LGBT+ - The African Mirror

Dec

02

2020

Football in hijab: Thai Muslim lesbians tackle stereotypes

LGBT+

RINA CHANDRAN ANTICHA Sangchai did not come out to her family until she was 30 and married with a child. It was her own struggle confronting the conservative community in southern Thailand that led her to create a place where women like her might feel more at home. In the bookshop she set up in Pattani city, discussions on gender and sexuality led to the birth of Buku Football Club for lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) girls and women four years ago. Buku means book in Malay - and the club is now thriving. Last month, Buku FC hosted its…

Dec

02

2020

By The African Mirror

Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer goes from begging to fighting in court

LGBT+

SYED RAZA HASSAN LAWYER Nisha Rao maneuvers among the throng of black-coated attorneys clustered near Karachi's city courts searching for her client. But Rao, 28, is not just another lawyer running for a meeting. As Pakistan's first transgender lawyer, she has carved a path from the streets to the courtroom and her example is inspiring other transgender people in the conservative Islamic Republic. "I am proud to have become Pakistan first transgender lawyer", Rao told Reuters. Life is hard for transgender persons in Pakistan, where the Supreme Court only allowed them to claim a third gender on their national identity…

Dec

02

2020

By The African Mirror

UK court rules against trans clinic over treatment for children

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE and HUGO GREENHALGH A British court ruled on Tuesday that under-16s are unlikely to be able to give informed consent to take puberty-blocking drugs in a landmark trial that has fueled global debate about the age at which a child can choose to transition gender. The London-based NHS trust which runs England's only youth gender identity clinic halted new patient referrals for the drugs after the High Court judgment and vowed to appeal - setting the stage for a Supreme Court showdown. Presiding judge Dame Victoria Sharp said it was "highly unlikely" that a child of 13 or…

Dec

02

2020

By The African Mirror

‘Juno’ actor Page comes out as transgender, changes name to Elliot

LGBT+

THE Oscar-nominated star of "Juno" and "The Umbrella Academy," formerly known as Ellen Page, has revealed that he was a transgender person and had changed his first name to Elliot. "I can't begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self," Page wrote on Instagram. "I love that I am trans. And I love that I am queer." Page, 33, was nominated for an Academy Award for playing a pregnant teenager in 2007 film "Juno" and starred in other movies including 2010 sci-fi thriller "Inception." The actor currently appears in…

Nov

27

2020

By The African Mirror

‘Happiest Season’ spotlights LGBT love in Christmas rom-com

LGBT+

ROLLO ROSS "Happiest Season," starring Kristen Stewart, breaks the mold as a romantic comedy about a lesbian couple set around the holidays. Stewart, who is bisexual, says she's astounded it's taken this long for a major studio to get behind such a film. "I would have loved to have grown up with a movie like this. But the fact that I'm 30 years old and I'm in it - I feel really lucky to be in the first film, but I'm also baffled that it is," Stewart said. Stewart plays Abby, who's been in a relationship with Harper (Mackenzie Davis)…

Nov

27

2020

By The African Mirror

First LGBT+ digital banking platform launches in United States

LGBT+

MATTHEW LAVIETES THE first LGBT+-owned and targeted digital banking platform launched in the United States this week, part of a growing effort to meet the needs of gay and transgender customers. Daylight, the new platform, said it has developed tools and content to help LGBT+ Americans reach specific financial goals such as saving money for surrogacy or gender transition surgery and to make banking more inclusive. The nation's LGBT+ population wields some $1 trillion in collective spending power but are mostly underserved by banks that fail to tap into their assets or address their interests, Daylight Chief Executive Rob Curtis…

Nov

17

2020

By The African Mirror

First openly gay Afro-Latino U.S. congressman: ‘Never in my wildest dreams’

LGBT+

ANGELA MOORE GROWING up in the Bronx poor, Afro-Latino and gay, Ritchie Torres said he never imagined that he would one day be elected to the United States House of Representatives. But in a few weeks, Torres, 32, a Democrat from New York, will become the first Afro-Latino openly-gay congressman. "I never thought in my wildest dreams that as a poor kid from the Bronx, I would become a United States congressman," Torres told Reuters the day before heading to the nation's capital for Congress's new member orientation. Torres makes history along with fellow Democrat and New Yorker Mondaire Jones,…

Nov

14

2020

By The African Mirror

First trans U.S. state senator wants to make a difference, not history

LGBT+

MATTHEW LAVIETES LGBT+ activist Sarah McBride hopes her election as the United States' highest-ranking transgender lawmaker will send a "reassuring message" to young LGBT+ Americans that they are represented - and can aspire to public office too. "I know how much of a difference it would have made to me to see this news," said McBride, 30, a Democrat who was elected to serve as a senator in Delaware - also the home state of President-elect Joe Biden. "A healthy democracy includes a diverse government and we can't craft solutions for a diverse community if the full diversity is not…

Nov

13

2020

By The African Mirror

Biden rekindles American Dream for Africa’s LGBT+ refugees

LGBT+

NITA BHALLA JOE Biden's electoral victory has revived the American Dream for scores of African LGBT+ refugees who fled persecution at home only to languish in Kenya when President Donald Trump denied them a fresh start in the United States. Trump is due to leave office in January, with his Democratic successor promising to open the door wider to migrants and lead a more LGBT+-friendly administration. Under his presidency, Trump lowered the cap on refugee admissions every year, culminating in an all-time low of 15,000 for the fiscal year 2021. Biden has pledged to increase annual refugee admissions to 125,000.…

Nov

11

2020

By The African Mirror

With Twitter pronouns and victory speech, Biden-Harris signal new era for trans rights

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE WITH vice president-elect Kamala Harris including her pronouns in her Twitter bio and president-elect Joe Biden thanking trans supporters in his victory speech, trans-Americans have already won exceptional backing from the incoming U.S. administration. Harris describes herself not only as a wife and auntie but also "she/her" on Twitter, signalling that one of the world's most powerful politicians is an LGBT+ ally who recognises the need to respect trans people by addressing them correctly. "It normalises the practice of stating pronouns," Zeke Smith, a trans U.S. writer and former reality TV star, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It…