Ugandan LGBTQ+-rights activists asked the international community to mount more pressure on Uganda's government to repeal an anti-gay law that the country's Constitutional Court refused to nullify, PBS reported. Activist Frank Mugisha said the court's ruling was "wrong and deplorable." A Ugandan human rights advocate who was a petitioner in the case, Nicholas Opiyo, said, "While we respect the court, we vehemently disagree with its findings and the basis on which it was reached. We approached the court expecting it to apply the law in defense of human rights and not rely on public sentiments, and vague cultural values arguments."
In Japan, five more prefectures and more than 40 municipalities began offering partnership certificates to same-sex couples on April 1, providing a limited measure of security for that country's LGBTQ+ couples as marriage remains elusive, The Washington Blade noted. Beginning April 1, Aichi, Hyogo, Nara, Oita and Tokushima prefectures began offering partnership certificates, bringing the total to 26 out of 47 prefectures recognizing same-sex couples. Additionally, 445 municipalities offer the certificates, according to the group Marriage for All Japan.
In the UK, as a result of the Case report being released, Labour MP Wes Streeting expressed regret over previously stating "trans men are men, trans women are women… get over it," PinkNews reported. The report—an independent review into the structure of England's trans youth clinics—which made several recommendations on how to change the model of care for trans young people. It also claimed that the majority of research into clinical guidance for gender specialists was of "poor quality," recommending that clinicians use "extreme caution" in administering medication such as puberty blockers or hormones for minors. Streeting welcomed the guidance, saying that it "must provide a watershed moment" for NHS England's youth gender identity services.
The Tegan and Sara Foundation published an open letter with hundreds of Canadian artists publicly disavowing anti-trans legislation in their country, The Hill noted. The list includes Alanis Morissette, Neil Young, Sarah McLachlan, Carly Rae Jepsen, Elvis Costello, Elliot Page, Cobie Smulders, Tegan and Sara, the Strumbellas, Peach Pit, Priyanka and more than 300 others. "We, the undersigned artists from Canada, stand against these alarming and destructive policies, and call on the general public to turn their attention to a growing problem in our country," the letter read.
Openly gay Irish leader Leo Varadkar said he has "no regrets" about stepping down, as he officially resigned, PinkNews noted. Varadkar is the youngest (at 45) and first out gay person to serve as taoiseach, first holding the title between 2017 and 2020, and again since 2022. He has been with his partner, Dr. Matthew Barrett, since 2015—the same year he came out as gay. Simon Harris (at 37, now the youngest)—of the center-right Fine Gael party was confirmed on April 9 as the country's new prime minister, CNBC noted.
The brother of a British-Mexican man jailed in Qatar for using the gay dating app Grindr said he was pressured to reveal the names of his sexual partners as a condition of his release, according to PInkNews. Manuel Guerrero Avina was jailed in February after replying to a false message on the app. The former British Airways manager was released from prison, but still faces prosecution and is banned from leaving Qatars, which considers homosexuality illegal. Also, his brother (Enrique Guerrero Avina) told Attitude that Manuel, who is HIV-positive, is about to run out of his antiretroviral medication.
Cardiff, Wales has been chosen to host the EuroGames in 2027, marking the first time the LGBTQ+-inclusive event will be held in the UK, PinkNews reported. The first EuroGames, governed by the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation, was held in The Hague in The Netherlands in 1992; this year's event will be staged in the Austrian capital, Vienna, in July. Up to 10,000 athletes, including transgender sportsmen and women, are expected to attend the Cardiff event in 2027.
The IGLTA Foundation—the philanthropic arm of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA)—selected Njeri Gachuhi (she/her) as the recipient of the 2024 IGLTA Foundation EQUAL Africa Fellowship, per a press release. Gachuhi, a Kenyan-based entrepreneur and founder of The Travelling Wakili, joined fellow LGBTQ+ travel and tourism professionals at EQUAL Africa, powered by the IGLTA Foundation held in Cape Town on April 10-11. She is the foundation's second EQUAL Africa fellowship recipient in its history.
Bisexual Brazilian musician Anitta announced her Baile Funk Experience Tour, per a press release. Kicking off on May 18 in Mexico City, Mexico, the 20+ date tour produced by Live Nation will hit cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, Chicago, Toronto, Paris and Madrid, wrapping up in Ibiza, Spain on July 8. The tour will follow the release of Anitta's new album, Funk Generation, out April 26 via Republic Records/Universal Music Latin Entertainment. At the end of 2023, the Grammy-nominated singer was a headliner at TikTok in the Mix; in 2022, Anitta made headlines and broke records as the first female Brazilian solo act to perform at Coachella.
"Dancing star"—the newest single from the iconic British duo Pet Shop Boys—is an ode to the late Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who defected from his home country and became a global star, per Clash. (A CD single will be out May 3.) According to the duo's website, "Dancing star" includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks, a remix and extended remix of the title track by Solomun and a Superchumbo (Tom Stephan) remix of "Party in the Blitz" featuring Princess Julia. Pet Shop Boys will release their album Nonetheless on April 26.
Out actor/writer Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) is writing and starring in a British TV drama about a bookshop owner who helps police solve crimes, Deadline noted. Bookish will be a six-part series for UKTV crime drama network Alibi set in post-war London in 1946. The series will follow Gabriel Book (Gatiss), an "erudite and unconventional" sleuth who cracks mysterious cases from his antiquated bookshop, using the thousands of books that line his shelves to provide him with the knowledge that he needs."
A new LGBTQ+ cocktail lounge and show bar has opened in Glasgow, Scotland, with the owner eager to make the venue "part of the tapestry" of the city's queer community, per PinkNews. The Corset Club—the brainchild of Callum Raymond Young—is "committed to being accessible and inclusive." Open seven days a week, it will serve a range of cocktails and drinks (inspired by films and queer culture) and feature entertainment, including cabaret, drag and comedy performances; there are also plans to offer afternoon teas.
Anti-trans Harry Potter author JK Rowling took a swing at Humza Yousaf after the Scottish first minister described the writer's criticism of Scotland's hate-crime legislation as "offensive" to trans people, per PinkNews. Yousaf told BBC Scotland that posts Rowling made on X/Twitter misgendering trans women—including activists, public figures and convicted sexual offenders—were "offensive, upsetting and insulting to trans people." Rowling hit back, saying "most of Scotland" was "upset and offended" by the First Minister's leadership.
Spain's first openly LGBTQ+ matador is hoping to inspire more people to come out, PinkNews noted. Mario Alcalde surprised many recently when he came out as pansexual in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. The matador—who also works as a baggage handler at Madrid-Barajas Airport—found that coming out gave his profile an unexpected boost. "I thought there was going to be a feeling against it but people are accepting it and in the best way possible," he told the BBC.
Track and field will become the first sport to introduce prize money at the Olympics, with World Athletics saying it would pay $50,000 to gold medalists in Paris, the AP noted. The governing body of athletics plans to set aside $2.4 million to pay the gold medalists across the 48 events on the track-and-field program for this year's Paris Olympics. Relay teams will split the $50,000 between their members. Payments for silver and bronze medalists are planned to start from the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
