Trans women could be barred from playing women's rugby in England under new recommendations from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) that will be voted on soon, PinkNews reported. The move is a U-turn from the governing body's policy that proposes trans women who weigh more than 90 kg (198.4 pounds), taller than 170 cm (5.6 feet) or both should undergo a "risk assessment" to decide if they'd pose a threat to cis women. LGBTQ+-rights advocates criticized the RFU over the policy and said it must "try harder" if it wanted to make "rugby more inclusive for players."
The European Union's (EU's) executive intensified its legal standoff with Hungary by taking the country to the EU's highest court over a restrictive law on LGBT issues and media freedom, a Denver Gazette item stated. The EU had already tried for a year to make Hungary change a law that bans content portraying or promoting homosexuality. The EU said it "discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity."
Thousands of South Koreans took part in an LGBTQ+ festival in downtown Seoul, as Christian and conservative groups held a rally in protest across the road, Reuters noted. Dubbed raw Seoul Queer Culture Festival, about 13,000 people were estimated to have participated, Yonhap reported. "I'm glad we can have an offline festival after a long time. LGBT people are not hateful people who appear one day out of the year but people who live their daily lives just the same," said Hurricane Kimchi, a drag queen who attended the festival. "The Queer Festival has gotten bigger, and many LGBT people show up without hiding, because the perception in our society is getting better."
Members of Ukrainian LGBTQ+-rights organizations were among the more than 100,000 people who took part in Berlin's annual Pride parade on July 23, The Washington Blade reported. The Christopher Street Day march — which began near Berlin's Potsdamer Platz—passed through the city until it ended at the Brandenburg gate. Members of Kyiv and Kharkiv Pride and the Organization of Refuge, Asylum and Refugee were among those who took part.
Ahead of a potential ban on conversion therapy in Tasmania, a petition being pushed by the Australian Christian Lobby says the community has been "taken by surprise" by the push to outlaw conversion practices and urges it be reconsidered, according to ABC.net .au. Conversion practice, or therapy based on the belief a person's gender identity or sexuality can be changed is still legal in more than half of Australian jurisdictions. Tasmania was the last Australian state to decriminalize homosexuality.
In a press release, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) commended the World Health Organization (WHO) for taking the step to declare the monkeypox virus (MPV) a global health emergency. The designation means the WHO views the outbreak as a significant threat to global health, requiring a coordinated international response. The last time a global health emergency was declared was in 2020, in response to COVID-19. The CDC noted that as of July 23, there were 2,891 confirmed cases of MPV in the United States, although this number is likely low due to limited testing capacity.
The Scottish Greens are set to debate if the party should formally cut ties with the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) over a row about transphobia and devolution, The National reported. Rainbow Greens, a representative group for LGBT+ members of the Scottish Greens, submitted a motion that seeks to suspend the party's formal association with the GPEW. It will be debated at the Scottish Greens conference in October, where party members will vote on whether to enact the motion with immediate effect.
LGBTQ+-rights activist Jimmy Sham launched a new legal bid to force Hong Kong to recognize the status of same-sex couples who were married overseas, with his lawyer arguing that differential treatment from heterosexual couples violates people's right to equality, according to Hong Kong FP. Sham, who failed in his initial judicial challenge in September 2020, appealed against the lower court's ruling before a three-judge panel consisting of Chief Judge of the High Court Poon Shiu-chor, Vice President of the Court of Appeal Susan Kwan and Justice of Appeal Carlye Chu. Sham is currently detained under the national security law for conspiracy to commit subversion by organizing or taking part in an unofficial democratic primary election in July 2020.
Two students at one of China's most prestigious schools, Tsinghua University, were issued warnings for distributing LGBTQ rainbow flags, highlighting how the nation's increasing intolerance for sexual diversity is extending further into campuses, Bloomberg noted. The pair were reprimanded for placing 10 handheld flags on a table at an on-campus supermarket in Beijing on May 14 alongside handwritten notes encouraging people to take the items, according to a person familiar with the incident who asked not to be identified publicly discussing a sensitive issue.
A wave of anti-LGBTQ hate speech has followed last month's decision by the Lebanese interior ministry to shut down any events aimed at promoting "sexual perversion," according to a Haaretz item. The setback is part of a broader clampdown on marginalized groups and freedoms that activists say aims to distract the public from Lebanon's spiraling economic and financial crisis, which has pulled more than three-quarters of the population into poverty.
Adam B, a popular Northern Ireland children's TV presenter and YouTuber, has come out as gay in a video, PinkNews noted. B (real name: Adam Beales) opened up about his coming out journey in a nine-minute long video shared with his 3.42 million YouTube subscribers. He praised his family, who joined him in the video, for being so supportive and described how it was the "best feeling ever" that "nothing changed" after he came out to his family.
Lady Gaga kicked off her long-awaited Chromatica Ball tour to promote her latest studio album released in 2020, Out Magazine noted. During this first concert in Dusseldorf, Germany, Gaga performed songs from most of her albums—from The Fame to the A Star Is Born soundtrack to Chromatica. At the moment, the Chromatica Ball has 20 scheduled shows taking place in North America (including Chicago, Boston, Toronto, San Francisco and Atlanta, among other spots), Europe and Asia.
A video shared by model Serena de Ferrari went viral for featuring an Italian nun separating two girls from kissing during a photo shoot for Not Yet Magazine, Out Magazine noted. In the video, Ferrari and fellow model Kyshan Wilson were taking a picture kissing each other—and, suddenly, a nun came into the shot screaming and immediately separating the two girls. The models were taken aback by the interruption but ultimately found it to be funny.
Out lesbian Australian-British actress Miriam Margolyes (best known for her role in the Harry Potter movies) recently had a series of blunders as she swore live on TV before leaving viewers in shock as she branded Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio "smelly," The Daily Mail noted. The actress left This Morning viewers in hysterics as she apologized for causing offense in the past with her potty mouth—only to swear when making her apology.
U.S. Open organizers released a statement confirming they will respect the U.S. government's requirement that non-citizens and non-immigrants be vaccinated to enter the country, which will include Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic unless he gets vaccinated in the next few weeks, Yahoo! Sports noted. Djokovic did say he was waiting "hopefully for some good news from [the] USA because I would really love to go there," but rising COVID-19 case rates due to the BA.5 variant in the country and around the world likely nixed any chance of that.
