Tag: LGBTQ

South Korean students attending the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary have won a court battle after the university suspended them for wearing rainbow clothes. The students were initially suspended last year, after they wore rainbow clothing to a university chapel on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia. The students wore the clothes to show their support for the LGBTQ community. However, the university was worried it would be seen as endorsing homosexuality, so they suspended the students. In a court...

Russia has blocked access to a website that was named after and inspired by the horror franchise Saw. The website was used by homophobes and encouraged violence against the LGBTQ community. The website charged people 200 rubles, equivalent to US $3, to access its database and track down people who were reportedly LGBTQ. If someone wanted their name removed from the website, they had to pay 1,500 rubles, equivalent to US $23. The website, which was launched last year, referred to...

The Polish newspaper Gazeta Polska is under fire after it was revealed that it would distribute ‘LGBT-free zone’ stickers in its next edition, which is due to be published on 24 July. The stickers show the rainbow flag, but with a black cross superimposed over it. The move was criticised by many, including the United States Ambassador for Poland, Georgette Mosbacher, who wrote on Facebook: “I am disappointed and concerned that some groups use stickers to promote hatred and intolerance. We...

The University of Basilicata has joined several other academic institutes in Italy in allowing transgender students to self-identify on official documents. The University will also allow them to use their preferred pronouns and chosen name. The measure, known as carriera alias, means that trans students who have not yet gender transitioned will still be correctly identified, and it is hoped this will lead to a more positive academic experience for them. However, although trans students will be correctly identified on all...

Our list of nine feature-length LGBTQ sports documentaries that provide behind-the-scenes glimpses of heroism and homophobia in athletics was such a hit, we’re following up with a look at feature-length narrative LGBTQ sports films. These movies examine queerness and sports through historic and fictional lenses. We only chose films where sports play a major role and LGBTQ issues are shown explicitly, leaving out films like “Beautiful Thing” and “A League of Their Own” where sports plays a background role and...

Wally Scott, mayor of Reading, Pennsylvania, cancelled the flying of the Pride flag outside City Hall just minutes before it was set to go ahead on Monday 15 July, according to CNN. It was meant to kick off a week of Pride celebrations in the city. He defended the controversial decision by saying that although he doesn’t have anything against the LGBTQ community, he believes raising the Pride flag would be a “political movement” – something he doesn’t think City...

Earlier this month, award-winning documentary filmmakers Jac Nunns and Angie West launched their LGBTQ-only streaming service for short films, dedicated to entertain and educate viewers on the richness of queer culture. Queer Bee’s aim is to showcase LGBTQ stories that would otherwise go underrepresented. Yes, we’ve been treated to Oscar nominated dramas over the past decade such as Call Me By Your Name, Moonlight and Carol, but there’s still a significant lack of mainstream movies that represent the entire community. “QueerBee...

(stock photo via Depositphotos) A memo currently being circulated among Republican members of Congress asks the lawmakers to “contact Amazon with concerns” regarding “censorship” after the online retail giant announced it had removed books on the subject of so-called ‘conversion therapy.’ Earlier this month, Instinct reported on Amazon’s removal of all books by Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, widely credited as the ‘father of conversion therapy.’ The action by Amazon was the result of months of complaints and an online petition that garnered over...

FaceApp is one of the most popular apps in the world right now, but privacy advocates are raising concerns about the information that it’s collecting. The app, which was developed by the Russian company Wireless Lab, lets users modify pictures of their faces to make them seem older, younger, as another gender, or hotter. But the data stored in the app isn’t as private as some people could think. The app uses a Facebook login, giving it access to users’ pictures,...

Many people say that there are no rights that the people of the LGBTQ community don’t have so there is no need to protest, but they couldn’t be more wrong. How about being treated as a human being and not feel threatened or getting attacked in public just for loving someone and people don’t like it? There are all sorts of things around us that many of us don’t like...

A new study has found that LGBTQ people are more likely to suffer from memory loss and confusion, both of which are early signs of dementia. The research was carried out by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). The survey was carried out in a random phone survey across nine different US states. The survey asked 44,403 adults aged over 45, with 3% of these people identifying as LGBTQ. The adults were asked about their gender identity and...

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (image via AL/Sec Of State site) A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama told supporters over the weekend the problem with the United States today is Americans are too “preoccupied with homosexual activities” and “the wife swap shows.” John Merrill, currently serving as Alabama’s Secretary of State, is one of many Republicans looking to unseat Sen. Doug Jones (D) in the 2020 election cycle. The senate seat was held for 20 years by former Donald...

For years, players of The Sims have been able to create LGBTQ Sims, with the possibility to romance any other Sim. However, until now a same-sex couple hasn’t appeared on the boxart of a Sims game. That is now set to change with the release of the new Sims boxart which features in-game couple Dela and Mia. In the game, Dela has an “inherent sense of optimism and a deep entrepreneurial spirit” having recently launched her own fashion line. Her girlfriend,...

Teen says his father cut off his earlobe for being gay (image: Modou/GSN) A gay teen from The Gambia says his father sliced off his earlobe to ‘mark’ him as an abomination. Nineteen-year-old Modou is currently living in The Netherlands seeking asylum having fled his west African home country where being gay is illegal. Until October 2014, people found to have had consensual same-sex relations were sentenced to 14 years in prison. In 2014, the laws were made even more severe upping...