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Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
More than 180,000 people attended the annual Taiwan Pride parade on Oct. 28

Taiwan

The 21st annual Pride parade through the streets of the capital city this year marked a major milestone as over 180,000 people marched on Oct. 28 for Asia’s largest Pride parade.
Mixed in with drag queens and go-go dancers, Vice President Lai Ching-te became the highest-ranking official to join the throngs of people celebrating the occasion on the streets of downtown Taipei.
The theme of this year’s pride parade was “Stand with Diversity,” came months after adoption rights were extended to same-sex couples in the country and the recognition of Taiwanese same-sex spouses who were married in foreign countries.
Lai, the country’s vice president and a leading presidential candidate, who is running as the progressive party’s candidate in the Jan. 13, 2024, elections noted that Taiwan is at the forefront of LGBTQ rights in Asia in his remarks to reporters and Pride attendees.
“Love knows no boundaries; LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. Today, we celebrate love, courage and justice at the 21st Taiwan Pride parade. As the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage, we stand with diversity and remain committed to building a more inclusive society for all,” he told the crowd adding: “I want to explain to all my good friends that marriage equality is not the end but the starting point of Taiwan’s equal rights culture. In the future, I will stand with everyone and move forward together on the road of diversity. I will stand with all of you, firmly supporting you in being true to yourselves, [and] making Taiwan even more beautiful.”
China

A ruling by Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal on Oct. 17 is being called a partial victory for LGBTQ rights in Hong Kong. The High Court dismissed a government legal attempt to deny same-sex married couples the right to rent and own public housing saying that it was “discriminatory in nature” and a complete denial of their rights.
Court of Appeal Justices Jeremy Poon, Aarif Barma and Thomas Au said in their ruling that the authority’s treatment of gay married couples was “discriminatory in nature” and they should be afforded equal treatment.
“The differential treatment in the present cases is a more severe form of indirect discrimination than most cases because the criterion is one which same-sex couples can never meet,” the judges wrote.
LGBTQ rights group Hong Kong Marriage Equality released a statement saying that the decision had made clear “that discrimination and unequal treatment on the ground of sexual orientation has no place in public policy decisions.”
In September, same-sex couples won a partial victory in the Court of Final Appeal, Hong Kong’s highest court, when it ruled that the government must formulate an alternative framework for same-sex couples seeking legal recognition as the court refused to recognize same-sex marriages which are not currently allowed.
Australia

The 33rd annual Melbourne Queer film festival, the largest and oldest queer film festival in the country will take place from Nov. 9-19 with the festival’s theme of “rewind to fast forward.”
David Martin Harris, the festival’s CEO, speaking with Australia’s largest LGBTQ media outlet, the Star Observer, noted, “This year’s fabulous program will bring the community together to celebrate queer film, our diverse stories, and voices,” said Harris. “There are so many stories from across the globe that share important messages, whether that be heart-warming, uplifting, hilarious, or inspirational — the program will connect audiences for a celebration like no other.”
According to the Star Observer, staying true to its theme Rewind to Fast Forward, this year the festival celebrates queer classics including “La Cage Aux Folles,” “Glen or Glenda,” “Head On” and “Offside,” alongside a vibrant tapestry of fresh stories from around the world.
In an interview with the Guardian, Cerise Howard, the curator of the film festival, regarding the overarching theme said “We [LGBTQ people] have always been here so it’s vital we engage with our history.”
The language in some of the festival’s historic films “may be considered problematic today,” Howard told the Guardian, pointing to terms like “sex change operation” rather than gender affirmation surgery in 1953 drama “Glen or Glenda.” “But it’s important we are able to collectively not just enjoy but be educated by films of yesteryear.”
“We need to see our community in all its diversity, but we don’t need to see us all painted as saints — because we’re not,” she added. “We are complex, nuanced human beings capable of good and bad.
“We’d be doing audiences a disservice if we tried to paint a utopian vision of our lives — because no one could relate to that anyway. So the stories shouldn’t aim to be universal but particular — because in that particularity I think people can see themselves and engage more.”

Nationally prominent Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s journalist Patricia Karvelas recently has been the target of right wing homophobic and racist trolls for talking openly about her life as a now out proud lesbian and her wife and family.
In an interview with the network’s ABC Queer program, Karvelas said that she had to keep her sexuality a secret at the start of her career, especially from anti-LGBTQ politicians. Karvelas said that she was “paranoid” about being outed and did not want to lose out on opportunities because of her sexuality.
After she shared her personal story with the network’s ABC Queer, British right-wing tabloid publication Daily Mail reported on her interview, which then triggered online trolls that viciously targeted the award-winning journalist with vile homophobic abuse.
In an X, formerly Twitter, post, the veteran journalist responded with “Daily Mail writes story. Trolls target me for hours with vile stuff. My family is really proud of me thanks.”
ABC’s Director of News Justin Stevens released a statement on behalf the network defending her and taking aiming at the British tabloid publication without naming it noting “publicizing it and publishing personal photos to illustrate it is irresponsible and unjustified.”
“ABC journalist and presenter Patricia Karvelas is a fine, principled journalist and a courageous and generous human being,” the statement read adding:
“We’re proud she works for the ABC and grateful for her hard work and huge contribution to the national public broadcaster and audiences.
It is disturbing, saddening and angering that Patricia should find herself the target of online trolling and abuse, much of it sexualized, homophobic and racist, just for speaking publicly about her life.
For a major national media outlet to compound that abuse by publicizing it and publishing personal photos to illustrate it is irresponsible and unjustified.
As the eSafety Commissioner says: journalists are more likely to experience online abuse who are female, from diverse racial or social backgrounds, are younger, have a disability, or identify as LGBTIQ+. It can have devastating professional and personal impacts. It can lead to the silencing of journalists, with some self-censoring, retreating from covering certain topics or leaving the industry.
Media outlets should be combatting dangerous online abuse and gender-based and sexual bullying, and standing in solidarity with peers experiencing it, not disingenuously serving to amplify it.”
United Kingdom

The death of a 14-year-old trans boy by suicide on Oct. 12 created a need by his mother Rita Williams, to set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover her son’s funeral expenses. The family indicated that after the costs of a memorial headstone, grave plot, flowers and other associated funeral expenses were raised any remainder was to be donated to charities and the hospital that treated him.
On Nov. 3, Williams thanked contributors for raising £10,493 ($13001.19) raised of the £6,000 ($7434.21) goal. She had written that “after Corei has been laid to rest and the memorial paid for, we will give everything remaining to charity: 50 percent to Great Ormond Street Hospital as they looked after Corei and us so well in his last days, and 50 percent split equally three ways between the trans youth charities Think2Speak and Mermaids, and the youth mental health charity Young Minds, in the hope that young lives can be saved.”
In an X, formerly Twitter, post, Williams also shared a picture of a letter she received regarding her son’s organs. In the letter, it details that one of his kidneys and pancreas was provided to a lady in her 40s who had been on the organ donation waiting list for seven years, while the other kidney was given to a young girl who had been waiting for two years.
“As you may be aware, kidney disease is a very debilitating condition. It requires sufferers to have a special diet and for some dialysis in hospital, sometimes up to four times a week,” the letter reads.
“Corei has given this lady and young girl the chance of a life free from dialysis they were dependent on.”
The letter goes on to state that a teenage girl also received a lifesaving liver transplant because of the young man and now has the chance of a “healthier and brighter future.”
Finally, the “very precious and especially rare gift of a double lung transplant” was given to a man in his fifties.

In the GoFundMe post, Williams wrote of her son:
“Corei was a typical teenager who loved giraffes, doctor who and the color yellow. He loved all sorts of animals and adored his friends. He was open and accepting of everybody. He had wicked sense of humor and was full of sass, and he was also stubborn and a pain in the arse! He was so passionate about everything, whether that be bugs, sewing or his mates.
He was autistic and struggled with his mental health. Unfortunately he was also subjected to transphobic abuse. […] I’d like to share some words that he wrote in his last letter. Please take them to heart and act on them in his name.
Thank you all. You changed my life for the better, but it wasn’t enough. Everybody who was there however, is the reason I was able to last this long. I beg of you all, don’t miss me. I will hopefully be seen as a boy in my next life, so I’m happy, do not miss me.
You are all precious humans who deserve to be loved, cherished and have all your dreams come true. To anybody who misgendered/deadnamed me; I forgive you, I only hope this teaches you to think more carefully about your actions.
Protect trans youth, in my name. Take this as an opportunity; be thankful for your family and friends because they are still here, though I may not be.
I am a person filled with grudges and anger but I choose to let them all go. I will be happy as a boy with god so no need to worry about me. Thanks again to those people. – Corei”
Hungary
In a statement posted to his personal social media accounts on Monday, L Simon László, the director general of the Hungarian National Museum, announced that he was fired by Hungarian Cultural Minister János Csák for allowing the presentation of five photographs that portray elderly queer Filipinos caring for each other in a group home they’ve shared for decades at the prestigious World Press Photo exhibition.
The cultural minister said that public display of the photographs violated 2021 law that restricts minors under age 18’s access to content that depicts LGBTQ people, culture or history.
In his statement László wrote: “Minister János Csák informed me this morning that he terminated me from the position of director general of the Hungarian National Museum because in his opinion I sabotaged the Child Protection Act. I accept the decision, but I cannot accept it. The museum deliberately did not violate any legislation by presenting the pictures of the World Press Photo exhibition.
The ministry itself acknowledged this in its previous letter: ‘In my opinion, no circumstance suggesting intentional violation of the law on the part of the Hungarian National Museum … ‘ Contrary to what was stated in the ministry’s announcement, we followed the [Csák] instruction without delay and without delay, we introduced the under 18 years restriction and immediately notified the sustainer.
As a father and grandparent of four children, I strongly refuse that our children should be protected from me or the institution I manage.”
Reuters reported the museum stopped selling tickets for the photo exhibition for youngsters after the far-right Our Homeland party had initiated a government inquiry, the party said.
“Based on the initiative of Mi Hazank (Our Homeland), youngsters under 18 cannot visit the exhibition at the National Museum as it violates the child protection law,” the far-right party told state news agency MTI. The new rule was posted on the museum’s website.
Lesotho
LGBTQ activist murdered in Lesotho
Authorities have arrested a suspect in Kabelo Seseli’s death

Kabelo Seseli, a gay crossdresser and LGBTQ activist in Lesotho, was murdered over the weekend in a suspected homophobic attack.
According to the People’s Matrix Association, a LGBTQ rights organization, Seseli’s body was found with stab wounds on their neck and genitals.
“This was not just a murder, it was a hate-driven, dehumanizing act meant to send a message of fear and rejection to our community,” said the People’s Matrix Association in a statement posted to its Facebook page on April 29. “Kabelo deserved to live. Kabelo deserved dignity, safety, and the freedom to exist without fear, just like every Mosotho.”
The LGBTQ rights group also said it is demanding action, justice, and protection from the government, especially given the fact authorities have arrested a suspect.
“We strongly condemn this act of violence and call on the government of Lesotho and law enforcement authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure that those responsible are held fully accountable,” said the People’s Matrix Association. “We also urge leaders and the public to reflect on the role of hate speech and social stigma, which continue to incite violence against LGBTI individuals across our country. We demand action.”
Victor Mukasa of Trans and History Intersex Africa also condemned Seseli’s murder.
“Death is a fact of life, but murder is criminal,” said Mukasa. “Murder of people because they are LGBTIQA+ or for belonging to a particular social group is a hate crime.”
Thato Motsieloa, a gay crossdresser and LGBTQ activist, said he was “deeply distraught to learn about the brutal murder of Kabelo Seseli.” Motsieloa said he and Seseli met on Facebook.
“Although we never met in person, we had plans to do so,” said Motsieloa. “The manner of his death is particularly heartbreaking, and the fact that his killers desecrated his body by removing his private parts is utterly heinous. I hope justice is served, and those responsible face the consequences of their horrific actions. My sincerest condolences go out to Kabelo’s family, may his soul rest in eternal peace.”
Lesotho in 2012 decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations. Marriage, however, remains limited to heterosexual couples. There have also been sporadic reports of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes since 2012.
The International Commission of Jurists, in partnership with Outright International, a New York-based LGBTQ advocacy group, in 2022 held a workshop with the Lesotho judiciary that focused on human rights for the LGBTQ community.
The judiciary noted LGBTQ people exist, but acknowledged there is no local jurisprudence on their rights, even though the country’s constitution guarantees the right to respect private and family life and freedom from discrimination.
Religious and cultural norms, like in many African countries, play a pivotal role in how society perceives the LGBTQ community. Many people in Lesotho disregard the existence of LGBTQ people, even though the government is trying to make room for the acknowledgment of LGBTQ rights.
Outright International Africa Advocacy Officer Khanyo Farise says the judiciary’s active engagement with the LGBTQ community is an important step towards ensuring LGBTQ rights are upheld.
“Judges and judicial officers play an important part in ensuring access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people, but also have an important role in producing judgments which can advance their human rights,” said Farise.
ICJ Africa Communications and Legal Officer Mulesa Lumina said though the ICJ is encouraged by these developments, particularly the willingness of judiciary members to understand the plight of the community, LGBTQ people continue to face harassment, discrimination, abuse and violence because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.
“We will continue working with partners, such as the People’s Matrix and Outright International, to ensure the enforcement of the country’s obligations under international human rights law, which entitle LGBTIQ persons to the full range of human rights without discrimination,” said Lumina.
India
LGBTQ Kashmiri students targeted after terrorist attack
26 people killed in Baisaran Valley on April 22

Baisaran Valley, a Kashmiri meadow surrounded by pine trees, was bustling with Hindu tourists on April 22.
Families were wearing phirans (traditional Kashmiri clothing) for photos, while ponies trotted along the Lidder River. Gunfire shattered this peace when five terrorists opened fire. They targeted Hindu men, checking their religion before shooting them. The terrorists killed 26 people — 25 tourists, including a Navy officer who was on his honeymoon — and Syed Adil Hussain Shah, a pony guide who died protecting others. More than 20 others were wounded.
The Resistance Front, a Pakistan-based group tied to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist organization, initially claimed responsibility for the attack, but retracted the claim three days later, fearing India’s diplomatic and military response that eventually included the tightening of borders and the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.
The attack sparked outrage across India.
Misdirected anger targeted Kashmiri students in Dehradun, Jalandhar, and other cities in which LGBTQ people face heightened vulnerability. They endured harassment, evictions, and threats of violence. The J&K Students Association reported more than 1,000 distress calls, and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah urged states to protect them.
Activists across India have rallied to help LGBTQ Kashmiri students in their cities.
Harish Iyer, a prominent activist, offered shelter and legal assistance to them in Mumbai, the country’s financial hub.
“Religion is a tool used by terrorists worldwide to ensure that their victims divert their energy towards fighting each other while they continue to focus on our destruction,” said Iyer. “It is a tried and tested formula designed to divide us while we should all be united against them.”
Iyer told the Washington Blade he saw videos of Kashmiri students being targeted.
“Hate gets compounded when you look at it from several intersectional points,” he said. “To belong to identities like queer, Muslim, and Kashmiri makes one vulnerable. In a moment where hate reveals its fang, it is important that love opens its home too.”
Iyer said he received a couple of phone calls from queer people in northern India who had been attacked. He offered to pay for their travel to Mumbai or any other city, but they eventually told him they found a place where they would be safe.
“It just reinstates our collective faith in humanity and asserts that there are kind people everywhere,” said Iyer. “The community stands united with each other against terror.”
He stressed “intersectional realities make us most vulnerable” and “that’s why we need to rise up and be the best of who we are as queer humans.” Iyer told the Blade that other queer activists in India are trying to do just that, albeit silently, by opening their homes to people who have been targeted.
“Anish Gawande, the queer spokesperson of the Nationalist Congress Party, has been working hard to restore peace in the valley,” he noted. “He has been doing good work in the Kashmir Valley for several years now. I truly admire his courage and candor. But truly, it’s the everyday queer Indian who advocates for kindness who matter.”
“They would not be known to all and sundry, may not have a fan following or several followers on social media, but they have it in them to open their homes and their world to those affected,” added Iyer. “Sometimes, love doesn’t cause outpouring visibility, sometimes it silently protects and creates homes with a beating heart.”
Gawande has worked in Kashmir since 2012, running a program for Kashmiri journalism students and an art residency.
He acknowledged to the Blade the increase in violence against Kashmiri students. Gawande also said LGBTQ Kashmiri students face unique challenges because they are a “minority within a minority.”
“In these difficult times, several activists like Harish Iyer have come forward to offer their support to young Kashmiri LGBTQ students who are afraid for their own safety,” he said. “The intent of the terrorists was to divide us — we cannot let their strategy succeed. I am incredibly grateful to so many members of the queer community and allies who have stepped forward to help all Kashmiris in this difficult time.”
Gawande said he has been supporting the efforts of student leaders, including Nasir Khuehami of the J&K Students Association, who has been leading efforts to ensure Kashmiris across India remain safe and secure. Gawande also said government officials, politicians, and law enforcement are working to protect the students.
“I am grateful to both the central government and state governments across the country for their prompt assistance in this matter,” said Gawande. “In these difficult times, when emotions run high, we remain united against hate.”
“Today, attempts are being made to create divides between Indians and Kashmiris, between Hindus and muslims,” he added. “We must stand up against such attempts in one voice.”
Gawande last weekend traveled to Srinagar, the Kashmiri capital, and led multi-faith prayer services in temples, churches, gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship), and dargahs (shrines) “to mourn those who lost their lives in Pahalgam and to send out a message of communal harmony.”
“When attempts are being made to divide us on religious grounds, we must unite through religion,” he said.
Gawande also spoke directly to Kashmiri LGBTQ students, urging them to reach out to the J&K Students Association. He said his New Delhi home and his party’s offices across the country are “also available to those who need a safe space or a place to grieve.”
“In this time of grief, where we are all mourning the dastardly loss of life, it is important to stand up for what is right,” said Gawande. “Queerness has taught me that we have two kinds of families — those of birth and of choice.”
“Kashmir holds a special place in my heart, and when the well being of those who I consider family is under threat, there is no question of even thinking about any potential jeopardizing of my own safety,” he added.
The Vatican
Potential Pope Francis successor views homosexuality as an ‘abomination’
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu is archbishop of Kinshasa

One of the cardinals who is reportedly in the running to succeed Pope Francis has described homosexuality as an “abomination.”
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, the archbishop of Kinshasa in Congo, made the comment in a Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar statement in response to Francis’s 2023 decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples.
“Within the church family of God in Africa, this declaration has caused a shockwave, it has sown misconceptions and unrest in the minds of many lay faithful, consecrated persons, and even pastors and has aroused strong reactions,” wrote Ambongo in the Jan. 11, 2024, statement he signed. “The African Bishops’ Conferences emphasize that people with a homosexual tendency must be treated with respect and dignity, while reminding them that unions of persons of the same sex are contrary to the will of God and therefore cannot receive the blessing of the church.”
The statement notes several Biblical passages that “condemn homosexuality, notably Lv. 18:22-23 where homosexuality is explicitly prohibited and considered an abomination.”
“In addition to these biblical reasons, the cultural context in Africa, deeply rooted in the values of the natural law regarding marriage and family, further complicates the acceptance of unions of persons of the same sex, as they are seen as contradictory to cultural norms and intrinsically corrupt,” it reads.
Ambongo, who is president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, in 2024 said homosexuality “does not exist” in Africa outside of “a few isolated cases.” La Croix, a French Catholic newspaper, reported he made the comment during a rally that took place outside of Kinshasa.
Actualité, an online Congolese newspaper, reported Ambongo reiterated his opposition to homosexuality and same-sex unions in his 2023 Christmas message.
“Same-sex unions are not accepted in our church,” he said. “Although homosexuals should be treated with respect, compassion, and sensitivity, homosexuality remains a moral disorder contrary to natural law and our African culture.”
Jérémie Safari, executive director of Rainbow Sunrise Mapambazuko, a Congolese LGBTQ rights group, criticized Ambongo when he spoke with the Washington Blade.
“This cardinal is very homophobic; very, very homophobic,” said Safari.
Francis died on April 21.
The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under the Argentine-born pope’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.
Francis, among other things, described laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations as “unjust” and supported civil unions for gays and lesbians.
Francis last August met with two African activists — Clare Byarugaba of Chapter Four Uganda and Rightify Ghana Director Ebenezer Peegah — at the Vatican last August. Francis in 2023 visited Congo and South Sudan.
Juan Carlos Cruz, a GLAAD board member who survived clerical sex abuse in Chile, is among the hundreds of thousands of people who attended Francis’s funeral that took place at the Vatican on April 26. Transgender people were among those who greeted Francis’s coffin at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica before his burial.
The conclave to select Francis’s successor will begin on May 7.
The Associated Press notes Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin; Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the former archbishop of Manila in the Philippines; Archbishop of Bologna (Italy) Cardinal Matteo Zuppi; and Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest (Hungary) Cardinal Peter Erdo are among those who are considered potential Francis successors.
“He [Erdo] has been reluctant to take positions on several of the government’s policies that divided society in Hungary, such as public campaigns that villainized migrants and refugees and laws that eroded the rights of LGBTQ+ communities,” said the AP.
New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based LGBTQ Catholic organization, in an April 21 statement said it hopes “our loving God, who is a God of justice and equality, will continue to bless us by extending Francis’ welcoming and inclusive message in the next papacy.”
Anti-LGBTQ Catholic figures offered a far different view.
Doug Mainwaring — described as a “marriage, family, and children’s rights activist” — on Monday described Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah as “the only conclave participant to counter LGBT ambiguity and lies of Francis pontificate” in a post that LifeSiteNews, an anti-LGBTQ Canadian Catholic website, published.
“There is just one cardinal about to enter the conclave who is crystal clear, fearless, and uncompromising with the truth when it comes to pastoring those of us who experience same-sex attraction and gender confusion: Cardinal Robert Sarah,” wrote Mainwaring.
Mainwaring also highlighted anti-LGBTQ comments that Sarah made in his 2019 book.
“I think that the first victims of the LGBT ideology are the persons who experience a homosexual orientation. They are led by its militants to reduce their whole identity to their sexual behavior,” Sarah wrote, according to Mainwaring. “I beg Catholics who are tempted by homosexuality not to let themselves be shut away in this prison of LGBT ideology. You are a child of God by baptism! Your place is in the church, like all Christians. And if sometimes the spiritual combat becomes too hard, fraternal charity will support you.”
Catholic League President Bill Donohue on April 22 urged the cardinals to consider an African counterpart to succeed Francis.
“If the cardinals decide to choose someone who is a traditionalist, they can do no better than to look to Africa. It is home to the most brilliant orthodox clergy in the world,” said Donohue. “If the cardinals want to choose someone more like Francis, they will look to Europe.”
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