News shorts: Drawing strength and inspiration from around the world

International action against gender crimes

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking the arrest of two senior Afghan figures for the persecution of LGBTQ+ people. The court applied for warrants to arrest Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, alleging both “bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds.“ The application follows action by Canada, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands to take Afghanistan to the International Court of Justice for gender discrimination. A researcher at Human Rights Watch said, “It is vitally important for other countries to register their support for this action and for them to involve Afghan women as the process moves forward.“

— Pink News

New funding aims to combat hate

OTTAWA, CA — Canada’s Department for Women and Gender Equality and Youth announced up to $41.5 million for 106 projects to advance equality for 2SLGBTQI+ communities across Canada and to address the rise in hate. Funding includes ten projects building resilience against hate and discrimination. The funding focuses on empowering communities, supporting victims and survivors, and building community trust. Funds will also support 36 projects targeting community-informed initiatives that address barriers, such as projects that promote systemic change and develop knowledge, tools and support for communities.

— Women and Gender Equality Canada

Egale discussions lead fight for inclusion

OTTAWA, CA — Egale Canada will lead a series of discussions about the changing political climate for 2SLGBTQI communities. Egale’s former executive director Helen Kennedy will help challenge the increasing hate and misinformation that threatens the rights of trans and queer communities. She guided the national organization through challenging periods for inclusion in Canada and around the world. Kennedy’s new work will help counter rising opposition to human rights and the growing wave of hate targeting marginalized groups and will help organizations build truly inclusive spaces.

— Egale Canada

US advocates stage die-in against AIDS cuts

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fired advocates for people with HIV at USAid, the United States International Development Agency, staged a die-in in Washington, D.C. They warned that Donald Trump’s drive to dismantle the agency threatens the fight against the AIDS virus. Wearing white T-shirts that read “Aids funding cuts kill“ and chanting “Congress has blood on its hands, unfreeze aid now,“ around three dozen protesters dramatically fell to the ground. Police said they arrested about 20 demonstrators who refused to leave. The USA supported a program that provides antiviral medication to 20 million people worldwide. President Trump placed most agency workers on leave and stopped payments to providers working with the program worldwide.

—The Guardian

Over 25,000 sign to preserve trans history

NEW YORK, N.Y. — More than 25,000 people have signed an online Care2 petition demanding that the Trump administration stop erasing trans history from the Stonewall uprising website in New York City. Despite the fact that trans women of colour led the historic riots in 1969, staff at the monument changed references from “LGBTQ+“ to “LGB“ and removed use of the word “queer.“ Texts now mention only lesbian, gay and bisexual people in describing what happened when police raided the Stonewall Inn. The petition is near to its goal of 30,000 people demanding that transgender people’s history be preserved for future generations.

— Pink News

Muslim communities grieve death of queer leader

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — Muslims in the worldwide LGBTQ+ communities are mourning the death of Muhsin Hendricks, considered the world’s “first openly gay imam.“ Hendricks was shot near the city of Gqeberha, South Africa. The imam ran a mosque intended as a safe haven for gay and other marginalized Muslims. The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association called on authorities “to thoroughly investigate what we fear may be a hate crime.“ Hendricks was the subject of a 2022 documentary called The Radical. He had been advised to hire bodyguards but said he never feared attacks and insisted that “the need to be authentic“ was “greater than the fear to die.“

— The Guardian

Steps toward international equality

• Queer communities celebrated a variety of small steps toward equality for 2SLGBT+ people in countries around the world in 2024.

  
  

• Greenland, an autonomous country that forms part of Denmark, banned discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and gender characteristics. As in Denmark, same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1933, and Greenland recognized equal marriage in 2015.

  
  

• Estonia adopted same-sex marriage and permitted same-sex adoption on January 1, 2024. It became the first former Soviet state to recognize equal family rights for same-sex couples.

  
  

• Latvia allowed same-sex couples to register for civil unions, although without the right to marriage. However, civil unions guarantee tax and social security benefits as well as visiting rights in hospitals.

  
  

• After violent attacks on human rights activists and asylum defenders in Greece, the nation passed new laws banning discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and legalizing same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption.

  
  

• Dominica, the island nation in the Caribbean near the French departments of Martinique and Guadeloupe, legalized gay sex when the country’s court overturned a colonial ban on same-sex activity. The former French and British colony achieved independence in 1978.

  
  

• Lesotho, a sovereign state within South Africa, revised its labour code to ban discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation. The new code also outlaws violence, harassment and sexual harassment based on gender identity.

  
  

• The southern African nation of Namibia allowed consensual same-sex activity after court rulings found that laws against sexual activity were unconstitutional and invalid.

  
  

• Mexico banned conversion therapy, the use of emotional, psychological and physical treatments to change someone’s sexual orientation. Offenders can face between two and six years in prison as well as fines.

— Pink News and other sources

News shorts is curated by Richard Banner (he/him).

Richard worked on Angles from its earliest days to the “last“ issue in May 1998.