Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

WORLD Intersex survey, Russian activist, Polish publication
by Andrew Davis, Windy City Times
2019-07-30

This article shared 4459 times since Tue Jul 30, 2019
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Kenya will, for the first time, collect data on intersex people in its national population census, in a major victory for rights activists, the BBC reported. The August survey will determine the number of citizens who do not identify as either male or female. There are thought to be more than 700,000 intersex people in Kenya out of a general population of 49 million. Intersex people often face violence and discrimination in the socially conservative country.

A prominent Russian LGBTI activist was found dead in St. Petersburg, The Washington Blade reported. The woman, Yelena Gregoryeva, 41, was an outspoken and prominent activist in the city, having campaigned with the Alliance of Heterosexual and LGBT for Equality and other civil-rights organizations. She was fatally stabbed, and police detained a 40-year-old man in connection to the killing. On July 23, several dozen demonstrators rallied in St. Petersburg to mourn her death, RFERL.org reported.

A Polish news magazine has announced plans to distribute stickers proclaiming an "LGBT-free zone" to its readers, CNN.com reported. The right-wing weekly publication Gazeta Polska said it will include the stickers, which feature an image of a black cross over a Pride flag alongside the inflammatory slogan. "I am disappointed and concerned that some groups use stickers to promote hatred and intolerance," U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher tweeted.

Japan's first openly gay male lawmaker, Taiga Ishikawa, said he believed the country would legalize same-sex marriage—months after Taiwan became the first place in Asia to allow gay unions, Reuters noted. Ishikawa was elected to parliament's upper house July 21 on a platform calling for marriage equality. Japan's laws on LGBT+ issues are relatively liberal compared with many Asian countries, with same-sex relations being legal since 1880, although being openly gay remains largely taboo. Same-sex marriage is illegal and Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has opposed efforts to legalize it.

In a related matter, lawyers in Japan have asked the government to swiftly legalize same-sex marriage, arguing that the current legal procedures go against the Constitution, NHK reported. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations submitted an opinion paper to the government. It began compiling the document after a group of more than 450 people submitted a claim for human rights relief to the organization in 2015.

The Western Hemisphere's human-rights tribunal has given Barbados three months to answer a petition to have its laws against same-sex intimacy struck down, Barbados Today reported. The challenge to the laws—filed by a trans woman, Alexa Hoffmann, and two other Barbadians, a lesbian and a gay man—has been reviewed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ( IACHR ) in the last year. The IACHR sent the Government a copy of the petition challenging sections 9 and 12 of the Sexual Offences Act.

A proposed law to protect the rights of transgender people in India falls short of the country's human-rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said in a statement. The organization claims the Transgender Persons ( Protection of Rights ) Bill, 2019—introduced in parliament on July 19—is unclear on a transgender person's right to self-identify, which India's Supreme Court recognized in a landmark judgment in 2014. The group also said even though the bill says that a transgender person "shall have a right to self-perceived gender identity," its language could be interpreted to mean transgender people are required to have certain surgeries before legally changing their gender.

Openly gay priest Jide Macaulay wants to end the stigma around being HIV-positive, PinkNews revealed. Macaulay discovered he was HIV-positive on a routine check up, and said he immediately "was hit with a shock." He founded House of Rainbow to create a safe environment for BAME and LGBT+ communities and was recently the subject of a BBC documentary about being gay and religious. After being diagnosed with HIV in 2003, the Church of England deacon feared leaving his house. Now, 16 years later, he wants to change the conversation around HIV—especially within his faith community.

The Hong Kong government has amended its rulebook to allow same-sex couples to file joint tax returns—a month after a historic victory for the LGBT community in a case over spousal rights handed down by the city's top court, the South China Morning Post revealed. In a written reply to the Post's inquiry, a spokeswoman for the Inland Revenue Department confirmed the latest change, and said same-sex married couples could now submit joint tax assessment through the electronic filing system or in paper form.

A "Rainbow Cruise" from Shenzhen to Da Nang had more than 1,000 gay Chinese and their families, the South China Morning Post related. During the five-day return voyage, guests could attend workshops, talks and activities including speed dating on board the cruise ship, and get support and advice on LGBT issues; it was also a place for some to come out of the closet. In its third year, the annual event in June was organized by PFLAG China—an NGO-based in Guangzhou that supports the LGBT community, their parents and friends.

A petition has been set up calling on the United Kingdom government to launch a public inquiry into "transphobic" national media, PinkNews noted. In part, the petition states, "Transgender people are now exposed to significant hate. On 27/06/19 the BBC revealed that recorded hate crimes against transgender people had increased by 81% since 2016/17. Many news groups continue to allege that trans people are a risk to others, and misrepresent the law." The petition was set up by Rebecca Stinson, an equality and human-rights campaigner.

Male and female students will be allowed to wear skirts at a school in Taiwan after it announced plans to drop gender-specific uniforms—a move LGBT+ campaigners said was a boost for gender equality, Reuters reported. The change came after male students and teachers at Banqiao Senior High School near Taipei wore skirts in May during a weeklong campaign seeking to break down gender stereotypes. The school—in New Taipei City, just outside the capital—has more than 2,000 students ages 16-18.

A new security feature rolling out on Tinder will help protect LBGTQ+ users who travel to dozens of nations that still criminalize same-sex acts or relationships, TechCrunch stated. As part of the update, users who identify on the app as LGBTQ will no longer automatically appear on Tinder when they arrive in a hostile state. This feature, which Tinder calls the Traveler Alert, relies on your phone's network connection to determine its location; from there, it will give users the choice to keep their locations private.


This article shared 4459 times since Tue Jul 30, 2019
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

NATIONAL Political candidates, flag controversy, HRC gala, New York Times, Disney
2024-03-29
In California, of the historic 30 LGBTQ+ legislative candidates who ran in the March 5 primary, more than half are moving on to the fall ballot, The Bay Area Reporter noted. Based on the still unofficial ...


Gay News

Lambda Legal Launches "Speak OUT" awareness campaign uplifting trans, nonbinary voices
2024-03-28
--From a press release. VIDEO BELOW - (NEW YORK, NY — March 28, 2024) In advance of Transgender Day of Visibility, Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest and largest legal nonprofit working to achieve full equal rights for LGBTQ people and everyone living with ...


Gay News

Nex Benedict's autopsy report released
2024-03-27
The full autopsy report for Nex Benedict (he/they)—a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous student from Oklahoma's Owasso High School who died in February a day after a school fight—has been released. The Oklahoma Office of the Chie ...


Gay News

Thailand parliament passes landmark marriage bill
2024-03-27
On March 27, Thailand's parliament approved a marriage-equality bill by an overwhelmingly large margin—a landmark step that moves one of Asia's most liberal countries closer to legalizing same-sex unions, media ...


Gay News

An interstate trans healthcare crisis: Illinois prepares for influx of people seeking gender-affirming care
2024-03-26
With hard-won rights, such as access to hormone replacement therapy or permission to use one's chosen pronouns in school, breaking down in states across the country, trans residents of all ages are left with a choice: ...


Gay News

Kara Swisher talks truth, power in tech at Chicago Humanities event
2024-03-25
Lesbian author, award-winning journalist and podcast host Kara Swisher spoke about truth and power in the tech industry through the lens of her most recent book, Burn Book: A Tech Love Story, March 21 at First ...


Gay News

Wyoming is latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors
2024-03-24
On March 22, Wyoming became the latest state to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors, The Hill noted. In doing so, it joined 23 other states that passed laws restricting or banning the treatment. Legislators in both ...


Gay News

Chicago alder proposes renaming street after Obama
2024-03-22
Openly gay Black Chicago Ald. Lamont Robinson has proposed renaming Columbus Drive after former U.S. President and city resident Barack Obama, media outlets noted. The street stretches through the Loop from East Grand Avenue to DuSable ...


Gay News

No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal
2024-03-22
In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...


Gay News

Congressional Equality Caucus on FY24 bills passing the house
2024-03-22
--From a press release - WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), released the following statement after the House successfully passed the final funding bills for Fiscal Year ...


Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97
2024-03-22
series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds
2024-03-21
It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Va. marriage bill, AARP, online counseling, Idaho items, late activist
2024-03-21
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed bills protecting same-sex marriages at a state level, surprising some, WRIC reported. The bills—passed out of both chambers along mostly party lines—will require clerks ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ candidates Marcelino Garcia, Precious Brady Davis win primary elections to keep MWRD seats
2024-03-21
Marcelino Garcia and Precious Brady-Davis, the two openly LGBTQ+ incumbents in the race to keep their seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), won their primary elections and will move on to the general this ...


Gay News

Small LGBTQ+ candidate pool nevertheless scores some important victories March 19
2024-03-20
Relatively few openly LGBTQ+ candidates were running in the March 19 Illinois Primary Election. But there were some significant contests in play at the local, state and federal levels. Openly gay Ald. Ray Lopez (15th Ward) ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.