World
Chilean president signs marriage equality law
Sebastián Piñera in June announced support for measure

Chilean President Sebastián Piñera on Thursday signed a law that extends marriage rights to same-sex couples in the South American country.
“Freedom, true freedom is always built when we recognize ourselves as equal in dignity and in rights and above all under the law,” he said during a signing ceremony that took place at the Presidential Palace in Santiago, the Chilean capital.
[EN VIVO] Pdte. @sebastianpinera, acompañado por ministras y ministros, subsecretarios, parlamentarios y representantes de la sociedad civil, promulga ley de #MatrimonioIgualitario. #AmorEsAmor 🏳️🌈 https://t.co/xamZ4tKdNQ
— Gobierno de Chile (@GobiernodeChile) December 9, 2021
The signing ceremony took place two days after the marriage equality law passed in the country’s Congress.
Movilh, a Chilean LGBTQ rights group, in 2012 filed a lawsuit with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on behalf of three same-sex couples who were seeking marriage rights.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2012 ruled in favor of Karen Atala, a Chilean judge who lost custody of her three daughters to her ex-husband because she is a lesbian. The landmark decision established a legal precedent that has been used to advance marriage rights for same-sex couples throughout Latin America.
A law that allows same-sex couples to enter into civil unions took effect in Chile in 2015.
The government of former President Michelle Bachelet — who is now the U.N. high commissioner for human rights — in 2016 said it would introduce bills to extend marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples as part of an agreement between it, Movilh and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Movilh in 2020 withdrew from the agreement after it accused Piñera of not doing enough to advance marriage equality in Chile. Piñera in June announced his support of the issue.
“I celebrate marriage equality in Chile, which ensures recognition and protection for all families, without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity,” tweeted Bachelet on Wednesday. “It’s an important step for the country and I hope others will follow this example.”
I celebrate #MarriageEquality in Chile which ensures recognition & protection for all families, without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. It’s an important step for the country and I hope others will follow this example.@free_equal 🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/ApliAtUyKu
— Michelle Bachelet (@mbachelet) December 8, 2021
Piñera signed the marriage equality law less than two weeks before the second round of Chile’s presidential election in which Congressman Gabriel Boric, who previously led a student protest movement, will face off against José Antonio Kast, a far-right former congressman. The marriage equality law will take effect before Piñera leaves office in March.
Israel
Tel Aviv Pride parade cancelled after Israel attacks Iran
Caitlyn Jenner was to have been guest of honor

Tel Aviv authorities on Friday cancelled the city’s Pride parade after Israel launched airstrikes against Iran.
The Associated Press notes the Israeli airstrikes targeted nuclear and military facilities in Iran. Reports indicate the airstrikes killed two top nuclear scientists and the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Iran in response to the airstrikes launched more than 100 drones towards Israel. The Israel Defense Forces said it intercepted them.
The Tel Aviv Pride parade had been scheduled to take place on Friday. Caitlyn Jenner was to have been the event’s guest of honor.
Authorities, in consultation with local LGBTQ activists, last year cancelled the Tel Aviv Pride parade out of respect for the hostages who remained in the Gaza Strip after Oct. 7. Jerusalem’s annual Pride parade took place on June 5.
Uganda
World Bank resumes lending to Uganda
New loans suspended in 2023 after Anti-Homosexuality Act signed

The World Bank Group has resumed lending to Uganda.
The bank in 2023 suspended new loans to the African country after President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.” Reuters reported the bank decided to resume lending on June 5.
“We have now determined the mitigation measures rolled out over the last several months in all ongoing projects in Uganda to be satisfactory,” a bank spokesperson told Reuters in an email. “Consequently, the bank has prepared three new projects in sectors with significant development needs – social protection, education, and forced displacement/refugees – which have been approved by the board.”
Activists had urged the bank not to resume loans to Uganda.
Richard Lusimbo, director general of the Uganda Key Population Consortium, last September described the “so-called ‘mitigation measures’ are a façade, designed to provide the illusion of protection.”
“They rely on perpetrators of discrimination — the government of Uganda — to implement the measures fairly,” said Lusimbo. “How can they be taken seriously?”
South Africa
South African activists demand action to stop anti-LGBTQ violence
Country’s first gay imam murdered in February

Continued attacks of LGBTQ South Africans are raising serious concerns about the community’s safety and well-being.
President Cyril Ramaphosa in May 2024 signed the Preventing and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill into law that, among other things, has legal protections for LGBTQ South Africans who suffer physical, verbal, and emotional violence. Statistics from the first and second quarters of 2025 have painted a grim picture.
Muhsin Hendricks, the country’s first openly gay imam, in February was shot dead in Gqeberha, in a suspected homophobic attack. Authorities in April found the body of Linten Jutzen, a gay crossdresser, in an open field between an elementary school and a tennis court in Cape Town.
A World Economic Forum survey on attitudes towards homosexuality and gender non-conformity in South Africa that Marchant Van Der Schyf conducted earlier this year found that even though 51 percent of South Africans believe gay people should have the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts, 72 percent of them feel same-sex sexual activity is morally wrong. The survey also notes 44 percent of LGBTQ respondents said they experienced bullying, verbal and sexual discrimination, and physical violence in their everyday lives because of their sexual orientation.
Van Der Schyf said many attacks occur in the country’s metropolitan areas, particularly Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg.
“Victims are often lured to either the perpetrator’s indicated residence or an out-of-home area under the appearance of a meet-up,” said Van Der Schyf. “The nature of the attacks range from strangulation and beatings to kidnapping and blackmail with some victims being filmed naked or held for ransom.”
The Youth Policy Committee’s Gender Working Group notes South Africa is the first country to constitutionally protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation and the fifth nation in the world to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. A disparity, however, still exists between legal protections and LGBTQ people’s lived experiences.
“After more than 20 years of democracy, our communities continue to wake up to the stench of grief, mutilation, violation, and oppression,” said the Youth Policy Committee. “Like all human beings, queer individuals are members of schooling communities, church groups, and society at large, therefore, anything that affects them should affect everyone else within those communities.”
The Youth Policy Committee also said religious and cultural leaders should do more to combat anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
“Religious institutions seem to perpetuate the hate crimes experienced by queer individuals,” said the group. “In extreme cases, religious leaders have advocated for killings and hateful crimes to be committed against those in the queer community. South Africa’s highly respected spiritual guides, sangomas, are also joining the fight against queer killings and acts of transphobia and homophobia.”
“The LGBTQIA+ community is raising their voice and they need to be supported because they add a unique color to our rainbow nation,” it added.
Steve Letsike, the government’s deputy minister for women, youth, and persons with disabilities, in marking the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia on May 17 noted Ramaphosa’s administration has enacted legislative framework that protects the LGBTQ community. Letsike, however, stressed the government still needs to ensure its implementation.
“We have passed these policies and we need to make sure that they are implemented fully and with urgency, so that (LGBTQ) persons can self-determine and also have autonomy without any abusive requirements,” said Letsike. “We need families, faith leaders, traditional authorities, and communities to rise together against hate. Our constitution must remain respected.”
Siphokazi Dlamini, a social justice activist, said LGBTQ rights should be respected, as enshrined in the constitution.
“It is terrible to even imagine that they face discrimination despite the fact that this has been addressed numerous times,” said Dlamini. “How are they different from us? Is a question I frequently ask people or why should they live in fear just because we don’t like the way they are and their feelings? However, I would get no response.”
Dlamini added people still live in fear of being judged, raped, or killed simply because of who they are.
“What needs to be addressed to is what freedom means,” said Dlamini. “Freedom means to have the power to be able to do anything that you want but if it doesn’t hurt other people’s feelings while doing it. There is freedom of speech, freedom from discrimination, freedom of expression, of thought, of choice, of religion, of association, and these needs to be practiced. It is time to take such issues seriously in order to promote equality and peace among our people, and those who do not follow these rules should be taken into custody.”
Van Der Schyf also said LGBTQ South Africans should have a place, such as an inquiry commission, that allows them to talk about the trauma they have suffered and how it influences their distrust of the government.
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