In Afghanistan, Maryam Ravish and friend Maeve Alcina Pieescu remain in jail after being detained by the authorities, who claimed they found evidence of LGBTQ+ content on their phones, per PinkNews. (Ravish’s partner, Parwen, escaped.) Speaking to PinkNews through translator and human-rights activist Nemat Sadat, Parwen said her partner and friend are being interrogated and tortured daily, stating, “They are throwing hot water at them and beating them unconscious, and when they would come back conscious, they start interrogating them to get them to confess things about other LGBT people.“ Afghanistan is the second-worst place in the world to exist as an LGBTQ+ person, according to Equaldex.
Andry Hernandez Romero—a gay makeup artist who came to the United States in 2024 in search of asylum—was one of 238 Venezuelan migrants who were flown from the U.S. to a maximum security prison in El Salvador recently, according to CBS News. President Trump, who campaigned on eradicating the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, brokered a deal with El Salvador’s president that allows the U.S. to send deportees to the Terrorism Confinement Center. Hernandez Romero left his home country last May because he was targeted for being gay and for his political views, his attorney, Lindsay Toczylowski, said, adding that she fears for her client’s safety.
Greece has recently enacted a law banning single men and male same-sex couples from becoming parents through surrogacy, according to Instinct Magazine. This change comes on the heels of Greece’s legalization of same-sex marriage, marking a significant moment for LGBTQ+ rights in the country. Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis said the ban aims to define legal understandings of incapacity to bear a child, emphasizing that this incapacity is not related to one’s gender. This move aligns Greece with several other European nations that have restrictive surrogacy laws, including Italy.
The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA) hosted an LGBTQ+ Travel Symposium in Mexico City, bringing together industry leaders, government officials and travel professionals to discuss the growing LGBTQ+ travel market and Mexico’s role as a leading inclusive destination, a media release noted. The symposium highlighted key destinations including Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, Cancun, Riviera Maya, Los Cabos, Zipolite and Mexico City while emphasizing the potential for other regions to expand LGBTQ+ tourism. The LGBTQ+ travel market is expected to surpass $568 billion by 2030, making it one of the fastest-growing sectors in global tourism.
UK officials met recently in London with human-rights activists from the United Kingdom, Uganda and Kenya to plan tactics for opposing multi-national conservative-led homophobia at an event chaired by Dame Nia Griffith, MP, the minister for equalities, Erasing 76 Crimes noted. British advocacy group Protection Approaches (PA), which combats identity-based violence, sponsored the gathering. Among the activists addressing the meeting was Frank Mugisha, the executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG). Remarks also came from Erick Mundia, the policy and advocacy manager at Kenya-based Ipas Africa Alliance, an abortion rights advocacy group; Klara Wertheim, the head of global programs at the British LGBTQ advocacy group Stonewall; and Farida Mostafa, PA’s Queering Atrocity Prevention Manager.
In Indonesia, Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of the Archdiocese of Jakarta has become an unlikely ally of transgender activist Ratu Thalisa, who was sentenced to almost three years in prison for posting what was alleged to be “hate speech” against Christianity, per New Ways Ministry. Shortly after Thalisa made a joke about Jesus’ hair on TikTok last October, five Protestant Christian groups filed a complaint to the police accusing her of blasphemy—which is a crime in Indonesia. After her conviction in mid-March, Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo urged that she be released, saying that “to live out our religion, we have to have a sense of humor”—and even proposing that even “Jesus would laugh” at the joke Thalisa made.
Following such countries as Hungary and Russia, the nation of Georgia has introduced a bill to ban Pride marches and symbols, per Erasing 76 Crimes. The proposal comes in the wake of strict anti-LGBT “propaganda” legislation that passed last year. Political opponents would prefer closer ties with the European Union and have been protesting against the government nearly continuously since October.
In Canada, a Catholic school board in Toronto decided to continue its Pride flag ban after a trustee tried to revise the policy, according to New Ways Ministry. Brea Corbet—a member of the Mississauga West Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board—proposed that schools with three flagpoles could fly a Pride flag in addition to the Canadian and Ontario banners. The current policy allows Pride flags to be hung inside school buildings during a specific “observance period” and must be removed for the rest of the year. However, the board vetoed Corbet’s idea; trustee Paula Dametto-Giovannozzi said the Church “is called to love all people” but schools should not “outwardly promote” queer identity, claiming the ban is not a form of discrimination but rather a part of Catholicism.
In Bangladesh, queer people were attacked in two recent incidents, per Erasing 76 Crimes. One assault happened in Rangpur, in northern Bangladesh; the other was in Narayanganj, outside the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka. The human-rights organization JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France condemned the incidents, saying, “The abduction, rape and blackmail of a young man in Rangpur, along with the rape of another in Narayanganj, are appalling violations of human rights and stark reminders of the systemic discrimination and violence faced by LGBTQI+ individuals in Bangladesh.” Regarding the first assault, four members of a teen gang were arrested; a neighbor allegedly sexually assaulted the victim in the second incident.
Queer pro tennis player Daria Kasatkina won her first match representing Australia in the second round of South Carolina’s Charleston Open, ESPN noted. (She beat one American, Lauren Davis, but lost to another, Sofia Kenin, in the next round.) Kasatkina had been playing on the tour as a neutral athlete after Russian and Belarusian players were banned from competing under their own flags following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Kasatkina recently announced that the Australian government accepted her application for permanent residency.
Grindr has branched out into programming and its travel series, Host or Travel, has debuted its second season, per Instinct. A press release stated that Host or Travel “[follows] real Grindr users as they explore global gayborhoods, uncovering hidden gems and queer culture in each city—from drag shows in Taipei to naked bars in Amsterdam.” According to Statista, Grindr has more than 14,300,000 monthly users as of December 2024.
Legendary actor and outspoken Donald Trump critic Robert De Niro will receive the Cannes Film Festival‘s honorary Palme d’Or at the opening-night ceremony of the 78th edition, Deadline noted. As part of the honor, De Niro will also give an onstage master class in the Debussy Theatre for festival-goers on May 14. De Niro was last on the Croisette in 2023 to debut Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and was president of the Cannes jury in 2011. This year’s Cannes Film Festival runs May 13-24.
Big World Pictures will present the U.S. theatrical release of the Argentine/Italian/Spanish LGBTQ+ film Most People Die on Sundays—a work written by, directed by and starring Iair Said, a press release noted. This film had its world premiere at Acid at Cannes Film Festival, and will be released at the Quad Cinema in New York on May 2, and at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on May 9. Loosely based on Said’s real-life experiences when his own father died, the film is the story David (Said), a young middle-class Jewish man—corpulent, gay and afraid of flying—who returns to Buenos Aires after the death of his uncle. During the trip home, after a year spent studying in Italy, David learns that his mother plans to disconnect his father’s respirator, as there is no chance of the man emerging from a long coma.
After returning with the disco-pop anthem “Freedom of the Night” last year, British songstress Sophie Ellis-Bextor released her first new music of 2025 with “Relentless Love,” per a press release. Ellis-Bextor said, “‘Relentless Love’ came from my love of funfairs and the way that falling in love and going on a ride can be a similar thrill. Ferris wheels, roller coasters… all of them can make your perception of reality a little wonky and give you a rush. They are sometimes unpredictable but also an exciting way to shift your perspective for a little minute.” She has had hits such as “Murder on the Dancefloor” (which saw a resurgence after being part of the last scene of the movie Saltburn), “Take Me Home” and “Get Over You.” Ellis-Bextor will tour the UK and Ireland in May and June.
Unsurprisingly, given her anti-trans views, British Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling recently praised cisgender fencer Stephanie Turner, who was disqualified for refusing to take on transgender opponent Redmond Sullivan at USA Fencing’s Cherry Blossom Festival, according to Them. Sullivan finished 24th overall in the field of 39 competitors (including Turner), with Shuang Li picking up the fifth gold medal of her career. Rowling wrote online that Turner is “what a heroine looks like,” after sharing another post from former tennis star and anti-trans campaigner Martina Navratilova, who said she was “fuming” and shamed USA Fencing for “throw[ing] women under the gender bullshit bus.”
Robert Irwin—the 21-year-old TV personality and son of the late Australian zookeeper and conservationist Steve Irwin—is showing plenty of skin in a new underwear campaign for Australian underwear brand Bonds, according to Out, citing People. Posing with snakes and venomous spiders, Irwin was supported by sister Bindi (Dancing with the Stars; a judge on Drag Race Down Under), who attended the shoot. Robert told People that “it was a pretty immediate yes” when he was approached about the ad; he also stated that he’s “trying to do as many different and random exciting things” at this point of his career.
In the UK, Mickey Rourke received a formal warning on ITV’s Celebrity Big Brother after queer singer/reality-TV figure JoJo Siwa accused him of making homophobic comments about her, Variety noted. According to the BBC, 72-year-old Rourke asked if 21-year-old Siwa was romantically interested in boys or girls, and she replied, “Girls. My partner is non-binary.” He then said, “If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore”—to which Siwa said, “I can guarantee I’ll still be gay and I’ll still be in a very happy relationship.” Rourke then made a comment that he was “going to vote the lesbian out real quick,” which Siwa overheard. Rourke later apologized for his comments.