Same-sex marriage is constitutional in Greece

 

Greece’s top court, the Council of State, ruled that civil marriage between same-sex couples and the adoption of children by such couples are constitutional.

With a 21–6 majority of votes, the judges rejected a request to annul the provisions of law which legalized such unions and permitted adoption rights in 2024.

The Greek supreme court was responding to a case brought by three associations opposed to the law, which argued that same-sex marriage alters the traditional concept of family and disadvantages adopted children. 

The ruling emphasized that the legal recognition of same-sex marriages and related adoption rights align with constitutional principles and European case law.

Συγχαρητήρια!!!

17 EU countries sound alarm over Hungarian LGBTQ+ laws

 

17 European Union (EU) countries accused Hungary of contravening fundamental values by passing laws that target LGBTQ+ people, as tensions deepen between Budapest and a majority of member states.

Hungary’s parliament passed legislation that creates a legal basis to ban Pride marches there and lets police use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend. It also approved constitutional changes stipulating that Hungary recognises only two sexes, male and female.

"We are highly alarmed by these developments which run contrary to the fundamental values of human dignity, freedom, equality and respect for human rights," the governments of the 17 countries said in a joint statement.

They called on Hungary to revise the measures and asked the European Commission to make full use of its powers if Budapest does not do so. The Commission can take legal action against member states if it believes they are violating EU law.

The statement was backed by Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

The declaration came ahead after EU ministers examine concerns that Hungary is at risk of breaching core EU values. Read the statement here.

Half LGBT people in Russia faced violence

 

A survey of LGBT people in Russia found that almost half faced violence or the threat of violence during 2024, up 4 percent from the year before, that many feel compelled to hide their natures and suffering economically because of them, and that some want to emigrate.

Putin’s ban on what it calls “LGBT propaganda” and its attacks on the non-existent “LGBT international movement” have powered this increase in attacks on gays with many Russians concluding on the basis of these moves that attacking gays is something the government supports.

Putin also submitted an amendment to Russia’s constitution to enshrine marriage as between a man and a woman in a conservative update to the country’s founding document.

The survey by the Coming Out Rights Group and the Sphere Foundation is available here.

Shame on you Putin!!!

Gus Kenworthy plans to participate in the Olympic Games again

 

Gus Kenworthy says he has reignited his love for skiing and will aim to reach his fourth consecutive Winter Olympics at Milano Cortina 2026.

The news arrives more than three years after the last Games in Beijing, where Kenworthy finished eighth in the halfpipe final. He said beforehand that it would be his last competition.

However, the 33-year-old has now revealed how he informed his management team two months ago that he was returning to training for the first time since 2022, and that his head coach on the Great Britain team had encouraged him to chase another Games.

“It’s this Olympics or nothing. I’m never going to have this opportunity again,” he told.

Gus Kenworthy came out in 2015, and its memorable kiss then boyfriend Matthew Wilkas, before qualifying at Winter Olympics in Pyeongyang' 2018, was a historic televised smooch that went viral on social media.

A new memorial for gay victims of persecution in Paris

 

The city of Paris inaugurated a memorial dedicated to people persecuted for being homosexual during the Second World War but also "throughout history", mayor Anne Hidalgo said.

The monument, by artist Jean-Luc Verna, consists of an large star-shaped structure made of steel. The three-ton installation was erected near the Bastille in central Paris to mark International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).

"Recognition means to say 'this happened' and to say 'we don't want this to happen again'," Hidalgo said. "We must fight against denial and trivialisation," she said, adding: "Today there are powerful and extremely dangerous headwinds that would like to deny this kind of diversity."

According to historians' estimates, between 5,000 and 15,000 people in Europe were sent to concentration camps by the Nazi government for being homosexual.

Never forget!

The citizens' initiative to ban conversion therapies in the EU has collected over 1 milion signatures

 

The European citizens' initiative to ban on conversion practices in the European Union collected over one milion signatures.

Objectives: To call on the European Commission to propose a binding legal ban on conversion practices targeting LGBTQ+ citizens in the European Union (EU).

Conversion Practices are interventions aimed at changing, repressing or suppressing the sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression of LGBTQ+ persons.

Such practices, due to their discriminatory, degrading, harmful and fraudulent nature have been qualified as torture by the United Nations, and are currently being banned in a growing number of States.

The EU plays a key role in the protection of fundamental rights and should take actions to fight against all inhuman practices. The Commission should propose a directive adding conversion practices to the list of euro-crimes and/or amend the ongoing directive on equality (2008) to include a ban on these practices.

All member states should introduce a ban on conversion practices or review their current ones. Check and sign the initiative in the European Commission's register here.

GLAAD Social Media Safety Index 2025 has been released

 

Major social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and X have failed to protect LGBTQ+ users from hate and harassment, in part, because they intentionally rolled back previous safety practices, the advocacy group GLAAD explains in its annual Social Media Safety Index.

Using their Platform Scorecard, GLAAD’s team assessed X, Meta (Instagram, Facebook, Threads), TikTok, and YouTube. The scorecard assigns numeric ratings to each platform with regard to LGBTQ safety, privacy, and expression. Elon Musk's X received the lowest score at 30 out of 100, while TikTok came in highest at 56. Meta's Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Google's YouTube were in the 40s.

What the GLAAD report makes clear is it’s not as easy as simply wading through the bullshit to continue using these social media platforms. The plethora of hate speech would take a toll on those with even the strongest constitutions. And their proliferation of misinformation is ensuring that the hate spreads even further.

Check the full publication here.

Bookstore's employees quit after purge on LGBTQ books

 

Several employees said they quit their jobs after a manager directed them to remove LGBTQ+ titles from the shelves of a popular independent Florida bookstore. 

The Bodacious Bookstore & Cafe in downtown Pensacola reportedly received a complaint recently about obscene content on a gift card. “Recently, we reviewed parts of our inventory after receiving emails from parents – some with photos of sexually graphic and vulgar content – who were surprised to find certain books in our store,” they said in a statement.

Following a review instigated by a meeting with the store’s owner, unnamed former and current employees said interim store manager Beth O’Connor directed employees to remove over 60 titles from the store.

Employees told roughly half of the titles removed from the shelves contained LGBTQ+ content. The titles removed included the Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman, and lesbian tennis icon Billie Jean King’s All In and Elliot Page’s Pageboy memoirs.

A spokesperson for the bookstore, denied there was a purge of LGBTQ+ titles, but instead, a review of titles was done to ensure children are not exposed to titles that might not be age-appropriate.

This bookstore's decision reminds me the unacceptable Russian anti-gay propaganda law with the same shaming purpose "to protect" children from "non traditional sexual values". No excuse!!

Pope Leo XIV on LGBTQ rights, the best we could have hoped for

 

By Liam Stack in The New York Times,

Pope Leo XIV ascended to the papacy on Thursday with little public record on L.G.B.T.Q. issues, a signature concern of his predecessor, Pope Francis, as well as a source of deep conflict between liberal and conservative Catholics.

Nevertheless, proponents of greater inclusion for gay and transgender people in the church said they were cautiously optimistic, even if they might not know much about the man who will now lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. Until today, few people believed an American pope was a possibility.

“We are sitting here Googling everything we can about the new pope,” said Francis DeBernardo, who runs New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based group that promotes L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church. “I think he is the best we could have hoped for.”

Read the full article here.

Pope Francis was in favor of LGBTQ rights

Nonbinary Bella Ramsey has no problem with gendered award categories

 

The “Game of Thrones” star Bella Ramsey, who identifies as nonbinary and prefers they/them pronouns, thinks there’s some value in gendered award categories.

Ramsey will almost certainly earn an Emmy nomination this year for their portrayal of Ellie in season 2 of HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama “The Last of Us.”

Despite their gender identity, Ramsey said that they “didn’t find it insulting” to be included in the Outstanding Lead Actress category last time they received an Emmy nod for the show in 2023.

“I think it‘s so important that the recognition for women in the industry is preserved,” Ramsey said. “But then like, where do nonbinary [and] gender nonconforming people fit into that? I don’t know."

Although Ramsey has given the topic a lot of thought, they aren’t particularly concerned with people getting their own pronouns correct.

“Suddenly I had to choose what pronoun I wanted people to write about me with,” Ramsey recalled. “I was so stressed about it, because I didn’t know, and I didn’t really care. I find the whole thing quite stressful still.”

Ramsey added: “I’ve never been strict about they/them [pronouns], because I think I just don’t really care. I’m very comfortable in who I am, but I know how important it is for other people. But for me, it‘s not that important.”

SCOTUS upholds Trump's transgender military ban

 

The U.S. Supreme Court allowed Donald Trump to implement his ban on transgender people serving in the military.

The justices granted an emergency request from the Trump Administration to lift a nationwide injunction blocking the policy while litigation continues. The court's brief order noted that the three liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated they would have denied Trump's request for a stay.

The case was filed by a group of seven transgender service members and one transgender person who wishes to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.

There are just over 4,000 transgender people currently serving in the military, according to Defense Department data, though some activists put the figure at much higher. There are around 2.1 million active service members in total.

"No more trans @ DoD," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X. In a separate Defense Department post, before the decision was issued, Hegseth was seen in a video saying: "No more dudes in dresses. We are done with that s---."

In a joint statement, Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, groups representing the transgender service members challenging Trump’s ban, called the ruling “a devastating blow” to trans troops “who have demonstrated their capabilities and commitment to our nation’s defense.” 

“By allowing this discriminatory ban to take effect while our challenge continues, the Court has temporarily sanctioned a policy that has nothing to do with military readiness and everything to do with prejudice,” the groups said.

Let's wait for the final sentence, but it does not looks well.

Mean Goals, a great gay sports comedy

 

Mean Goals is a great gay sports comedy from writer-director Ahuatl Amaro. The short film wears its eclectic influences on its jersey sleeve (that title is a nod to Mean Girls), but breaks new ground by featuring an all queer, Latine cast.

Tenoch (Abraham Rodriguez) joins an LGBTQ soccer team to bond with his dying father (Dave Silva) over their shared passion for the sport. But his desire to win his father’s approval is quickly eclipsed by a new obsession once he discovers the team is filled with mean soccer gays: he must now build a rival team to crush them at the Gay World Cup.

“Soccer, romance, locker room banter, and mean gays—this film has it all,” said star Abraham Rodriguez. “Mean Goals is unlike any sports comedy film out there as it combines comedy, action, and queer Latino leads all in one. It’s been a privilege to work with so many talented LGBTQ+ and POC actors and filmmakers.”

Watch the trailer below:

Robert De Niro voices support for trans daughter

 

Hollywood legend Robert De Niro has not hesitated for a second to support his daughter Ayrin, who has come out as transgender. "I loved and supported Aaron as my son, and now I love and support Airyn as my daughter. I don't know what the problem is, I love all my children," the actor told. 

Ayrin proclaimed her gender identity in an interview, and she is one of the seven children of Robert. In her interview, Airyn shared insights about what motivated her to go through with her gender reassignment surgery. She started receiving hormone therapy in November 2024.

She also expressed gratitude towards her parents for keeping her out of the limelight. Airyn said her parents told her they wanted as normal a childhood as possible for her. The interview also touched upon how she was 'femme-presenting' in her teenage years and how she wanted to maintain her femininity further.

Airyn also told that she’s pursuing a career as an actress and model, just like her mom, in hopes of being an “inspiration for at least one other person like [her] who is black, who is queer, who’s not a size extra small.”

De Niro shares Airyn and her twin brother Julian with actress Toukie Smith. The two-time Oscar winner also has five other children, including his most recent baby, Gia, whom he welcomed in 2023 with his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen.