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May 15, 2013
Suffering of trans people in Europe exposed in new report

Transgender Europe will launch a Trans Rights Europe Map and Index on International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Trans people are still suffering from discrimination,  prejudice and persecution in Europe, a new report has found.

Published on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (17 May), it will expose the 'bleak' legal challenges trans people face across 49 countries in Europe.

Transgender Europe (TGEU) will show which of the countries require sterilization in legal gender recognition and which do not provide for any procedures.

The index will present an in-depth overview of the legal human rights situation for trans people.

March 19, 2013
Islamists anti-gay hate speech blocked by a London university

University of East London has blocked an Islamist meeting with hate preachers Khalid Yasin and Jalal Ibn Saeed

Following lobbying by rights group, the University of East London (UEL) blocked an Islamist meeting that featured anti-gay preachers Khalid Yasin and Jalal Ibn Saeed.

February 1, 2013
Study shows UK gay men's HIV infection rate soars despite testing

Research shows that HIV testing and treatment failed to curb infection rates among UK gay and bisexual men

Efforts to reduce HIV transmission among UK gay and bisexual men over the past decade have failed, according to a new study.

The research published in today’s Lancet (1 Feburary) shows that infection rates have remained stable despite increased testing and treatment.

While there has been a four-fold increase in testing rate and an advance in treatment uptake from 69 to 80 percent, new infections in England and Wales have flat-lined at 2,300 to 2,500 a year.

December 23, 2012
California puts ‘gay cure’ therapy ban law on hold

A three judge appeals panel has ruled the ban on reparative therapy for under 18s , which could be ruled as unconstitutional, will be put on hold until further notice

A federal appeals court has put California’s plans to ban ‘gay cure’ therapy for minors on hold.

On Friday (21 December), a three-judge panel of the ninth US circuit court of appeals issued an emergency order putting the law on hold until the court can hear full arguments on the measure’s constitutionality.

Despite the World Health Organization calling it ‘dangerous and abusive’, the court is concerned it will affect the First Amendment rights of psychiatrists and churches who would have been banned from carrying out the practice.

November 14, 2012
Beauties demand rights

A transgender woman from the Philippines recently won an international beauty competition, but Filipina trans rights advocate Naomi Fontanos tells Gay Star News there’s more to transgender life than looking beautiful

Transgender women are nearly as visible in the Philippines as they are in Thailand, but does that mean the have a full bill of rights? Far from it, says Naomi Fontanos, founder of transgender rights group GANDA (Gender and Development Advocates) Filipinas. She talks to Gay Star News about health and legal advocacy, using contraceptives as hormones, the Catholic church and beauty pageants.

Why did you decide to form GANDA Filipinas?

October 17, 2012
'Trans is not a mental illness' campaigners tell WHO

My Transsexual Summer's Maxwell Zachs joins tens of thousands in call for World Health Organization to declassify trans as a mental illness

The cast of My Transsexual Summer have joined thousands around the globe in calling for the World Health Organization to recognize that trans is not an illness.

More than 35,000 people around the world have backed a Change.org petition started by Maxwell Zachs, a cast member from last summer's hit UK reality TV show My Transsexual Summer.

September 30, 2012
California signs ‘gay cure’ therapy for children ban into law

US state becomes the first to ban mental health practitioners from carrying out so-called conversion therapy

California has become the first American state to ban ‘gay cure’ therapy for minors after the Governor signed a bill to outlaw it yesterday (29 September).

The bill, sponsored by Senator Ted Lieu, stops psychiatrists and churches from performing conversion, or reparative therapy, which the World Health Organization calls ‘dangerous and abusive’.

September 6, 2012
Sex education booklet in China calls on parents to ‘prevent’ kids from being gay

Mothers of gay children in China sent an open letter of complaint to the education bureau in Hangzhou, near Shanghai

Eighteen mothers of gay children have called on the education bureau in Hangzhou near Shanghai, China to withdraw just published booklets which list ways parents can ‘prevent homosexuality’.

The booklet, Parents Please Walk Your Children Through Puberty, describes homosexuality as a type of ‘sexual deviance’ and says (as translated by Shanghaiist):

August 10, 2012
Activists on alert as Christians move gay ‘cure’ meet to secret location

Campaigners say conference to train people in dangerous ‘cures’ for gay and trans people will be shifted to Chesterfield, England

LGBT activists are on red alert as a Christian ministry prepares for a meeting which will allegedly train people how to carry out discredited ‘cures’ for homosexual and trans impulses.

It is now believed conference – the 2012 ‘Healing Week’ running from 12 to 18 August – will be held in city of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England.

July 16, 2012
Are gay men having too much sex?

How to differentiate between a healthy sex life and a sex addiction that is out of control

Gay men have a fairly well-deserved reputation for generally being pre-occupied with sex. While saunas, sex-on-premises venues and sex parties are still the go-to option for many guys looking for a sexual release, the rapid growth of location-based dating apps such as Grindr have, for some guys, elevated the search for sex to a 24-7 occupation.

For some people, a constant need for sex can become a compulsion, an all-consuming obsession that health professionals describe as a ‘sex addiction’.

June 14, 2012
Call for lifting of gay ban on World Blood Donor Day

Gay and bisexual men around the world are still banned or restricted from giving blood, even when risk is low

Campaigners are marking World Blood Donor Day by calling for the ban and restrictions on gay men giving blood to be lifted globally.

Today (14 June), the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging people to be a 'hero' and give the 'life-saving gift' of blood.

On its website, the UN agency states that 'every one of us can become a hero simply by giving blood'.

However, gay and bisexual men in most countries around the world are banned entirely from donating and in many where it is allowed, are required to abstain from sex for at least a year.

May 17, 2012
Gay ‘cures’ are dangerous says American branch of World Health Organization

Pan American Health Organization says ‘reparative therapies’ are a ‘serious threat’ to lesbian, gay and bisexual people exposed to them

Attempts to ‘cure’ lesbian, gay and bisexual people aren’t medically justified and endanger patients, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said today.

And it wants those who try to carry out the unjustified ‘therapies’ exposed and punished by national authorities.

PAHO’s released a position statement on the issue to tie in with International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).

May 17, 2012
Gay ‘cures’ are dangerous says American branch of World Health Organization

Pan American Health Organization says ‘reparative therapies’ are a ‘serious threat’ to lesbian, gay and bisexual people exposed to them

Attempts to ‘cure’ lesbian, gay and bisexual people aren’t medically justified and endanger patients, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said today.

And it wants those who try to carry out the unjustified ‘therapies’ exposed and punished by national authorities.

PAHO’s released a position statement on the issue to tie in with International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).

March 3, 2012
Tunisia rights minister stands by homophobia

Despite appeals by Amnesty, journalists and diplomats, Tunisia's Human Rights minister stands by his words that gays are sick and their freedom of expression should be limited

Tunisia's minister for human rights Samir Dilou is sticking by the homophobic statement he made on celebrity host Samir Wafi’s TV talkshow on 4 February despite domestic and international pressure.

January 23, 2012
Stark warning of gay HIV crisis in Latin America

NGO report warns of impending HIV crisis among gay and trans in Latin America.

Experts are warning of an impending HIV crisis among gay men and transgender people in Latin America as a result of vital funding cuts.

Millions of people will have to go without HIV services and many may die waiting for treatment as a result of the Global Fund's cuts to grants, according to a report by The International HIV/AIDS Alliance.