World
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
More than 180,000 people attended the annual Taiwan Pride parade on Oct. 28
Taiwan
The 21st annual Pride parade through the streets of the capital city this year marked a major milestone as over 180,000 people marched on Oct. 28 for Asia’s largest Pride parade.
Mixed in with drag queens and go-go dancers, Vice President Lai Ching-te became the highest-ranking official to join the throngs of people celebrating the occasion on the streets of downtown Taipei.
The theme of this year’s pride parade was “Stand with Diversity,” came months after adoption rights were extended to same-sex couples in the country and the recognition of Taiwanese same-sex spouses who were married in foreign countries.
Lai, the country’s vice president and a leading presidential candidate, who is running as the progressive party’s candidate in the Jan. 13, 2024, elections noted that Taiwan is at the forefront of LGBTQ rights in Asia in his remarks to reporters and Pride attendees.
“Love knows no boundaries; LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. Today, we celebrate love, courage and justice at the 21st Taiwan Pride parade. As the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage, we stand with diversity and remain committed to building a more inclusive society for all,” he told the crowd adding: “I want to explain to all my good friends that marriage equality is not the end but the starting point of Taiwan’s equal rights culture. In the future, I will stand with everyone and move forward together on the road of diversity. I will stand with all of you, firmly supporting you in being true to yourselves, [and] making Taiwan even more beautiful.”
China
A ruling by Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal on Oct. 17 is being called a partial victory for LGBTQ rights in Hong Kong. The High Court dismissed a government legal attempt to deny same-sex married couples the right to rent and own public housing saying that it was “discriminatory in nature” and a complete denial of their rights.
Court of Appeal Justices Jeremy Poon, Aarif Barma and Thomas Au said in their ruling that the authority’s treatment of gay married couples was “discriminatory in nature” and they should be afforded equal treatment.
“The differential treatment in the present cases is a more severe form of indirect discrimination than most cases because the criterion is one which same-sex couples can never meet,” the judges wrote.
LGBTQ rights group Hong Kong Marriage Equality released a statement saying that the decision had made clear “that discrimination and unequal treatment on the ground of sexual orientation has no place in public policy decisions.”
In September, same-sex couples won a partial victory in the Court of Final Appeal, Hong Kong’s highest court, when it ruled that the government must formulate an alternative framework for same-sex couples seeking legal recognition as the court refused to recognize same-sex marriages which are not currently allowed.
Australia
The 33rd annual Melbourne Queer film festival, the largest and oldest queer film festival in the country will take place from Nov. 9-19 with the festival’s theme of “rewind to fast forward.”
David Martin Harris, the festival’s CEO, speaking with Australia’s largest LGBTQ media outlet, the Star Observer, noted, “This year’s fabulous program will bring the community together to celebrate queer film, our diverse stories, and voices,” said Harris. “There are so many stories from across the globe that share important messages, whether that be heart-warming, uplifting, hilarious, or inspirational — the program will connect audiences for a celebration like no other.”
According to the Star Observer, staying true to its theme Rewind to Fast Forward, this year the festival celebrates queer classics including “La Cage Aux Folles,” “Glen or Glenda,” “Head On” and “Offside,” alongside a vibrant tapestry of fresh stories from around the world.
In an interview with the Guardian, Cerise Howard, the curator of the film festival, regarding the overarching theme said “We [LGBTQ people] have always been here so it’s vital we engage with our history.”
The language in some of the festival’s historic films “may be considered problematic today,” Howard told the Guardian, pointing to terms like “sex change operation” rather than gender affirmation surgery in 1953 drama “Glen or Glenda.” “But it’s important we are able to collectively not just enjoy but be educated by films of yesteryear.”
“We need to see our community in all its diversity, but we don’t need to see us all painted as saints — because we’re not,” she added. “We are complex, nuanced human beings capable of good and bad.
“We’d be doing audiences a disservice if we tried to paint a utopian vision of our lives — because no one could relate to that anyway. So the stories shouldn’t aim to be universal but particular — because in that particularity I think people can see themselves and engage more.”
Nationally prominent Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s journalist Patricia Karvelas recently has been the target of right wing homophobic and racist trolls for talking openly about her life as a now out proud lesbian and her wife and family.
In an interview with the network’s ABC Queer program, Karvelas said that she had to keep her sexuality a secret at the start of her career, especially from anti-LGBTQ politicians. Karvelas said that she was “paranoid” about being outed and did not want to lose out on opportunities because of her sexuality.
After she shared her personal story with the network’s ABC Queer, British right-wing tabloid publication Daily Mail reported on her interview, which then triggered online trolls that viciously targeted the award-winning journalist with vile homophobic abuse.
In an X, formerly Twitter, post, the veteran journalist responded with “Daily Mail writes story. Trolls target me for hours with vile stuff. My family is really proud of me thanks.”
ABC’s Director of News Justin Stevens released a statement on behalf the network defending her and taking aiming at the British tabloid publication without naming it noting “publicizing it and publishing personal photos to illustrate it is irresponsible and unjustified.”
“ABC journalist and presenter Patricia Karvelas is a fine, principled journalist and a courageous and generous human being,” the statement read adding:
“We’re proud she works for the ABC and grateful for her hard work and huge contribution to the national public broadcaster and audiences.
It is disturbing, saddening and angering that Patricia should find herself the target of online trolling and abuse, much of it sexualized, homophobic and racist, just for speaking publicly about her life.
For a major national media outlet to compound that abuse by publicizing it and publishing personal photos to illustrate it is irresponsible and unjustified.
As the eSafety Commissioner says: journalists are more likely to experience online abuse who are female, from diverse racial or social backgrounds, are younger, have a disability, or identify as LGBTIQ+. It can have devastating professional and personal impacts. It can lead to the silencing of journalists, with some self-censoring, retreating from covering certain topics or leaving the industry.
Media outlets should be combatting dangerous online abuse and gender-based and sexual bullying, and standing in solidarity with peers experiencing it, not disingenuously serving to amplify it.”
United Kingdom
The death of a 14-year-old trans boy by suicide on Oct. 12 created a need by his mother Rita Williams, to set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover her son’s funeral expenses. The family indicated that after the costs of a memorial headstone, grave plot, flowers and other associated funeral expenses were raised any remainder was to be donated to charities and the hospital that treated him.
On Nov. 3, Williams thanked contributors for raising £10,493 ($13001.19) raised of the £6,000 ($7434.21) goal. She had written that “after Corei has been laid to rest and the memorial paid for, we will give everything remaining to charity: 50 percent to Great Ormond Street Hospital as they looked after Corei and us so well in his last days, and 50 percent split equally three ways between the trans youth charities Think2Speak and Mermaids, and the youth mental health charity Young Minds, in the hope that young lives can be saved.”
In an X, formerly Twitter, post, Williams also shared a picture of a letter she received regarding her son’s organs. In the letter, it details that one of his kidneys and pancreas was provided to a lady in her 40s who had been on the organ donation waiting list for seven years, while the other kidney was given to a young girl who had been waiting for two years.
“As you may be aware, kidney disease is a very debilitating condition. It requires sufferers to have a special diet and for some dialysis in hospital, sometimes up to four times a week,” the letter reads.
“Corei has given this lady and young girl the chance of a life free from dialysis they were dependent on.”
The letter goes on to state that a teenage girl also received a lifesaving liver transplant because of the young man and now has the chance of a “healthier and brighter future.”
Finally, the “very precious and especially rare gift of a double lung transplant” was given to a man in his fifties.
In the GoFundMe post, Williams wrote of her son:
“Corei was a typical teenager who loved giraffes, doctor who and the color yellow. He loved all sorts of animals and adored his friends. He was open and accepting of everybody. He had wicked sense of humor and was full of sass, and he was also stubborn and a pain in the arse! He was so passionate about everything, whether that be bugs, sewing or his mates.
He was autistic and struggled with his mental health. Unfortunately he was also subjected to transphobic abuse. […] I’d like to share some words that he wrote in his last letter. Please take them to heart and act on them in his name.
Thank you all. You changed my life for the better, but it wasn’t enough. Everybody who was there however, is the reason I was able to last this long. I beg of you all, don’t miss me. I will hopefully be seen as a boy in my next life, so I’m happy, do not miss me.
You are all precious humans who deserve to be loved, cherished and have all your dreams come true. To anybody who misgendered/deadnamed me; I forgive you, I only hope this teaches you to think more carefully about your actions.
Protect trans youth, in my name. Take this as an opportunity; be thankful for your family and friends because they are still here, though I may not be.
I am a person filled with grudges and anger but I choose to let them all go. I will be happy as a boy with god so no need to worry about me. Thanks again to those people. – Corei”
Hungary
In a statement posted to his personal social media accounts on Monday, L Simon László, the director general of the Hungarian National Museum, announced that he was fired by Hungarian Cultural Minister János Csák for allowing the presentation of five photographs that portray elderly queer Filipinos caring for each other in a group home they’ve shared for decades at the prestigious World Press Photo exhibition.
The cultural minister said that public display of the photographs violated 2021 law that restricts minors under age 18’s access to content that depicts LGBTQ people, culture or history.
In his statement László wrote: “Minister János Csák informed me this morning that he terminated me from the position of director general of the Hungarian National Museum because in his opinion I sabotaged the Child Protection Act. I accept the decision, but I cannot accept it. The museum deliberately did not violate any legislation by presenting the pictures of the World Press Photo exhibition.
The ministry itself acknowledged this in its previous letter: ‘In my opinion, no circumstance suggesting intentional violation of the law on the part of the Hungarian National Museum … ‘ Contrary to what was stated in the ministry’s announcement, we followed the [Csák] instruction without delay and without delay, we introduced the under 18 years restriction and immediately notified the sustainer.
As a father and grandparent of four children, I strongly refuse that our children should be protected from me or the institution I manage.”
Reuters reported the museum stopped selling tickets for the photo exhibition for youngsters after the far-right Our Homeland party had initiated a government inquiry, the party said.
“Based on the initiative of Mi Hazank (Our Homeland), youngsters under 18 cannot visit the exhibition at the National Museum as it violates the child protection law,” the far-right party told state news agency MTI. The new rule was posted on the museum’s website.
Australia
Australian LGBTQ rights group issues US travel advisory
Equality Australia warns transgender, nonbinary people of ‘serious risks’
An LGBTQ rights group in Australia has issued a travel advisory for transgender and nonbinary people who plan to visit the U.S.
Equality Australia on April 14 posted the advisory to its website that states the U.S. government’s policy on visas and Electronic System for Travel Authorization or ESTA “appears to be” the following:
• To use the term “biological sex”
• To only use the gender marker recorded at a person’s birth, even if this differs from their gender
• That valid foreign passports with an ‘X’ gender marker and a valid visa (if needed) may continue to be admitted, however this is contingent upon satisfying inspection of their admissibility by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at the port of entry
• That any previously issued, valid visa may remain current until its expiration date and the visa holder does not need to apply for a new visa with an amended gender marker until the current visa expires (it is unclear whether this applies to ESTAs)
• That new visas will only be issued under the gender marker recorded for the applicant at birth (it is unclear whether this applies to ESTA applications, although only ‘M’ and ‘F’ gender marker options are available for ESTA applications)
• That if consular officers assessing visa applications become aware an application does not contain the gender marker recorded at the applicant’s birth, they should assess additional evidence (such as previous travel records, although the scope is unclear), and/or conduct interviews and
• That where individuals are not using the gender marker recorded at their birth, consular officers should consider classifying the application as procuring a visa through material misrepresentation or fraud, which results in a lifetime bar from the U.S.
President Donald Trump shortly after he took office on Jan. 20 issued an executive order that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in response to directive ordered State Department personnel to “suspend any application requesting an ‘X’ sex marker and do not take any further action pending additional guidance from the department.” A federal judge in Boston on April 18 issued a temporary injunction against the Trump-Vance administration’s directive.
Equality Australia says its advisory is “relevant if you are traveling to the U.S.” and fall under the following criteria:
• Hold a passport with a gender ‘X’ marker
• Have identity documents with gender markers different to those assigned to you at birth, or where other relevant details (such as your name) have been changed
• Have gender markers in your identity documents that do not match your gender expression
• Have a track record of LGBTIQ+ activism or other political activity.
“Travel to the U.S. carries serious risks that should be considered before planning any travel, particularly if you fall under one of the above categories,” reads the advisory.
Germany, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands are among the countries that have issued travel advisories for trans and nonbinary people who plan to visit the U.S.
WorldPride is scheduled to take place in D.C. from May 17-June 8.
InterPride, the organization that coordinates WorldPride events, on March 12 issued its own travel advisory for trans and nonbinary people who want to travel to the U.S. Egale Canada, one of Canada’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organizations, in February announced its members will not attend WorldPride and any other event in the U.S. because of the Trump-Vance administration’s policies.
Pope Francis died on Monday at his official residence at the Vatican. He was 88.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, said Francis passed away at Casa Santa Marta at 7:35 a.m. local time (1:35 a.m. ET.)
“His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his church,” said Farrell. “He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the one and triune God.”
Francis, a Jesuit who was previously known as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was born in Buenos Aires to Italian immigrant parents in 1936. He became archbishop of the Argentine capital in 1998.
Pope John Paul II in 2001 appointed him cardinal. The College of Cardinals in 2013 elected Francis to succeed Pope Benedict XVI after he resigned.
Francis vehemently opposed Argentina’s marriage equality law that then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signed in 2010. Francis as pope backed civil unions for gays and lesbians and in 2023 said priests can bless same-sex couples.
Francis in 2023 said laws that criminalize homosexuality are “unjust.” He appointed Robert McElroy, an LGBTQ-friendly cardinal from San Diego, as the new archbishop of Washington.
The pontiff in 2015 met with a group of gay, transgender, and HIV-positive prisoners in the Italian city of Naples. A Vatican charity in 2020 gave money to a group of trans sex workers in Italy who were struggling to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Francis last October met with a group of trans and intersex Catholics and LGBTQ allies at the Vatican. GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis and Juan Carlos Cruz, a gay Chilean man who is a clergy sex abuse survivor, are among those who also met with Francis during his papacy.
Church teachings on homosexuality and gender identity, however, did not change.
“From the early months of his papacy when he uttered the now-iconic ‘Who am I to judge?’ in response to a question about accepting gay priests, through numerous affirming pastoral messages to individual LGBTQ+ people, to his support for civil unions, and his condemnation of criminalization laws, Pope Francis has changed the church irreversibly by allowing people to see how their Catholic faith requires acceptance and equality,” said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Mount Rainier, Md., based LGBTQ Catholic advocacy organization, in a statement.
DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke met Francis in 2023.
The group in a statement acknowledged the pontiff’s “legacy on LGBTQ+ issues is complicated,” noting “even with the recognition of so many positive words and actions, church teachings and even some recent Vatican documents remain problematic.” DignityUSA President Meli Barber nevertheless praised Francis.
“We also recognize that Pope Francis has raised awareness of LGBTQ+ issues in our church in truly unprecedented ways,” said Barber. “He spoke about us using our own terms and made a point of being seen meeting with LGBTQ+ people frequently. This sent a message of recognition and inclusion we never experienced from the Vatican before.”
Pope’s legacy is ‘mixed’
Activists in Argentina and around the world also mourned Francis.
“We mourn his death and embrace the people who are suffering today because of his passing,” LGBT Federation of Argentina President María Rachid told the Washington Blade.
Dindi Tan, national president of LGBT Pilipinas in the Philippines, on her Facebook page wrote Francis “was unafraid to challenge age-old dogmas and to ‘rattle’ the cage.” Pedro Julio Serrano, president of the Puerto Rico LGBTQ+ Federation, said Francis was an “ally of equity, humanity and dignity of LGBTQ+ people, not only during his pontificate, but throughout his life.”
Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, in a statement acknowledged Francis’s “more compassionate tone towards sexual minorities” that includes blessings for same-sex couples. Tatchell, nevertheless, pointed out the Vatican under Francis’s papacy continued to oppose marriage equality and trans rights.
“The Catholic Church remains a force for discrimination and suffering,” said Tatchell. “Under his leadership, the Vatican continued to oppose same-sex marriage and trans rights. Catholic bishops lobbied against the decriminalization of homosexuality in many parts of the world. The Vatican still upholds the homophobic edicts of the Catechism, which denounces the sexual expression of same-sex love as a ‘grave depravity’ and ‘intrinsically disordered.’ Francis’s legacy is, therefore, a mixed one — offering some progress but leaving deep-rooted inequalities largely intact.”
Vance met with Francis on Easter Sunday
Francis earlier this year spent more than a month in a Rome hospital after he developed double pneumonia.
He met with Vice President JD Vance at the Vatican on Easter Sunday, hours before his death.
The pope had previously criticized the Trump-Vance administration over its immigration policies.
“I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis,” said Vance on X after the Vatican announced Francis’s death. “My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.”
I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.
I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days…
— JD Vance (@JDVance) April 21, 2025
Argentine President Javier Milei, who previously criticized Francis, mourned him in a statement he posted to X. Milei also announced Argentina will observe seven days of mourning.
“It is with profound sorrow that I learned this sad morning that Pope Francis, Jorge Bergoglio, passed away today and is now resting in peace,” said Milei. “Despite differences that seem minor today, having been able to know him in his goodness and wisdom was a true honor for me.”
“As president, as an Argentine, and, fundamentally, as a man of faith, I bid farewell to the Holy Father and stand with all of us who meet today with this sad news,” he added.
ADIÓS
Con profundo dolor me entero esta triste mañana que el Papa Francisco, Jorge Bergoglio, falleció hoy y ya se encuentra descansando en paz. A pesar de diferencias que hoy resultan menores, haber podido conocerlo en su bondad y sabiduría fue un verdadero honor para mí.… pic.twitter.com/3dPPFoNWBr— Javier Milei (@JMilei) April 21, 2025
Mexico
Gay couple claims Puerto Vallarta wedding venue discriminated against them
Jeremy Alexander and Ryan Sheepwash wanted to get married at Sheraton hotel
A gay couple claims a hotel in a Mexican resort city that is popular with LGBTQ travelers discriminated against them when they tried to book their wedding.
Jeremy Alexander and Ryan Sheepwash in a TikTok video said they contacted the Sheraton Buganvilias Resort and Convention Center in Puerto Vallarta about holding their wedding at the property.
The couple, who live in Vernon, British Columbia, provided the Washington Blade with an invoice that Gabriela Espinoza, a wedding planner at the property, sent them on Jan. 17, 2025.
The invoice said 25 “deluxe ocean view room — all inclusive” rooms cost $970 a night. The total cost for the 25 rooms was $72,750.
Alexander in the TikTok video said it took Espinoza three months to send them the quote. The property, according to Alexander, requested a $36,000 deposit for half of the rooms.
“It’s not reasonable,” he said. “No one can afford that.”
Alexander said Espinoza told him and Sheepwash that the earliest they could have their wedding at the property was March 2027. Alexander in the TikTok video said he and Sheepwash asked a straight friend to “request a quote just to see apples to apples what it looks like.”
Ximena Esparza, another wedding planner at the property, on Feb. 7, 2025, sent the friend a quote for 25 rooms for a hypothetical wedding that was to have taken place from Feb. 19-26, 2026.
The quote for a “deluxe package” for 50 people was $8,500 and required a 20 percent deposit of $1,700.
“We just feel defeated,” said Sheepwash in the TikTok video. “It’s not fair because we love each other and we really want to get married, and we want to make it special and we want to make it perfect.”
@illuminaughtytriangle So disappointed that my fiancée and I got discriminated against by #Sheraton in #puertovallarta ♬ original sound – Jeremy Alexander
The Blade in 2019 reported the Sheraton Buganvilias Resort and Convention Center refused to allow Josh Rimer, a gay Canadian vlogger and television host who is also Mr. Gay Canada 2019, and his then-fiancé to hold their wedding at the property.
The invoice that Espinoza sent to Alexander and Sheepwash notes the hotel is “operated under license from Marriott International, Inc., or one of its affiliates.”
A spokesperson for Marriott, which is based in Bethesda, Md., and is Sheraton’s parent company, in response to Rimer’s allegation said the corporation reached out to him to express “our sincerest apologies for his experience.”
“We are troubled and greatly concerned about the experience reported by Mr. Rimer. Marriott has long been committed to providing an environment where all are welcome including our LGBTQ guests and their loved ones,” said the spokesperson. “In addition, we are looking further into the matter to better understand what happened and do what we can to prevent hurtful experiences like this from happening again.”
A Marriot spokesperson on Thursday told the Blade the company has “reached out to Mr. Sheepwash and Mr. Alexander to learn more about their experience and are working with the property to offer a solution.”
“The Sheraton Buganvilias has been active in the LGBTQ+ community in Puerto Vallarta for years, hosting LGBTQ+ weddings and groups and also supporting Pride events in Puerto Vallarta,” said the spokesperson. “Marriott remains steadfast in our commitment to ensure guests are treated with respect and understanding.”
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