LGBTQ

Vice president Mike Pence. (Getty/J. Scott Applewhite) Indiana, the home-state of vice-president Mike Pence, could be next in line to ban traumatising conversion therapy for LGBT+ people in a groundbreaking move. JD Ford and Sue Errington, two Indiana Democrats, have introduced bills that would outlaw the dangerous practice in the state. If passed, the bills would “make anti-LGBTQ practices illegal” and “penalise businesses and Hoosiers who participate in debunked conspiracy theory”, according to the Stonewall Democrats. “Putting a stop to this harmful and detrimental practice can save the lives of countless...

Out congressman David Cicilline has been receiving threats over his key role in the efforts to impeach Donald Trump for a second time. The Rhode Island Democratic lawmaker, who is is co-chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, is lead sponsor of the articles of impeachment going before the House of Representatives, which charge Trump with “Incitement of Insurrection” over the storming of the US Capitol. As the impeachment measure was introduced in the House on Monday, Cicilline received a deluge of violent and hateful threats. Voicemail messages, aired by...

Julio Lancellotti shared photos of himself with trans women on Instagram. (Instagram) A priest has won praise from his followers after he delivered a powerful message of love and solidarity with trans people. Father Julio Lancellotti, a Catholic priest from Sao Paulo, Brazil, shared photos of himself with transgender women on Thursday (7 January) and spoke out in favour of equality. Lancellotti, who has more than 340,000 followers on Instagram, captioned one post: “Fighting discrimination and prejudice is an endless fight.” On a second photo, he said: “We are all...

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 09: Labour leader Keir Starmer speaks at Unison on January 9, 2020 in London, England. Keir Starmer is running for leader of the Labour Party following Jeremy Corybn's decision to step down following their party's 2019 General Election results. (Photo by Peter Summers/Getty Images) As leader Keir Starmer positions Labour as the ‘party of the family’, shadow minister for schools, patron of LGBT+ Labour and proud gay MP Wes Streeting explains how that vision absolutely includes the LGBT+ community. At a time when right-wing populist movements...

Hunter Schafer at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. (Matt Winkelmeyer/VF20/WireImage) When HBO’s Euphoria landed on our screens in 2019, it did that rare thing that a good show is wont to do: made the entire cast famous, almost overnight, and none more so than Hunter Schafer. It was the 21-year-old’s first-ever acting role, and Schafer’s portrayal of Jules was another rare thing: a trans actor playing a trans role. But while Schafer was new to acting, they were not new to the spotlight. She’s modelled for fashion houses including...

Justin Thomas of the United States reacts on the 18th green during the third round of the Sentry Tournament Of Champions at the Kapalua Plantation Course on 9 January, 2021 in Kapalua, Hawaii. (Getty/ Cliff Hawkins) American golf star and world number three Justin Thomas has been forced to apologise after blurting out a homophobic slur live on air at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. On Saturday (9 January), during the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, Thomas missed a five-foot putt on the fourth hole....

The first episode sees Elizabeth Hurley join RuPaul, Michelle and Graham. (BBC) We’ve seen the Drag Race UK season two opener and believe us – it couldn’t come at a better time. You don’t need us to tell you 2021 has, so far, been every bit as horrific as the-year-that-shall-not-be-named. And, frankly, a new season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK isn’t going to cure the many ills of this world – but it’s a damn good distraction nonetheless. Season two of Drag Race UK comes to BBC iPlayer Thursday (14...

Olly Alexander has compared between his character’s AIDS-denial in Russell T Davies’ new series It’s a Sin to COVID conspiracy theorists. The new Channel 4 and HBO Max series from the iconic Queer as Folk and Cucumber creator takes us back to the beginning of the HIV and AIDS epidemic, and shines a light on many gay men’s early attitudes towards the crisis. The series focuses on a group of three young gay men who are all affected by the 1980s AIDS crisis after moving to London and renting a flat together, which...

A trans woman must pay for her own children to be relocated to live with their other parent abroad. (Stock photograph via Elements Envato) An Ontario, Canada, court has ruled that a trans woman must pay the travel costs for her two children to move in with their mother in Washington, US. Increasingly isolated from her family, the upshot of a legal custody battle has seen Darcy feel she is drifting from her children after her former spouse divorced her in 2017. Her ex is now remarried to a man...

We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation. (Amazon) If you’re looking for something to do during lockdown that isn’t constantly scrolling through social media, then maybe you could try picking up new books online? More specifically, and even better, books that put the spotlight on LGBT+ people. From personal memoirs to fiction novels both classic and modern, there’s plenty to add to or start your collection. This list features sci-fi young adult novels that centre queer characters, books that celebrate being unashamedly queer and...

Jim Parsons. (Frazer Harrison/Getty) Jim Parsons has gracefully waded into the long-simmering debate over whether straight, cisgender actors should play LGBT+ people in film and television. Parsons, 47, reflected in an interview with the Los Angeles Times newspaper on his role in The Boys in the Band, the Netflix flick with an all-queer cast that centred on the lives of a group of gay men in pre-Stonewall-era New York City. But how would the film have played out with a patchwork cast of non-LGBT+ and LGBT+ actors? Parsons offered a vastly...

A rainbow Pride flag can be seen waving amid white supremacists firing pepper spray at the police. (Twitter) Gays for Trump waved rainbow Pride flags amid the Capitol riots as crowds of violent white supremacists laid siege to democracy yesterday (6 January) as the Electoral College votes were counted by Congress. Armed and angry Trump supporters breached the US Capitol, stormed the rotunda, and broke into the Senate chamber firing tear gas at senators in a bid to overturn the US election result – which has now been certified by...

Trans politician Addison Perry-Franks. (Facebook) Addison Perry-Franks, a talented filmmaker and steadfast trans Texan Democrat who sought a career in politics to combat transphobia, has died. She was 39. Her wife, Lacey Franks, confirmed her death in a Facebook post 1 January. “The love of my life has passed away today,” she wrote. “I don’t have all of the details till the autopsy comes back. The world is a darker place without her light shining in it.” Perry-Franks died at Cogdell Memorial Hospital in Snyder, per reports, after her wife...

The reality of Black gay love in the time of slavery is explored in a heart-stopping new novel that’s already won praise from Mariah Carey and Oprah Winfrey. The Prophets is a gripping tale of two enslaved men, Isaiah and Samuel, who live as lovers on a plantation in antebellum America. Their forbidden love blossoms in spite of the brutality that engulfs them, and together they find a small haven where they can be alone – until a fellow enslaved person grows suspicious and reveals a truth that threatens to rock...