A Canadian Baptist church and association ordained two LGBTQ+ ministers from the United Kingdom on Oct. 27 because they could not be ordained in the Baptist Union of Great Britain, per Baptist News Global. First Baptist Church of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the Canadian Association for Baptist Freedoms ordained Andrea King and Luke Dowding as ministers. A news release from the church read, “Andrea and Luke, due to their sexuality and public position on LGBTQ relationships and LGBTQ safeguarding in the church, are unable to be ordained and accredited in the Baptist Union of Great Britain. This landmark expression of God’s expansive love and inclusive call is the result of years of partnership and building relationships between the Canadian Association for Baptist Freedoms, OneBodyOneFaith, and a global partnership for progressive Baptists.”
In Russia, a non-profit organization providing mental health and legal support services to LGBTQ+ people in the city of Yekaterinburg announced it would shut down after coming under “anti-queer pressure,” Erasing 76 Crimes noted, citing Moskva News Agency. The organization, called Lupta, was created in April 2023 as a support center for people facing discrimination over their sexual identity after its predecessor, the LGBT Resource Center, was deemed a “foreign agent.” Lupta organized lectures and provided individual consultations to LGBTQ+ Russians. Lupta’s closure comes about a year after the Russian Supreme Court banned the so-called “international LGBT movement” as “extremist.”
Thousands gathered on the streets of Taipei for the Taiwan Pride parade, according to 1 News. Attendees, many dressed in colorful costumes, walked while waving flags and banners with messages of inclusivity for gender equality; some of the marchers were from across the region, including Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan. (In fact, Taipei Times noted that more than 180,000 people celebrated LGBTQ+ equality and diversity in Taipei at East Asia’s largest Pride march, joined by Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim and RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Nymphia Wind.) The Taiwan Pride parade began in 2003 with only 700 participants gathering in a park in central Taipei—most of them wearing face masks to avoid stigmatization. Taiwan, an island democracy, became the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage (in 2019) after a campaign by LGBTQ+-rights advocates.
In the UK, 20-year-old Jack Crawley was found guilty of murdering 56-year-old Paul Taylor—and was sentenced to life in prison, the BBC noted. According to PinkNews, Crawley was also found guilty of attempted murder after trying to kill another man in North Yorkshire in January, in a similar attack after they met on Grindr. The court heard that Taylor left home in Scotland, where he lived with his wife Maria, in October 2023 and travelled to Carlisle to meet Crawley; the two men had previously met to have sex. Crawley—who admitted manslaughter but denied murder—claimed Taylor was fatally injured when he fell during a struggle as he tried to steal his car, and inflicted the skull and face fractures with a hammer to break up his victim’s body.
Hundreds of thousands of members of South Korea’s Christian groups held a service in Seoul to protest a landmark court ruling that acknowledged the rights of partners in same-sex couples to receive state health insurance, Reuters reported. In July, the country’s supreme court ruled that a same-sex partner was eligible for spousal benefits from the National Health Insurance Service. Kim Jeong-hee, a spokesperson for the service’s organizing committee, said the verdict was unconstitutional because same-sex marriage has not been legalized.
Famous Chinese transgender icon and TV host Jin Xing has reportedly faced an official ban on performing in the city of Guangzhou—allegedly because of her pro-LGBTQ+ stance, per The South China Morning Post. And this apparent ban prompted her to seek an explanation publicly on social media, reigniting significant online anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments. The controversy arose Oct. 22w when Jin—who has nearly 14 million followers on Weibo—revealed that her stage adaptation of Cao Yu’s classic work Sunrise was not approved by the Guangzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau for its scheduled performance in December. After seeking an explanation, Jin faced online backlash—such as from a military blogger known as Earth Lens A, who said, “As a public figure who practices and openly promotes LGBT, preventing you from using public spaces to pollute public morals is entirely justified.”
In Cologne, Germany, a Catholic retirement home is part of a pilot program aimed at enhancing LGBTQ+ elder care, according to a New Ways Ministry item that cites WorldCrunch. The Caritas Association for the City of Cologne launched the program in 2022 at St. Maternus retirement home, and the program incorporates everything from workshops to events like “Queer Seniors’ Evening.” There are approximately 1.8 million queer people older than 60 in Germany—a figure that helped Cologne recognize a growing need for facilities that can provide sensitive care to this demographic.
Ireland’s parliament passed a sweeping hate-crimes measure addressing a steep increase in violence against LGBTQ+ people both throughout the country and across Europe, The Washington Blade noted. The Criminal Justice (Hate Offenses) Act passed 78-52 on Oct. 23; the bill adds stiffer penalties to crimes if they are found to be motivated by hatred based on race, color, nationality, religion, national or ethnic origin, descent, disability, gender (including trans and non-binary identities), sex characteristics and sexual orientation. LGBTQ+-rights activists had mixed feelings about the bill, acknowledging the value of getting it passed but pledging to continue fighting for hate speech protections for trans people.
Also in Ireland, Presbyterian minister Reverend Dr. Katherine Meyer was censured and rebuked by the church for taking part in a Pride church service shown by Irish broadcaster RTÉ, according to the BBC. BBC News NI also noted that Meyer is also facing a further investigation into complaints that she attended the Dublin Pride parade in 2024. “Dr Meyer’s participation in the ‘RTÉ Pride Service – affirming queer worship’ organized by Amach le Dia was unwise and inappropriate,” a church court ruled.
In the UK, an investigation into the trans youth charity Mermaids revealed there was no evidence it provided medical advice to young people or made medical referrals without parental knowledge, PinkNews reported. The Charity Commission investigation, which began in 2022, was launched after several right-wing media outlets published pieces attacking the organization and its then-CEO Susie Green. The charity watchdog also decided that Mermaids did not have ineffective safeguarding policies, or inappropriate ties to gender identity clinics or the now-closed youth gender service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust in London. However, it also concluded that there had been mismanagement within the organization.
In Bangladesh, an assistant professor at Islamic University has been barred from teaching classes in response to pro-Islamist students’ protests that he is gay, per Erasing 76 Crimes. Protesting students burned an effigy of Assistant Professor Hafizul Islam at the main gate of the university and demanded his resignation. The LGBTQ+-rights advocacy group JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF) called the university’s action “a blatant violation of fundamental human rights and academic freedom.” The school formed a five-member committee to investigate students’ allegations, the newspaper Ajker Patrika reported.
In Ghana, Cardinal Peter Turkson reiterated his support for LGBTQ people, per The Washington Blade. Turkson is also among the few African cardinals who have supported the Fiducia Supplicans (Supplicating Trust) document that Pope Francis released last year. The document offers a narrow set of conditions under which a priest or deacon can bless a same-sex couple or unmarried heterosexual couples.
In the UK, teacher Camilla Hannan has been banned “indefinitely” from the classroom after outing a transgender pupil in a series of anti-trans tweets, PinkNews reported. A tribunal ruled that Hannan posted tweets on X/Twitter that mocked safeguarding regulations put in place to protect trans and non-binary pupils. The Manchester Evening News reported that Hannan also claimed that autistic pupils were unable to understand the “concept” of gender identity, and “repeatedly misgendered” the trans student.
In Australia, a man who was kicked out of a queer bar for wearing a Donald Trump hat has asked for an apology, claiming there was no “legitimate reason” for being asked to leave the Brisbane pub, according to News.com.au. Robert Holt was at The Wickham with his family for a Halloween event when he was asked to leave. “People around here don’t feel safe with people wearing items of (Trump-branded) clothing coming into this pub,” the staff member reportedly told Holt, before telling him “you have to go.” Holt added that he would’ve removed the hat had he been asked, but said the staff member “didn’t have a legitimate reason” to ask him to leave.
Miguel Ángel Gaxiola, a prosecutor in the Mexican state of Baja California, told reporters that it is unlikely that the killing of the out owner of a popular LGBTQ+ nightclub in Tijuana was a hate crime, per The Bay Area Reporter. Meanwhile, friends of Omar Guido Chávez held a funeral caravan to his club, Sodoma, and were planning a memorial. Chávez disappeared on Oct. 16 and his body was found two days later in the trunk of his car; he was decapitated and his limbs were severed, according to local media. Two people were arrested in connection with the killing.
Leading travel guide Lonely Planet unveiled its must-visit travel list for 2025, and the French LGBTQ+-friendly city of Toulouse took the top spot for 2025, per PinkNews. Appropriately known as the “Pink City” because of its distinctive architecture pinkish-orange terra cotta bricks and ocher rooftops, Toulouse is considered a haven for LGBTQ+ visitors. Some of the other cities in the top 10 include Chiang Mai, Thailand; Pittsburgh; Osaka, Japan; Palma de Mallorca, Spain; and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The Guardian gave a stellar review of Mr. Loverman, a UK series about a man (Barry, played by Lennie James) who’s a husband, businessman, father and grandfather—who has a secret male lover of five decades (Morris, played by Ariyon Bakare). Describing the show—adapted from the Booker Prize-winning British-Nigerian author Bernardine Evaristo’s novel—as “magnificent TV that will tear your heart open,” the series also shows the effect of the misspent years on Barry’s wife, Carmel (played by Sharon D. Clarke). Carmel has long suspected her husband of being unfaithful, although she thinks it has been with several women over the years. The outlet also stated, “There is closeness, vibrancy, violence and sorrow in the mix, plus an examination of many forms of love and how they can either strengthen or warp under pressure.” The show aired on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer.
UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) pledged to steer €1 billion ($1.08 billion) toward all levels of women’s soccer over the next six years as part of a comprehensive strategy to grow the game in Europe, per ESPN. The goal of UEFA’s plan—called “Unstoppable”—is to make “football the most-played team sport for women and girls in every European country,” doubling the number of fully professional national leagues to six and raising the number of professional players from 3,000 to 5,000. The previous UEFA women’s soccer strategy in 2019 aimed for 2.5 million registered players across its 55 member federations; the latest document reported 1.6 million last season.
A number of field visits have been planned to mark the 20th anniversary of Fight AIDS Monaco, per the Monaco Tribune. One of them was to Madagascar, a special country for Monaco’s Princess Stéphanie, who went there as well. Stephanie’s visit began at the SISAL Namontana dispensary, where she met the staff and beneficiaries of the Madagascan non-profit, which works to combat STIs and HIV by raising awareness and promoting prevention among at-risk communities. She also visited the Graines de Bitume educational integration dispensary, which focuses on social integration for extremely underprivileged children.
The first winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars has been crowned, The Advocate noted. At the conclusion of a grand finale with top contenders Alyssa Edwards, Kitty Scott-Claus, Kween Kong and Nehellenia—with Edwards prevailing. She received the grand prize of $200,000 and earned a spot in the International Pavilion of the Drag Race Hall of Fame. The very last Global All Stars challenge asked the top four finalists to write lyrics and work on choreography for the “Rumix” of a new song titled “Dance Like the World Is Watching.” Also, Drag Race France season-one star Soa de Muse was crowned Miss Congeniality.
World of Wonder revealed the superstar special-guest lineup and official trailer for the fourth season of Drag Race Down Under, which premiered Nov. 1, per a press release. The special guest judges joining new host Michelle Visage and Rhys Nicholson on this season include DJ G Flip, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 winner Sasha Colby, New Zealand actor/singer Ladyhawke, media personality Sophie Monk, pop star Peach PRC and actor Matt Okine.
British singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor shared the video for her new single, the disco-pop anthem “Freedom of the Night,” a press notice announced. The video (which features kids dancing in a competition) was filmed at London’s Rivoli Ballroom by longtime collaborator and friend Sophie Muller, and the work nods to the video of Ellis-Bextor worldwide hit “Murder on the Dancefloor,” which was launched back into prominence last year by being featured in the film Saltburn. Ellis-Bextor has also announced her biggest-ever UK headline tour in May and June 2025, including a headline show at London’s Royal Albert Hall; she also has three November 2024 dates in the States, with stops in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Atlanta scheduled.
The Weeknd debuted the song and music video for “São Paulo,” featuring queer Brazilian superstar Anitta, according to a press release. The release added, “Directed by the visionary FREEKA, the video takes a dark, jarring turn as Anitta, who is pregnant in the storyline, reveals an ever-emerging face within her belly.” The Weekend recently surpassed his own record as the artist with the highest monthly listeners on Spotify, with more than 120 million monthly listeners.