Mexico City honored the LGBTQ+ community with an altar called "'Phobias That Kill: The Colors That Hurt," Yahoo! News noted. It featured colorful skulls painted in Mexican hues as well as an elaborate arrangement of bright marigolds, the traditional flower of the Day of the Dead. In 2019, 117 LGBTQ+ people were killed in Mexico—up almost a third compared with 2018 and the highest number since 2015, according to LGBTQ+-advocacy group Letra S.
A far-right nationalist candidate in Bulgaria's Nov. 14 presidential election was detained and charged with hooliganism and infliction of an injury over a weekend attack on an LGBT community center in the capital of Sofia, Reuters reported. Boyan Rasate, a politician known for his strong anti-LGBT positions, has not admitted any guilt and has declined to make a statement. Activist Gloria Filipova, of the Rainbow Hub, told the media during the course of the assault, in which there was extensive damage to property at the center, Rasate struck her in the face, SofiaGlobe.com noted. The Rainbow Hub incident is far from the only homophobic one in Bulgaria recently; there was a string of such incidents ahead of the 2021 Sofia Pride, and in recent years.
A hacker group calling itself Black Shadow threatened to reveal personal details of 1 million users of Israeli's leading LGBTQ dating site—an attack some cyber experts linked to Iran, according to france24.com . The Atraf dating site was compromised after Black Shadow hacked CyberServe, an Israeli internet service provider whose clients include public transportation firms, museums and a travel company. The leaked records included users' HIV status, sexual orientation and unencrypted passwords. Ran Shalhavi, CEO of The Aguda: The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel, said his organization had extended its emergency hotline hours to deal with a flood of worried callers.
Marvel Studio's film Eternals will not be released in three Gulf countries, according to out.com . The Hollywood Reporter noted the superhero film (which stars Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek and Kit Harington, among others) has been scrubbed from websites in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. While no official reason was provided for the removals, sources suggested the apparent bans came in response to the film's depiction of the MCU's first gay superhero, Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), and husband Ben (Haaz Sleiman).
A shootout on a Mexico beach prompted the lockdown of a hotel hosting a weeklong event that an LGBTQ+ travel company organized, The Washington Blade noted. Mexican media reports indicate a group of 15 armed men who are members of rival drug gangs began to shoot at each other on the beach in front of the Hyatt Riva Riviera Cancun, in Puerto Morelos. Vacaya organized the event at the hotel. Social-media posts showed pictures of hotel guests gathered in the lobby, while others indicated they were told to shelter in place.
BBC doubled down on defending an anti-trans article, sending an infuriating response to those who complained, PinkNews reported. Recently, the BBC published an article titled "We're being pressured into sex by some trans women." The article used a survey of just 80 people, conducted by the anti-trans pressure group Get The L Out, to claim that trans lesbians are routinely pressuring cis lesbians into sex, and that cis people are being "shunned and even threatened for speaking out." It received massive backlash, with many submitting complaints and more than 20,000 people signing an open letter to BBC upper management and editorial staff.
Canada officially has its queerest Cabinet in history, Xtra reported. There will be a few different policies and issues on the plates of the country's three queer ministers, based on Liberal platform promises and current events. Seamus O'Regan, now in the role of labor minister, will be dealing with the imposition of vaccine mandates in all federally regulated workplaces, as well as the implementation of 10 paid days of sick leave in those same federally regulated workplaces. Also, Randy Boissonnault has been assigned the role of both minister for tourism and the position of associate finance minister; and new minister Pascale St-Onge has been assigned the portfolios of sport and the Economic Development Agency for the Regions of Quebec.
LGBT Rights Advocacy China announced it was ceasing all activities and shutting down its social-media accounts, NBC News reported. "We are deeply regretful to tell everyone, Queer Advocacy Online will stop all of our work indefinitely," the group said on WeChat, using the name of its social-media account. It closed its accounts on WeChat and Weibo, two widely used platforms in China.
Years & Years announced a headline UK and Ireland arena tour for 2022, PinkNews noted. Olly Alexander will perform dates next spring in support of his upcoming album, Nightcall. It will mark the first Years & Years album and tour as a solo project from Alexander, an LGBTQ-rights advocate, following the departure of band members Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Turkmen.
The LGBTQ film Coalesce will be coming to digital VOD on Dec. 14, courtesy of Ariztical Entertainment, a press release noted. Coalesce looks at three young men (Phearum, Songsa and Thy) whose lives traverse while managing life in Phnom Penh, the rapidly changing capital of Cambodia. The official trailer is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP7l0P0s0zk.
A new K-pop group says it's making history: The four-member Lionesses claim to be the first openly LGBT K-pop boy band, the South China Morning Post reported. On Nov. 1, the quartet shared their first song, "Show Me Your Pride," which explores the struggles of LGBTQ+ life, coming out, hatred and homophobia, and more. A music video for "Show Me Your Pride" depicts the members of Lionesses masked until the end, when one reveals his identity. The song was produced with support from the South Korean activist organization Beyond the Rainbow Foundation's Ivan City Queer Cultural Fund, which aims to support LGBTQ+ representation in South Korean culture.
Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright has announced "Argentina"—a song and accompanying video from his soon-to-be-released all-new concert recording, Rufus Wainwright and Amsterdam Sinfonietta Live, a press release noted. The new album arrives Friday, Nov. 26, via BMG's Modern Recordings on vinyl, CD and digital download, with two additional bonus tracks on digital format and CD formats.
Mexico's national soccer team will play its next two World Cup qualifying home matches in an empty stadium because of fans who notoriously chant antigay slurs at opposing players, out.com reported. Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) revealed the punishment in its most recent disciplinary review. It found the Mexican team guilty of "discriminatory behavior by supporters" during games against Canada and Honduras in October. The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) was also fined 100,000 Swiss francs (around $110,000) for the continued behavior of its fans.
Bravo's long-running franchise about the dramatic, luxurious lives of wealthy women in various cities will expand in 2022 with The Real Housewives of Dubai, EW.com noted. The new series will mark Bravo's 11th iteration of The Real Housewives, following last year's debut of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Dubai will also mark the network's first official franchise entry set outside the United States.
