: “Real love is daring to impress....

Nicholas Hewlett. (Screen capture via YouTube) A headmaster in Britain is set to make “education history” by coming out as gay during an online school assembly Monday (1 February) – and he knows he’s going to cry. Nicholas Hewlett, who leads St Dunstan’s College in the Catford neighbourhood of southeast London, said a conversation with a student who spoke about being gay bolstered him to do the same. In doing so, The Times reported, Hewlett is thought to be the first acting headteacher to come out in front of his students...

Gary Barlow. (Toni Anne Barson/FilmMagic) Picture it: You’re in a cavernous sports stadium, coronavirus is a distant dream, and the lights begin to dim – Little Mix, the Spice Girls and the Sugababes emerge to rapturous cheers and screams. But nobody is here to see the holy trinity of pop. Nope. They’re here to see Gary Barlow – they’re just his backing singers. The sinful scene could be a reality after it emerged that the former Take That singer, the creator of dozens of pop earworms eternally hummed by your 40-something...

Uche Maduagwu. (Instagram/@uchemaduagwu) Uche Maduagwu, a celebrated fixture of Nollywood and famous social media rouble-rouser, has come out as “proudly gay”. The Nigerian actor, known for taking swipes at politicians and celebrities with his trouble-making Instagram account, came out as gay on Thursday (28 January). In a series of Instagram posts, Maduagwu implored followers to live their truths while calling on US president Joe Biden to challenge Nigeria’s “inhuman laws against law-abiding homosexuals”. In Nigeria, queer locals spar with the looming threat of 14 years imprisonment and the death penalty,...

Demonstrators wearing masks hold an LGBT+ flag during the demonstration at Boaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey. (Tunahan Turhan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Four students were detained Saturday (30 January) and dubbed “deviants” by Turkey’s interior minister over a piece of artwork that reportedly depicted rainbows alongside the Kaaba. The Kaaba is the most sacred site in Islam, being a building in the centre of the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Tensions have simmered at Boğaziçi University in Instanbul after a supposed loyalist of Turkey’s governing party, the Justice and Development Party, was appointed...

Juan Orlando Hernandez, president of Honduras. (Getty/ Sean Gallup) The conservative Central American country of Honduras has amended its constitution to make legalising marriage equality and abortion almost impossible. Although homosexuality was legalised in Honduras in 1899, same-sex marriage has been banned in the country since the constitution was amended to explicitly forbid it in 2005. This amendment also prevented same-sex adoption and the recognition of same-sex unions in other countries. But on Thursday (28 January), the Honduras legislature voted to change the number of votes need to reform the...

A quarter of British people have been body-shamed on dating apps or social media. (S3studio/ Getty/ Yu Chun Christopher Wong) The dating app Bumble has banned body-shaming, which it says includes “fatphobic, ableist, racist, colourist, homophobic or transphobic” language. From Thursday (28 January), the popular dating app will ban any derogatory comments about appearance, body shape, size or health, either in users’ profiles or in Bumble’s chat function. Research by Bumble found that a quarter of British people have been body-shamed through dating apps and social media, while half said...

New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Texas senator Ted Cruz. (Getty/ Alex Wroblewski and Alex Wong) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shut down anti-LGBT+ Trump supporter Ted Cruz, telling him he “almost had her murdered” three weeks ago during the Capitol riots. Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter on Thursday (28 January) to condemn the app Robinhood, which banned users from purchasing Gamestop stock in the ongoing battle between hedge fund managers and lay investors using the “WallStreetBets” sub-Reddit. But when anti-LGBT+ senator Cruz quote tweeted her to say that he “fully agreed” with her...

Tomasz Rzymkowski, Poland's new deputy minister of education. (Facebook/ Tomasz Rzymkowski) Tomasz Rzymkowski, a “dangerous” Polish MP who previously compared same-sex marriage to bestiality, has been promoted to the position of deputy minister of education. Rzymkowski joined Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) in 2019, but began his political career by representing the far-right ultranationalist party National Movement, which was formed after the country’s 2012 Independence Day march saw violent clashes between right-wing extremists and police. The National Movement party is xenophobic, anti-Semitic, and strongly opposes LGBT+ rights, Pride...

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has condemned transphobia, saying it should be treated with "zero tolerance". (Getty/ Andrew Milligan - WPA Pool) SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has strongly condemned transphobia in a “message from the heart”, insisting it is “vital to speak up for what is right and against injustice”. Sturgeon posted a video to social media on Wednesday evening (27 January), amid accusations that the SNP has become a “hub of transphobia”. In the video, the Scottish first minister said: “This is a message from me as SNP leader...

Warren Hamilton wants to ban abortion and say marriage is between one man, one woman and God. (CAIR Oklahoma) A Republican senator has proposed an anti-trans bill that would criminalise gender-affirming healthcare for anyone under the age of 21 in Oklahoma. Oklahoma state senator Warren Hamilton is the sole sponsor of anti-trans bill SB 676, which would make it “unlawful for a person under the age of 21 years to undergo gender reassignment medical treatment in this state”. Trans healthcare including puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and gender-affirming surgeries (not...

The Cabins: Ep1 on ITV2. Sarah and Charlotte chat about their dating and relationship past. (ITV) The LGBT+ stars of ITV’s Love Island replacement dating show The Cabins have praised the channel for helping to “normalise” same-sex love. The show, which began airing on 4 January, sees singles move into log cabins in the woods together for 24 hours, before choosing whether to stay together. While Love Island has been criticised over the years for its lack of LGBT+ representation, The Cabins featured same-sex couple Sarah Hutchinson and Charlotte Taundry, who have been...