The Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), in partnership with Instituto de Políticas Publicas LGBT, released its first-ever, Argentina-focused HRC Equidad AR: Global Workplace Equality Program report, a press release noted. In 2022, 53 Argentinian companies participated and 22 earned top marks for their efforts to promote workplace LGBTQ+ inclusion. The Argentinian-based survey, inspired by the Human Rights Campaign's annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI), is one of HRC's four in-country programs in South America and Latin America, following the success of work that began in Mexico in 2016. The report is at https://hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/HRC-Equidad-AR-071322-Final-3.pdf.
Gay Games 11 Hong Kong 2023 has released a campaign video, according to a press release. The video campaign, developed by DDB Group Hong Kong, hopes to generate excitement and motivate people to start thinking about planning for the 11th Gay Games taking place in Hong Kong and Guadalajara, Mexico on Nov. 3-11, 2023. Registration opens in late summer 2022. The campaign video is at https://youtu.be/DPIWqxRIcPA.
In Britain, former Minister for Exports and Minister for Equalities Mike Freer said he's been assured by the Tory leadership frontrunners that they "support a fully inclusive ban" on conversion therapy, PinkNews reported. Freer spoke at the PinkNews Westminster Summer Reception in his first major speech since resigning as equalities minister amid a mass exodus from Boris Johnson's government.
In a related matter, former British Prime Minister Theresa May warned during the same event that Britain is at risk of "sliding back" if the government does not ban trans conversion therapy, per PinkNews. Speaking exclusively to PinkNews, she said that the 2017 National LGBT Survey showed that "there were many people who felt more comfortable in being open about who they were."
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is considering a petition calling for the legalization of same-sex marriage after garnering more than 28,000 signatures, PinkNews noted. Zelensky has until July 22 to respond to the demands outlined in the petition, which include the legalization of same-sex marriages and civil partnerships. Same-sex relationships are not criminalized in the country, but marriages and civil partnerships are not recognized, meaning certain rights—such as co-ownership of property or joint adoption—are not permissible for LGBTQ+ partners. It also means that the partners of LGBTQ+ soldiers who have died while fighting the Russian invasion cannot collect their body to bury them.
Nintendo, the Japan-based gaming company and the creator of the classic-hit Mario, updated its company policy to clarify that it does not discriminate against employees who are in domestic partnerships with same-sex partners, India Today reported. As a part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives, the company says employees with same-sex partners "have the same benefits as employees in an opposite-sex marriage." The update is notable as its home country does not recognize same-sex marriages by law.
New Doctor Who addition Yasmin Finney (Heartstopper) confirmed that her character (a version of Rose Tyler) will be trans, per Out Magazine. During the Trans Pride March in London, she said, "How many of you have seen Doctor Who? Yeah, because that is also a moment, and that is also a show where my character is trans. So, Boris [Johnson], I hope you see Heartstopper, I hope you see Doctor Who, because I exist, and I know you know I exist."
In Scotland, Glasgow's Pride Mardi Gla is set to be the first major pride in Europe to have bisexuality as its theme, with celebrations getting underway July 16, The National noted. Political figures were slated to speak at the event, including Scottish Government minister Patrick Harvie, who is openly bisexual; and Councillor Jordan Linden, the leader of North Lanarkshire Council who will become the first gay council leader to speak at a Pride march in Glasgow. They were scheduled to be joined by a representative of President Joe Biden from Democrats Abroad who will talk about the recent decisions of U.S. courts and the impact they have worldwide for equality.
The National Black Justice Coalition commemorated International Non-Binary People's Day through a press release. Executive Director Dr. David J. Johns said, "Non-binary people have existed throughout human history. The cultural boom of they, them, and their pronouns is just one indication that the tides are finally turning against a pervasive and polarizing society where oppression is buttressed by myths that there have always been only two genders. Perpetuating a rigid and oppressive gender dichotomy has not stopped the emergence of the genderqueer revolution, nor will it. Gender is a construct. Its significance changes from nation to nation, state to state, and town to town. The more we force people to fit into constrictive stereotypes regarding 'manhood' and 'womanhood,' the more non-binary people and our allies will highlight how these constructs are designed to oppress and marginalize members of our beautifully diverse community."
British Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley was honored at Windsor Castle, as Prince Charles, standing in for Queen Elizabeth, bestowed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on the openly gay champion diver, The Washington Blade noted. Daley was accompanied to the ceremony by his American husband, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. In the citation, Daley was lauded for his services to British diving as well as in recognition of his charity work and his global advocacy of LGBTQ rights.
A biopic about the late British singer Amy Winehouse is in the works, helmed by Nowhere Boy director Sam Taylor-Johnson, per Variety. European studio Studiocanal is backing the film, which has been tightly under wraps. A script for the movie has begun circulating and is now in the casting stages.
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is set to give Nicholas Stoller's romantic comedy Bros, starring Billy Eichner, a world premiere in September, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Universal Pictures' Bros is billed as the first major studio film with an all-openly LGBTQ principal cast and will have a high-profile red carpet launch at TIFF. Eichner and Stoller co-wrote Bros, which is produced by Judd Apatow. The film also stars Luke Macfarlane, Amanda Bearse, Guy Branum, Guillermo Díaz, Dot-Marie Jones, Miss Lawrence, Eve Lindley, Ts Madison, Jim Rash and Monica Raymund.
Tanya Reynolds, who plays Lily, and Patricia Allison, who plays her girlfriend Ola on Sex Education, have both announced that they are leaving the cast ahead of the show's fourth season, per Out Magazine. "I'm not [returning], actually, which is sad, very sad," Reynolds told the UK's Radio Times.
Hours after winning his seventh title at Wimbledon with a four-set victory over Australian Nick Kyrgios, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic confirmed he has no plans to receive the COVID-19 vaccination and will not be playing the US Open unless the restrictions to enter the country are eased or he is given a medical exemption, ESPN reported. Currently Djokovic, 35, will not be able to play Down Under in 2023, either, as he's not eligible for a visa. (He was banned from the 2022 Australian Open, which Rafael Nadal won.) He acknowledged he was unsure when he would next be able to play a competitive match.
Tim Westwood has been accused of having sex with an underage girl as the troubling allegations against the veteran British DJ continue to mount, according to a HipHopDX item that cited the BBC.The victim, identified as Esther, claims Westwood had sex with her on several occasions in the early 1990s, starting when she was just 14 (below the age of consent in England); the DJ, now 64, was in his 30s at the time. Westwood, who is white, is currently facing a string of sexual-assault allegations from multiple women, all of whom are Black.
