​🇵🇪 Peru Publicly Apologizes To Trans Woman Tortured 15 Years Ago

Peru has publicly apologized to Azul Rojas Marín, a trans woman who survived rape and torture after being arbitrarily detained by three police officers in 2008. Fifteen years of legal battle saw the case reach the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Peru’s official apology comes two years after the Inter-American Court issued a sentence calling for ten binding reparations — the first time that the Peruvian state has offered public reparations to a member of the LGBTQ+ community. These reparations include providing medical and psychological assistance to Azul, the adoption of investigation protocols and the administration of justice in cases of police brutality, and the development of a plan to sensitize and train state agents on respectful treatment of LGBTQ+ people.

🇲🇽 Hidalgo Becomes First Mexican State To Recognize Non-Binary People

On Nov. 3, the Congress of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, approved reforms to legally recognize non-binary people over 18 years of age. Although previously two non-binary people had already been legally recognized through lawsuits in Mexico, this makes Hidalgo the first Mexican state to enshrine it in law.

The 84 municipalities that make up the state of Hidalgo can carry out for free the administrative process that recognizes the identity of both trans and non-binary people. The law reform was presented earlier this year by deputy Miguel Martínez and Luis Ángel Tenorio Cruz, the first openly gay deputy in that state.

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires Pride Draws Hundreds Of Thousands

The 31st LGBTQ+ Pride March in the city of Buenos Aires welcomed hundreds of thousands of people between fairs, party atmosphere and shows that accompanied the parade from Plaza de Mayo to Congress.

People gathered from all over Latin America to participate in the festivities — check out some of the Pride’s best photos here.

​🇶🇦 Pressure On Qatar Over LGBTQ+ Rights As World Cup Nears

With just days left before the 2022 World Cup kicks off in Qatar, outcry is mounting against the Gulf state’s harsh LGBTQ+ laws and recent demonstrations of prejudice.

• UK star Beth Mead says Qatar “not the right place”

Openly gay Arsenal forward, Beth Mead, has spoken out against the World Cup, saying Qatar isn’t the “right place” for the event to be held, and that she won’t be “backing or promoting” the World Cup due to the country’s extreme anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

• Qatari World Cup official calls homosexuality “damage in the mind”

While interviewed for a documentary by German broadcaster ZDF, Khalid Salman, an ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar, described homosexuality as a “damage in the mind” and “a spiritual harm,” leading the interviewer to cut off the exchange.

• Head of Wales soccer voices support of LGBTQ+ initiative

The chief executive of the Football Association of Wales, Noel Mooney, said the organization will be supporting the LGBTQ+ OneLove initiative, a campaign was started by the Netherlands to promote diversity and inclusion, and fight discrimination during the World Cup in Qatar.

• Gay Qatari activist speaks against “sports washing”

Dr. Nas Mohamed, who became one of the few Qataris to come out on a public platform in May, has spoken out about the World Cup, saying he will do whatever he can to shine a light on the persecution of LGBTQ+ people in his country, determined to not let authorities succeed in “sports washing”.

• “Shockingly scandalous”: LGBTQ+ fans groups blast FIFA

In response to a letter sent by FIFA saying that teams should focus on the sport at the World Cup, LGBTQ+ groups and allies in England and Wales have issued a joint statement alongside Pride in Football, calling their hypocrisy “sickening, and their silence in light of Qatar’s prejudice against LGBTQ+ people “shockingly scandalous”. The statement from the football governing body says that attendees should “try to respect all opinions and beliefs without handing out moral lessons.”

​🇵🇱 Poland Recognizes Same-Sex Marriages Held Abroad

In a rare judgement in favor of LGBTQ+ rights, Poland’s highest administrative court has ruled in favor of recognizing same-sex marriages of Polish citizens legally married in other countries on Nov. 3. The case was brought up by Jakub Kwieciński and Dawid Mycek, two Polish men who got married in Portugal but whose union wasn’t recognized in their home country.

Though the country’s constitution describes marriage as “a union of a man and a woman,” the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the article couldn’t “in itself constitute an obstacle to transcribing a foreign marriage certificate.” Poland, which has been ranked as the worst country for LGBTQ+ people in the European Union for two years in a row by Rainbow Europe, doesn’t legally recognize same-sex unions.

​🇬🇧 Embattled Trans Children Charity Targeted By Death Threats

After British media giant Telegraphpublished a series of articles in September attacking trans children’s charity Mermaids, which provides support to trans children and their families, members of the organization’s staff are reporting cases of severe abuse.

Telegraph accused Mermaids of unsafe practices and inaccurately suggested the use of chest binders. Much of the mainstream British press relayed the news, prompting abuse toward Mermaids staff. CEO Susie Green says that within the last month, the charity has received 130 threatening calls and messages, 80 of which were so severe that they had to be reported to the police.

“It’s a concerted attack that’s intended to bring a lot of negative publicity to the organization but also to invite the harassment, particularly on social media, of the people who are working for the organization. It’s an all out attack,” said Cleo Madeleine, communications officer at Gendered Intelligence.

🇬🇧 Prominent UK Bishop Calls For Same-Sex Marriage, Other Bishops Follow Suit

Reverend Dr. Steven Croft, the Bishop of Oxford, has become the highest-ranking member of the Church of England to call for it to allow same-sex marriages, saying that clergy members should be offered the same affordance.

In his 52-page essay, Dr. Croft apologizes that his “own views were slow to change”, and said that any debate on same-sex marriage within the church should be “founded on love and respect”. Following suit, the bishops of Worcester, Dudley, Buckingham, Reading and Dorchester have joined him in speaking out in support of same-sex marriage in the Church of England.

🇺🇸 At Least One LGBTQ+ Candidate In Each U.S. State, A First In Midterms History

For the first time in US history, an LGBTQ+ representative from each of the country’s 50 states were in the run for the midterm elections this week — an almost 20% increase from the last elections. That’s 678 LGBTQ+ people who ran for seats in the House of Representatives and Senate on Nov. 8.

🇺🇸 U.S. Beauty Pageant Allowed To Reject Trans Contestants

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Miss United States of America pageant couldn’t be forced to allow Anita Green, a transgender woman, to compete because it would violate its First Amendment.

Green had sued the organization in federal court in Portland last year after her application to participate in the pageant was denied. “It is commonly understood that beauty pageants are generally designed to express the ‘ideal vision of American womanhood,’” wrote Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, a Trump appointee.

🇿🇦 Africa’s First LGBTQ+ Chamber Of Commerce Is Fighting Discrimination

Founded in 2017, PLUS is a South African LGBTQ+ business network and the first LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce on the continent.

South Africa legalized same-sex marriage in 2006, but queer people still face significant stigma. A 2016 report found that seven out of 10 South Africans felt homosexual sex and breaking gender norms was “wrong”. LGBTQ+ business owners feel the effects particularly strongly. For example, Zimkhitha Guma, the manager of PLUS, gives the example of a chef’s food business, which experienced a sharp drop in support after the chef came out.

PLUS aims to support LGBTQ+ business owners by hosting networking events and advocating for LGBTQ+ inclusion and diversity in companies.

🇺🇬 First Northern Uganda Pride Takes Place As A Display Of LGBTQ+ Resistance

It has not been an easy few months for the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda. In August, the government shut down a prominent LGBTQ+ rights group. Critics say the move is a “witch hunt” against queer people. Gay relationships in the country can still result in life prison sentences.

Against this difficult backdrop, the first Pride in Northern Uganda took place this week with the support of Pride Uganda. LGBTQ+ people from the Northern and Western Nile regions of the country came together as a display of resistance and as a celebration of queer talent.

In the words of one of the organizers: “We were scared putting this together but it was more terrifying to not be true to ourselves.”

​🇦🇷 Collect ‘Em All! Photographer Creates “Sticker Album” Of Argentine LGBTQ+ Sports

For a year, Émilien Buffard, a French photographer based in Rosario, Argentina, has traveled through the country to meet and shoot pictures of more than 500 players belonging to 18 LGBTQ+ sports teams. The result is a book, Sport Friendly: The Field of Diversity!, which revisits the traditional sticker album and features athletes from 12 disciplines, from tennis to martial arts and rugby.

The project was conceived as a way to promote diversity in the sports where discrimination is still very present. “What I hope is that this dialogue about diversity in sport opens up through cultural institutions and the media. Maybe we're missing the next Messi because he's gay,” Buffard told Argentine medium Presentes.

OTHERWISE

• “I am a bisexual and non-binary Muslim and my connection to Islam has never been an easy journey,” Rayyan Aboobaker writes to coincide with Islamaphobia Awareness Month.

• By drawing the portrait of a loving LGBTQ+ family, TIME tells the story of discrimination faced by the community in Thai society.

• Gay Times speaks with Betty Mayeya, the manager of Stonewall Football Club, which is for women and non-binary people, about the importance of opening up football to everyone.

• Advocate tells us everything about the U.S. Trans Survey (the largest survey in the country specifically geared toward trans and non-binary people) and why it matters.