Tel Aviv authorities cancelled the city’s Pride parade—which was slated to have Caitlyn Jenner as the guest of honor—after Israel launched airstrikes against Iran, The Washington Blade noted. The Associated Press notes the Israeli airstrikes targeted nuclear and military facilities in Iran; initial reports indicated the airstrikes killed two top nuclear scientists and the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. In response, Iran launched more than 100 drones toward Israel. The Tel Aviv Pride parade had been scheduled to take place on June 13. Authorities, in consultation with local LGBTQ+-rights activists, cancelled the Tel Aviv Pride parade last year out of respect for the hostages who remained in the Gaza Strip after Oct. 7.
Episcopalians joined with other Christians in Rome for Roma Pride in the spirit of The Episcopal Church’s welcome of LGBTQ+ full inclusion, per the Episcopal News Service. (Last year, St. Paul’s Within the Walls made history as the first church in Italy to march in Roma Pride.) “We are the only Christian representatives who, fortunately, have a church that fully protects and assures the same treatment for LGBTQ people as everyone else,” Conner Drennen—who’s originally from Ohio but who now lives in Rome and serves on St. Paul’s vestry—told the outlet. Tens of thousands of people marched in the June 14 parade as Episcopalians joined with Christians affiliated with REFO (Rete Evangelica), evangelicals from United Methodist, Baptist and Waldensian churches, and Roman Catholics with La Tenda Gionata and Mosiako Roma.
And on a related note, Vienna, Warsaw and Athens also held pride parades on June 14, with attendees demanding political change on LGBTQ+ issues as well as celebrating Pride Month, euronews reported. Under the slogan “Love is the answer,” Warsaw Pride’s organizers expressed the hope that they could help others to express their LGBTQ+ identity openly and without fear. Among the most notable parade attendees was Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who recently lost the country’s presidential election; Minister of Equality Katarzyna Kotula—who recently submitted a bill to parliament to introduce civil partnerships, including for same-sex couples—also attended, as well as European Parliament member Robert Biedroń.
In Hungary, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony announced that Budapest Pride would return regardless of the recently-passed Hungarian law, stressing that “freedom and love cannot be banned,” according to PinkNews. Legislation approved in March by Hungary’s right-wing prime minister Viktor Orbán bans LGBTQ+ marches from taking place. The Muncipality of Budapest, alongside the Rainbow Mission Foundation, stated that it planned to revive “Budapest Freedom Day,” which it described as the “former tradition of celebrating freedom every June” commemorating the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary. Defying the law, it said the theme for 2025’s Budapest Freedom Day would be Budapest Pride.
A new study revealed that one in 10 LGBTQIA+ young people in Australia said they have been physically assaulted in the last year, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. However, 79 percent of respondents also said they had felt a sense of “acceptance and inclusion” relating to their identity in the last year. In addition, despite 10 percent of those surveyed saying they had “no-one” as a role model in their lives, others looked to friends, family, teachers, co-workers, and even influencers and celebrities, for inspiration. Minus18—a mental health organization for queer youth—released the data (which included the results from interviewing more than 2,700 young queer people) as part of its national Queer Youth Now survey.
Veterans slated to receive payments from the LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme will not lose out on other benefits after a legislative change, the BBC noted. The Scottish government confirmed that 1,200 armed forces members who suffered under the ban on queer personnel have now applied to the UK government’s payment plan. The ban was in place within the UK military from 1967 to 2000; after years of campaigning, the UK government announced the payments last December. Under the UK government scheme, those who were dismissed or discharged from the armed forces because of their sexual orientation or gender identity could receive £50,000 (about $67,825 U.S.).
In Uganda, two appeals seek to block the country’s anti-gay law and authorize the organizational name Sexual Minorities Uganda, or SMUG, per Erasing 76 Crimes. One of the cases challenges the decision of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) to ban the name “Sexual Minorities Uganda,” with the body saying the name was undesirable, was opposed to public policy and advocated criminal objectives. In the second case, 22 Ugandan human-rights advocates appealed the April 23, 2024 judgment of the Constitutional Court upholding the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) of 2023; that case, known as Hon. Fox Odoi-Oywelowo & 21 others v. AG & three others, argues the Constitutional Court erred in law and fact. No schedule has yet been announced for hearings on the Fox Odoi-Oywelowo case. However, regarding the SMUG appeal, lawyers filed the necessary submissions by the May 23 deadline, clearing the way for a hearing during this month’s Supreme Court civil appeals session.
Same-sex couple Jamie Ray Greenlaw-Meek and Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, who ran a spiritual wellness company in London, were among 52 British nationals killed when an Air India flight crashed in Gujarat, The Independent reported. The couple posted a video from the airport about their “magical experience” in India as they waited to board the Air India flight. (“My biggest takeaway is to not lose your patience with your partner,” Fiongal said with a laugh in the clip, to which Jamie replied, “You already snapped at me while having chai at the airport! I see you’ve learned nothing,” according to People.) Only one person survived the flight, which had 242 people on board.
In Chile, there is outrage surrounding the death of Francisco Albornoz—a 21-year-old gay pharmacist whose body was found on June 4 in a ravine in the O’Higgins region 12 days after he disappeared, according to The Washington Blade. Prosecutors charged Ecuadorian doctor Christian González and Chilean chef José Miguel Baeza in connection with Albornoz’s murder. Rossana Folli, the prosecutor in charge of the case, said Albornoz died as a result of traumatic encephalopathy after receiving multiple blows to the head inside an apartment in the city of Ñuñoa in late May.
Guadalajara, Mexico will become the epicenter of Pan American Pride 2027, taking place June 10-19 of that year, per a press release. Pan American Pride—a continental event that will have its first edition in that city in 2027—marks the beginning of a biennial tradition. The program is slated to include concerts, international conferences, a human-rights forum, art, cinema, gastronomy, community activations, family spaces, a Pride fair, health activations, parties—and, of course, a grand Pride march that will make history in the region. The link to the event is here.
Anne Isabella Coombes—a 67-year-old transgender female swimmer—swam topless with her breasts exposed at the Cornwall County Masters swim meet as a protest to being forced to compete with cisgender men by Swim England, according to LGBTQ Nation. Swim England told Coombes she was no longer eligible to compete in the women’s category, despite her doing so in 2022 and 2023. When Coombes asked what she’d be required to wear during swim meets in the “open” category, Swim England replied that she would “need to wear a female swimming costume despite having to compete with the men, which ‘outs’ me as a woman who is transgender,” she told The Reading Chronicle. Coombes said she has been protesting against the recent UK high court ruling that the legal definition of a woman under the country’s 2010 Equality Act is based on “biological sex.”
Queerty ran a piece on how the graves of Australian outlaw Captain Moonlite (real name: Andrew George Scott) and soulmate James Nesbitt became a heritage site. Late 19th-century local newspaper reports commented how Scott wept over a mortally wounded Nesbitt “like a child, laid his head upon his breast, and kissed him passionately.” Scott—who was hung for his part in the death of a constable (in the same shootout that killed Nesbitt)—went to the gallows wearing a lock of his beloved Nesbitt’s hair on his finger. In 1995, two local Gundagai women (moved by Scott’s burial wishes to be buried next to Nesbitt) led a successful grassroots campaign to have his body exhumed from Rookwood and transported 220 miles to North Gundagai Cemetery, where Nesbitt is believed to also lie in an unmarked grave; Scott’s new tomb was given a proper stone marker, and is now a pilgrimage site for fans of both Australian bushranger history and global queer heritage.
In the UK, as Portsmouth was recently at the heart of UK Pride this weekend, an iconic war vessel in the Hampshire city covered in rainbow colors was also there to mark 25 years since a ban on LGBTQ+ people serving in the military was lifted, the BBC noted. Portsmouth Historic Quarter and military charity Fighting with Pride came together last month to celebrate LGBTQ+ veterans. Until January 2000, the “gay ban” saw many queer people who served their country face dishonorable discharges, losses of medals and criminal charges because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Out British actor Rupert Everett—who’s on the board of Italy’s Taormina Film Festival—spoke about everything from the entertainment industry to AI, according to Deadline. Asked about the state of the industry while at the festival, Everett replied, “I think for me it’s not having a very good moment because I preferred the world of entertainment when it was a little bit less puritanical. … I don’t feel, for me, there’s personality behind a lot of things; there’s just this horrible political movement of kind of cinematic wokery [that] I really don’t like. I think it’s as bad as the 4th-century Christians in the Roman Empire; they’re destroying everything.”
All Things Go—which announced the first installment of its forthcoming benefit compilation, with 100% of the proceeds going to its longtime collaborators at the queer organization The Ally Coalition—announced its expansion to Toronto with a new festival taking place Oct. 4-5, anchored at the Budweiser Stage, a press release noted. According to the release, “All Things Go has continued to grow in scale, ambition, and attendance – while staying true to its mission to intentionally focus on female and non-binary-led lineups, and its ongoing commitment to cultivating diverse, inclusive spaces within the music community.” For the inaugural All Things Go Toronto Festival, the ATG team is partnering with Live Nation Women. Participating acts will be revealed soon.
British singer/songwriter Lola Young announced her new album, I’m Only Fucking Myself, due Sept. 19 via Island Records, per a press release. The forthcoming album will include the previously shared groove “One Thing,” which arrived with a Dave Meyers-directed video. Earlier this month, Young was direct support to Billie Eilish for her Paris shows at Accor Arena and performed at both Summertime Ball and Meltdown Festival in London. Last month, Young came out as part of the LGBTQ+ community, according to People.
Emmy-winning media company World of Wonder (WOW) announced the cast of queens who will be returning to the stage to compete in the inaugural season of Drag Race France All Stars, per a press release. The competition, featuring 10 queens, will premiere July 10 on WOW Presents Plus in the United States, and globally excluding France, where it will air on France 2 and France.tv. French superstar Nicky Doll will return as host, and will be seated beside her longtime accomplice and judge Daphné Bürki; new judges include French pop icon Shy’m and journalist/filmmaker Loïc Prigent. Competitors include Soa de Muse, Piche, Moon, Punani, Elips, Kam Hugh, La Big Bertha, Magnetica, Misty Phoenix and Mami Watta.
Four people have been given suspended jail sentences by a Madrid court after being found guilty of a hate crime related to an effigy of Real Madrid player Vinicius Jr., according to Reuters, citing La Liga. They were all involved in hanging a banner reading “Madrid hates Real” and an inflatable black effigy in a replica of the Brazilian’s No. 20 shirt on a bridge before a Copa del Rey match against Atletico Madrid in 2023. The individuals will not serve prison time because all four signed a letter of apology to Vinicius, Real Madrid, LaLiga and the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF). Vinicius has been subjected to racial abuse on several occasions in Spain.