Indonesia’s parliament is debating a bill to ban LGBTQ+ content online which, if passed, could lead to job losses in the media and social media industries, while also restricting the community’s access to specialised services such as health. The third-largest democracy in the world is a big market for digital platforms with 143 million active social media users — more than half …

 LGBTI rights workers face intensified criminalization in Europe and Central Asia.    Temirlan Baimash ILGA-Europe reports: Kazakhstan has brought charges against two LGBTI activists, in a move that reflects a rapidly growing trend in the criminalisation of LGBTI human rights work across Europe and Central Asia. The activists, Temirlan Baimash from Queer.kz and Zhanar Sekerbayeva from Feminita, are being …

LGBTI rights workers face intensified criminalization in Europe and Central Asia.  Kazakhstan LGBT rights activist Temirlan Baimash. ILGA-Europe reports: Police have brought charges against two LGBTI activists in Kazakhstan, in a move that reflects a rapidly growing trend in the criminalisation of LGBTI human rights work across Europe and Central Asia. The activists, Temirlan Baimash from Queer.kz and Zhanar Sekerbayeva …

Ghana’s bill would make it a crime to ‘hold out as’ LGBTQ.  Sam George, a leader of Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ partisans in parliament (Photo courtesy of Ghana Web) Ghana’s harsh Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill was formally introduced in parliament on Feb. 17 as a private member’s bill, Mamba Online reported. Meanwhile, Turkiye’s ministry of justice has reiterated its …

Wave of arrests hit LGBTQ citizens, generating an atmosphere of fear. Senegal’s gendarmerie released this photo of 12 men arrested on homosexuality charges. Amid a wave of arrests of LGBTQ citizens and claims about gay networks deliberately spreading HIV, conservative Muslims are again pushing to tighten Senegal’s anti-homosexuality law. As they did last year, the Islamist collective And Samm Djikko …

A wave of violence has left transgender people afraid to go out Pakistani Senator Mushtaq Ahmad proposes the creation of a government “gender re-assignment board” that would control a trans person’s official gender identity. (Photo courtesy of Global Living Space)   Transgender Pakistanis are under attack, reversing progress that they had made in acceptance by the wider Pakistani society. A …

Trump expands Mexico City policy to “end woke foreign aid”  A 19-year-old woman talks with nurse Valeria Zafisoa at a traveling contraception clinic in eastern Madagascar run by the British nonprofit group MSI Reproductive Choices. That group lost $15 million in funding the last time Trump enforced the Mexico City policy. (Samantha Reinders photo courtesy of NPR) The Trump administration …

Ministry of Justice adds the LGBTQ advocacy group to list of ‘undesirable organisations’ Logo of ILGA World, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. Russia’s Ministry of Justice has added the LGBTQ advocacy federation ILGA World to its list of “undesirable organisations,” which opens the way for people convicted of working with ILGA World inside Russia to be …

Seven human rights groups were ordered shut ahead of Ugandan elections Anthony Masake, executive director of Chapter Four Uganda. (Photo courtesy of X / Twitter) Chapter Four Uganda—a respected, non-partisan human rights organization known for defending marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ people—has been ordered to cease operations by the Ugandan government, along with six other human rights organizations. Uganda’s National Bureau …

Anti-transgender initiative: U.S. embassies must report nations where minors can get gender-affirming surgery U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. Ramping up its anti-transgender campaign targeting U.S. citizens, the Trump administration has ordered U.S. embassies to issue reports on nations that allow gender-affirming medical care for minors, which Trump loyalists categorize as a  human rights abuse. The Council for Global …