In the UK, the Metropolitan Police debuted a staff network dedicated to gender-critical views, according to PinkNews. Details about the new Gender Critical Network were shared on the Metropolitan Police’s internal intranet alongside an introduction to what gender-critical views are—stating they are beliefs “widely shared by a diverse range of men and women of all sexualities, races, nationalities, faiths and political persuasions.” When the post was shared with PinkNews, there were concerns that the police’s LGBTQ+ Network had not been consulted or informed about the formation of the Gender Critical Network; however, a spokesperson clarified that the LGBTQ+ Network had been informed and that the police force is continuing to liaise with its LGBTQ+ groups.
LGBTQ+ immigration organizations are pleading for international governments to help free two jailed Afghan women before they are imprisoned or executed, PinkNews reported. Taliban authorities arrested and detained Maryam Ravish, 19, and Maeve Alcina Pieescu, 23, in Afghanistan after attempting to flee to Iran in March. After trying to board a Kabul International Airport flight alongside 20-year-old Parwen Hussaini, Ravish’s partner, reportedly to escape persecution, the pair were detained; authorities reportedly found evidence of LGBTQ+ content on their personal devices. Nemat Sadat, CEO of the LGBTQ+ Afghan protection nonprofit Roshaniya, is among those urging governments and human-rights groups to help free the pair, who have reportedly been charged with homosexuality and apostasy [renouncing a particular religion—in this case, Islam].
In Brazil, a non-binary person was granted official documents with a neutral gender marker for the first time in a historic and unanimous court victory, per LGBTQ Nation. The case involves an anonymous person who originally requested to be recognized as male on their official documents after they started hormone replacement therapy, but who later regretted making this decision and appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice in Brasilia. A panel of five judges at the court ruled in their favor, with Judge Nancy Andrighi writing, “This human being must be suffering greatly. To undergo surgery, take hormones, become what she thought would be good for her and then realize it was not the case.”
India Today ran an article on that country’s queer cinema scene’s journey from the fringes to the mainstream. For the ‘90s and 2000s kids, Dostana was probably the first mainstream film that openly featured gay characters and, initially, queer characters were often reduced to individuals with effeminate qualities. Indian cinema’s engagement with queer representation actually dates back to the ‘90s with director Deepa Mehta’s 1996 film Fire, which explored a lesbian relationship—which was met with protests but opened the door for dialogue. In 2023, Malayalam actor Mammootty played a gay man in director Jeo Baby’s Kaathal: The Core. Speaking exclusively to India Today Digital, Baby agreed with several actors that the film industry has evolved in the past few years: “There has been social impact and, because of LGBTQ+ activism, we are seeing many films. The perception towards such films has come down. It’s now become a collective responsibility to support such films.”
The Japan Foundation announced that Los Angeles–based performance artist Ei Arakawa-Nash will represent Japan at the 2026 Venice Biennale, according to a press release. For the Pavilion, Arakawa-Nash will create a new installation that, according to the announcement, will explore his perspective as a queer parent of newborn twins in order to “dissect nationalism and patriarchy.” “I thought I would never have a chance to represent Japan at the Venice Biennale after I gave up my Japanese nationality a few years ago. … Now, my husband and I busily raise two children who are new parts of the Asian diasporic community in Los Angeles,” Arakawa-Nash said in the announcement. Active since the early 2000s, Arakawa-Nash has created performance works that draw on the 1950s and ’60s avant-garde, particularly drawing on movements such as post-war Japanese Gutai, Tokyo Fluxus, Viennese Actionism and Happenings.
Queer Australians are nixing travel plans to D.C.’s World Pride festival taking place May 23-June 8, as President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting LGBTQ+ rights lead to fears of discrimination at the U.S. border and potential attacks, The Guardian noted. People skipping the global event join other Australians and travelers from around the world who are avoiding the States after Trump’s inauguration and several controversial policies enacted in the early months of his second term. When Sydney hosted World Pride in 2023, more than 1 million people attended the festival, with about 100,000 tourists visiting the city. Reports of valid passport and visa holders being denied entry as well as mistreatment by customs and border officials prompted Equality Australia to issue a specific warning to gender-diverse Australians and those with a record of LGBTQ+ or political activism.
Also in Australia, the continent’s first-ever housing co-op dedicated to trans women received “life-saving” government funding, per PinkNews. In 2024, the city of Sydney sold seven discounted terrace homes in Darlinghurst—known to locals as Sydney’s LGBTQ+ hub—to community housing provider Common Equity New South Wales; the provider partnered with the trans-owned co-op to make inner-city properties available for women in the community. New South Wales government division, Homes NSW, has since allocated AUD 2.4m ($1.54 million U.S.) to go towards the refurbishment of the properties, while the Federal Government’s Social Housing Accelerator Funds program has awarded the group an additional AUD 1.8m ($1.16 million U.S.).
Mr. Bates vs The Post Office and the LGBTQ+ offering Mr. Loverman were the big victors at the BAFTA TV Awards, Deadline noted. Hosted by The Traitors star Alan Cumming, the BAFTA ceremony took place on the banks of the River Thames at London’s Royal Festival Hall. Mr. Bates beat Baby Reindeer—the awards-season darling that won at the Emmys and Golden Globes; Reindeer’s Jessica Gunning did, however, take home the prize for Best Supporting Actress. Lennie James took home Best Leading Actor in a highly competitive category for Mr. Loverman, edging competitors such as Richard Gadd and Gary Oldman; the series also won for Supporting Actor (Ariyon Bakare). The BAFTA TV Awards screened on BBC One in the UK and BritBox in the United States. In Mr. Loverman, the marriage of Antiguan-born Londoner Barrington Jedidiah Walker (James) collapses after a decades-long affair with his male best friend is revealed.
A customer who complained about a Pride campaign at a local branch of NatWest—a major retail and commercial bank in the UK based in London—had his complaint rejected and was told he can bank online or send someone else to the bank on his behalf, PinkNews noted. The customer, known only as Mr. J in documents, tried to make his local branch remove Pride-related materials, which he said he found offensive. An ombudsman subsequently ruled in favor of NatWest, saying the bank had a right to display pro-LGBTQ+ items in branches.
Kristen Stewart is joining TheWrap for a live conversation on her directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, in TheWrap’s Cannes Conversations series, presented in partnership with Brand Innovators at the Brand Innovators Salon D’Affaires pop-up inside the Armani Caffé on the Croisette, per a newsletter. Taking place May 16-18, the program features filmmakers, changemakers and creative visionaries at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in exclusive conversations with TheWrap CEO/Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman and Awards Executive Editor Steve Pond.
Vantage Media and Verdi Productions announced the North American VOD release of Knockout Blonde—the authorized documentary of transgender British boxing manager Kellie Maloney, a press release noted. The movie features noted trans actor/activist Alexandra Billings as well as music by Cher, Elton John, Little Richard, Sade, RuPaul and Maroon 5. Knockout Blonde debuts on Cable and Digital VOD on May 20, including Apple TV, Fandango at Home and Prime Video.
Queer Wicked actor Cynthia Erivo will play Bram Stoker’s demonic vampire and 22 other roles in Dracula—a one-woman theatrical extravaganza set for next year in London’s West End, per Deadline. Dracula, adapted and directed by Kip Williams, marks Oscar-nominated Erivo’s return to the stage for the first time since her Tony-winning role as Celie in The Color Purple, which she starred in for two years in New York before exiting in January 2017. The Sydney Theatre Company production of Dracula will play the Cameron Mackintosh-owned Noel Coward Theatre for a limited 16-week engagement Feb. 4-May 31, 2026.
Live Nation Productions announced the feature documentary Rock Out, directed by LGBTQ+ Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black and produced by Academy Award nominee Bill Gerber, a media release noted. According to a statement, “Excavating the often-veiled queer lives of some of the greatest culture-defining disruptors and masterminds of music in the sixties and seventies, Rock Out demands to know what unique value ‘gay’ brought to creating and revolutionizing rock. From Little Richard and The Beatles to Elton John and David Bowie, Live Nation Productions’ Rock Out digs deep to uncover the untold queer stories behind rock & roll and their lasting influence today.” The movie is premiering at the UK’s Sheffield DocFest on June 18-23.
The Queer Britain Museum is hosting an exhibition celebrating new acquisitions from LGBTQ+ musician Jimmy Somerville through May 25, according to its website. In 1984. Somerville’s first band, Bronski Beat, released its debut album, The Age of Consent; the album title was a response to the age of consent for gay men, which, at the time, was 21 in the United Kingdom. The exhibition includes T-shirts from the ACT-UP campaign, a customized Levi’s jacket, hand-typed lyrics to the Bronski Beat track “Screaming” and promotional posters for “Smalltown Boy.” In addition, there’s the 2024 short documentary Why?—a reimagined video of Bronski Beat’s enduring LGBTQ+ anthem, originally released in 1984.
In France, Kim Kardashian testified in the case of the robbers who held her at gunpoint in her hotel room and took $6 million worth of jewelry, Variety noted. Kardashian took to the stand to deliver her account of her robbery on Oct. 3, 2016, during Paris Fashion Week; she said that, while wearing only a bathrobe, she was zip-tied and her mouth was taped shut, according to the Associated Press. “I was certain that was the moment that he was going to rape me,” she told the court. “I absolutely did think I was going to die.” There were originally 12 people accused of the crime; however, one of the so-called “grandpa robbers” (called that because most are in their 60s and 70s) died before the trial and one was excused due to illness.
The BBC confirmed that out gay actor Stephen Fry, gay Olympian Tom Daley, Ted Lasso star Nick Mohammed and singer Paloma Faith are just a few of the 19 celebs slated to take part in the Scottish Highlands on Celebrity Traitors UK, per Deadline. Broadcaster/author Clare Balding, presenter Jonathan Ross, singer Charlotte Church, comedian Joe Wilkinson, actor/comedian Tameka Empson and out gay comedian Alan Carr are some of the other participants. The celebrities will play the ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust as they aim to wish a cash prize up to £100,000 ($132,000) for a charity of that person’s choice.
More than 30 people—mostly male teenagers—have been arrested over attacks on Australian men who were lured over LGBTQ+ dating apps like Grindr, The New Zealand Herald reported. Videos of some attacks were posted to social-media accounts, Victoria state police said. The suspects, most aged from 13 to 20, were accused of contacting victims on dating apps or social media and then assaulting, robbing and threatening them as well as making homophobic insults. “It’s mainly occurring on Grindr but also Scruff and Snapchat,” a police spokesperson said.
French movie star Gérard Depardieu was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on the set of a movie in which he starred—and received an 18-month suspended prison sentence from a Paris court, the AP reported. The 76-year-old actor was convicted of groping a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant during the filming of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) in 2021. The court also fined the actor and requested that he be registered in the national sex offender database. In recent years, Depardieu has been accused publicly or in formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women, but so far only the sexual assault case has gone to court. French actress, former co-star and Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche said of Depardieu, “He’s not a sacred monster; he’s a man who lost his aura owing to facts that occurred and were looked at by a court.”