World
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
Qatari authorities give suspended sentence to British Mexican man arrested in Grindr sting
QATAR
A British Mexican man who was arrested in a Grindr sting operation has been given a six-month suspended sentence and will be deported ā although the state has 30 days to launch an appeal, during which he is not allowed to leave ā the BBC reports.
Manuel Guerrero AviƱa, 44, was arrested on what his family are calling trumped up drug charges in Doha in February, after being lured to a fake meeting on the gay cruising app Grindr. This week, he was handed his sentence, which includes a fine of approximately $2,700.
Guerrero, who has lived in Qatar for seven years and works for an airline, has told the BBC he is considering an appeal.
His family has previously told the BBC that he was approached online by a man named āGio,ā who also used the screen name āMikeā on both Grindr and Tinder. Guerrero invited āGioā to his apartment, but when he went to the lobby to let him in, police were waiting and arrested him.
Police searched his apartment and allegedly found amphetamine and methamphetamine. They later administered a drug test which they say show evidence he had used the substances.
Guerrero says the drugs were planted as part of a sting operation targeting queer people. Under threat of torture and without a translator or lawyer, he was coerced into signing a document written in Arabic, a language he doesnāt read, admitting his possession of the drugs.
He spent 42 days in pretrial detention before being given provisional release, during which time police attempted to coerce him into naming other queer people.
Complicating his situation is the fact that he lives with HIV. While in detention, guards frequently withheld his medication, which could have enabled the virus to build up a resistance to it. He ran out of his prescription, which is not available in Qatar, in April, and has had to use a local substitute.
Several human rights groups have criticized the lack of due process in Guerreroās case, the evidence that he was targeted for his sexual identity, and the implication that a wider crackdown on queer people is in the works.
āThis has been about his LGBT status from the start and his desire to express that status and his identity, and thatās what this case is about,ā James Lynch, co-director of the human rights organization Fair Square, told the BBC. āHeās an LGBT person and he was targeted through a dating app. You donāt do that, unless thatās the thing you are focused on.ā
Qatari officials deny that Guerrero was targeted for any reason other than the possession of illegal substances.
Following Guerrero’s arrest, Grindr began displaying a warning to users in Qatar that āpolice are known to be making arrests on the app.ā
Same-sex intercourse between men is illegal in Qatar, with potential sentences of up to three years. The law also allows a death sentence to be imposed for unmarried Muslims who have sex regardless of gender, though there are no records it has ever been carried out.
UKRAINE
The Kyiv City Council denied a organizers of Kyiv Pride a permit to hold the annual human rights demonstration on the cityās metro system, citing security concerns and the need to maintain service on the subway network, the Kyiv Post reports.
Kyiv Pride organizers say they still plan to go ahead with their march in the metro on June 16 even without a city permit.
Kyiv has not held a Pride festival since the latest Russian invasion began in February 2022. The organizers of Kyiv Pride say they were inspired to hold their march on the metro system by a similar event held in the war-torn eastern city Kharkiv in 2022, where the metro was the safest place to gather during Russian bombardment.
Itās partly because the metro is used as a bomb shelter during Russian attacks that the city denied a permit for the event. The city released a statement on June 3 calling on organizers to find another venue.
āIn order not to endanger the participants and passengers, and to avoid possible provocations, the city authorities cannot allow the Equality March to take place in the metro,ā it said.
Organizers expect up to 500 people to take part in the Pride march this year. Theyāre asking participants to register in advance in order to limit the number of participants who show up at metro.
In a lengthy post on Kyiv Prideās Facebook page, the organizers underscore the importance of holding a highly visible Pride festival, even during the upheaval of wartime.
āIt is our obligation before Ukrainian queer soldiers who are also supporting the March to ensure that they return from the frontlines to a more just legal environment,ā the post says.
āBacked by society, the historic same-sex partnerships law and the law on hate crimes dropped from the parliamentās priority list. We must seize the opportunity to remind the government that ensuring dignity and equality for all Ukrainian citizens is not a second-tier priority. Organizing an LGBTQ+ civil rights march in Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian [sic] invasion is a complex and courageous endeavor.ā
ITALY
An Italian couple is planning to challenge social conventions even as they challenge the bonds of the earth itself, by becoming the first gay couple to get married in outer space.
Alessandro Monterosso, a 33-year-old health software entrepreneur, and Alec Sander, a 25-year-old recording artist, will exchange vows in 2025 aboard a private spaceflight offered by the U.S. company Space Perspective.
Space Perspective is not yet in commercial operation, but its website says it will offer bespoke experiences aboard a luxury capsule that is lifted to the edge of space by a hydrogen-filled balloon at a speed of 12 miles per hour.
Monterosso and Sander have booked a whole capsule for them and six guests at a cost of $125,000 per person, an even $1,000,000 total. They say they are not seeking sponsors.
Monterosso and Sander first met in Padua in 2017, and they dated for four years until Sander broke it off because it was difficult to date while Monterosso was still in the closet. A year later, they met up again and Monterosso asked Sander to marry him. Sander agreed, but he didnāt immediately know that his fiancĆ© wanted to hold the wedding in space.
āI was planning the trip as a civilian, to fulfill my childhood desire to become an astronaut. When I came into contact with the aerospace agency we relied on, it came naturally to me to ask:Ā but can I also get married in space?ā Monterosso told theĀ Corriere della Sera newspaper.
āIt seemed like such a romantic idea. I had struggled so much to accept myself as homosexual, not because I wasnāt sure, but because of the social context, and I told myself that now I would have to tell the whole world how I felt. Firstly because I know that there are many people who experience what I experienced, and then to confirm the infinite love I feel for Alec,ā he says.
But Monterosso and Sander have a political message behind their space wedding as well. Same-sex marriage is not legal in Italy, and its current far-right government has cracked down hard on same-sex parents.
āCouples like us are not always well regarded in Italy. In other places in the world, they are even illegal. In Russia we are considered terrorists. Well, we just want to say that itās time to normalize everything and amplify this message as much as possible. And if it is therefore so difficult to get married on Earth, then we are going to do it in space, with a galactic wedding whose aim is precisely to normalize these loves,ā Monterosso says. āThe message is aimed at people, because even today we still feel eyes on us if we hold hands while walking down the street. But if people normalize, politics must adapt.ā
Monterosso and Sander already have their sights set on more distant shores.
āFor our 20th anniversary, we are aiming for Mars,ā Monterosso says.
AUSTRALIA
The government of New South Wales issued a historic apology this week to queer people who were persecuted under old laws that criminalized same-sex intercourse.
New South Wales decriminalized same-sex intimacy in 1984, one of the last Australian states to do so. Forty years later, it has become the last state to issue an apology for criminalizing queer people, after all other states did so in 2016 and 2017.
Delivering a speech in the state parliament, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said he ārecognizes and regrets this parliamentās role in enacting laws and endorsing policies of successive governmentsā decisions that criminalized, persecuted and harmed people based on their sexuality and gender.
Minnsās apology acknowledged people were harmed by these laws even if they werenāt directly charged or convicted under them.
āTo those who survived these terrible years, and to those who never made it through, we are truly sorry. Weāre sorry for every person convicted under legislation that should never have existed. For every person that experienced fear as a result of that legislation.
āEveryone who lost a job, who lost their future, or who lost the love of family and friends. We are very sorry for every person, convicted or otherwise, who were made to live a smaller life because of these laws,ā he said.
People who had been convicted under New South Walesās old sodomy laws have been eligible to have the convictions expunged since a law change in 2014.
Minnsā government recently passed a ban on conversion therapy in March, making New South Wales the fourth jurisdiction in Australia to do so.
The stateās only openly gay MP, Independent Alex Greenwich, says that the apology has to be followed by more action to promote equality.
Heās put forward his own bill that would close a loophole in anti-discrimination law to ban discrimination by religious schools against LGBTQ students and teachers, and would allow trans people to change their legal gender without having to undergo a medical procedure.
āI rise as the only openly gay member of the Legislative Assembly to contribute to this apology,ā Greenwich said in the state parliament. āI am one of only two in this chamberās 186-year-old history. This in itself shows how much work we need to do.ā
Brazil
Transgender woman elected to Brazilian Chamber of Deputies
Thabatta Pimenta is first trans person from northeast Brazil elected to Congress
SĆO PAULO ā Voters in Brazilās Rio Grande do Norte state on Sunday elected a transgender woman to the countryās Chamber of Deputies.
Natal Municipal Councilwoman Thabatta Pimenta, who is a member of the Green Party, won with 92,743 votes. She is the first trans woman from northeast Brazil elected to the countryās Congress.
Pimenta became emotional when she was speaking to her supporters after she won. Her brother Ryan, who has cerebral palsy, was by her side.
āThis victory belongs to the people of Rio Grande do Norte,ā she said. āIt is a victory built from the ground up … the people themselves rose up, and you saw the result: today they elected the first female travesti federal deputy from northeast Brazil.ā
Pimenta will join Erika Hilton, a travesti member of the leftist Socialism and Liberty (PSOL) party who was a sex worker before her election to the SĆ£o Paulo Municipal Council, and Duda Salabert, a trans woman and fellow PSOL member from Minas Gerais state, in the Chamber of Deputies.
Hilton on Sunday won re-election with 1,596,472 votes, the most any female member of Congress has received in Brazilian history. Dudabert also won re-election with 215,192 votes.
āThank you Minas Gerais,ā said Dudabert on social media after she won re-election.
ā¤ļø REELEITA!!! Obrigada Minas Gerais! Com muito trabalho, aumentamos nossa votaĆ§Ć£o! Muito orgulho em ser, pela segunda eleiĆ§Ć£o consecutiva, a terceira candidatura mais votada de Minas Gerais para o cargo de deputada federal. E mostramos novamente que Ć© possĆvel fazer uma campanha ālixo zeroā- sem imprimir santinhos, bandeiras ou adesivos. Muito feliz! Obrigada Minas ! Obrigada Brasil
— Duda Salabert 5ļøā£0ļøā£5ļøā£0ļøā£ (@DudaSalabert) October 5, 2026
Five openly bisexual Chamber of Deputies candidates also won their races on Sunday.
ā¢ Guilherme Cortez, a PSOL member in SĆ£o Paulo state
ā¢ Dandara Tonatzin, a member of President Luiz InĆ”cio Lula da Silvaās Workers’ Party in Minas Gerais
ā¢ Anielle Franco, a Workersā Party member in Rio de Janeiro state
ā¢ Maria Marighella, a Workersā Party member in Bahia state
ā¢ Giovana Mondardo, a Brazilian Communist Party member in Santa Catalina state
Fabio FĆ©lix, a gay PSOL member of the Chamber of Deputies who represents the Federal District in which BrasĆlia, the countryās capital, is located won re-election with 224,224 votes. Rick Azevedo, a gay PSOL member from Rio de Janeiro state, won his Chamber of Deputies race.
Daiana Santos, a lesbian Brazilian Communist Party member who represents Rio Grande do Sul state in the Chamber of Deputies, won re-election with 114,315 votes.
Two lesbian women won their Chamber of Deputies campaigns.
ā¢ Rosa Amorin, a Workersā Party member from Pernambuco state
ā¢ Bella GonƧalves, a Workersā Party member from Minas Gerais who is a member of the Belo Horizonte Municipal Council
Samanda de Lula, a lesbian Workersā Party member, will represent Rio Grande do Norte in the Brazilian Senate.
Rio de Janeiro Municipal Councilwoman MĆ“nica BenĆcio, who is a PSOL member, came up short in her bid for the Senate. Her then-partner, Rio de Janeiro Municipal Councilwoman Marielle Franco, and her driver, Anderson Gomes, were assassinated on March 14, 2018.
Fabiano Contarato, a gay senator from EspĆritu Santo who is a member of the Workersā Party, also lost his re-election bid.
āI receive the election results with respect and serenity,ā he said on social media. āThe popular will is sovereign, and democracy must always be respected.ā
Jean Wyllys is a gay former member of the Chamber of Deputies who previously represented Rio de Janeiro state. He resigned in 2019 and fled Brazil after he received death threats. Wyllys this year ran to represent SĆ£o Paulo state in the Chamber of Deputies, but he did not win his race.
VoteLGBT, an organization that seeks to increase LGBTQ representation in Brazilian politics, noted 529 openly LGBTQ candidates ran in the election. The group on Sunday more than 30 of them won their races across the country.
Natasha Ferreira, a Workers’ Party member, became the first travesti elected to public office in Rio Grande do Sul when she won a seat in the state’s Legislative Assembly. Voters in other states across the country also elected more than 20 LGBTQ candidates to their respective Legislative Assemblies.
ā¢ Keka Bagno, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the Federal District Legislative Chamber
ā¢ AƧucena, a lesbian Workersā Party member, was elected to the EspĆritu Santo Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Fabricio Rosa, a gay Workersā Party member, was elected to the GoiĆ”s Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Iza LourenƧa, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the Minas Gerais Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Tiago Botelho, a gay Workersā Party member, was elected to the Minas Gerais Legislative Assembly
ā¢ FlĆ”vio Brasileiro, a gay Workersā Party member, was elected to the ParaĆba Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Dani Balbi, a trans Brazilian Communist Party member, was elected to the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly
ā¢ VerĆ“nica Lima, a lesbian Workersā Party member, was elected to the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Dani Monteiro, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Jean Volpato, a gay Workersā Party member, was elected to the Santa Catarina Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Linda Brasil, a trans PSOL member, was elected to the Sergipe Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Sofia Favero, a trans PSOL member, was elected to the SĆ£o Paulo Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Paula Nunes dos Santos, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the SĆ£o Paulo Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Ediane Maria, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the SĆ£o Paulo Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Monica das Pretas, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the SĆ£o Paulo Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Duda Hidalgo, a bisexual Workersā Party member, was elected to the SĆ£o Paulo Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Rodrigo Mar, a bisexual Workersā Party member, was elected to the SĆ£o Paulo Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Thainara Faria, a bisexual Workersā Party member, was elected to the SĆ£o Paulo Legislative Assembly
ā¢ Keit Lima, a bisexual PSOL member, was elected to the SĆ£o Paulo Legislative Assembly
Lula and Sen. FlĆ”vio Bolsonaro, whose father is former President Jair Bolsonaro, will face off in the presidential electionās second round on Oct. 25.
Brazil
Lula, FlƔvio Bolsonaro to face off in second round of Brazilian presidential election
Neither man received at least 50 percent of the vote on Sunday
SĆO PAULO ā President Luiz InĆ”cio Lula da Silva will face off against Sen. FlĆ”vio Bolsonaro in the second round of Brazilās presidential election on Oct. 25 after neither man received more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round that took place on Sunday.
Bolsonaro was ahead of Lula by a 47.03-45.16 percent margin with 100 percent of the vote counted.
Lula in 2022 defeated Bolsonaroās father, then-President Jair Bolsonaro, in that yearās presidential election.
The Brazilian Supreme Court last year sentenced Bolsonaro ā who repeatedly targeted LGBTQ Brazilians and other groups while in office ā to more than 27 years in prison for his role in an attempted coup that saw thousands of his supporters storm the Congress, presidential palace, and the Supreme Court itself on Jan. 8, 2023. Bolsonaro is currently serving his sentence at his home in BrasĆlia, the countryās capital, because of his poor health. His son has pledged to pardon him if he becomes the countryās next president.
Lula, who leads Brazilās leftist Workersā Party, was Brazilās president from 2003-2010.
Sergio Moro, a judge who Jair Bolsonaro later tapped as his governmentās Justice and Public Security Minister, in 2017 sentenced Lula to 9 1/2 years in prison after his conviction on money laundering and corruption charges that stemmed from Operation Car Wash.
The Supreme Court in November 2019 ordered Lulaās release.
VoteLGBT, an organization that seeks to increase LGBTQ representation in Brazilian politics, noted 529 openly LGBTQ candidates ran in this yearās election. More than 100 of them are either transgender or travesti.
The Washington Blade will cover the results of these races when they become available.
Turkey
House Democrats urge White House to confront Turkish government over anti-LGBTQ crackdown
More than 60 lawmakers signed letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio
More than 60 House Democrats on Thursday called upon the Trump-Vance administration to confront the Turkish government over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
Turkish authorities last month detained dozens of people during raids that targeted the countryās LGBTQ community, advocacy groups, and HIV/AIDS service organizations. Journalists were among those taken into custody outside an Istanbul courthouse on Sept. 15 during a protest against the raids that are part of the governmentās āMy Family Is Safeā campaign.
Council for Global Equality is among the groups that organized a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in D.C. on Sept. 18.
View on Threads
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TĆ¼rk on Sept. 21 during a U.N. LGBTI Core Group event that took place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly specifically referenced Turkey.
The Core Group is a group of U.N. member states that have pledged to support LGBTQ and intersex rights.
The U.S. withdrew from the Core Group after the Trump-Vance administration took office. The White House has not publicly commented on Turkeyās anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
āThese developments warrant an urgent diplomatic response from the United States to protect the rights of freedom of expression, association, and assembly for all Turkish citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,ā reads the letter the lawmakers sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. āWe therefore urge you to use all available channels to raise these concerns directly with the Turkish government; press for the immediate release of those arrested and detained for their legitimate human rights activities; and ensure that the U.S. Embassy in Ankara closely monitors related judicial proceedings.ā
āWe further urge the Department to press Turkish authorities to cease efforts to criminalize LGBTQI+ organizations and advocacy and to affirm the right of all people to peacefully assemble,ā it adds.
Arizona Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari and U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) spearheaded the letter. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); House Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.); Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.); Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride, and U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), who chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus, are among the 65 House Democrats who signed the letter.
āThe United States must be a leader in defending human rights and what is happening in Turkey demands an urgent diplomatic response. Itās absolutely appalling to see LGBTQI+ people and the organizations that stand up for their rights be targeted by the (President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan regime,ā said Ansari in a press release. āI stand proudly with the LGBTQI+ community here and abroad and will continue to fight for their right to live openly, freely, and without fear, anywhere and everywhere.ā
The press release notes the Human Rights Campaign, the Council for Global Equality, and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America support the letter.
āTurkeyās attacks on its LGBTQI+ community are a disturbing reminder that the fight for equality and human rights does not stop at our borders. No one should be silenced or detained for simply being who they are or peacefully demanding dignity and freedom,ā said HRC Government Affairs Senior Director Jennifer Pike Bailey. āWe are grateful to Representatives Ansari and Titus for recognizing that the fight for LGBTQI+ equality is global and that, even amid the many challenges facing our community here at home, we cannot turn our backs on LGBTQI+ people facing persecution abroad.ā
A State Department spokesperson on Friday told the Washington Blade that “as a matter of policy, we do not comment on congressional correspondence.”
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