China launched its first medical clinic to treat transgender children and adolescents, NBC News reported. The Chinese state-backed media outlet The Global Times recently reported that the clinic opened at the Children's Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai, saying that it will "serve as a bridge between transgender children, parents, doctors and the various circles of society." Homosexuality has not been illegal in China since 1997, but restrictions for LGBTQ+ people still remain.
A lesbian couple are launching a landmark judicial review against their NHS Clinical Commissioning Group for its "discriminatory" fertility policy, the BBC reported. Megan and Whitney Bacon-Evans say they are required to undergo 12 rounds of costly private treatment before they can get NHS support; opposite-sex couples have to try to conceive for two years before becoming eligible for NHS-funded treatment. The social-media stars—who were featured on TV show Say Yes To The Dress, and run a lifestyle and travel blog—have been together for 13 years and married for four. They said they were "shocked and devastated to discover the discrimination that lesbian couples, bisexual women and individuals with wombs face in starting their family." CCG Frimley, the subject of the review, says its policies comply with guidance.
The Mr. Gay World pageant officially crowned its latest champion—South African Louw Breytenbach, out.com reported. According to a profile in The South African, the 32-year-old from Johannesburg is an actor who is only the third man in the nation's history to take home the crown, and the first to do so in more than a decade. After founding the Boksburg drama school in 2012, Breytenbach is also the director of the National Arts Association of South Africa and the owner of the LALT House of Growth, a talent development organization for aspiring actors.
Supporters and opponents of Ghana's new anti-LGBT bill faced off in parliament in the first public hearings into the proposed legislation that would make it a crime to be gay, bisexual or transgender, Reuters reported. Akoto Ampaw, a lawyer representing a coalition against the law, was occasionally jeered as he told the session the Family Values bill would be "totalitarian" and "unconstitutional." However, Abraham Ofori-Kuragu, a representative of Ghana's Pentecostal council, said the bill reflected the will of most Ghana residents. Same-sex relations are already punishable by up to three years in prison in Ghana, although no one has been prosecuted in years.
Spain's Health Minister Carolina Darias signed an executive order Nov. 5 reversing a ban on single women and LGBTQ people from accessing free in vitro fertilization (IVF) services, Gay City News noted. Single women and LGBTQ individuals were previously required to pay for IVF services. This move comes nearly six years after the conservative Popular Party government imposed a discriminatory policy in 2014 that restricted the treatments to straight women who have a partner and individuals with fertility disorders.
The series In My Skin has returned for its second season, on Hulu, a press release noted. The second series finds Bethan embarking on her last year of school, entering an exciting new relationship and planning to fly the nest, all while still desperately trying to hide the reality of her home life. This award-winning five-part series—distributed through BBC Studios, and from writer Kayleigh Llewellyn—continues to follow the story of Bethan (Gabrielle Creevy), a Welsh teenager leading a double life as she negotiates a mentally ill mother and an abusive father, friendships and sexuality.
The BBC pulled out a scheme run by leading British LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall over issues surrounding impartiality, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Following an investigation by one of its own journalists, the United Kingdom's national broadcaster said it would no longer be part of the Diversity Champions Program, which is aimed at embedding LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace and attracting the LGBTQ+ talent. The decision follows actions by fellow Brit network Channel 4 and U.K. media regulator Ofcom, who withdrew from the scheme over the last couple of months, as did several public bodies. The BBC also pulled out of the Workplace Equality Index, which ranks institutions according to how open they are to LGBTQ+ staff. A rep for Stonewall's press team said, in part, "Organizations come and go depending on what's best for their inclusion journey at the time," Attitude Magazine noted.
In England, a young, autistic gay man was turned away from an upscale restaurant because a doorman found his leopard-print pants to be "too, too much," out.com noted. The incident took place when 21-year-old Brandon Rogers and his family went to celebrate his sister's birthday at the 20 Stories restaurant and bar, in Manchester; only he was denied entry. Rogers told the Evening News he uses his clothing to express and affirm his identity, something he finds difficult to do at times due to his autism. D&D London, which owns 20 Stories, apologized to Rogers.
In the United Kingdom, the owners of the Levenshulme, an LGBTQ+ pub in Manchester, are walking away from the bar after a string of violent incidents, the Los Angeles Blade noted. "Due to lots of recent events with aggression and violence and also having to pull back after the pandemic we feel it's the right time to leave the pub," the two owners, Colin Campbell and Chris Thompson, wrote on Facebook. According to Manchester Evening News, masked attackers ambushed bouncers, smashed a window and made homophobic comments after they were denied entry into the venue in July. The bar was running at limited capacity because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In related news, Jeremy Joseph, the owner of the G-A-Y venues, has announced G-A-Y Manchester is to be owned by its manager, Lee Kellow, according to Attitude Magazine. Joseph said on social media that he'd been struggling with his mental health since the pandemic and that he hadn't been happy. He also revealed he'd been working on this decision about G-A-Y Manchester for the past nine months, adding, "Feeling very numb as I post this."
Gitta Gersill's film Beyto, based on the novel by award-winning writer Yusuf Yesiloz, comes to digital and DVD on Dec. 7 from Dark Star Pictures, a press release noted. In the movie, the title character—a young Swiss man with Turkish roots—falls in love with his swimming coach, Mike; however, Beyto's parents arrange for him to marry a woman: his childhood friend Seher. Beyto finds himself in the middle of a love triangle and wondering how he stand by Mike without destroying Seher's future.
Out Australian soccer star Josh Cavallo revealed he was unhappy leading a double life in the closet as a professional footballer, and that he would have concerns about playing in the upcoming World Cup in Qatar due to the country's anti-LGBTQ+ laws, out.com noted. Cavallo spoke with The Guardian's Today in Focus podcast, where he discussed the difficulties of playing professional soccer as a closeted gay man. Also, while he is not a member of Australia's team competing at the World Cup in Qatar, he would be afraid to do so considering the Gulf country's complicated history with laws criminalizing homosexuality. (Recently, Qatar was one of three countries to ban the recent release of Marvel Studios' latest film Eternals because of its positive representation of the gay superhero Phastos.)
Canada's Drag Race winner Priyanka hopes to unite country-music fans and the LGBTQ community as co-host of this year's Canadian Country Music Association Awards, PiqueNewsMagazine.com noted. The Toronto drag queen will team with co-host and CCMA Awards nominee Lindsay Ell later this month for the country-music celebration. The indoor bash will be held in person at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario, and stream live on the Global TV app and Amazon Prime Video on Nov. 29. An encore presentation will broadcast on Global TV on Dec. 3.
