News shorts: Drawing strength and inspiration from around the world (July 2025)

Kyiv Pride calls for global support

KIEV, UKRAINE • More than 500 people joined a Pride march on June 16 organised by Kyiv Pride, the first in the city since Russia invaded. A banner held by protestors read, “No peace without justice for Ukraine.” LGBTQ+ soldiers featured rainbow badges on their uniforms. “Pride Month in Ukraine is about struggle. Now we are fighting not only for rights and freedoms, but for our independence,” a post by the Pride organisation reads. Organizers appealed to all foreign Prides, partners, friends and allies to donate to Ukrainian queers who are in need of support. Surveys report that support for legal equality for LGBTQ+ people increased from 54 per cent before the Russian invasion to 72 per cent in November 2023.

— Pink News

Russian rights campaigners resist repression

RUSSIA • Supporters of LGBTQIA+ people in Russia are resisting widespread repression against their community. A coordinator of the Russian LGBTQ organization Sphere, speaking anonymously, said, “Despite all the obstacles that the state puts in front of us, we sincerely believe that there is a future for the LGBT+ community in Russia…. We believe and try to demonstrate with all our activities that no state bans can cancel us.” However, many are trying to flee Russia. Kovcheg (the Ark), which helps Russian emigrants from its base in Latvia, sometimes offers emergency accommodation for LGBTQ people in countries like Serbia and Turkey.

— Al Jazeera

Caribbean activists take legal action to London

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO • Queer activists in Trinidad and Tobago are taking a legal fight for equality beyond the local courts to their highest court of appeal in London, England. Trinidad’s Supreme Court ruled in March that a 1925 British law against “buggary” still stands in effect in the Caribbean country. In spite of the ruling, recent action by several Caribbean countries has repealed similar colonial laws. But Trinidad activists say the case shows the need to step up advocacy, including encouraging political participation and collaborating with other minority communities.

— The Guardian

Lesbian moms win Italian court victory

ROME, ITALY • Lesbian moms who conceive by in vitro fertilization won the right to have both partners recognized as parents in a decision by Italy’s highest court. The moms challenged a law introduced by far-right, anti-LGBTQ+ Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was attempting to enforce a definition of the family preferred by her party and the Catholic church. Advocates called the court ruling historic, although it only applies to people who received IVF outside of Italy. The law continues to prohibit IVF within the country, as well as surrogacy and the adoption of children born through a surrogate parent.

— LGBTQ Nation

Paris unveils memorial to LGBTQIA+ victims of Naziism

PARIS, FRANCE • A park near Paris’ revolutionary Place de la Bastille received a new sparkle on May 17, International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) when the city unveiled a monument to queer victims of Naziism. Between 5,000 and 15,000 people were sent to concentration camps during Germany’s Third Reich for homosexuality. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said that there is still an “obligation to fight against denial and mitigation” and that there “are, today, extremely dangerous, strong, opposing winds that would like to deny the diversity of the victims.” The monument designed by artist and activist Jean-Luc Verna takes the shape of a large wand with a black and silver star on the end.

— LGBTQ Nation

Trans women’s housing co-op to open in Sydney

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA • The governments of Australia and New South Wales have extended over AUS$4 million to help open a co-op providing housing for women in the Sydney trans community. A speaker for the All Nations Housing Co-Operative called the funding life-saving. “Community-led housing, grounded in lived experience and built on strong partnerships, can break new ground,” they said. The Co-op will bring a range of benefits beyond housing, including better health and social outcomes. Homelessness is a common issue among trans people in Australia and elsewhere.

— Pink News

U.S. cities defy state laws to fly rainbow flags

BOISE, SALT LAKE CITY, U.S.A. • After Republican-controlled legislatures in Utah and Idaho passed bans on flying rainbow pride flags and other “unofficial flags” on government property, leaders in the capital cities of the two states found a simple way to support their LGBTQIA+ residents. Boise and Salt Lake City both declared rainbow flags to be official city flags. The flags are a symbol of the city’s values, said SLC mayor Erin Mendenhall. “I want all Salt Lakers to look up at these flags and be reminded that we value diversity, equity and inclusion.”

— The Guardian

Cape Town will welcome World Pride in 2028

MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA • Organizers of World Pride announced at a meeting in Medellín that the 2028 international celebration will take place for the first time in Africa. The South African city of Cape Town will host Pride groups as “a beacon of inclusivity and diversity.” In 1996, South Africa became the first country in the world to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Same-sex couples have family rights in South Africa, and trans people are allowed to change gender. However, violence against LGBTQIA+ people remains an issue. World Pride 2025 took place in Washington, D.C., although many international visitors decided not to attend after advisors said that it could be risky to cross the borders into the U.S.A.

— Pink News

Safest places for 2SLGBTQIA+ travellers

BERLIN, GERMANY • The German queer travel guide Spartacus analyzes 203 countries every year to publish its Gay Travel Index. While written for gay travellers, it claims to balance the rights of the local LGBTQIA+ community and the demands of queer vacationers. Countries can receive a total of 13 points, based on eight positive criteria and 10 negative ones. The 2025 guide awards the maximum 13 points to Canada, Iceland, Malta, Portugal and Spain. Germany and New Zealand follow with 12 points, while Australia, Norway, Switzerland and Uruguay scored 11 points. The guide also scores U.S. states on a separate scale (calculated before Donald Trump’s presidency), with New York and California taking top points. Full scores and references are available at www. Spartacus.travel.

— Spartacus Gay Guide

English activists call for Pride ban on political parties

LONDON, ENGLAND • An open letter signed by almost 600 trans groups and activists has called for England’s governing Labour Party and other anti-trans political parties to be banned from Pride events. The action follows their support of a Supreme Court judgement that ruled that Equality Act references to “women” and “sex” should be limited to “biological women” and “biological sex.” Government agencies then said that single-sex bathrooms and women-only spaces must exclude trans people. No major party has disputed the decision or called for the government to revise the definition in the Equality Act. Several U.K. Pride organizations already ban political parties.

Meanwhile, the Quakers, or members of the Society of Friends faith group, said they will continue to make their spaces “trans-inclusive.” They say the rights and inclusion of people are not just about toilets. “We will continue to work to make our corner of the Commonwealth of Heaven on Earth a more welcoming and accessible place. This is what Love requires of us.”

— Pink News

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

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