A person’s decision to “come out” as gay to their friends and family is a personal one, something they have to do on their own time and in their own way. The traditional narrative, though, suggests men feel better if they verbally reveal their true identity. But according to a new study published in Self and Identity, this only seems to
Author Archive: LGL
Every day, people across Europe continue to be the targets of assaults because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In 2013, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s own study revealed that an average of 59% of the LGBT people surveyed in the EU who had been attacked in the previous 12 months felt they had
US Attorney General Loretta Lynch has said that she considers transgender rights a crucial part of anti-discrimination laws. A wave of Republican-backed ‘bathroom bills’ have spread across the US aimed at rolling back LGBT rights protections – ostensibly to stop transgender people from using their preferred bathroom. The laws, many of which expand well beyond
In a resolution addressing cross-border conflicts around adoption adopted on April 28th, the Parliament has spoken out in favour of mutual recognition of domestic adoption decisions between Member States. Domestic adoption refers to the placement of a child for adoption by their birth parents with an adoptive family. The resolution does not touch upon second-parent
This June, Vilnius is hosting Baltic Pride for the third time, an annual LGBT event that rotates among the three Baltic capitals, and the curious thing about the clamour in the run-up is that, well, there isn’t any. This being the election year and with politicians always eager for coverage, one would have expected that
In a report adopted on 28th April 2016, the European Parliament expresses its concern over online homo- and transphobic hate speech, and calls for strong measures to counter online hate speech. The demands are made in the report on Gender equality and empowering women in the digital age. The report urges the Commission to demand
Colombia’s highest court on Thursday formally extended marriage rights to same-sex couples. Reports indicate the Colombian constitutional court’s 6-3 ruling in a case says the process to obtain a marriage license will become the same for couples of the same- or opposite-sex. The decision also stipulates that judges and notaries cannot refuse to marry a
The Swedish government will shell out compensation to transgender people who were victims of forced sterilization, the country’s public health minister has confirmed. Until 2013, Swedish law specified that people who wanted to change legal gender had to be “lacking the ability to procreate”. This meant that hundreds of transgender people were forced to undergo surgery to
Special U.S. Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons Randy Berry told the Washington Blade last week that anti-transgender violence remains a “grave” problem around the world. “A year ago I appreciated it more as an academic or intellectual reality,” he said during an interview at the State Department on April 20. “But over
A pastor and a bishop in North Carolina have married a gay couple in an act of “civil disobedience”. The wedding was kept secret to stop “people having time to organise a protest”, and even had to hire security to keep demonstrators out. John Romano and Jim Wilborne, both 52, were married in Charlotte North Carolina