Category: Openly

Articles LGBTQ+ News Life News Nightlife Openly tokyo

Tokyo’s Ni-Chome LGBTQ+ area sees surge to open new bars

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Melvin Muranaka long wanted to open a bar in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ni-chome LGBTQIA+ district, where he first felt free to be himself as a gay man, and with the ebbing of the coronavirus pandemic he thought his chance had come. “I had a really strong image I was living in hiding, but when I came to Ni-chome the impression was that everyone was drinking and having fun just as they were,” said the 29-year-old Muranaka, who is half Filipino. “It showed that I could really be myself too – which…

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AIDS Articles HIV HIV/AIDS LGBTQ+ News Life News Openly PEPFAR UNAIDS US World AIDS Day

What impact has 20 years of US funding had on HIV/AIDS?

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In the 20 years since U.S. President George W. Bush launched the world’s biggest investment to fight HIV/AIDS, the fund has had a “dramatic and life-saving impact”, UNAIDS U.S. liaison office director Vinay Saldhana told Openly. The U.S. government says it has invested more than $110 billion through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and saved 25 million lives and prevented millions of HIV infections. But the programme is now under threat after Congress in October renewed its…

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argentina Articles Explainer Government Javier Milei Latin America LGBTQ+ News Life News Openly Politics

Is Javier Milei a threat to LGBTQ+ rights gains in Argentina?

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The election of right-wing libertarian Javier Milei as Argentina’s president has put LGBTQIA+ campaigners on alert in the country, long one of the most progressive in Latin America on gay and transgender rights. Milei, a former TV pundit and self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” who favors looser gun controls and is staunchly anti-abortion, has drawn comparisons to former far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump. As the president-elect prepares to be sworn into office on Dec. 10, here’s what you need to know. Is Milei anti-LGBTQIA+ rights? Milei did not directly reference…

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Articles Asexual Asexual Representation Explainer LGBTQ+ News Life News Openly

What is asexuality and what legal rights do activists want?

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Britain’s first report into the lives of asexual people has triggered a national conversation about the difficulties they have in coming out at work and raised the question of whether they should be legally protected. The research, carried out by Stonewall and asexual activist Yasmin Benoit, calls for the orientation to be specifically named in legislation aimed at protecting LGBTQIA+ people from discrimination. Here’s what you need to know: What does it mean to be asexual? Asexuality is described as the quality of experiencing little to no sexual attraction. An…

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Articles Election LGBTQ+ News Life Netherlands News Openly

What LGBTQ+ rights are at stake in the Netherlands elections?

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Once one of the world’s most progressive countries, the Netherlands could soon see a far-right party in government after an unexpected surge in the polls, which campaigners fear could set back transgender rights by decades. Ahead of the general election on Wednesday, the Freedom Party (PVV), led by known Islam-critic Geert Wilders, is now neck-and-neck with the largest party in the ruling coalition, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). The PVV has made it clear it does not support what it calls “gender policies” or “diversity posturing” in…

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Articles Explainer LGBTQ+ News Life Namibia News Openly same-sex love

Could Namibia decriminalise same-sex relations?

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Namibia’s High Court is set to deliver a judgment in May in a case that could see the decriminalisation of gay sex in the southern African country. LGBTQIA+ advocate Friedel Dausab brought the case against the government, arguing that the criminalisation of sodomy and related offences was unconstitutional. Arguments were heard by the court in October. Here is what you need to know. What is Namibia’s law on same-sex relations? The laws under deliberation are common law offences, inherited from the period when Namibia was a South African colony from…

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Articles Hungary LGBTQ+ News Life News Openly Trans

Hunger striker says willing to die for trans rights in Bulgaria

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A transgender woman on hunger strike in the Bulgarian capital Sofia in protest against a recent clampdown on trans rights, said her arrest on Thursday only made her more determined to campaign for equality. Gabriela Bankova, a 32-year-old software architect, told Openly on Friday that she was prepared to die in the cause of trans rights. “I intend to continue this protest indefinitely until the Bulgarian people hear me and understand me,” Bankova said in a telephone interview from her one-woman protest outside the city’s Palace of Justice. “I want…

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Africa Articles Explainer LGBTQ+ News Life News Openly

The colonial legacy of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in Africa

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Namibia’s High Court will rule next May in a case that could see the southern African country overturn a colonial-era ban on same-sex relations. Friedel Dausab, who is gay, is challenging the compatibility of the common law offence of sodomy and related offences with his rights under the constitution. Sexual contact between men is a criminal offence in Namibia but the law is seldom enforced. Like many anti-LGBTQIA+ statutes across Africa, the Namibian law dates back to colonisation and was retained on the books after independence in 1990. In October,…

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Articles India LGBTQ+ News Life Manipur News Openly Trans

Makeover in Manipur: Trans-run beauty salons brave bloodshed

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It’s hard to style hair, pluck brows and do makeovers when armed troops are on the streets suppressing months of deadly clashes. Harder still if you’re a transgender 30-something running a professional salon in socially conservative India. But Bobbii Laishram is not ready to quit her job yet. “I set up Bobbii Hair Art Studio in September of 2012,” Laishram told Openly in a phone interview. “I like styling, so after passing out of school, I took a beautician and hair course,” said Laishram, winner of the 2010 trans beauty…

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America Articles LGBTQ+ News Life Mike Johnson News Openly United States US

What is US House Speaker Mike Johnson’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights?

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US Representative Mike Johnson was elected last week by his fellow Republicans to serve as speaker of the House of Representatives, after three weeks of turmoil and several failed candidates. An evangelical Christian who describes himself as a life-long conservative, Johnson, 51, opposes abortion rights and is perhaps best known for his defense of former President Donald Trump‘s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Here is a look at what his election might mean for LGBTQIA+ Americans: What has Johnson said about LGBTQIA+ rights? Prior to Congress,…

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