Big protest in Budapest against Orbán's ban on Pride march

 

Thousands of Hungarians took to the streets of Budapest to signal their disdain for the government’s ban on Pride marches.

Hungay prime minister Orbán passed legislation banning pro-LGBTQ+ marches as part of his continued legislative campaign against the community.

Under the so-called “child protection” law, allows districts in Hungary to fine Pride organisations and attendees for hosting marches or LGBTQ+ events. 

Budapest Pride, one of the LGBTQ+ organisations affected by the bill, said in a statement that the move is “not child protection, this is fascism.” And they added "We will not let Hungary’s largest regular human rights demonstration be banned!!

This year, Budapest Pride is marking its 30th anniversary.

Celebrating Trans Day of Visibility 2025

 

Today is Trans Day of Visibility, and we honour the strength, resilience, and beauty of the trans community. Now more than ever, it’s crucial to uplift and amplify trans voices!

Utah is the first state to ban pride flags in public buildings

 

Utah became the first state to ban LGBTQ+ pride flags in schools and other public buildings in the U.S. Governor Spencer Cox signed the bill banning unsanctioned and the law is set to come into effect on May 7. 

The pride flags will not be the only ones impacted by the law. It will also prohibit flags with political slogans and affiliations like Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again.” 

While Utah is known for its large religious populations, the change in legislation is expected to raise tensions between the government and the state’s large LGBTQ+ community in Salt Lake City. Multiple rainbow flags have been illuminated onto buildings across Salt Lake City in protest of the legislation since it was first announced.

Sadly, this decision is setting a precedent that may soon see other states in the U.S., and comes after the new Trump's Administration policies against LGBTQ+ comunity. During Trump's first term, U.S embassies were denied to fly rainbow flags throughout June in honour of LGBT Pride Month.

We won't be erased!!!

Spartacus Gay Travel Index 2025 is out

 

The Spartacus Gay Travel Index, which has been published since 2012, provides travellers with information about the situation of LGBTQ+ rights in a total of 216 countries and regions. 

In partnership with Booking.com, this index aims to balance the rights of local LGBTQ+ communities with the interests of queer tourists.

In 2025, Canada, Malta, Spain, Portugal, and, for the first time, Iceland lead the ranking. Close behind are Germany and New Zealand, sharing sixth place, followed by Australia, Norway, Uruguay, and Switzerland, which all rank eighth.

U.S. has fallen to 48th place, as a result of the new administration under Donald Trump, who has already begun severely restricting transgender rights at the national level. 

Another nation dropping on the index is Georgia, which is suffering from Russian influence under Putin. It has plummeted from 109th to 162nd place due to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

At the bottom of the ranking, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iran, and Saudi Arabia continue to share last place at rank 210, just as they did in 2023.

Check the Index of 2025 here.

Equality for All, not for Some, thanks to HRC

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) envisions a world where every member of the LGBTQ+ family has the freedom to live their truth without fear, and with equality under the law. 

Since 1980, HRC has led the way in fighting for LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion. Nowadays, they empower 3 million members and supporters to mobilize against attacks on the most marginalized people in LGBTQ+ community.

They have spent more than 40 years creating the most powerful movement for equality in the U.S. and around the world. A newly energized and passionate force of LGBTQ+ people and allies through HRC is calling attention to the most urgent opportunities for change — and making that change a reality.

Donate to HRC here and make your contribution and join a grassroots force committed to LGBTQ+ equality.

Disney will continue its LGBTQ program

 

Disney investors voted down a proposal that the entertainment giant cease its participation in a prominent LGBTQ rights organization’s equality ratings program.

The proposal was submitted by right-wing think tank National Center for Public Policy Research, through its Free Enterprise Project initiative (FEP).  “When corporations take extreme positions, they destroy shareholder value by alienating large portions of their customers and investors. This proposal provides Disney with an opportunity to move back to neutral,” the FEP’s proposal stated.

Disney’s board recommended voting against the proposal to end its participation in the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index. Shareholders concurred, with only 1% of shares voted in favor the proposal.

Disney has a history of championing LGBTQ rights. In 2022, the company’s stance against Florida’s “don’t say gay” school policy prompted a two-year legal battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Orban's ruling coalition passes law to ban Budapest Pride march

 

Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orbán continues his crackdown on the country’s LGBTQ+ community, as members of ruling colition passed a law to ban the popular Budapest Pride march.

The law makes it an offense to hold or attend events that violate Hungary’s contentious “child protection” legislation, passed in 2021, which prohibits the “depiction or promotion” of homosexuality to minors under 18, and allows authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attendees.

In a previous speech, Orbán hinted that his government would take steps to ban the Budapest Pride event, which attracts thousands and celebrates the history of the LGBTQ+ movement while asserting the equal rights.

This year, Budapest Pride is marking its 30th anniversary.

The CJEU rules that trans identity should not be subject to proof of surgery

 

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the rectification of data relating to a person's gender identity in the EU cannot be made conditional on proof of having undergone surgery.

In its opinion, in response to a Hungarian preliminary ruling, the court emphasized that a Member State may under no circumstances make a person's exercise of this right to rectification of data conditional on providing proof of having undergone sex reassignment surgery.

This requirement, the court stated, violates the essence of the right to the integrity of the person and the right to respect for private and family life, enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Furthermore, this requirement is neither necessary nor proportionate to ensure the reliability and consistency of a public register, such as the asylum register, since a medical certificate, including a prior psychological diagnosis, may constitute relevant and sufficient evidence in this regard, according to the Luxembourg-based court.

The CJEU thus responded to a preliminary question referred by the General Court of the Capital (Hungary), before which an Iranian national filed a complaint in 2022 against her registration as a woman upon obtaining refugee status in 2014, despite having obtained it based on her trans status and having provided medical certificates issued by specialists in psychiatry and gynecology.

According to these certificates, although this individual was born female, her gender identity was male.

After her refugee status was recognized on this basis, this individual was nevertheless registered as a woman in the asylum register maintained by the Hungarian asylum authority. This registry contains the identification data of persons who have obtained such status in Hungary, including their gender.

The applicant requested rectification of his gender identity in the refugee registry under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), but was denied because he had not proven that he had undergone sex reassignment surgery. There is no procedure for legal recognition of transgender status under Hungarian law.

On this point, the CJEU noted that, under the GDPR and, in particular, the principle of accuracy established by this Regulation, the data subject has the right to have inaccurate personal data concerning him or her rectified without undue delay.

The Regulation enshrines the fundamental right, also enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, that everyone has the right to access and obtain rectification of data collected concerning him or her.

In this context, the Court of Justice clarifies that a Member State cannot invoke the absence, in its national law, of a procedure for legal recognition of transgender status to hinder the right to rectification.

Enola Gay aircraft's photos (and another 100,000 more) will be removed by anti-DEI Trump's orders

 

The U.S. Department of Defense is planning to remove content related to the historic aircraft, the Enola Gay, as part of Donald Trump's crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Trump signed executive orders forcing the removal of all references to DEI in the federal government, as well as mandating that the federal government deny the existence of transgender people by recognizing only two sexes —male or female— despite the scientific and medical consensus.

After the orders, the Defense Department has created a database of more than 26,000 images and posts that have been marked for deletion across all branches of the military. 

Several photos were seemingly flagged for removal only because their file included the word ”gay,” including the World War II aircraft, which dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. 

The database also marked for removal content about the first black pilots in the military and the country’s first women fighter pilots. References to Women's History Month and Black History Month have already been removed.

They can remove databases, but they can't remove us, the people!!!

Unconventional: a new queer TV comedy-drama

 

We have the trailer of Unconventional, a new LGBTQ+ series from the creators of Eastsiders, on Revry.tv.

The queer comedy-drama follows queer siblings Noah (Kit Williamson) and Margot Guillory (Aubrey Shea) as they explore life in their thirties, alongside their respective partners Dan (James Bland) and Eliza Slate (Briana Venskus).

Unconventional is created by Williamson, who also served as writer and director. He memorably created the acclaimed dark-comedy Eastsiders, also starring Willam, which received 14 Emmy Award nominations.

As they attempt to build an unconventional family, the four of them must navigate an unpredictable world while preserving the strong bonds they’ve formed along the way.

It is also starred by Tuc Watkins (The boys in the band), Jenna Ushkowitz (Glee), Dana Wheeler-Nicholason (Sex and the City), James Urbaniak (Difficult People), Laith Ashley (Pose), Willam (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Constantine Rousouli (Titanique) and comedian Kathy Griffin.

Watch the trailer below:

8M Women's Day

 

Bonus track

 

Bonus Track is a British musical coming-of-age romantic comedy film directed by Julia Jackman, in her feature directorial debut, based on an original story by Josh O'Connor, who also appears in the film, and Mike Gilbert, who wrote the screenplay.

It's 2006, and George (Joe Anders), a small-town sixteen-year-old, is on the road to complete social and academic failure. He dreams of being a star, knows he's a gifted musician, but no one else seems to agree. 

So, when Max (Samuel Small), the son of a mega-famous musical duo, enrolls at his school and takes an interest in his music, George can't believe it. Neither can anyone else. But as the boys grow closer, George begins to question why he actually wants to spend time with Max, finding himself faced with a dream-come-true scenario.

Watch the trailer below:

Orbán bans Budapest Pride parade

 

Hungary’s government said that Budapest Pride parade will not take place in a public form this year. 

The announcement comes after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that he would advise the organizers of the LGBTQ+ march “not to bother preparing their march for this year” as “it would be a waste of time and money.” 

“There will be no Pride in the public form in which we have known it in recent decades,” the government’s spokesperson said. “We believe that the country should not tolerate Pride marching through the city center.”

The banning of the LGBTQ+ march is in line with a proposed constitutional amendment stating that “the right of children to physical, mental and moral development is irrevocable.”

Responding to a question about why he claims that Pride marches are harmful to children, the spokesperson said: “A family man doesn’t usually go near Pride, he avoids that part of the city,” the minister said, adding that any application of the law is based on common sense."

Last year over 30,000 people marched at Budapest Pride to protest Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

US federal judge blocks Trump's order from sending transgender women to men's prisons

 

A U.S. federal judge has blocked the Trump Administration from forcibly transferring transgender women in federal custody to men’s prisons, ruling that the move likely violates their constitutional rights and would expose them to serious harm.

Trump’s executive order, signed on his first day back in office, bars federal recognition of transgender and nonbinary identities, eliminates gender-affirming care in federal prisons and mandates that housing placements be based strictly on sex assigned at birth.

Judge Royce Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction to protect incarcerated transgender women from imminent transfer. In his order, Lamberth said that the government had failed to justify its actions.

The judge wrote: “Summarily removing the possibility of housing the plaintiffs in a women’s facility, when that was determined to be the appropriate facility under the existing constitutional and statutory regime, demonstrates a likelihood of success on the merits of the plaintiffs’ Eighth Amendment claim.”

The judge also emphasized that the dangers these women faced extended beyond physical violence. The mere act of placing them in a men’s prison “will exacerbate the symptoms of their gender dysphoria, even if they are not subject to physical or sexual violence in their new facility."

Just leave us alone!!

 

Carla Antonelli, a Spanish politician and LGBTQ activist, has delivered a rabble-rousing speech in defence of trans rights in the Spanish parliament. Antonelli made history as the first publicly transgender person elected to the Senate of Spain.

Addressing the room, she said: “Trans people – we are everyone’s topic of conversation. Everyone has to have an opinion about us. If we are trans, what we are, what we are not.”

Antonelli went on to address Vox, a Spanish far right party: “Members of Vox, today you came here to derogate my colleague Jimena [González, another Spanish politician who is trans], to derogate me. Honestly, don’t you feel ashamed?"

“Do you not feel any shame at all for trying to remove, to erase, to cut out of this society a historically persecuted group of people?”

The lawmaker continued: “People who are finally starting to life our heads, trying to find our place in this world? You are making our lives absolutely unbearable. Just leave us alone, for God’s sake!”

Watch the Antonelli's speech here.

Trump's anti-DEI executive orders sued by LGBTQ nonprofits

 

San Francisco AIDS foundation and the GLBT Historical Society sued the Trump Administration over a trio of executive orders denying the existence of transgender people and cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

The complaint filed in federal court in San Francisco follows a similar case brought in Washington, which challenged the constitutionality of the same three executive orders.

The California suit said the administration is seeking to punish and defund the nonprofits for acknowledging the existence of transgender people and advocating for their rights. Its orders, therefore, violate the groups’ free speech, equal protection, and due process rights.

The lawsuit comes after some of the nonprofits say they have received funding termination or stop work orders from federal agencies in recent weeks. The groups seek a court order blocking the enforcement of the executive orders and declaring them unconstitutional.

Not one step back!!

Transgender troops backed by majority in U.S.

 

A majority of Americans believe trans people should be allowed to serve in the armed services, new Gallup research has shown.

Although a slight fall from previous years, more than half the respondents (58 per cent) still said they openly support trans women and men serving in the military.

The most support came from Democrat voters, with 84 per cent backing the idea, while only 23 per cent of Republicans felt the same way, a fall from 43 per cent in 2019. Among Independents, backing fell from 78 per cent to 62 per cent during the same period.

This research comes after Trump signed an executive order laying the groundwork for reinstating a ban on trans people in the military after it was repealed by then president Joe Biden in 2021.

In his order, Trump claimed that service by troops who identify as a gender other than their biological one “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and is harmful to military readiness, requiring a revised policy to address the matter.

The Department of Defense doesn’t publicly report how many trans people are serving in the military, and estimates vary widely. One 2014 report by the Williams Institute at UCLA found that about 15,500 transgender people were serving in the military.

#NoTransMilitaryBan!!!

Google removes diversity-related and other cultural events from its calendar

 

Google previously highlighted cultural events such as Pride Month and Black History Month as default holidays or national observances on Google Calendar.

At some point, Google removed the diversity-related holidays from the calendar app, with some people now noticing and getting upset about the change. 

Other cultural events that no longer appear on the calendar include Indigenous People Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jewish Heritage, and Hispanic Heritage. 

Google asserts that the calendar change is not related to the political landscape, but the Google CEO Sundar Pichai was one of several Big Tech leaders who attended Trump’s inauguration, and there have recently been conspicuous efforts in Silicon Valley to roll back on diversity, equity, and inclusion measures (DEI), mirroring the approach of the new Trump's Administration.

Does everyone think this is just a coincidence?

Lessons of Tolerance, how Ukrainians have changed over LGBTQ people

 

Lessons of Tolerance, directed by Arkadii Nepytaliuk, follows a Ukrainian family overcoming their homophobia, an education that war with Russia seems to be giving many in the country.

Inspired by Igor Bilyts’ 2017 play Gay Parade, the film follows a struggling, homophobic Ukrainian family who agree to host a gay activist in exchange for funding from the EU. They play games promoting equality and empathy, using humor against prejudice.

Like the family in his film, Nepytaliuk found his prejudices started to give way to acceptance by “studying, talking and working” with LGBTQ+ people as he got older. “I discovered that these people are just like me … and in [that] process of discovery my fear of LGBT people decreased and disappeared.”

Despite Ukraine being the first post-Soviet country to decriminalise homosexuality in 1991, legal progress and social acceptance has lagged. Although there are laws against discrimination in the workplace, there is no recognition of any form of same-sex union, nor are there any laws recognising anti-LGBTQ hate crimes or banning conversion practices.

For years, LGBTQ people in Ukraine have fought to be recognised as equal members of society, but now, as Russian invasion imperils Ukraine’s very existence, LGBTQ Ukrainians are working and fighting to save a country that has not yet accepted them as full citizens.

According to a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in 2023, the number of people who have a "negative view" of the LGBTQ community has decreased from 60.4% to 38.2%, over the past six years.

Watch the trailer below:

Twinless awarded at Sundance

 

Twinless is a black comedy film written and directed by James Sweeney. It stars Dylan O'Brien and Sweeney.

The film follows the romance of two young men, Rocky (O'Brien) and Dennis (Sweeney), who spark up a relationship while participating in a support group for twinless twins (someone whose twin has died). 

They both suffer from a similar codependency issue, both a little needy without someone around who is always there, eager to do everything together. But the closer they get, the film around them suddenly shifts and we realise that things are not at all that they seem.

The movie was premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award.

Watch O'Brien and Sweeney interview at Sundance red carpet:

LGBTQ+ people will be tracked in Russia

 

Russia’s Interior Ministry has plans for a sweeping electronic database of LGBTQ+ people in the country. The database will be a “large-scale” system to track members of the LGBTQ+ community at large.

The plans has been in discussion since last year after Russia’s Supreme Court outlawed the so-called “international LGBT movement” as an “extremist organization” at the urging of Vladimir Putin.

Russian police has been keeping informal lists of LGBTQ+ individuals since the Supreme Court ruling was announced.

In 2024, police conducted at least 42 raids on LGBTQ+ friendly venues across Russia. Beatings, forced confinement, and sadistic humiliations based on sexual and gender identities are regular features of the sweeps.

The raids, in addition to intimidating the queer community at large and forcing the closure of several venues, have provided security officials with information that would supply an electronic LGBTQ+ registry.

Russian officials also fined nightclub revellers for "looking too gay" in their choice of outfits after a police raid on a nightclub. 

#NeverGiveUp

Argentines march in defence of diversity, blasting Milei's hate speech

 

Argentine LGBT collectives organized the “Federal March of Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist Pride” in rejection of President Javier Milei’s hate speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in which he attacked the “LGBT agenda,” “nefarious gender ideology,” and “radical feminism,” and linked homosexuality to pedophilia.

Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires and in cities across the country in defence of minority rights and in protest at President Javier Milei’s tirades against "wokeism", feminism and other progressive ideals.

More than a hundred collectives and civil organizations gathered at the National Congress in Buenos Aires to march to the iconic Plaza de Mayo, where the Casa Rosada (seat of the government) is located. The colorful procession held aloft the rainbow flag and waved placards stating: "Not a step back".

Milei, a libertarian former economist sometimes compared to Donald Trump, dissolved the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity as well as the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism in his first year in office. 

Argentina is one of nine Latin American countries to allow same-sex marriage, and Not a step back!

New research shows almost 40% of LGBTQ+ employees still hide their identity at work in the UK

 

Almost 40 per cent of LGBTQ+ people in the UK are still in the closet at work for “fear of discrimination”, a new report by Stonewall has found. 

The statistics come as the new Trump administration has rolled back federal commitments to DEI programmes, and threatened future action on private companies.  

The report found that two in five (39 per cent) queer employees feel they need to hide their sexuality or gender identity at work, while over a quarter (26 per cent) of LGBTQ+ people experienced negative comments from customers or clients because of their identity. 

The research also found that 12 per cent of LGBTQ+ employees believed they were fired or dismissed for their identity, which constitutes illegal discrimination in the UK. 

The consequences of discrimination meant LGBTQ+ people experienced impostor syndrome at work, fearing they might be seen as a “diversity hire”, and they avoided corporate events because of feeling uncomfortable, or they altered their appearance to blend in.

Check the report here.

Trump bans transgender troops again

 

Donald Trump signed four executive orders pertaining to the military, including one barring transgender people from enlisting and serving openly and another cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the armed services.

The order pertaining to transgender military service, titled "Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness," reinstates a policy from Trump's first term and rescinds an order by then-President Joe Biden that allowed trans people to enlist and permitted already enlisted trans service members to receive coverage for transition-related medical care. 

In his order, Trump claimed that service by troops who identify as a gender other than their biological one “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and is harmful to military readiness, requiring a revised policy to address the matter.

The Department of Defense doesn’t publicly report how many trans people are serving in the military, and estimates vary widely. One 2014 report by the Williams Institute at UCLA found that about 15,500 transgender people were serving in the military.

#NoStepBack!!!

Trump administration purges of LGBTQ+ content from government websites

 

After Donald Trump returned to the White House and issued an executive order denying the existence of transgender people, his administration has taken another brazen step to erase LGBTQ+ Americans. 

The references to LGBTQ+ identities have vanished overnight from WhiteHouse.gov and several federal agency websites, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of State, and Department of Labor, based on a report by GLAAD.

GLAAD president and chief executive Sarah Kate Ellis condemned the removal of the pages, claiming Trump was “clearly committed to censorship” of queer topics.

“This action proves the Trump administration’s goal of making it as difficult as possible for LGBTQ+ Americans to find federal resources or otherwise see ourselves reflected under his presidency. Sadly for him, our community is more visible than ever, and this pathetic attempt to diminish and remove us will again prove unsuccessful,” she said.

We won't be erased!!

Trans people no longer exist in the U.S., according to Trump

 

In his inauguration speech, Donald Trump said "as of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female".

After Trump signed the executive order, the federal government is set to only recognize two sexes, male and female.

According Trump's ideology, the order is aimed at defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truths to the federal government. Male and female are sexes that are not changeable.

The federal government would also shift from using the term “gender” to “sex,” and that sex would be an individual’s immutable biological classification.

Trump’s executive order dismantles efforts by the President Biden administration to be more inclusive of Americans’ gender identification, including on passports.

This has only just begun. Trans people won't be erased!!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

 

Gay couples rush to marriage before Trump takes office

 

Some queer couples in the U.S. are rushing to marry before Donald Trump’s inauguration and they’re also coming together in group wedding ceremonies as the LGBTQ+ community had done before.

Many gay couples in recent weeks are rushing to get married, start fertility treatments and take other measures out of fear that some of their rights might be rescinded during a second Trump administration.

Several events for queer couples are happening in states across the country, including Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York. Hundreds of wedding vendors, from photographers to officiants, are offering free or discounted services to couples marrying before January 20. 

Same-sex marriage has been legal in the United States since the Supreme Court’s 2015 landmark ruling, Obergefell v. Hodges, which made state bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. Before then, 37 states and U.S. territories had already legalized marriage equality.

The Respect for Marriage Act, passed in 2022 with about two-thirds of the vote in Congress, requires all states and the federal government to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages as long as they were valid in the state where they were performed. 

Unless the Supreme Court reversed it decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationally, there’s nothing that Congress or the incoming administration could do to prevent same-sex couples from marrying.

Amazon also abandons DEI ahead of Trump's return

 

Amazon has recently made significant changes to its internal policies, removing explicit references to protections for LGBTQ+ and Black employees from its corporate pledges.

Amazon has quietly removed several policies from its public websites aimed at protecting workers, including "solidarity" pledges with its Black employees and health care benefits for transgender workers.

The changes include several to policy, as well as department titles, bucking the trend of big companies that have abandoned similar commitments as conservative backlash toward DEI policies continues to grow.

The removal of the section that focused on “Equity for Black people” and the omission of the term “transgender” from the company’s human rights guidelines have raised concerns. 

A section previously called “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” is now “Inclusive Experiences and Technology,” and the section “advance DEI through technology” is now a pledge to “advance the employee experience.”

Amazon’s recent shift aligns with broader trends among major corporations. Companies like Meta, McDonald’s, and Walmart have also restructured their DEI programs, citing a range of reasons including changes in legal and political climates.

The change is the far-right agenda is gaining ground with Trump.

15 Age Gap Gay Romance Movies You Need To Stream!

 

Four men sentenced to prison for the homophobic murder of Samuel Luiz in Spain

 

Four men have been sentenced to prison for the homophobic murder of Samuel Luiz, a 24-year-old nursing assistant, whose killing in July 2021 shocked Spain and prompted widespread protests.

Luiz was attacked outside a nightclub in A Coruña, north of Spain, while making a video call. Accused of filming passersby, he tried to explain but was assaulted and left with severe injuries. Minutes later, the assailant returned with others who brutally beat Luiz until he lost consciousness. He died later that morning in the hospital.

The attack prompted revulsion across Spain and led to demonstrations the following week in cities including A Coruña, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Salamanca, Bilbao and Zaragoza. Demonstrators carried signs with slogans such as “your homophobia is killing us”.

A court in A Coruña sentenced three of the convicted men—Diego Montaña, Alejandro Freire, and Kaio Amaral—to 24 years, 20 years, and 20 years and six months in prison, respectively. A fourth man, Alejandro Míguez, who did not physically assault Luiz, was sentenced to 10 years for being an accomplice.

The sentencing marks a step toward justice for Luiz’s family and friends, as well as a reminder of the ongoing struggle against homophobia. Samuel Luiz’s tragic death remains a powerful call to action for equality and human rights in Spain and beyond.

The 4 convicted men

Zuckerberg abandons content moderation policies inspired in Musk and aligns with second Trump term

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a series of major updates to its content moderation policies, including that it’s getting rid of restrictions on speech about topics like immigration, gender identity and gender. He described the company’s current rules in these areas as “just out of touch with mainstream discourse.”

Facebook, Instagram, and Threads (from Meta) are ditching third-party fact-checkers in favor of a Community Notes program inspired by X of Elon Musk.

In a notable shift, the company now says it allows “allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like ‘weird.’”

In other words, Meta now appears to permit users to accuse transgender or gay people of being mentally ill because of their gender expression and sexual orientation.

Zuckerberg recently visited Mar-a-Lago to meet with President-elect Donald Trump and donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration. In his announcement, Zuckerberg expressed an intention to collaborate with Trump to oppose international regulations on social media companies. 

For many, this signals an alignment with far-right agendas that could embolden hate speech on Meta’s platforms. Responding to questions from reporters, Trump said he thought Zuckerberg’s announcement was a result of the former president’s threats.

A victory for the Trump-Musk tandem

Sarah McBride sworn in as first trans member of US Congress making history

 

Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride has become the first-ever transgender member of U.S. Congress, after taking the oath.

The 34-year-old is history-making becoming the first ever trans person to take the oath in Washington and be sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives.

McBride, who first began her political career in 2019 after joining the Delawarean state Senate as Democrat, made it to the U.S. Congress following her win in the U.S. election in November.

Her road to becoming the highest-ranking trans political figure in the U.S. has been hard-fought, even after bagging her seat in the election.

Responding to the attacks, McBride said the efforts by Republicans to mitigate her rights were an “attempt to distract” from their failings.

She highlighted concerns over anti-LGBTQ+ bills that Republicans have signaled will take center stage, including efforts to redefine Title IX protections.

“It is not surprising to me that an anti-trans bill will be one of the first they put forward,” McBride said, calling it part of a broader strategy to distract from economic issues. 

“These anti-LGBTQ policies... have an impact on every single person in this country who believes that the time and energy of the federal government should be spent improving the lives of workers, improving conditions facing retirees, and improving supports for our families,” she added.

Congratulations and good luck!!!