Amsterdam is marking 25 years since the world's first gay marriages were celebrated in the Netherlands. Three couples married at City Hall on Wednesday just after midnight, led in a ceremony by Mayor Femke Halsema. More than 40 countries now allow same-sex marriages. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who is gay, says the milestone inspired him as a teenager. The LGBTQ movement is facing challenges elsewhere. Advocates cite new efforts in some U.S. states to challenge marriage equality and rising hostility toward LGBTQ+ people in parts of Africa.
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Chile’s new president is a devout Catholic in a country that has grown increasingly secular but retains conservative traits in various areas. José Antonio Kast's faith resonates with some supporters, even as analysts say it may shape — but not immediately change — policy on issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. Kast — who took office on March 11 — won 58% of the vote after pledging to crack down on crime and deport immigrants without legal status. Kast has opposed emergency contraception, same-sex marriage, and abortion for years. He belongs to Schoenstatt, a Catholic movement devoted to the Virgin Mary.
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The Supreme Court has ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids in Colorado, one of about two dozen states that banned the discredited practice. The high court majority sided Tuesday with a Christian counselor who argues the law banning talk therapy violates the First Amendment. The justices agreed the law raises free speech concerns and sent it back to a lower court to decide if it meets a legal standard few laws pass. President Donald Trump’s Republican administration supported the counselor. Colorado said the measure simply bars a practice of using therapy to try to “convert” LGBTQ+ people to heterosexuality, a practice that’s been scientifically discredited and linked to serious harm.
Supreme Court rules against Colorado ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for LGBTQ kids.
The Trump administration has carried out on a threat to sue the state of Minnesota and its school athletics governing body for allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls sports. The Justice Department alleges in a lawsuit filed Monday that the state Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League are violating Title IX, a federal law against sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal money. The administration has filed similar lawsuits against Maine and California, and threatened the federal funding of some universities, including San Jose State in California and the University of Pennsylvania.
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Transgender women athletes are now excluded from the Olympics after the IOC agreed to a new eligibility policy It aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on women's sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The International Olympic Committee says “eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females.” Eligibility will be determined by "a one‑time SRY gene screening.” It is unclear how many, if any, transgender women are competing at an Olympic level.
BERLIN (AP) — A gay Muslim influencer in Berlin hosted an inclusive Ramadan dinner, gathering friends who are Muslim and Christian, queer and …
A gay Muslim influencer in Berlin uses a Ramadan dinner to push for acceptance across faith and identity. This week Ali Darwich hosted an inclusive Iftar with friends who are Muslim and Christian, queer and straight, German and immigrant. Darwich, who posts as @alifragt on Instagram and TikTok, says no one can be “too queer” to belong. He highlights how some gay Muslims get shunned and how his friends helped him after his own difficult coming out. Darwich's call for inclusion and tolerance comes at a time of rising hostility toward the LGBTQ+ community in a city that's historically been gay-friendly
The Michigan synagogue that was attacked is one of the largest reform congregations in the U.S. Temple Israel was founded in 1941 in the city of Detroit and relocated to West Bloomfield in the 1980s. The Reform movement is often described as progressive Judaism and values tradition along with the use of reason and individual conscience. Rabbis, leaders and practitioners supports social and racial justice along with gender equality and LGBTQ+ inclusion.
The Supreme Court is clearing the way for California schools to tell parents if their children identify as transgender without getting the student’s approval, granting an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group. The Monday order blocks for now a state law that bans automatic parental notification requirements. The lawsuit came to the court’s emergency docket after religious parents and educators challenged California policies aimed at preventing schools from outing children to their families. The parents say schools misled them and facilitated social transition despite their objections. The state said students have the right to privacy, especially if they fear rejection from their families.