World
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
Man arrested in Qatar during Grindr sting operation released, back in UK
QATAR
A British-Mexican man who was arrested in a Grindr sting operation in Qatar has been released and has returned to the U.K., following more than six months in and out of prison while his case was heard and appealed.
Manuel Guerrero Aviña, who had lived in Qatar for seven years, was arrested in February after arranging to meet a man on the Grindr app. When he went down to his lobby to meet the man, he was detained by police, whom he says planted meth amphetamines on him and charged him with drug possession.
Guerrero says his arrest was due entirely to his being a gay man — gay sex is illegal in Qatar and carries a possible penalty of up to three years imprisonment, with a death sentence possible if the accused is a Muslim. However, Qatari authorities say that the arrest was strictly due to the alleged possession of drugs.
While in detention, Guerrero says was denied access to a lawyer or translator and was pressured into naming other gay men with whom he had relations.
He was also kept in solitary confinement once authorities learned he is HIV positive, and denied regular access to his medication.
His case generated international headlines and saw intervention by politicians from both the UK and Mexico, as well as several human rights and civil society groups.
In June, he was given a 6-month suspended sentence and ordered deported, a decision that Guerrero appealed unsuccessfully.
On Aug. 11, a group lobbying for Guerrero’s release posted a statement to X, saying that Guerrero was “flying free” to London.
“As we write these letters, Manuel flies free to London, far from the Qatari dictatorship that tortured and criminalized him for being gay and living with HIV,” the statement from QatarMustFreeManuel says.
“To the people of Mexico and the people of the United Kingdom, to the LGBT community, to the media, to the solidarity and hearts that accompany us, the Manuel Guerrero Committee, Manuel and his family thank you for your tireless support in this emblematic struggle against injustice, against homophobia, and in favor of human rights for all people.”
Guerrero is in London undergoing medical treatment for the abuse he suffered in Qatari prison, including possible complications related to being denied his HIV medications. After that, he plans to return to Mexico.
BULGARIA
President Rumen Radev has signed a controversial bill banning “LGBT propaganda” in schools into law, sparking international condemnation and multiple protests across the country.
The bill, which was rushed through parliament with minimal consultations earlier this month, bans “propaganda, popularization, and encouragement, directly or indirectly, of ideas and views connected to nontraditional sexual orientation or to gender-identifying different from the biological,” in Bulgarian schools. The law does not prescribe any specific punishment for infractions.
The new law has clearly been inspired by similar laws enacted in Russia, Lithuania, and Hungary in recent years, and was pushed by a political party with strong ties to Moscow.
The law has drawn criticism from NGOs and multinational organizations, including the Council of Europe, the UN Human Rights Office, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, and ILGA-Europe.
Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, has seen multiple protests against the law since it was passed on Aug. 7. Including from LGBTQ groups, feminist organizations, health organizations, and human rights groups.
Some activist groups opposed to the bill are calling on the European Union to take action against Bulgaria over the bill, calling it a violation of the fundamental rights and values of the union. They’re seeking to have the EU freeze funds that would normally go to Bulgaria, including for education and culture.
“This law is not just a Bulgarian issue — this is a Russian law that has found its way into the heart of Europe,” Rémy Bonny, executive director of the LGBTQ rights group Forbidden Colours, told Politico. “The European Commission must step in and hold Bulgaria accountable.”
Last year, 15 EU countries joined a lawsuit against Hungary over its similar anti-LGBTQ law.
So far, the European Commission — the executive branch of the EU — has requested more information on the law from the Bulgarian minister of education.
Friction with the EU could also stall Bulgaria’s long-hoped dream of joining the Eurozone, which it was hoping to do next year.
Bulgaria is heading to new parliamentary elections in October, after politicians elected in June were unable to form a government. It’ll be country’s fifth election in three years.
RUSSIA
A Russian artist who was released during the Aug. 1 prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries has announced plans to marry her long-term partner now that they are settled in Germany, where same-sex marriage is legal.
Sasha Skochilenko, 33, was arrested in St. Petersburg weeks after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, for replacing price tags in stores with anti-war messages. She was charged with extremism and making false statements about the military and eventually sentenced to 7 years in prison.
At the beginning of her detention, she was denied visitation or communication with her partner Sofya Subbotina. As they weren’t married, Russian authorities deemed her a witness to Skochilenko’s supposed crimes.
Eventually, she was allowed brief visitation rights, which became a lifeline for Skolichenko, who suffers from several medical conditions that were exacerbated by her stay in prison. Skolichenko has celiac disease and couldn’t digest the food she was given in prison.
Skolichenko was finally convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison in November 2023. She had filed an appeal and a request for a presidential pardon but made no progress with either.
In July, she was suddenly transferred to a prison in Moscow, and then on Aug 1, she was flown to Ankara, Turkey, where the prisoner exchange was made.
In all, Russia and Belarus released 16 people, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and several of Russia’s opposition figures. In turn, eight Russians were released by the United States, Germany, Poland, and Norway, most of whom were known Russian spies.
From Turkey, Skolichenko was flown to Germany. Subbotina followed the next day, as soon as she heard the news.
The pair are settled for now in Koblenz but have not yet decided where in Germany they’d like to settle permanently.
Skolichenko plans to return to making art, while Subbotina wants to join a human rights organization to continue to work for political prisoners in Russia.
They had talked about getting married back in Russia, but that wasn’t possible as Russia does not recognize same-sex unions and has led a severe crackdown on LGBT rights advocacy in recent years.
Now that they live in Germany, they finally plan to tie the knot.
“We don’t know how or in which city we will do it, but that’s the plan,” Skochilenko told The Associated Press.
CHINA
In what some are hailing as a historic decision, a Chinese court for the first time recognized that a child can have two mothers in awarding visitation rights to a child born to a lesbian couple that since broke up.
The two women married in the U.S. in 2016 and conceived two children via IVF the following years. The embryos were made from one of the women’s eggs and donor sperm, and each woman carried one of the children.
When the couple broke up in 2019, the woman who is the children’s genetic mother denied her former partner, Didi, visitation rights and moved from Shanghai to Beijing.
Didi, sued for custody in 2020. She finally won a partial victory in May.
Chinese law does not recognize same-sex couples or same-sex parents, so children of same-sex parents are generally only recognized as belonging to the biological parent. But because Didi gave birth to her daughter, she was recognized as her mother, even though she has no genetic link to her.
The court granted her the right to make monthly visits to her daughter, and she made her first visit to her in more than four years this month.
But because she shares no genetic link to the child her former partner carried – her daughter’s brother – she was denied any visitation rights to him.
While the decision is bittersweet, LGBTQ activists have hailed the decision as a big step forward in recognizing the possibility of same-sex parents.
Didi says she hopes the legal system will catch up to the growing social acceptance of queer people in China by recognizing that same-sex couples exist and have children.“It’s very simple, other families have one father and one mother. We have two mothers,” she told the Guardian
Ukraine
Kharkiv activists hold annual Pride event
Russian airstrikes regularly target Ukrainian city
Upwards of 60 people participated in a Pride event that activists organized in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Sunday.
A press release that Kharkiv Pride released notes 13 cars “drove along one of the city’s main avenues to raise awareness about the need to uphold human rights and secure international support for the defense and recovery of Kharkiv.”
Kharkiv, which is Ukraine’s second-largest city, is less than 30 miles from the Russian border in the eastern part of the country.
Russia has repeatedly targeted the city since the Kremlin launched its war against Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
A Russian airstrike on March 1, 2022, killed Elvira Schemur, an LGBTQ rights activist who volunteered for Kharkiv Pride and Kyiv Pride, a group that is in the Ukrainian capital. Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, a transgender American journalist who is now a member of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, arrived in Kharkiv eight days after Schemur’s death.
The Kharkiv Pride press release notes “several “LGBTQ+ soldiers participated in the march.”
“We need to show visibility that there are LGBTQ+ people in the army,” said Vlad, an LGBTQ soldier identified by the call sign “Sapsan,” in the Kharkiv Pride press release. “Those who attend the march represent the voices of those on the front lines and, sadly, those who are no longer with us.”
Kharkiv Pride in its press release expressed support for bills that would legally recognize same-sex couples and add sexual orientation and gender identity to Ukraine’s hate crimes law.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in August 2022 endorsed the civil partnerships bill.
Zelenskyy in 2021 pledged Ukraine would continue to fight discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity after he met with President Joe Biden at the White House. Ukrainian lawmakers in late 2022 unanimously approved a media regulation bill that bans hate speech and incitement based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Each group of cars carried specific messages to authorities and international partners,” said Kharkiv Pride in its press release. “Kharkiv Pride is urging the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Parliament) to pass legislation that strengthens accountability for hate crimes (Bill № 5488) and introduces registered partnerships (Bill № 9103.)”
“Activists are also appealing to European countries to help protect Kharkiv’s skies with modern air defense systems and to international partners to consider the needs of underrepresented and vulnerable groups, involving them in decision-making processes during recovery planning,” it added.
Kharkiv Pride Co-organizer Anna Sharyhina noted this year’s theme was “Together for Equality and Victory.”
“We remember every day how important Ukraine’s victory is,” said Sharyhina. “Just as important to us is the fight for equal rights and the protection of the LGBTQ+ community. People who are fighting, risking their lives, cannot be denied their rights. It is both unjust and undignified, and the war has only highlighted these challenges.”
World
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Oceania, Australia, and Europe
Tongan lawyers have called for removal of country’s gay chief justice
TONGA
A group of lawyers in the South Pacific nation of Tonga has called for the removal of newly appointed Chief Justice Malcolm Bishop because he is openly gay.
Bishop, a 71-year-old native of Wales, was appointed to the role last month. It is relatively common in small island nations for judges to be appointed from other Commonwealth countries, due to the scarcity of qualified jurists.
Bishop has more than five decades of legal experience and has lived as an openly gay man through much of his career.
But a group of Tongan lawyers say Bishop should not serve on the bench because “his lifestyle conflicts with the law of Tonga,” and they’ve petitioned King Tupou VI to remove him. The group cites Tonga’s Criminal Offenses Act, which criminalizes sodomy with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
But that opposition is not universal. The Tongan Law Society has dissociated itself from the petition.
Henry Aho, a lawyer and former president of Tonga’s Leitis Association, the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, suggests a darker purpose behind the petition.
He says the group is trying “to bring to the fore that this law exists and that it ought to be used to prosecute consenting adults also.”
Neither Bishop nor King Tupou VI have responded publicly to the petition.
The sodomy law has never been enforced in Tonga, but the country’s largely Christian culture remains deeply conservative and opposed to LGBTQ rights. Efforts to lobby the government to repeal the sodomy law — a relic of the British colonial administration – have fallen on deaf ears, even as other South Pacific nations like Palau, Nauru, Fiji, and the Cook Islands have decriminalized sodomy in recent years.
The government has opposed LGBTQ rights so strongly that it is one of only five countries that has not signed or ratified the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, out of fear that it could lead to decriminalization of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. The other states are Iran, Sudan, Somalia, and the Vatican. The U.S. and Palau have signed but not ratified the convention.
AUSTRALIA
Australia’s Labor government has spun itself in circles on LGBTQ issues in recent weeks, with its latest broken promise to the country’s LGBTQ community being new hate crime legislation that does not criminalize hate speech that vilifies minority groups.
The updated legislation strengthens some of the nation’s laws against urging hate-motivated violence and by adding specific provisions for hatred motivated by race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, disability, nationality, national or ethnic origin or political opinion.
The government also introduced a separate bill that would criminalize “doxing,” which is the release of a person’s personal information with the intent to threaten, harm, or intimidate them. The law encompasses the release of a person’s private information about their sexual orientation or gender identity. Violators could get up to seven years in prison if their target is a member of a protected class.
But Labor had promised to criminalize the vilification of LGBTQ people, and that’s missing from the introduced legislation.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus says the two laws “respond to the increasing prevalence of hate speech and hateful conduct in our society.”
Vilification laws already exist in several Australian states, but a national law would protect queer Australians in the states that don’t have them — Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and the Northern Territory.
This is the latest policy flip on LGBTQ issues from the Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Last month, the government caused controversy when it announced that it would not count LGBTQ people in the 2026 national Census, contrary to their election manifesto. The government eventually reversed its announcement, first saying it would ask a question about sexual orientation, then saying it would also add a question about gender identity.
Albanese’s government also came under fire earlier this year for walking back a promise to close an exception to discrimination law that allows religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students and teachers.
In a positive development, the government of South Australia state announced it would introduce a law to ban conversion therapy this week, modeled after legislation passed in several other states. After it passes, only Western Australia, Tasmania, and Northern Territory would lack laws against conversion therapy.
Western Australia’s government had announced plans to ban conversion therapy in 2022, but this week announced that they will not have time to pass a bill to ban it until after state elections next year.
JAPAN
Pressure is increasing on Japan’s government to recognize same-sex couples, as four more prefectures began same-sex partnership registries this month.
Fukushima, Yamaguchi, Niigata, and Shima, with a combined population of about 7 million people, bring the total number of prefectures issuing partnership certificates to same-sex couples to 30 out of Japan’s 46 prefectures. They’re home to more than 66 percent of Japan’s population of 125 million.
Partnership certificates help same-sex couples access local services, but otherwise hold no legal status and confer no rights or obligations on the parties. That’s made it difficult for same-sex couples to access national services or uphold their rights regarding inheritance, parenting, and taxation.
Even though polls suggest a majority of Japanese people support equal rights for same-sex couples, the deeply traditional national government has continued to oppose expanding marriage rights.
A series of court cases filed across the country have sought to have the ban on same-sex marriage declared unconstitutional. But while five out of six district courts that have heard the cases found the ban unconstitutional, they have all refused to allow same-sex marriage outright.
Appeals to those cases are ongoing, with one appeal to be heard in the Tokyo High Court on Sept 26, a ruling in a separate Tokyo case expected to be handed down Oct. 30, a ruling from the Nagoya High Court expected on Nov. 5, and a ruling from the Fukuoka High Court expected on Dec. 13.
It’s likely the issue will ultimately be decided by Japan’s Supreme Court.
Japan is in the midst of selecting a new prime minister, after incumbent Fumio Kishida announced he was resigning as leader of the governing Liberal Democratic Party last month. None of the leading candidates for leadership has endorsed same-sex marriage except for Taro Kono, who is currently polling far behind other candidates. The leadership election is scheduled for Sept. 27.
FINLAND
A citizen’s initiative to ban so-called conversion therapy in Finland appears to have the support of a clear majority of lawmakers but is still unlikely to pass into law due to opposition from two conservative parties that are part of the ruling coalition.
Last week, the chair of parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, Juho Eerola, announced he was indefinitely suspending consideration of the initiative due to purported leaks to the media on the issue. Eerola comes from the far-right Finns Party, which opposes the initiative and LGBTQ rights generally.
The Finns are joined by the Christian Democrats in opposing the conversion therapy initiative. Leaders of both parties put out a statement saying the initiative would not pass during the life of the current parliament, which is expected to last until 2027.
The two parties are in a four-party coalition with the National Coalition Party and the Swedish People’s Party. While both of the latter parties support the conversion therapy ban, the coalition agreement does not mention it.
The left-leaning opposition Social Democrats, Left Alliance, and Green League all support banning conversion therapy as well. Together, those five parties have 125 votes out of 200 members of parliament — and several members of the Center Party are also supportive.
Under Finnish law, a citizen’s initiative must be considered by parliament if it gathers more than 50,000 signatures. Groups supporting a ban submitted 52,000 signatures in November 2023.
Nigeria
YouTube suspends queer Nigerian streaming TV channel
Deplatforming ‘basically shutting the voice’ of region’s LGBTQ community
A queer Nigerian streaming TV channel has initiated a global signature collection drive that demands YouTube restore its platform that was suspended this week under unclear circumstances.
Omeleme TV, which airs gay love movies in Nigeria, faulted YouTube’s action on Sept. 8 as “not only surprising but disappointing” to the LGBTQ community.
The channel, established a year ago, launched its first short film “Nearly All Men” on Oct. 22, 2023, featuring notable Nigerian actors as leads. “Pieces of Love” went viral after its release on June 21.
The channel boasted more than 5,000 subscribers and YouTube monetized it.
“We have never involved ourselves in any aspect that goes against YouTube policies and have always complied with their rules and regulations accordingly,” reads the petition. “So deleting our YouTube page is basically shutting the voice of the queer folks in the region.”
The TV channel notes homophobia around consensual same-sex love is often shrouded in taboo in society and that Omeleme has been the only primary YouTube platform to debunk such discriminatory beliefs.
“Omeleme TV plays a crucial role in normalizing these relationships, providing visibility and affirmation for LGBTQ+ individuals, both young and old. And the only platform through which their voice can be heard and seen is YouTube,” reads the petition.
The channel’s spokesperson told the Washington Blade that YouTube did not indicate “the main issue” for terminating the platform and confirmed that initially there was a copyright claim on a song they received from an artist but the concern was settled.
“We immediately requested a review and informed the artist of the copyright. He immediately informed his distributors and after back and forth, the distributors based in Sweden approved that we got permission,” the spokesperson, who sought anonymity, stated.
The spokesperson also disclosed that while settling the copyright issue, they realized that “Nearly All Men” had not been monetized despite having the certificate. Concerned about YouTube’s delay in giving feedback when contacted, the channel pulled the film, recorded an original song, and uploaded the movie.
“They (YouTube) flagged it also on Aug. 18,” the spokesperson said. “This time they claimed it is not ad friendly but it does not affect the channel and that we can only earn and be viewed by premium subscribers.”
Although the channel complied by subscribing to Premium and received approval on Sept. 3, they were not comfortable with the condition since the film was only limited to some subscribers against their streaming expectation targeting everyone.
“In all of these, YouTube never for once issued a strike on our channel, rather they kept assuring us that it does not warrant a strike if we request for reviews since we had copyrights and all,” the spokesperson noted.
YouTube under its user policies boasts a safer platform that allows viewers and creators around the world to express their ideas and opinions freely with an assurance that such “a broad range of perspectives ultimately makes us a stronger and more informed society, even if we disagree with some of those views.”
Under the copyright rules, the streaming platform provides that “creators should only upload videos that they have made or that they are authorized to use.”
“So if this back and forth is what warranted the deleting of our channel, it remains masked as they did not in any way specify the actual violation or spam,” the Omeleme spokesperson said.
The spokesperson noted many Omeleme viewers around the world who were happy watching the films feel disappointed by the suspension by YouTube and that the channel has also suffered online mentions and subscriptions.
“It was a labor of love and YouTube remains our major source for distribution of these films to queer folks all over the world,” the spokesperson said, while asking the platform not to silence the voice of young indie queer filmmakers behind the movies. “We believe it could have been a mistaken scam identity and YouTube being a safe space for filmmakers all over the world will do the right thing by restoring our channel for their esteemed viewers.”
Reverend Jide Macaulay, a gay minister of Nigerian descent who was born in London and founded House of Rainbow, an LGBTQ-affirming fellowship, criticized YouTube’s move to suspend Omeleme, which he applauds for promoting a positive queer narrative.
“Omeleme TV has been a critical platform for increasing awareness and visibility of same-sex relationships, particularly in regions like Nigeria where LGBTQ+ individuals face pervasive homophobia and discriminatory laws,” said Macaulay.
He reiterated the channel has been the only beacon of hope for the queer community to see their stories represented and heard in a hostile homophobic environment.
“By blocking Omeleme TV, YouTube is silencing an essential voice in the fight for equality and understanding, especially in countries like Nigeria where safe spaces for queer individuals are scarce,” Macaulay stated.
He called on YouTube to support queer people’s right to be seen and heard by reinstating the channel so it can continue streaming films to empower marginalized voices. Macaulay also appealed for global support in signing the petition to have the channel restored in defending freedom of expression and the right to share diverse experiences.
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