In Georgia, Beka Jaiani, 26, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murder with particular cruelty and beating in the death of transgender model/actor Kesaria Abramidze, 37, according to Erasing 76 Crimes. Jaiani had partially admitted guilt but rejected claims of particular cruelty or that there were gender-based motives for his actions. According to media reports, Jaiani and Abramidze were in a relationship for about two years and fought many times before the September 2024 killing. Jaiani’s attorney, Giorgi Mdinaradze, criticized the verdict as “based solely on moral considerations rather than moral grounds,” and said he would appeal the conviction.
Brazilian congresswoman Erika Hilton, who is transgender, says she was issued a U.S. travel visa listing her gender as “male,” per LGBTQ Nation. Hilton, one of the first two out trans people elected to the National Congress of Brazil in 2022, told Folha de S.Paulo that she had been scheduled to participate in a panel at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s 2025 Brazil Conference—but canceled the trip after receiving her visa. According to Folha de S.Paulo, Hilton was previously issued a U.S. travel visa in 2023 that listed her gender as female. When she presented documents—including her birth certificate and diplomatic passport, on which her gender is listed as female—to the U.S. embassy in Brazil this year, they were ignored. “I felt violated, disrespected and I felt that my country’s powers were being invaded by a completely delusional person, a sick man who occupied the presidency of the United States and feels he owns the truth,” Hilton said.
British actress and queer ally Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) has raised almost £70,000 (about $100,000) for the trans charity Not A Phase following the UK. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that the legal definitions of “man” and “woman” are based on a person’s “biological sex,” according to Them. The actress originally set a fundraising goal of £10,000 (about $13,265) and pledged to match donations up to that amount, and now she has since set a new fundraising goal of £79,699.21 (approximately $105,725).. Legal researcher Jess O’Thompson explained on LGBTQ+ news site Queer AF that trans people in the U.K. can now be excluded from all “single-sex” spaces under any circumstances and cannot make equal pay claims.
Nicola Coughlan also criticized HBO’s Harry Potter series, saying she “wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole,” according to PinkNews. Coughlan took to her Instagram Story to slam the series, which has author JK Rowling as an executive producer. Rowling recently celebrated the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that the legal definition of a woman excludes transgender women, and confirmed that she donated money to the gender-critical group that brought the case forward. Shaun of the Dead actor Nick Frost disabled comments on a post celebrating his casting in HBO’s series after fans reacted with upset over his involvement.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has restricted South Africa from participating in clinical trial networks that study new medicines to prevent and treat HIV, according to Science. The development adds to the damage to the country’s HIV efforts from President Donald Trump’s administration’s earlier foreign research funding cuts and its dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This is a “tragic turn of events,” said Glenda Gray, an HIV/AIDS researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand and chief scientific officer at the South African Medical Research Council. “It’s petty and punitive to the scientists and participants who rolled up their sleeves to work with the NIH to address diseases that affect all our nations.”
As the April 28 Canadian federal election gets closer, Yahoo! Life took a look at where the three major candidates stand on queer issues. Prime Minister Mark Carney, of the Liberal Party, decreased former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s 37-member cabinet to 24 and, in the process, dismissed the Minister for Women, Gender Equality and Youth; among the others to go was the Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Disabilities. Carney’s lack of public discussion of his family (including a trans daughter) is seen by some as avoiding discussing trans issues, while others see the fact that he has trans family members as a potential sign of allyship. Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre once said that he’s “not aware of any other genders than man and woman” while New Democratic Party of Canada leader Jagmeet Singh has long made a name for himself as a queer ally.
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper addressed a recent trans-rights protest in London by condemning graffiti found on several statues along the route, PinkNews reported. Cooper called messages of trans solidarity on the statues of several influential figures, including South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts, “disgraceful.” Thousands of trans and non-binary people, as well as allies, came together across central London to condemn the UK Supreme Court ruling that stated the characteristic of “sex” under the 2010 Equality Act refers to “biological sex.”
LGBTQ+-rights organization Colors Rainbow has been among the many groups helping people who were affected by a powerful earthquake that rocked Myanmar, The Washington Blade noted. Colors Rainbow launched a system of multipurpose cash transfers, directing funds to local LGBTQ+ partner organizations; these grassroots partners, in turn, provide essential support to affected individuals that includes emergency cash assistance, food, non-food items, clean water and basic emotional support tailored to the needs of their communities. “We estimate that around 500–800 LGBTQ individuals have been impacted in the affected areas, particularly in Mandalay Region, Sagaing Region, and southern Shan state,” said Colors Rainbow Executive Director Hla Myat Tun. “So far, we have been able to directly assist around 80–100 LGBTQ individuals.”
Bernardo Rabello—a 29-year-old personal trainer and model from Rio de Janeiro—made headlines across his South American homeland after being selected for the Mister Brazil 2025 pageant, representing the southern region of Rio de Janeiro, according to Queerty. He is now the first trans man to ever compete in the Mister Brazil pageant. “I am very happy to be challenging myself [on] this national stage to increasingly develop myself and help people from our country and the world through my experiences,” Rebello (who participated in Mister Rio de Janeiro 2019 and won the title of Mister Brazil Trans in 2021) said in a statement. “Sharing my experiences and being able to learn from everything and everyone will be my main goal in this new journey.” Lucas Laet was crowned Mister Brazil 2025 on April 5.
The late legendary gay UK singer George Michael has been nominated for the prestigious Ivor Novello Award in the Most Performed Work category recognizing his contribution as the songwriter of WHAM!’s beloved holiday classic “Last Christmas,” per a press release. Michael remains the only individual songwriter in history to receive the prestigious Ivor Novello “Songwriter of the Year“ award three times—in 1985, 1989 and 1997. In 1985, at just 21 years old (when he composed “Last Christmas”), he became the youngest recipient of an Ivor Novello Award. Overall, he is a 13-time nominee.
Transgender woman Isabella Panes is suing the Chilean national police (Carabineros) for employment discrimination, per The Washington Blade. She alleges she was marginalized from operational duties and relegated to administrative tasks despite wanting to be trained to patrol the streets like other officers. Panes has also claimed that she was subjected to constant mockery by colleagues, dissemination of private information about her personal life, and invasive questions about her body and sexual orientation.
K-pop group Just B’s member Bain recently told fans that he is “proud to be part of the LGBT community,” the BBC noted. The star, 23, is now among only a handful of K-pop artists who have come out publicly, and he did so in a rare move in an industry known for its tight control over artists’ behavior and their private lives. Bain made the announcement in front of fans while performing a solo at a concert in Los Angeles.”To anyone out there who’s part of the LGBT community, or still figuring it out—this is for you guys,” Bain, (real name: Song Byeong-hee) said in a video posted on his social media after the concert. “You are seen, you are loved, and you were born this way,” he added, before performing “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga, whom he called “my queen.”
A gay Canadian couple (Jeremy Alexander and Ryan Sheepwash) said the Sheraton Buganvilias Resort and Convention Center in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, quoted them more than $80,000 for their wedding ceremony and guest rooms and said there was no availability until March 2027—while giving their two friends much better rates for their hypothetical opposite-sex weddings and, in one case, saying several dates were available in early 2026, NBC News noted. “We felt we’d be indirectly complicit to the system if we’re aware of it and we’re not combating it,” Alexander said to NBC News. “That was the major driving factor in us wanting to put the story out there.” A spokesperson for Marriott International, the parent company of Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, emailed that “The Sheraton Buganvilias has been active in the LGBTQ community in Puerto Vallarta for years, not only hosting LGBTQ+ weddings and groups but also supporting Pride events in Puerto Vallarta.”
World Rugby aims to protect players and combat online abuse at the Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 through an extended partnership with Signify Group, per a press release. The service also covers all Emirates World Rugby Match Officials appointed to World Rugby men’s and women’s competitions through the end of 2026—including at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025—extending a service that began in 2023. World Rugby Chief of Women’s Rugby Sally Horrox said, “Every player and official deserves to feel safe and respected. This new service is a clear signal that we will not tolerate abuse and we are committed to creating an environment where women in rugby can thrive without fear.”
The Professional Women’s Hockey League awarded its first expansion team to Vancouver, SportsPro noted. The team will join the North American ice hockey league from the 2025-26 season and play its home games at the 16,281-seat Pacific Coliseum, the former home of the National Hockey League’s (NHL’s) Vancouver Canucks. The team will operate as PWHL Vancouver until its permanent name and branding are unveiled. Vancouver is the first addition to the league’s founding six teams in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, New York and Minnesota.
In the UK, a gang has been luring men over Grindr before bursting into their homes in a series of burglaries being treated as homophobic hate crimes, Yahoo! News noted, citing The Independent. It’s believed approximately 50 crimes have taken place between October 2024 and March 2025, and officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime Command are asking for more victims to come forward. Superintendent Owen Renowden said the force were treating the series of “pre-planned” burglaries and frauds as a hate crime. In January, a gang who used Grindr to lure four men to parks in Birmingham to attack and rob them were jailed for 80 years combined.
In the UK, the BBC One series The Traitors is set to introduce its first celebrity spinoff in 2026, and it has quite the queer ensemble, Queerty noted. LGBTQA+ participants include TV journalist Clare Balding, pop star Cat Burns, gay comic Alan Carr, classical singer Charlotte Church, gold medal-winning diver Tom Daley, actress Tameka Empson, thespian Celia Imrie, musician/actress Paloma Faith and actor/comic Stephen Fry. Some of the other contestants include former rugby player Joe Marler, comedian/actor Nick Mohammed, comedian Lucy Beaumont and Irish actress Ruth Codd (Netflix’s The Fall of the House of Usher).
The Fyre Festival—that infamous music event founded by Billy McFarland and Ja Rule that was the subject of two separate documentaries—is getting a new life as a music streaming service, per Deadline. The deal came shortly after it emerged that the second version of the festival—set to take place in Playa del Carmen, Mexico—was postponed indefinitely. The service is slated to launch on the TruBlue streaming service (co-founded by Shawn Rech and former To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen) on Thanksgiving.