Tel Aviv-Yafo authorities announced the cancellation of Tel Aviv’s annual Pride parade, saying it will instead hold a rally as a sign of pride, hope and freedom, per The Washington Blade. In a post, Mayor Ron Huldai wrote, “This is not the time for celebrations. In coordination with the organizations of the LGBTQ community, we decided that this year, instead of the Pride parade, we will hold a rally in Tel Aviv-Yafo as a sign of pride, hope, and freedom. 132 of our sons and daughters are still kidnapped in Gaza, the circle of bereavement is expanding every day, and we are in one of the most difficult periods of the State of Israel.” The coalition of LGBTQ+ community organizations praised the decision.
Books such as James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room and Michael Cunningham’s A Home at the End of the World have not been sold in Russia since April 22 because of recommendations from a new council set up by the Russian Book Union, France24 reported. The council decided the works violated article 6.21 of Russia’s code of administrative offenses, which bans “propaganda” advocating “non-traditional sexual relationships” but is often used to target anyone “sharing positive and even neutral information” about LGBTQ+ people, according to Human Rights Watch. Russia first passed a law against “gay propaganda” in 2013, expanding it in 2022 to outlaw depictions of same-sex relationships from advertisements, films, video games and books.
And on a related note, Inner West Sydney Mayor Darcy Byrne has called the LGBTQ+ book ban in Cumberland City Council, New South Wales, Australia “pathetic,” PinkNews noted. Recently, the Cumberland City Council voted in favor of banning its eight publicly funded libraries from offering any books that have content on same-sex parents. City councillor and former Cumberland City Mayor Steve Christou proposed the ban, claiming parents were “distraught” upon coming across Holly Duhig’s nonfiction children’s book Same-Sex Parents. “Inner West Council will continue to provide books and resources for all families, from all backgrounds, and will continue hosting drag storytime events, too,” Byrne said in a statement.
In Kenya, a rare pro-LGBTQ+ ruling was issued as the Mombasa High Court ruled that clerics, politicians and anti-LGBTQ+ groups cannot hold homophobic protests or engage in incitement, The Washington Blade reported. However, the ruling is only until July 24, when the court in Kenya’s second-largest city determines a petition on the issue. Last October, two petitioners—Mr. JM and the Center for Minority Rights and Strategic Litigation—sued Police Inspector General Japhet Koome for allowing religious leaders and lobby groups to hold homophobic protests whenever a court rules in favor of the LGBTQ+ community.
In Canada, a national monument called “Thunderhead” is being built in downtown Ottawa that will recognize the discrimination faced by 2SLGBTQ+ people across the country, CBC.ca reported. Survivors of the Canadian government’s LGBT purge recently dug shovels and broke ground alongside Indigenous elders and government officials, near the Ottawa River. Ottawa Councillor Ariel Troster, Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor and Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge—Canada’s first openly lesbian cabinet minister—were among the politicians in attendance. The LGBT purge refers to a period of time between the 1950s and mid-1990s, when thousands of members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian Armed Forces and the federal public service were discriminated against and often fired from their jobs because of their sexuality and gender identity. The $13-million project—paid for by the LGBT Purge Fund—is expected to be unveiled in the summer of 2025.
In South Korea, organizers of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival said the event will take place in the capital’s streets this year after the city government denied their requests to hold events at four locations, Reuters reported. For the second consecutive year, the panel overseeing events in the Seoul Plaza at city hall declined the request to hold the festival—although it has been held there every year since 2015, except during the COVID pandemic. In a statement, the city government denied charges of bias, claiming it was “always listening to voices and providing necessary support to protect human rights of LGBTQ people as members of society.”
Scottish Greens politician Ross Greer said the homophobic abuse he faces has become “considerably worse” in recent years, PinkNews noted. Greer, who became a member of the Scottish Parliament in 2016 at age 21—the youngest ever to be elected—said he even suffers “serious homophobic abuse” inside parliament. Speaking with the PA news agency to mark the 25th anniversary of the first MSPs being elected, Greer, now 29, spoke out about suffering homophobia and ageism, the latter of which he finds “very silly.”
Trans social-media figure Dylan Mulvaney will debut a new solo musical at Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe this summer, marking her first solo musical production as well as her Fringe debut, Playbill noted. The production will run at Assembly George Square Studios from July 31 to Aug. 25. Titled FAGHAG, the show will look at Mulvaney’s life behind the scenes of her TikTok series Days of Girlhood, which documented her gender transition. Mulvaney said, “I am over the moon excited to return back to my theatre roots! FAGHAG is a campy, queer love letter to my younger self, and my way of taking my story off of social media and onto the stage. I have a deep respect for the solo performance art form, and I can’t think of a more iconic place to premiere it than Edinburgh Fringe.”
The Guardian ran an article on how transgender actors in the UK are appealing to be cast in non-trans roles. Reece Lyons, Mariah Louca and Kim Tatum are among those actors, with award-winning Lyons saying, “I have never seen a trans woman on stage play a mother or a love interest.” In 2019, the performing arts and entertainment trade union Equity asked for more casting directors to consider trans actors for non-trans parts. However, from the experiences of this acting trio, that hasn’t happened. “We just want to have the chance to audition, to prove we are just as good as our cis counterparts,” said Tatum, who also performs under the name Mzz Kimberley.
Game of Thrones actor Ian Gelder has died at age 74, per NDTV. The news of Gelder’s death was confirmed by his actor husband, Ben Daniels, who shared the announcement on social media. In a post on Instagram, Daniels expressed his grief, stating, “It is with huge huge sadness and a heavy heart broken into a million pieces that I’m leaving this post to announce the passing of my darling husband and life partner Ian Gelder.” Daniels revealed that Gelder had been battling bile-duct cancer since December, and his passing came swiftly. The British couple had been together since 1993.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government voted unanimously to close Al Jazeera channel in that country, the outlet reported. The vote came after Israel’s parliament passed a law allowing the temporary closure of foreign broadcasters considered to be a threat to national security during the months-long war in Gaza. In one X/Twitter post, Israel Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said he had signed the orders against Al Jazeera, and that it would be effective immediately; he also ordered the seizure of Al Jazeera’s broadcasting equipment. Israel has had a complicated relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias against it and collaborating with Hamas; the Qatar-based network has repeatedly rejected the accusations.
Warner Bros. Discovery U.K. & Ireland commissioned the latest installment of its popular “Vs.” series with Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun: Bad Blood, per a press release. It will premiere on discovery+ in the U.K. and on Max globally in June, adding to the format that includes Johnny vs. Amber, Kim vs. Kanye: The Divorce, and Vardy vs. Rooney: The Wagatha Trial.” The docuseries will feature legal experts, journalists and those close to both Swift and Braun presenting each side of the argument.
Madonna ended her “Celebration” tour at Rio de Janeiro’s famous Copacabana Beach, where she performed for approximately 1.6 million fans, NPR noted. It was the last performance during her globe-trotting retrospective tour as well as her only “Celebration” date in South America—and it was the biggest live crowd of her career. Copacabana Beach has a history when it comes to huge pop spectacles: In 2006, The Rolling Stones played for an estimated 1.5 million fans there, while a 1994 New Year’s Eve show with Rod Stewart reportedly attracted about 4.2 million attendees.
Olivia Colman and John Lithgow head the cast of Jimpa—a multi-generational family tale involving a nonbinary teenager and her mother who take a trip to see their gay grandfather, per Variety. The Australia- and Europe-set film is directed by Sophie Hyde (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande). The film is currently being shot in Amsterdam and will later shoot in Adelaide, Australia and Helsinki, Finland. Lithgow also played a gay role when he co-starred with Alfred Molina as a same-sex couple in the 2014 film Love Is Strange, other outlets have noted.
Kevin Spacey criticized a documentary about him, per Variety. The two-part Spacey Unmasked was slated to air in the UK on May 6-7; Max has acquired it for the United States. The project is described as featuring “never-seen-before interviews and archive” to examine the actor’s life “from childhood to early success on Broadway and subsequent meteoric rise to stardom.” A description also states, “In 2023, Spacey was acquitted of sexual offenses against four men in a U.K. trial. This two-part series will investigate Spacey’s conduct and talks to multiple men unconnected to that case about their experiences with Kevin Spacey, almost all of whom have never spoken before.”