Symmy Larrat—a transgender woman who is a member of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government—told The Washington Blade that the storming of her country's Congress, Presidential Palace and Supreme Court in January sparked outrage among many Brazilians. Larrat (Brazil's national secretary for the Promotion and Defense of the Rights of LGBTQIA+ People) also said, among other things, that she knew she "had a feeling as a teenager that I was transgender, but at that time I didn't see transgender people in places of power."

Brazil's highest electoral court barred anti-LGBTQ+ former President Jair Bolsonaro from running for political office until 2030, after finding him guilty of abusing his power and misusing public media during last year's election campaign, CNN noted. The case stems from a meeting Bolsonaro held with foreign ambassadors in July 2022; at that time, he spread false information about Brazil's electoral system and questioned its credibility ahead of last year's election. Bolsonaro narrowly lost the election to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

On July 1, thousands took to the streets across Ireland to celebrate and support the country's queer community, per Yahoo! News. Cork, Navan and Wicklow all exhibited rainbow colors for their respective events, which included both Trans+ Pride and LGBTQ+ Pride marches. In Cork, about 1,000 people reportedly turned out for the city's second-ever Trans+ Pride, themed "'Break the Binary," and that city's LGBT+ Pride Festival will take place July 30-Aug. 6.

Reportedly, 35,000 people attended South Korea's largest annual LGBT festival on July 1, vowing to continue fighting for gay rights after the Seoul city government denied them a prime spot and gave it to an anti-LGBTQ+ Christian group, per Reuters. The Seoul Queer Culture Festival—staged outside city hall in the nation's capital annually since 2015, except for two years during COVID-19—was instead held nearby after the city government recently gave the permit for a Christian youth concert to be held at the original spot.

A controversial policy change that bans teachers from using a student's preferred pronouns without parental permission will soon go into effect in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, the BBC reported. n May, under Premier Blaine Higgs, New Brunswick announced that a policy to create a safe space for students who identify as LGBTQ+ in schools would be amended, with the changes taking effect on July 1. Also, the amendments to the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity policy—also known as Policy 713—removed explicit mention of allowing students to participate in extracurricular activities, including sports teams, that reflect their gender identity. In June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that "trans kids in New Brunswick are being told they don't have the right to be their true self, that they need to ask permission."

Australian airline Qantas has relaxed its gender-based uniform rules, allowing male employees to wear makeup and have long hair, according to the BBC. In 2022, an Australian trade union called on Qantas to move its "uniform policy into the 21st Century." The development comes after rival airlines eased their rules, with Virgin Atlantic adopting gender-neutral uniforms.

Also, Qantas announced that Chief Financial Officer Vanessa Hudson would replace openly gay CEO Alan Joyce, per the BBC. Hudson, the company's first female CEO, praised the airline as an "exceptional company" but also promised to work "very hard" to restore it to its former glory. Last year, Qantas suffered severe criticism over cancelled flights, lost luggage and delays, but bounced back this year with substantial profits. Also, in 2021, Australia's federal court ruled that Qantas had illegally outsourced almost 1,700 ground staff jobs during the pandemic; the airline then began a high court appeal to avoid paying compensation over the move.

The queer Australian TV series Single, Out will come to DVD on Sept. 19, per a press release. Director Lee Galea's (Monster Pies) rom-com TV series is set in Melbourne and centers around the life and loves of Adam (Will Hutchins)—a teen exploring his new gay world with the help of his friends and family. This release comprises the six complete episodes of series one. (Series two will be released later this year and series three is currently in production.)

Weeks after Uganda enacted its draconian anti-LGBTQ+ laws, Kenya could be poised to follow suit with a similarly formulated bill that punishes same-sex relations with prison or even death in some cases, Black Enterprise noted. Similar moves are also happening in Tanzania and South Sudan, parliamentarians in those nations told Reuters—revealing, for the first time, a broad anti-LGBTQ+ legislative drive across East Africa.

Yasmin Benoit—a model who was the first asexual (or ace) grand marshal at New York City Pride—received backlash for her comments about her sexual identity, according to Newsweek. Benoit went viral when tweeting from the London Pride parade, where she marched with LGBTQ+ rights organization Stonewall UK. She posted, "Asexual people deserve equal rights. We deserve legal recognition. We deserve protection." While some praised Benoit, others dissented, with one person saying, "Hello! I am a progressive. Can you help me understand what legal rights asexual people don't have? I would love to stand with you, but I need to understand the problem."

Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) said in an episode of Sky News' Beth Rigby Interviews that working with a trans sensitivity reader on his latest novel, The Long Knives, was "brilliant," according to PinkNews. While he initially thought it would feel like "censorship," he later realized that he was completely wrong. Welsh did add, however, that he had "tremendous respect" for transphobic author JK Rowling "for sticking to her guns." Also in the interview, Welsh supported abolishing the monarch, the House of Lords and private schools.

Former UK semi-pro soccer player Jake Williamson—who came out as gay two years ago—spread the pro-LGBTQ+ message during Pride Month, according to Queerty. Among other things, Williamson recently made a couple of speeches around London as part of NOBULL's "All Pride" team. Williamson first spoke publicly about his sexuality in December 2021, when he told the BBC LGBT Sports Podcast he was originally in denial of his same-sex attraction because of the lack of out role models in male pro sports.

In Australia, Conservative Lyle Shelton recently accused Sydney's SeaLife Aquarium of creating "fake gay penguins" to indoctrinate children, Metro noted. Penguins Sphen and Magic began bonding in 2018 and became inseparable as breeding season was about to start. However, Shelton, the Family First Party leader, said on his party's website: "Essentially, what should be a story about the damage caused by human interference in the animal kingdom is instead being served up to our youngest, most impressionable children as education on thriving gay relationships and diverse parenting arrangements." In reality, various species of animals—including penguins—form partnerships that challenge the traditional concept of heterosexual pairings.

Greta Gerwig's film Barbie has been banned in Vietnam, per Variety. The Warner Bros. film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was set to have been released in the country on July 21. However, the film contains a scene that depicts a map with the "nine dash line"—a representation of China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Vietnam says violates its sovereignty. Many of China's neighbors, such as Vietnam, have competing and overlapping territorial claims and strongly dispute China's assertions.

During Kevin Spacey's ongoing trial in London, jurors were shown footage of a police interview with an alleged sexual-assault victim of the Hollywood star in which he said the actor "grabbed me so hard I almost came off the road," Deadline reported. Spacey's first alleged victim said he was assaulted more than 10 times by the Oscar-winning actor. "It's like he thought he could groom me," added the man in the police interview, and he also called Spacey a "slipper, snaky, difficult person" and a "very mixed-up individual." Spacey—being tried under his real name, Kevin Spacey Fowler—denies the 12 charges against him.