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Saturday, August 1, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
LGBTQ
U.S.: Federal Court Grants Legal Victory to Transgender People
When Vandy Beth Glenn, a transgender woman formerly known as Mr. Glenn Morrison, told her supervisors at the Georgia state legislature where she served as a legislative editor that she would start coming to work dressed as a woman, she was fired.GUATEMALA: Discrimination Undermines AIDS Prevention
"At the clinic we were attended to by a woman who criticised us and only talked to us about religious questions," says Carlos Valdez of Proyecto Unidos, an NGO in Guatemala that fights for access to HIV/AIDS prevention services by homosexuals and sex workers.
Nigerian Bill Criminalises More Than Just Gay People
"The prospect of arriving home... being arrested at the airport - that's kind of scary," said Osazeme O., a dual citizen of Nigeria and the UK, in a wry understatement.
South-South Ties Reshape Aid Paradigm
When the G-8 countries, comprising the world’s largest industrialised nations, decided that improving Internet access to developing countries should be a priority, scores of leaders from developing world opposed the move.
The Aid From Women No One Counts
Gender responsive budgeting becomes important when seen in the background of unpaid but important care work done by women, say delegates to an international meet on aid effectiveness in this South Korean city.CARRIBEAN: Fresh Challenges Accompany Progress in AIDS Fight
Cracey Fernandes, the president of the Guyana Sex Work Coalition, does not hide the fact that he is homosexual.
CUBA: Same-Sex Couples Want to Be Counted
Communist Party militant, gay rights activist, journalist and blogger Francisco Rodríguez has triggered an online debate in Cuba by calling for sexual diversity to be identified in the next census, due in September 2012.
U.S.-UGANDA: Award Honours Courageous Gay Rights Activist
Frank Mugisha was just a young teenager in Uganda when he came out as gay. He faced bullying and threats, but he says the stories of lesbian, gay, and transgender friends he later met were much worse - some were kicked out of their homes by their families, subjected to sexual violence to "make them straight", or arrested.
U.S. Concerned Over Uganda’s “Deteriorating” Human Rights
The U.S. State Department Wednesday released a statement criticising what it said was a "deteriorating" human rights situation in Uganda and the government's increasingly heavy- handed tactics to repress political opposition and silence dissent.INDIA: Campuses Lead Gay Rights Struggle
It was with some trepidation that Nivvedan, a student at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Bombay, helped launch ‘Saathi’ (Companion), catering to the needs of people with different sexual orientations on campus.Executed for Being Gay
Five nations still outlaw homosexuality and carry out executions of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, according to a recent report by the U.S. group Human Rights First.BRAZIL: Fight for Gay Rights Making Strides
Brazil is making progress in cracking down on homophobia and upholding the rights of homosexuals. The latest step was the introduction in Congress of a bill on sexual diversity, sponsored by the bar association in consultation with civil society.U.S.: Controversy Emerges Over Gender Identity Laws
Legislation incorporating gender identity protection has ignited debate among activists for gay and lesbian rights, with some arguing that the legislation actually endangers women and threatens their physical safety, while others contend that gender identity protection is key to obtaining equality for the LGBT community.
CUBA: Wedding Follows, Four Years After Sex Change Surgery
Nearly four years after realising her dream of changing her body into a woman's to match her transgender identity, Wendy Iriepa rode through the Cuban capital in a vintage convertible, wearing a stunning full-length white bridal gown and unfurling a rainbow flag, the symbol of the sexual diversity movement, for all to see.U.S.: Tribal Council Resists Homophobia
Heather Purser, a member of the Suquamish tribe, whose reservation sits in Washington State, came out to her family at the age of 16, but has never felt completely accepted by her people.U.S.: In Shifting Political Landscape, Gay Couple Granted Two More Years
A California immigration judge has allowed Alex Benshimol, a Venezuelan citizen, and his U.S.-born husband Doug Gentry to remain together in the United States for at least two more years, in another victory for same-sex bi-national couples.
NEPAL: Sex Workers Demand a Place in the Constitution
Every time Bijaya Dhakal goes out to meet people and tell them what she does for a living, the simple task becomes an act of courage requiring nerves of steel. Dhakal is the founder of Nepal’s first and only organisation of women sex workers now trying to make the state and society listen to a community long hushed by poverty and discrimination.
Marriage Victory Leaves Gay Immigrants in Limbo
Henry Velandia, an immigrant from Venezuela, will not be deported, federal immigration officials informed him last week. Now he and his husband, Josh Vandiver, will be able to remain together in the United States.CUBA: Young People for Diversity
The idea emerged spontaneously, and then snowballed. In just a few months, more than 100 people in Cuba became part of a young people’s social network for diversity, in a society where machismo and homophobia are seen as natural.
Q&A: “When They Find Out You’re a Lesbian They Refuse to Help”
With homophobia on the rise, large numbers of South African lesbians are being subjected to discrimination and violent assaults. There has also been an increase in "corrective rape" by men trying to "cure" them of their sexual orientation. More than 30 lesbians have been killed since 2006. But most of these crimes go unrecognised by the state and unpunished by the legal system.U.N. Still Lags Far Behind on Gay, Lesbian Rights
The United Nations is lagging far behind some of its own member states in recognising the rights of gays and lesbians who remain closeted in an institution that does not always practice what it preaches to the outside world.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Although progress towards respect for sexual diversity has been made in a number of countries and in international law, in many parts of the world, lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people face serious threats to their life and liberty. Even in countries where legislation recognising the rights of sexual minorities has been passed, discrimination and social stigma are widespread.
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