Australia: What it's like to grow up transgender and Aboriginal

Kai Clancy of the Wakka Wakka and Wulli Wulli nations on his life and including Aboriginal transgender identities in future transgender and gender-diverse initiatives:

I'm Kai, I'm 19 years old and I currently live in Melbourne. I am also a transgender male, meaning my mind didn't match with the gender given to me at birth. I transitioned at the age of 18, during my first year of university.

It isn't something I woke up one day and decided to do, as a joke. It isn't something that has grown on me in my late teen years, nor is it a teenage identity crisis. These are all assumptions I've had thrown at me during the last two years I've transitioned. To be quite frank, I was only four years old when I suggested I wasn't like the other kids, that I was born into the wrong body or something didn't happen right with me when I was developing. Read More 

South Africa: African academics challenge homophobic laws

A Western import. Unnatural. Contagious. Un-African. All of these arguments and more have been invoked to support the numerous laws criminalizing homosexuality in Africa. But now African academics have used scientific evidence to argue against such laws and to urge African nations to abandon them.

In a report published by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), the academics, most of whom are scientists, make the case that laws criminalizing homosexuality have no basis in science and hamper efforts to prevent and treat HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (see go.nature.com/q3rr4k).

Partly because those arguing in favour of criminalising sexual and gender diversity have made explicit appeals to science, this report examines the extent to which science supports any of the arguments that proponents of these new laws make. Drawing on recent scientific evidence and, where possible, on systematic reviews, the report seeks to provide an up-to-date overview of the state of the current biological, socio-psychological, and public health evidence and assess how this supports, or contests, the key arguments made in favour of new laws. Read More

Cyprus: HIV infections on the rise

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has released a mission report on HIV in Cyprus. Up until 2005, levels of HIV infection in Cyprus were relatively low, with fewer than 30 new cases diagnosed annually. However, the number of new HIV cases diagnosed annually has steadily risen. These new cases occurred predominantly among men who have sex with men of Cypriot nationality.

It is unclear whether this increase is due to more testing (which results in more diagnoses), an increase in the number of HIV-positive people who returned to the country after having lived abroad, or to an actual increase in the number of HIV infections among MSM in Cyprus. This mission report addresses this issue and provides options on how Cyprus can respond to the epidemic. Read the report

Brazil: Photo series denounces pain caused by prejudice in small towns

Being gay in a country town in Brazil can be an oppressive experience -- an oppression of feeling, relating and being. In places far from the cultural energy and multiplicity common in urban centers, different people may not be accepted -- either by force of tradition or by lingering prejudice.  See More 

Amsterdam: "Inside Out - Portraits of Cross Gender Children"

In the last twelve years, the Dutch photographer Sarah Wong has documented life and experiences of a group of children suffering from gender dysphoria , they had passed the stage of transition - or were going through - to the conquest of self.  See More

South Africa: Documenting love, loss and identity in LGBT community

Since 2006, Zanele Muholi, has documented fellow members of the LGBT community as part of a series titled “Faces and Phases,” which aims to challenge homophobia and transphobia by recording black South Africa’s queer culture and visual history. See More

American Samoa: The Triumph of a transgender World Cup star

Jaiyah Saelua, who became the first ever transgender World Cup player in 2014, says Caitlyn Jenner “gave me hope.” She’s looking forward to 2018—without Sepp Blatter as FIFA president. Thanks to Caitlyn Jenner appearing on the cover of Vanity Fair and Sepp Blatter resigning from the presidency of FIFA, the first-ever transgender World Cup soccer player is enjoying a doubly sunny few days.

“It’s been a good start to the week,” 27-year-old Jaiyah Saelua said.

Saelua is a star player for the American Samoa men’s team, once called the worst in the world. She was instrumental in its first ever international victory, defeating Tonga in a 2014 World Cup first round qualifying match. Read More

International Olympic Committee responds to petition to revoke Caitlyn Jenner's Olympic medal

A petition is circulating to revoke an Olympic medal from Caitlyn Jenner, who recently revealed her “true self” in  stunning Vanity Fair photoshoot. 

In a rare move, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has issued a statement touching upon Jenner's transition.

Typically, the IOC is slow to address controversies arising from the public sphere —most recently, the committee dragged its heels to tackle Russia's anti-gay propaganda law in the months leading up to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games, until the international pressure made it impossible to remain quiet. However, the traction gained by the petition apparently struck a nerve in the usually tight-lipped organization. 

IOC communications director, Mark Adams said: "Bruce Jenner won his gold medal in the 1976 Olympic Games and there is no issue for the IOC." Read More 

Ugandan lesbian covers Time: 'We are here to stay'

In what’s being celebrated as a monumental moment of visibility for Uganda’s beleaguered LGBT community, one of the nation’s leading LGBT activists graces this week’s cover of Time magazine’s Europe edition. 

Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, an out lesbian and co-founder and editor of Uganda’s first LGBT publication, Bombastic, tells The Advocate she hopes the cover will not only bring awareness to the plight of LGBT Ugandans, but help people around the world realize that LGBT people are their friends, neighbors, and family members. 

“Now many people will know about the struggles LGBT people go through in Africa and the world over. They will realize that the people they hate most are actually the people they love most when they get to read the article. They could be hating on their beloved family and friend without knowing they are LGBT,” Nabagesera said.  Read More 

Op-ed: Dear Gay Ambassadors, be straight about trade deal

Activists Cleve Jones and Jerame Davis ask: Why are America's out ambassadors arguing in favor of giving special 'favored nation' status to virulently anti-LGBT countries, including one that stones gays to death? Read More

America's LGBT Ambassadors: Global Trade Will Lift Up LGBT Lives

Eight of the nation's most powerful LGBT leaders explain how proposed trade agreements will export our values of equality and tolerance: As Ambassadors, we are on the front lines representing the United States. We know firsthand that U.S. interests are best served when we pursue policies that also advance our values. That’s why trade policy is among our most promising tools. Read More

US: The free market economics of LGBT equality in Texas

When the 2015 Texas legislative session drew to a close, a small group of people behind a new initiative quietly celebrated their part in the defeat of more-than 20 anti-LGBT legislative proposals. The group, known as Texas Competes, is a pro-equality business initiative housed under the non-profit organization, Equality Texas. And while backers of the discriminatory legislation relied on the premise of what is morally right, Texas Competes silently assembled a coalition of Texas businesses based on what is financially beneficial.

The initiative focused on four key components: recruiting top talent, attracting new companies to the state, supporting a healthy tourism industry and illustrated and maintaining the integrity of the Texas brand. As a result, over 250 businesses in Texas -- including Dell, Southwest Airlines, Samsung and Dow Chemical -- signed a pledge stating that LGBT equality was critical to the success of their business.

According to Rudy Oeftering, a representative of Texas Competes, this innovative, free market approach to legislative maneuvering caught the proponents of the anti-gay bills completely by surprise. Read More