British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said prayer for someone exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity will not be criminalised in any conversion therapy ban, as LGBT+ activists and conservative Christians clash over the issue.
Johnson said that “appropriate pastoral support (including prayer)” would remain legal, in a letter to the Evangelical Alliance, a conservative Christian lobby group representing 3,500 churches, seen by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Continue Reading »
Map of Cameroon – Image: lonelyplanet.com
(Reuters) – Cameroon security forces have arrested, threatened, or assaulted at least 24 people since February, in a ramped-up crackdown on LGBT+ people, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday.
The rights group said recent documented accounts of abuse, including that of a 17-year old boy, point to an overall rise of police action against LGBT+ people in Cameroon, where same-sex relations are criminalised. Continue Reading »
US President Joe Biden – Image: cnbc.com
Joe Biden vowed on the campaign trail to pass a law protecting LGBT+ Americans from discrimination, within his first 100 days in office. But with the Senate’s backing for the Equality Act seen as unlikely, he may already have opted for Plan B.
Biden covered key parts of the civil rights bill – which faces an uphill struggle in a Senate split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats – with an executive order, signed on his first day in the White House. Continue Reading »
Map of Kenya – Image: lonelyplanet.com
LGBT+ refugees at the Kakuma camp have repeatedly complained about their safety in recent years, citing numerous attacks by other residents and local people
Security will be beefed up for LGBT+ people living in a Kenyan refugee camp, a UN official said on Tuesday, following the death of a gay man who was set alight, in the latest attack targeting sexual minorities at the Kakuma camp.
The 32-year-old Ugandan died on Monday in a Nairobi hospital, where he and another LGBT+ refugee were being treated for burns sustained in the March 15 attack. The other man is expected to be discharged soon, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said. Continue Reading »
Anselm Bilgri, former cellerar and prior of Andechs monastery, who left the Catholic Church and now lives in a same-sex marriage, at the State Collections of Antiquities, Koenigsplatz, Munich, Germany, April 10, 2021 – Image: REUTERS/Andreas Gebert
(Reuters) – Two days after he married his partner of many years, Anselm Bilgri, a former monk, and prior at one of Germany’s most famous monasteries, learned that the Vatican would not bless relationships like his.
“For me it was almost funny: I and my partner got married on Friday and then on Monday this ban,” he said.
“It felt almost like a response” to our marriage by the church, the 68-year-old added. Continue Reading »
CVS staff members at Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington, December 28, 2020 – REUTERS/David Ryder
A US pharmacy chain has changed its online registration forms for COVID-19 vaccinations, after transgender people complained about being asked to declare their birth sex, highlighting a heated nationwide debate about trans rights.
CVS Health Corp, which has administered millions of vaccines in the United States, said it was scrapping a “sex assigned at birth” question, and would only ask people to state their gender, following feedback from the LGBT+ community. Continue Reading »
Pre-registration is now open for Gay Games 11 Hong Kong 2022.
Gay Games 11 Hong Kong 2022’s (GGHK) unique combination of sport, arts, culture, fun, and community, brings together diverse groups of people, to experience moments of joy. It will create unity and positive attitudes that will last a lifetime, in Hong Kong, Asia and beyond, under the belief of ‘Unity In Diversity’.
GGHK will take place 11-19 November 2022, for the first time in Asia. Continue Reading »
STUDIOCANAL confirm new Irish cinema release dates for Another Round (25th June) and Supernova (9th July)
Thomas Vinterberg’s critically acclaimed ANOTHER ROUND, starring Mads Mikkelsen, will be released in Irish cinemas on Friday 25th June.
ANOTHER ROUND has received four BAFTA nominations for: Film Not in the English Language, Director, Original Screenplay, and Leading Actor for Mads Mikkelsen, two Oscar nominations for Directing, and for International Feature Film, and was also Golden Globe nominated. It was also the Surprise Film at this year’s Dublin International Film Festival, won the publicly-voted Virtual Audience Award at the BFI London Film Festival, and won four awards at the European Film Awards including Best Film.
SUPERNOVA, starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci, and written and directed by Harry Macqueen, will be released in Irish cinemas on Friday 9th July.
SUPERNOVA recently opened this year’s Dublin International Film Festival, as well as receiving its UK Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, where it placed in the top 3 in the publicly-voted Virtual Audience Awards. The film was also nominated for two awards at the prestigious San Sebastián Film Festival.
Another Round synopsis
There is an obscure philosophical theory that humans should have been born with a small amount of alcohol in our blood; that modest inebriation opens our minds to the world around us, diminishing problems and increasing creativity. Intrigued, Martin (Mads Mikkelsen) and three of his friends, all weary high school teachers, embark on a risky experiment to maintain a constant level of intoxication throughout the workday. Initial results are positive, but as the units are knocked back, and stakes are raised, it becomes increasingly clear that some bold acts carry severe consequences.
Supernova synopsis
It is deep Autumn, and Sam (Colin Firth) and Tusker (Stanley Tucci), partners of twenty years, are on holiday. They are travelling across England in their old campervan, visiting friends, family, and places from their past. Since Tusker was diagnosed with young-onset dementia two years ago, their lives have had to change. Jobs have been given up, and plans put on hold. Their time together is now the most important thing they have. As the trip progresses however, their individual ideas for their future begin to collide. Secrets are uncovered, private plans unravel, and their love for each other is tested like never before. Ultimately, they must confront the question of what it means to love one another, in the face of Tusker’s irreparable illness.
