The phrase “that’s so gay” has traditionally been understood as homophobic. Stonewall’s School Report argued this position, and it will be discussed in their upcoming Education Conference. Stonewall argues…
Georgian soprano Tamar Iveri wrote a homophobic letter to her country’s president, praising anti-gay violence.
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Opera Australia (OA) has dealt with what was becoming a significant boycott threat by sacking the Georgian soprano Tamar Iveri. The company had planned to bring her to Australia to perform the role of…
A woman protests in Britain against the stoning of people for sexual ‘crimes’. Brunei is moving to apply the Sharia law penalty to gay people.
EPA/Facundo Arrizabalaga
Although Australia does not yet allow same-sex couples to marry, it is not a country that is generally described as homophobic. The days of it being a crime to be gay here are, thankfully, a relic of a…
Modern Family, ABC’s sitcom juggernaut, is adept at capturing the zeitgeist without ruffling too many feathers. Unashamedly conservative in its family-sitcom structure, it also excels at moments of quiet…
Tomodachi Life: make friends, fall in love but stay straight.
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Nintendo is facing a storm of criticism over its decision not to allow gamers to play as gay characters and form same-sex relationships in the life-simulation game Tomodachi Life. There has been disquiet…
The more the west recognises and protects gay rights, the more African and Asian nations (such as Uganda and India) seem determined to go in the opposite direction.
AAP
Media coverage of gays and lesbians in 2014 has followed a very different trend to previous years. Rather than good news stories about love and weddings, the majority of reports relate to violence, persecution…
Across newspapers and social networks the images of happy couples will bear a striking resemblance to those published nine years ago. In 2005, the first civil partnerships took place. This weekend the…
The Sydney Star Observer won’t appear in a weekly print format any more – but the community it’s helped build is thriving.
AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts
Last week’s announcement that Australia’s oldest and most respected lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) weekly newspaper, Sydney Star Observer (SSO), will change to a monthly print…
For British gay rights campaigners, 2014 is becoming a year to remember. England and Wales will join the small club of nations that allow same-sex couples to marry; meanwhile, the Sochi winter Olympics…
A violent clash last year at Sydney’s Mardi Gras raised old questions about the complex relationship between police and LGBTQI communities.
AAP/Toby Mann
Hundreds of thousands of people will be drawn to Sydney’s Mardi Gras festival this weekend. This world-famous event celebrates gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer, intersex (LGBTQI) and other sexually…
With the world’s eyes on Russia, anti-gay sentiment hasn’t alleviated.
Flickr/jantangerine
As the Winter Olympics in Sochi draw to a close, a brief survey of trending topics across social media and international press reveal some entertaining and frightening contradictions on the slippery slopes…
BFFs: IOC President Thomas Bach and Vladimir Putin.
David Goldman/AP
Nationalism is the main event at any Olympic Games, and the Olympic industry relies on the goosebumps effects of the sporting spectacle to divert public attention from its less attractive underbelly, in…
“Homos” in Uganda can be “male lesbians” in Nigeria – or not.
AP
On 13 January the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, signed a bill against gay relationships, outlawing gay marriage, public displays of same-sex relationships and membership in gay groups. A few days…
Looking the other way: India’s LGBT community campaigned for privacy.
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Prompting international outrage, the Supreme Court of India has overturned a “reading-down” of the notorious Section 377 of the India Penal Code. This, in effect, reinstated a law that is widely understood…
The terms on which the broader public conversation is taking place are remarkably narrow.
Robyn Ramsay
In most public discussions, the issue of same-sex marriage is posed as a simple question – for or against? – where to be for or against is to be, more or less, for or against gay people. Although it doesn’t…
ALP powerbroker Paul Howes has called on the party to enforce a binding vote to support same-sex marriage. But where does it fit in with the narrative of gay rights in Australia?
AAP/Dave Hunt
Suddenly, it seems the Right faction of the Australian Labor Party has embraced gay causes - or as we now say, LGBTI ones. On the campaign trail for the party leadership, Bill Shorten floated the idea…