Protests were held in Dublin and Belfast after a temporary ban on the sale or supply of puberty blockers was extended to Northern Ireland, the BBC reported. First Minister Michelle O’Neill had defended Sinn Fein’s position after criticism of the party’s position, saying her party wants “the best possible medical support for children and young people who need trans healthcare.” O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little- Pengelly reportedly approved a request from the health minister to extend the ban without wider Stormont executive approval.
LGBTQ+ Indians are demanding an end to the country’s “discriminatory” ban on blood donation, according to the BBC. Indian laws prohibit queer people from donating blood because of the supposed risk of HIV/AIDS; it is compulsory for donors to be free from diseases that are transmissible by blood transfusion. The policy dates back to the 1980s, when several countries imposed similar bans to rein in a global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Sharif Rangnekar, a writer and activist, has filed a petition in India’s Supreme Court against the ban on blood donation by LGBTQ+ people.
Kenya’s LGBTQ+ community has criticized homophobia in the country’s places of worship—leaving some of them with the option of embracing the Cosmopolitan Affirming Church (CAC), a new queer-friendly church in the capital of Nairobi, The Washington Blade noted. The queer community also noted that the plan by Kenyan MP Peter Kaluma to introduce a punitive anti-homosexuality draft law in parliament that is supported by religious leaders and others has increased homophobic hate and stigma in places of worship. “As a pastor, I have worked in a [religious] space that as someone who I identify myself as a queer priest, I have been excluded from that very space out of lies that lack the truth to justify my exclusion,” said Godfrey Adera, an associate pastor at CAC.
Also in Kenya, GALCK+—the nation’s largest umbrella LGBTQ+ organization—has partnered with Grindr to allow their members to access vital information about their rights, per The Washington Blade. GALCK+, a coalition of 16 LGBTQ+-rights groups, announced its partnership with the dating app under the Grindr for Equality initiative; GALCK+ is the second LGBTQ+-rights group in Africa, following IntraHealth Namibia, to enter into such a collaboration with Grindr.
British LGBTQ+ wheelchair tennis player Lucy Shuker was named as a flag-bearer at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, PinkNews noted. Shuker followed the lead of fellow LGBTQ+ sports icon Tom Daley, who was named alongside Helen Glover as Team GB’s flag-bearers for the Paris Olympics opening ceremony back in July. Shuker has competed in every summer Paralympics since 2008 in Beijing, winning a silver medal in Tokyo.
Tennis icon Martina Navratilova continued her anti-trans stance in criticizing a court ruling that favored a trans woman who sued a women-only app for alleged gender bias, according to sportskeeda. Roxanne Tickle—a trans woman from Australia’s New South Wales province—was banned from using the app Giggle for Girls in 2021 after initially being identified as female. “This is a step backwards and is rooted in patriarchy, thank you. And that’s not the real photo. A totally disingenuous tweet- That’s not Roxanne Tickle,” Navratilova replied on X. Also, GBN noted that Navratilova has also called Valentina Petrillo a “pathetic cheater” as the transgender runner was set to make history at the Paralympics in the 200m and 400m events, having won bronze medals in both events at the World Para Athletics Championships last year. Navratilova shared an interview Petrillo gave, adding, “Yet another male stealing women’s trophies.”
PinkNews reported that Australia’s 2026 Census will again overlook LGBTQ+ people. The federal government announced that the upcoming Census, which collects information from people, won’t ask people about gender, sexual orientation or diverse sex characteristics. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) previously published a message about excluding members of the queer community from the 2021 Census, saying that they “recognized that some members of the LGBTIQ+ community experienced hurt, stress, anguish and other negative reactions to some Census questions.”
At least five gay men have been killed since March 2024 after planning encounters through dating apps in Brazil, per Reuters. The string of murders and assaults has shaken the gay community in Brazil, which is large but still often cautious of law enforcement. This reluctance makes it a target for criminals, according to three people who said they had been attacked as well as LGBTQ+-rights advocates. “Because of structural homophobia, criminals know that LGBT people are vulnerable. They know they will be more easily intimidated,” said Wanderley Montanholi, an attorney for the family of Heleno Veggi Dumba, a gay doctor who was found dead in April in Sao Paulo after being shot. Police have also warned of “love cons” involving straight men lured into kidnappings.
A male Chilean flamingo couple successfully adopted an egg and hatched a chick from it, per Metro Weekly. The same-sex couple, Curtis and Arthur, are believed to have secured the egg after it was abandoned by one of the opposite-sex flamingo couples at the Paignton Zoo in Devon, England. “We aren’t entirely sure how this has come about, although it is a known phenomenon in Chilean flamingos as well as other bird flocks,” Pete Smallbones, curator of birds at the zoo, said in a statement. The flamingos’ numbers are declining in their native South American habitat due to egg harvesting, disturbances from tourism and lithium mining, which drains saltwater lakes, where the flamingos make their homes.
LGBTQ+-rights activists in Mauritius lauded Michelle Karla—the first transgender woman to reach the final of the Miss Universe Mauritius pageant, per The Washington Blade. The event took place on Aug. 10, and Karla was among the top 15 finalists who were vying for the ultimate crown that Tania Renée, a cisgender woman, won. “Queer visibility has often been weaponized against the LGBTQ community and the participation of Karla in Miss Universe Mauritius one year after the advancement of the transgender rights project where trans people have started being positively represented is a powerful message and symbol of a door being opened by us for us,” said activist Hana Telvave.
The IGLTA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association, announced Ricky Au (he/him) as a 2024 Global Fellowship recipient, per a press release. Au is from Zhongshan, China and is currently a student at the Macao University of Tourism. As part of the fellowship program, Au will attend the 2024 IGLTA Global Convention in Osaka, Japan.
The celebrity guest judges have been announced for season six of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, a press release noted. Some of them include Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon MBE, TV presenters Amanda Holden and AJ Odudu, and supermodel/London fashion icon Kristen McMenamy. RuPaul will be joined on the judging panel by regulars Alan Carr, Graham Norton and Michelle Visage.
German Formula 1 race winner Ralf Schumacher reacted to an emotional interview from his ex-wife, blasting her for “spreading so many lies,” according to GPFans. Schumacher—who recently came out of retirement to claim a double victory in a race with son David—recently revealed to the world that he was in a relationship with a man, in a post on Instagram that amassed more than 500,000 likes. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Ralf’s ex-wife Cora Brinkmann said she felt “used” by the former F1 driver, and suggested that she only found out about Schumacher’s coming out via the media. Ralf has suggested that Brinkmann’s claims are “lies,” posting an image of WhatsApp messages allegedly showing a conversation between her and his partner, Etienne, as proof; according to the photo, she congratulated the couple after mistakenly thinking they had married.
In transforming herself to portray opera diva Maria Callas in Maria, Angelina Jolie said at the film’s premiere in Venice that “the way I related to her, maybe a surprise, was probably the part of her that’s extremely soft and doesn’t have room in the world to be as soft as she truly was—as emotionally open as she truly was. …I share her vulnerability more than anything,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Jolie spent about seven months preparing for the part. Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain has said his star’s preparation involved multiple stages, beginning by working with opera singers and coaches to master a professional singer’s posture, breathing and movement—as well as Callas’ accent. Maria, which Netflix has picked up, tells the story of Callas’ final days in Paris in the 1970s.
K-pop boy band Stray Kids announced their upcoming 2024 to 2025 “dominATE” world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, Europe, North America and more, according to NME. The APAC (Asia-Pacific) leg of the tour will open with four shows at the KSPO Dome in South Korea from late August to early September. Afterward, the boy band will play shows across East Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia, up until mid-January 2025.