The killing of the imam has left the LGBTQ+ community in shock. His efforts to create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ Muslims made him a pivotal figure in the fight for inclusivity
A second federal judge on Friday paused President Donald Trump's executive order halting federal support for gender-affirming care for transgender youth under 19. US District Court Judge Lauren King granted a temporary restraining order after the Democratic attorneys general of Washington state, Oregon and Minnesota sued the Trump administration last week. Three doctors joined as plaintiffs in the suit, which was filed in the Western District of Washington. The decision came one day after a federal judge in Baltimore temporarily blocked the executive order in response to a separate lawsuit filed on behalf of families with transgender or nonbinary children. Judge Brendan Hurson's temporary restraining order will last 14 days but could be extended, and essentially puts Trump's directive on hold while the case proceeds. Hurston and King were both appointed by former President Joe Biden. Trump signed an executive order last month halting federal funding for institutions that provide th
US protests: Protests erupted across the US as demonstrators voiced opposition to President Trump's policies, Elon Musk's influence, and Project 2025
"Today will go down in history. What a celebration of queer joy and queer resilience", Godrej Industries said in an Instagram post
A group of families with transgender children filed a lawsuit Tuesday over President Donald Trump's executive order to halt federal support for gender-affirming health care for transgender people under age 19. PFLAG, a national group for family of LGBTQ+ people; and GLMA, a doctors organisation, are also plaintiffs in the court challenge in US District Court in Baltimore. It comes one week after Trump signed an order calling for the federal government to stop funding the medical care through federal government-run health insurance programs including Medicaid and TRICARE. Kristen Chapman, the mother of one of the plaintiffs in the case, said her family moved to Richmond, Virginia, from Tennessee in 2023 because of a ban on gender-affirming care in their home state. Her 17-year-old daughter, Willow, had an initial appointment scheduled for last week with a new provider who would accept Medicaid. But Trump signed his order the day before and the hospital said it could not provide care.
Some scientists and members of the public had in recent days raced to download, save and archive various datasets, worrying that they would be removed
Hundreds of LGBTQ+ couples in Thailand made Thursday a life-changing occasion, registering their marriages legally on the first day a law took effect granting them the same rights as heterosexual couples. The enactment of the Marriage Equality Act makes Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia and the third place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, after Taiwan and Nepal. By the end of Thursday some 1,832 same-sex couples had married nationwide, according to the Department of Provincial Administration. Well over 1,000 registered at district offices, while 185 couples registered their union at a daylong gala celebration at a shopping mall in central Bangkok. The couples included actors Apiwat Porsch Apiwatsayree and Sappanyoo Arm'Panatkool, who tied the knot at the Phra Nakorn district office in Bangkok. We can love, we love equally, legally, said Sappanyoo. And we can build our family in our own way because I believe that every kind of love, every kind of family is beautifu
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the US will have only two genders, male and female, and no men will be allowed to participate in women's sports. Days after assuming office for his second term, Trump addressed the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting here through video conferencing and said that transgender operations, which became the rage, will occur very rarely going forward. "I've made it an official policy of the United States that there are only two genders, male and female. We will have no men participating in women's sports," he said. On Tuesday, Trump signed executive orders rolling back protections for transgender people and terminating diversity, equity and inclusion programmes within the federal government. Both the executive orders are in line with Trump's campaign promises. One of the executive orders states that the federal government would recognise only two sexes: male and female. The definition will be based on whether people are born with eggs or sperm,
The bishop made the appeal to Trump a day after the US President signed executive orders reversing Biden-era protections for transgender Americans and suspending the US refugee admissions program
The Biden administration's Title IX rules expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students have been struck down nationwide after a federal judge in Kentucky found they overstepped the president's authority. In a decision issued Thursday, US District Judge Danny C. Reeves scrapped the entire 1,500-page regulation after deciding it was fatally tainted by legal shortcomings. The rule had already been halted in 26 states after a wave of legal challenges by Republican states. President-elect Donald Trump previously promised to end the rules on day one and made anti-transgender themes a centrepiece of his campaign. The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called it a rejection of the Biden administration's relentless push to impose a radical gender ideology. Because the Biden rule is vacated altogether, President Trump will be free to take a fresh look at our Title IX ...
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a batch of pleas seeking to review its October 2023 verdict declining legal sanction to same-sex marriage. A five-judge bench of Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, B V Nagarathna, P S Narasimha and Dipankar Datta took up about 13 petitions related to the matter in chambers and dismissed them. "We do not find any error apparent on the face of the record. We further find that the view expressed in both the judgements is in accordance with law and as such, no interference is warranted. Accordingly, the review petitions are dismissed," the bench said. It said the judges have carefully gone through the judgements delivered by Justice (since retired) S Ravindra Bhat speaking for himself and for Justice (since retired) Hima Kohli as well as the concurring opinion expressed by Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, constituting the majority view. The bench also rejected a prayer made in the review petitions for hearing in an open court. According to ...
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court will on January 9 consider the pleas seeking review of its October 2023 verdict declining legal sanction to same-sex marriage. A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, B V Nagarathna, P S Narasimha and Justice Dipankar Datta will take up about 13 petitions related to the matter in chambers. According to practice, the review pleas are considered in chambers by judges. The top court had refused to allow an open-court hearing on the review pleas. The new bench was constituted after Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the present CJI, recused from hearing the review petitions on July 10, 2024. Notably, Justice P S Narasimha is the only member of the original Constitution bench comprising five judges which delivered the verdict, as former CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices S K Kaul, Ravindra Bhat, and Hima Kohli have retired. According to the Supreme Court's causelist, the review petitions would be considered at around 1.55 pm on January 9. A five-j
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has upheld the right of a lesbian couple to live together, affirming their freedom to choose partners. A bench comprising Justices R Raghunandan Rao and K Maheswara Rao was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Kavitha (name changed), one of the women, alleging that her partner Lalitha (name changed) was detained by her father against her will and kept her at his residence in Narsipatnam. The Court on Tuesday further directed the parents of Lalitha not to interfere with the relationship of the couple, asserting that their daughter is a major and can make her own decisions. The couple has been "living together" for the past one year in Vijayawada. Based on a missing complaint by Kavitha earlier, police traced Laitha at her father's home, and rescued her. After that, she was kept at a welfare home for 15 days though she pleaded to the police that she is a major and wants to live with her partner. Lalitha also lodged a complaint against her father in
Treading a path outside the gender binary is no easy task. In candidly raising the alienation and abuse that these people face, dental hygienist Thanuja Singam's memoir is an inspiring read
Historic firsts in US election 2024: Several states in the United States made history by electing their first candidates from previously unrepresented groups
Thailand's landmark marriage equality bill was officially written into law on Tuesday, allowing same-sex couples to legally wed. The law was published in the Royal Gazette after endorsement by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and will come into effect in 120 days. This means LGBTQ+ couples will be able to register their marriage in January next year, making Thailand the third place in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to allow same-sex marriage. The bill, which grants full legal, financial and medical rights for marriage partners of any gender, sailed through both the House of Representatives and the Senate in April and June respectively. Congratulations to everyone's love, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra wrote on X, adding the hashtag #Love Wins. Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity but struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society largely holds conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ+ community say they face discrimination in everyday ..
Congress, whose political clout has risen after doing much better than expected in the April-June general election, named LGBTQ+ activist Mario da Penha this week to head its new unit
Leading financial services company Wells Fargo on Thursday said it has broadened its talent attraction strategy by launching the Transgender Persons Hiring Program in India, a move that will increase diverse representation across levels. Building on the programme's initial pilot with its 2022 cohort of 13 individuals hired in its technology function, the company aims to train and attract additional talent across multiple lines of business in 2024. The programme aims to provide employability skills training and professional development for transgender talent, Wells Fargo said in a statement. "Investing in diverse communities to upskill and unlock potential and, at the same time, set up the right environment for success is a critical area of focus for Wells Fargo," said Uday Odedra, executive vice president and Region head of Wells Fargo India & Philippines. In partnership with community organisation PeriFerry, the company currently sponsors 30 transgender individuals focused on ...
This shift has raised concerns among activists and medical professionals, especially due to the removal of distinctions between consensual queer relationships and criminal acts like incest
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has sought inputs from stakeholders and the general public to ensure the inclusivity and effectiveness of policies related to the LGBTQI+ community. The government has initiated several measures aimed at safeguarding the rights and interests of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community, following the Supreme Court's directive in October 2023 in the Supriya vs Union of India case. In compliance with the SC judgment, the government established a high-level committee chaired by the cabinet secretary to define and elucidate the scope of entitlements for the queer community, the ministry said in a statement. The L"lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and quee This committee, constituted in April 2024, includes key officials from the Ministries of Home Affairs, Women and Child Development and Health and Family Welfare, with the DoSJE secretary serving as the Member Convenor. The committee convened a meet