Queer News Round Up June 7 – June 13
As Queer Kentuckians, staying informed about LGBTQ+ news worldwide is essential. Changes in policy, activism, and culture in other regions can impact our community and efforts locally. Our weekly global news roundup keeps you updated on important LGBTQ+ developments, ensuring we remain informed and connected.
- Toronto Pride Faces Monetary Blow from Dropped Sponsorships: Toronto Pride, which takes place at the end of June, has had their sponsorships from Google and Home Depot withdrawn. An event with nearly 3 million attendees annually will now have to decide how to keep up funding, with grassroots efforts being the most likely method. At pride festivals across the globe, similar cuts in funding are popping up everywhere.
- National Meeting of Southern Baptists Endorse Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: The meeting, which took place on June 10th, called for overturning multiple legal rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges. They also urged legislators to endorse policies promoting childbearing and heterosexual marriages.
- Trans Kenyans Fear Buying Period Products: Trans and nonbinary Kenyans avoid buying necessary sanitary products due to the fear of being ridiculed, harassed, and excluded from places like work or school. Even in healthcare environments, AFAB trans Kenyans are verbally abused. Improvised methods of managing periods pose serious health threats.
- Puerto Rico Now Allows “X” as a Gender Marker on Birth Certificates: Six lawsuits were filed by nonbinary people against government officials, which led to a ruling established on June 2nd allowing nonbinary individuals to update their birth certificates. This was decided by their Supreme Court, seven years after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that would allow transgender people filing lawsuits to change their gender marker.
- Pride Event Takes Place in Bangkok, Thailand: Thailand’s queer people took to the streets on June 1st for a celebration of LGBTQ+ pride. The pride parade was attended by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, being only the second sitting prime minister ever to participate since the first in 1999. Over 300,000 people attended, with the parade stretching over a distance of nearly two miles.