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Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia
Catholic school board outside Toronto upholds Pride flag ban
CANADA
A Catholic school board in suburban Toronto has voted to uphold its policy banning Pride flags from being displayed outside schools after a school trustee introduced a motion to revise the policy on Jan. 22.
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board governs 151 public Catholic schools in Toronto’s western suburbs. In the province of Ontario, Catholic schools receive public funding and are allowed to promote religious teaching, but must generally follow provincial nondiscrimination law.
The board’s policy limits the flags that may be flown outside schools based on the number of flagpoles the school has. Those with one pole must fly the Canadian flag, those with two must also fly the Ontario flag, while those with three must fly a flag that is either associated with the liturgical season of the church, the school board itself, or a local Catholic charity.
Trustee Brea Corbet had proposed that the third flagpole could be used to fly the Pride flag or other appropriate flags.
“When we remove rainbow flags or other heritage flags, we’re not protecting Catholic identity. We’re revealing institutional fragility. The rainbow flag doesn’t threaten Catholic education. Policies of exclusion do. And exclusion is a strong form of bullying,” Corbet said.
But other trustees rejected the motion.
“The LGBTQ+ community is not our enemy. We all fall short of God’s glory. We are not judging, but we are also not promoting. We don’t want to outwardly promote, because our faith doesn’t allow us to. We are called to love all people, whatever their beliefs are. We are not discriminating against anyone,” Trustee Paula Dametto-Giovannozzi said at the meeting.
The current policy allows Pride flags to be displayed inside schools, but only during a specific “observance period” and they must be removed at other times.
“Prohibiting these flags from flying outside the board office and removing them inside schools after an observance period ends does not make school environments more welcoming, safer, more inclusive. It doesn’t,” Corbet said of the policy.
Catholic school boards in Ontario and other parts of Canada have a long history of disputes over LGBTQ inclusion, including a historic legal fight over whether a student could bring a same-sex date to prom, and an eventual political fight over whether gay-straight alliances would be allowed at Catholic schools. Pride flags have become the latest flashpoint as the school boards have lost more and more of these battles in the courts and legislatures.
UNITED KINGDOM
The iconic queer nightclub G-A-Y Bar in Soho has been put up for sale following a year of turmoil for the club and its related businesses G-A-Y Late and Heaven.
One of the best-known queer nightlife brands in London, G-A-Y has been around in some form or another since 1976, but recently it’s come under evident trouble.
In December 2023, G-A-Y Late closed, with owner Jeremy Joseph citing safety and crime issues among the reasons why he shut the bar down. Last November, the Heaven nightclub was forced to shut for several weeks when its license was pulled after one of its security guards was accused of rape.
Joseph cited the stress caused by the closure of Heaven as one reason why he’s selling G-A-Y Bar.
“I was clear to Westminster CC’s Licensing committee that if they closed Heaven for even a short time it would potentially put G-A-Y Bar at risk financially,” Joseph said in a statement posted to Instagram. “Even now after Heaven’s reopening, the damage financially and and mentally has been irreparable.”
Joseph also said that the changing nature of the gay scene has made it difficult to sustain a queer nightclub.
“When I started G-A-Y it was always about having a venue on Old Compton Street and Canal Street, being the gayest streets in the gayest capitals. But it’s not like that anymore,” he said.
“My goal would be for G-A-Y Bar to remain an LGBT venue and will consider franchise options, but my guts is that in the current climate, and it won’t be because Old Compton Street is not the same anymore, it has a new identity and when you look down the street, you see restaurants, cafes, take aways but the street that was the LGBT capital, is no more.”
The nightclub has been listed online with annual rent of £410,000 ($510,000).
AUSTRALIA
The classic 80s Australian film “Crocodile Dundee” is getting recut to remove an unpleasant transphobic scene ahead of a rerelease later this spring.
The 4K remastered edition of the 1986 film, titled “Crocodile Dundee: The Encore Cut” was screened at Sydney’s OpenAir Cinema on Jan 23. The new cut removes about two minutes from the film, including a scene where the titular naïve hunter played by Paul Hogan grabs a trans woman by the groin and says, “that was a guy, dressed up like a Sheila,” while another character yells a homophobic slur.
The new cut also includes an aboriginal land acknowledgment and some extended scenes.
Hogan, who was on hand for the screening, told reporters he “totally” agreed with the cuts, which had been made in the past for broadcast edits of the film.
“I heard about it years ago, it started, and it wasn’t about being woke,” Hogan said.
“They pointed out to me and said, ‘This guy is a folk hero around the world, and he shouldn’t be groping people.’ And I thought, ‘Yeah that’s right, he shouldn’t be,’ so take it out. I mean, he did it in all innocence, in naivety, but it’s better without it.”
The original “Crocodile Dundee” remains, by a wide margin, the highest-grossing Australian film of all time, and was a genuine global phenomenon. It was the second-highest grossing film at the U.S. box office in 1986 and inspired two sequels and a brief fad for all things Australian.
PHILIPPINES
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos is pledging to veto a proposed sex education bill designed to fight teen pregnancy because he says he believes the new curriculum includes instruction for kindergarteners on how to masturbate, which, it should go without saying, it does not.
“You will teach 4-year-olds how to masturbate. That every child has the right to try different sexualities. This is ridiculous. It is abhorrent. It is a travesty of what sexual [orientation] and sex education should be to children,” Marcos told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Marcos concedes that schools need to teach children about the consequences of teen pregnancy — which has seen an alarming increase in recent years — and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, but said he does not support the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Bill currently before congress.
“To include the so-called ‘woke’ absurdities are abhorrent to me — and I’m already guaranteeing, this would not be passed into a law if this bill is passed in that form,” he said. “I guarantee all parents, teachers, and children: I will immediately veto it.”
The allegations about the subject matter of the proposed sex ed seems to come from a religious group led by a former chief justice, which has popularized the false claim that the bill would require schools to provide lessons on “bodily pleasure” and “sexual rights.” These bogus claims about sex education are familiar tropes pushed by religious conservatives across the world.
But Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who authored the bill, has fought back hard against the allegations.
“Mr. President, with all due respect, it’s clear that even the word ‘masturbation’ is not in the bill. It also did not mention ‘try different sexualities,’” Hontiveros said in a statement.
Hontiveros says she’s willing to accept amendments to get the bill passed.
Colombia
Colombians protest against Trump after he threatened country’s president
Tens of thousands protested the US president in Bogotá
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Tens of thousands of people on Wednesday gathered in the Colombian capital to protest against President Donald Trump after he threatened Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
The protesters who gathered in Plaza Bolívar in Bogotá held signs that read, among other things, “Yankees go home” and “Petro is not alone.” Petro is among those who spoke.
The Bogotá protest took place four days after American forces seized now former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at their home in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, during an overnight operation.
The Venezuelan National Assembly on Sunday swore in Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president, as the country’s acting president. Maduro and Flores on Monday pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges in New York.
Trump on Sunday suggested the U.S. will target Petro, a former Bogotá mayor and senator who was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement that disbanded in the 1990s. Claudia López, a former senator who would become the country’s first female and first lesbian president if she wins Colombia’s presidential election that will take place later this year, is among those who criticized Trump’s comments.
The Bogotá protest is among hundreds against Trump that took place across Colombia on Wednesday.
Petro on Wednesday night said he and Trump spoke on the phone. Trump in a Truth Social post confirmed he and his Colombian counterpart had spoken.
“It was a great honor to speak with the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had,” wrote Trump. “I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future. Arrangements are being made between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign minister of Colombia. The meeting will take place in the White House in Washington, D.C.”
Colombia
Gay Venezuelan man who fled to Colombia uncertain about homeland’s future
Heberth Aguirre left Maracaibo in 2018
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — A gay Venezuelan man who has lived in Colombia since 2018 says he feels uncertain about his homeland’s future after the U.S. seized now former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“On one hand I can feel happy, but on the other hand I feel very concerned,” Heberth Aguirre told the Washington Blade on Tuesday during an interview at a shopping mall in Bogotá, the Colombian capital.
Aguirre, 35, is from Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second-largest city that is the heart of the country’s oil industry.
He developed cultural and art initiatives for the Zulia State government.
“Little by little, I suddenly became involved in politics because, in a way, you had to be involved,” recalled Aguirre. “It was necessary to be involved because the regime often said so.”
“I basically felt like I was working for the citizens, but with this deeply ingrained rule we had to be on their side, on the side of the Maduro and (former President Hugo) Chávez regime,” he added.
Maduro in 2013 became Venezuela’s president after Chávez died.
“There are things I don’t support about the regime,” Aguirre told the Blade. “There are other things that were nice in theory, but it turned out that they didn’t work when we put them into practice.”
Aguirre noted the Maduro government implemented “a lot of laws.” He also said he and other LGBTQ Venezuelans didn’t “have any kind of guarantee for our lives in general.”
“That also exposed you in a way,” said Aguirre. “You felt somewhat protected by working with them (the government), but it wasn’t entirely true.”
Aguirre, 35, studied graphic design at the University of Zulia in Maracaibo. He said he eventually withdrew after soldiers, members of Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Guard, and police officers opened fire on students.
“That happened many times, to the point where I said I couldn’t keep risking my life,” Aguirre told the Blade. “It hurt me to see what was happening, and it hurt me to have lost my place at the university.”
Venezuela’s economic crisis and increased insecurity prompted Aguirre to leave the country in 2018. He entered Colombia at the Simón Bolívar Bridge near the city of Cúcuta in the country’s Norte de Santander Province.
“If you thought differently, they (the Venezuelan government) would come after you or make you disappear, and nobody would do anything about it,” said Aguirre in response to the Blade’s question about why he left Venezuela.
The Simón Bolívar Bridge on the Colombia-Venezuela border on May 14, 2019. (Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
Aguirre spoke with the Blade three days after American forces seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at their home in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, during an overnight operation.
The Venezuelan National Assembly on Sunday swore in Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president, as the country’s acting president. Maduro and Flores on Monday pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges in New York.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday in a Truth Social post said Venezuela’s interim authorities “will be turning over between 30 and 50 million barrels of high quality, sanctioned oil, to the United States of America.”
“This oil will be sold at its market price, and that money will be controlled by me, as president of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States,” wrote Trump.
Trump on Sunday suggested the U.S. will target Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a former Bogotá mayor and senator who was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement that disbanded in the 1990s.
Petro has urged Colombians to take to the streets on Wednesday and “defend national sovereignty.” Claudia López, a former senator who would become the country’s first female and first lesbian president if she wins Colombia’s presidential election that will take place later this year, is among those who criticized Trump’s comments.
“Let’s be clear: Trump doesn’t care about the humanitarian aspect,” said Aguirre when the Blade asked him about Trump. “We can’t portray him as Venezuela’s savior.”
Meanwhile, Aguirre said his relatives in Maracaibo remain afraid of what will happen in the wake of Maduro’s ouster.
“My family is honestly keeping quiet,” he said. “They don’t post anything online. They don’t go out to participate in marches or celebrations.”
“Imagine them being at the epicenter, in the eye of the hurricane,” added Aguirre. “They are right in the middle of all the problems, so it’s perfectly understandable that they don’t want to say anything.”
‘I never in my life thought I would have to emigrate’
Aguirre has built a new life in Bogotá.
He founded Mesa Distrital LGBTIQ+ de Jóvenes y Estudiantes, a group that works with migrants from Venezuela and other countries and internally placed Colombians, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aguirre told the Blade he launched the group “with the need to contribute to the general population, not just in Colombia.”
Aguirre met his husband, an American from California, at a Bogotá church in December 2020 during a Christmas event that SDA Kinship Colombia, an LGBTQ group, organized. A Utah judge virtually officiated their wedding on July 12, 2024.
“I love Colombia, I love Bogotá,” said Aguirre. “I love everything I’ve experienced because I feel it has helped me grow.”
He once again stressed he does not know what a post-Maduro Venezuela will look like.
“As a Venezuelan, I experienced the wonders of that country,” said Aguirre. “I never in my life thought I would have to emigrate.”
The Colombian government’s Permiso por Protección Temporal program allows Aguirre and other Venezuelans who have sought refuge in Colombia to live in the country for up to 10 years. Aguirre reiterated his love for Colombia, but he told the Blade that he would like to return to Venezuela and help rebuild the country.
“I wish this would be over in five years, that we could return to our country, that we could go back and even return with more skills acquired abroad,” Aguirre told the Blade. “Many of us received training. Many of us studied a lot. We connected with organizations that formed networks, which enriched us as individuals and as professionals.”
“Returning would be wonderful,” he added. “What we’ve built abroad will almost certainly serve to enrich the country.”
Colombia
Claudia López criticizes Trump over threats against Colombian president
Presidential candidate would become country’s first lesbian head of government
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Colombian presidential candidate Claudia López has criticized President Donald Trump after he suggested the U.S. will target Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
“Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday.
Trump made the comments a day after American forces carried out an overnight operation and seized now former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and wife, Cilia Flores, at their home in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.
Maduro and Flores on Monday pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges in New York.
Petro is a former Bogotá mayor and senator who was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement that disbanded in the 1990s. He has urged Colombians to take to the streets and “defend national sovereignty.”
“Colombians are the ones who decide who governs Colombia,” said López on her X account. “President Gustavo Petro won free elections and has a constitutional mandate.”
López did not mention Trump by name in her comment.
The first-round of Colombia’s presidential election will take place on May 31. The country’s 1991 constitution prevents Petro from seeking re-election.
López in 2019 became the first woman and first lesbian elected mayor of Bogotá, the Colombian capital and the country’s largest city. She took office on Jan. 1, 2020, less than a month after she married her wife, Colombian Sen. Angélica Lozano.
“This year we will decide at the polls what direction (the country) is heading and what leadership will advance Colombia,” said López in her X post. “Supporting soft dictatorships and attacking democracies is an absurd and unacceptable political action by the United States towards Colombia, Venezuela, and Latin America.”
Quién gobierna en Colombia lo decidimos los colombianos.
El presidente @petrogustavo ganó unas elecciones libres y tiene un mandato constitucional. Este año decidiremos en las urnas qué rumbo y a cargo de qué liderazgo avanza Colombia.
Sostener dictablandas y atacar democracias… https://t.co/K61G2QUcck— Claudia López Hernández (@ClaudiaLopez) January 5, 2026
López would be Colombia’s first female president if she wins the election. López would also become the third openly lesbian woman elected head of government — Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was Iceland’s prime minister from 2009-2013 and Ana Brnabić was Serbia’s prime minister from 2017-2024.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute in 2024 honored López at its annual International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C. The Washington Blade interviewed her during the gathering.
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