Category Archives: News

News stories on lesbian rights, violence and discrimination against the lesbian community, and our unwavering response.

Italy: Young lesbian kidnapped and beaten by parents

They decided to lock her in the house, not accepting her sexuality. The key figures in this disconcerting story are a couple from Ercolano, Naples. The carabinieri arrested the two parents (47 and 43) for kidnapping and mistreatment of their 19 year old lesbian daughter. The parents had already threatened to burn down the house of their daughter and her 20-year-old girlfriend. The two young women, frightened, had taken refuge in the home of a friend. The parents of the 19-year-old, however, had installed a GPS in their daughter’s cell phone and managed to find the girls, showing up at the house and forcefully taking their daughter amid the screams of those present, dragging her into the car to leave.

Continue reading at: https://qds.it/non-accettano-che-sia-lesbica-chiudono-casa-arrestati/ (Source)

Before the kidnapping, the young woman had been subjected to violene and threats: “They beat me with a club, I wanted to end it all. My mother told me she would come to cry at the cemetery.”

Continue reading at: https://www.ilgazzettino.it/italia/cronaca_nera/ragazza_lesbica_minacciata_chiusa_in_casa_famiglia_fidanzata_chiama_carabinieri-8706102.html?refresh_ce (source)

Other articles:

Hong Kong: Lesbian Jeanne Cheung Jing-lam plans first elderly LGBTQ co-living space

A lesbian insurance agent is planning to set up the first co-living space for elderly LGBTQ people in Hong Kong, with service options including financial planning to help provide legally recognised asset arrangements for same-sex couples.

Jeanne Cheung Jing-lam, 32, aims to raise HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) through crowdfunding to convert the disused Jordan Square shopping centre into a five-storey co-living space, which would include communal areas such as a bistro, a gym, a garden, a lounge and activity spaces for hosting talks and screenings.

Continue reading at: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3298882/hong-kong-woman-dreams-creating-citys-first-elderly-lgbtq-co-living-space (source)

China: rare lesbian bar closed after a decade

Jun 27 2024 For nearly a decade Roxie was one of Shanghai’s (and China’s) few lesbian bars. It hosted speed dating and pole dancing, and boasted an unusually risqué decor (patrons were encouraged to hang their bras above the counter). But earlier this month the bar announced that it would close. It blamed “forces beyond our control”, a euphemism for official pressure.

Continue reading at: https://www.economist.com/china/2024/06/27/roxie-one-of-chinas-few-lesbian-bars-closes-its-doors (Source)

Cameroon: president’s daughter comes out

11 July 2024 The daughter of Cameroon’s president has said she hopes that her coming out as a lesbian can help change the law banning same-sex relations in her country. Brenda Biya told the Le Parisien newspaper that there were many people in her situation and she hoped to inspire them. …

In the interview with France’s Le Parisien, she said she had not informed anyone in her family before publishing the post. “Coming out is an opportunity to send a strong message,” she said. She added that she found the anti-gay law, which existed before her father came to power, “unfair and I hope that my story will change it”.

Paul Biya, 91, has been Cameroon’s president since 1982 and is one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.

Continue reading at: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1we656754eo (Source)

Peru: lesbian couple fight to have their marriage recognised

Gabriela Zavaleta and Fabiola Arce, a Peruvian couple, filed an action before the Superior Court of Lima so that the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (Reniec) can register their civil marriage, celebrated in Argentina in 2023.

This is the first case to be heard in court by the ‘Sí Acepto Perú’ campaign, which has a total of 10 lawsuits in progress.

Original: Gabriela Zavaleta y Fabiola Arce, una pareja de mujeres peruanas, presentaron una acción de amparo ante la Corte Superior de Lima para que el Registro Nacional de Identificación y Estado Civil (Reniec) pueda inscribir su matrimonio civil, celebrado en Argentina en el 2023.

Este es el primer caso que se encuentra en instancia judicial de la campaña ‘Sí Acepto Perú’, la cual tiene 10 litigios en proceso en total.

Continue reading at: https://www.infobae.com/peru/2025/02/15/pareja-lesbiana-presenta-accion-de-amparo-para-que-reniec-reconozca-su-matrimonio-en-el-peru/ (Source)

Nigeria: lesbian’s journey after forced marriage and rape

When Vivian, a 22-year-old lesbian, reached out for help through Qtalk, an online counseling app for LGBTIQ+ Nigerians, her words reflected the depth of her despair: “I don’t know how to live anymore. My parents forced this man on me, and now I’m pregnant after he raped me. I feel like my life is over.”

Vivian’s story is one of profound trauma and resilience. After her parents discovered her sexual orientation, they subjected her to a horrifying ordeal, coercing her into a situation meant to “correct” her identity. This culminated in sexual assault by a man they imposed upon her, leaving her pregnant and deeply traumatized. Isolated and betrayed by the very people who should have offered her unconditional support, Vivian turned to the online counseling platform as a last resort.

Continue reading at: https://76crimes.com/2025/01/20/qtalk-lesbian-journey/ (Source)

To support the Qtalk project financially, click HERE.

Argentina: Four attacks on lesbians in two weeks

In 14 days there were four attacks and attempted attacks on lesbians in Argentina. They occurred after President Javier Milei’s speech in Davos , in which he made a hateful LGBT+ speech full of misinformation. They also occurred in weeks marked by the Antifascist and Antiracist Pride March . They are people who openly show their identity: feminist activists, a couple who walked hand in hand, another who lived in a home and even one woman returning from an assembly prior to the massive march on Saturday, February 1. Many are in a precarious housing situation. In some cases, violence had already been been accompanied by insults and threats. 

The escalation of attacks in the last two weeks still brings to mind the triple lesbian murder in Barracas on May 5, 2024. Then, as now, disinformation speeches against sexual diversity set the media agenda and contributed to a violent context. Before the attack that ended the lives of Andrea, Pamela and Roxana and seriously injured Sofía, Justo Barrientos had repeatedly insulted them, alluding to the victims’ sexual orientation, and had threatened to kill them. One day, he made it happen.

Continue reading at: https://agenciapresentes.org/2025/02/20/argentina-cuatro-ataques-a-lesbianas-en-dos-semanas/ (Source)

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Argentina: lesbian activist survives seven stab wounds in own home

12 February 2025 A 32-year-old lesbian activist, Mariana Oliver, known as “Nina”, was brutally attacked in her home in the city of Oran. A man entered her home and stabbed her seven times in an attempted murder.

According to the Panambi feminist collective, to which Oliver belongs, the attack was an attempted lesbicide and they reported that the aggressor, Juan Marcelo Córdoba, had been harassing several members of the group on social media.

This is not the first attack that Oliver has suffered, as in 2021 he was also the victim of an attack due to his identity. The attacker was arrested and the arraignment hearing is expected to take place.

Continue reading at: https://www.notife.com/ataque-homofobico-una-activista-lesbiana-sobrevivio-a-siete-punaladas (Source)

More information:

U.S.: lesbian applicant refused for empty post

A San Francisco lesbian’s application to the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance Task Force appears to be in jeopardy after Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman said Monday that he could not support the nominee because he disagrees with her. A motion from the Rules Committee to forward Cynthia Dai’s name to the full board with a positive recommendation failed, and the panel continued the item until next week.

Dai, a former member of the San Francisco Elections Commission, first spoke at the committee’s February 10 meeting, where she was the only applicant for the sunshine task force. … The seat on the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force has been open for a year. It is for the unexpired portion of a term that ends April 27, 2026. 

Continue reading at: https://www.ebar.com/story.php?ch=News&sc=News&id=338116&title=lesbians_application_to_sf_open_government_panel_appears_in_jeopardy (source)

Argentina: man attacks young lesbian couple on street

This Wednesday, in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Recoleta , a violent episode was recorded that, once again, highlights the close relationship between the hate and discrimination speeches emanating from the highest levels of the State and the actions in the daily lives of those who adhere to these speeches.

A lesbian couple, aged 26 and 24, were brutally attacked while they were walking down the street hand in hand . The attack was carried out by a man in his 30s (whose name is being withheld by the police) who was riding a bicycle and, after intercepting them on their way, attacked them. It was around 6:30 p.m., when Y. and A. were walking calmly down Ecuador Street, as they usually did, and when they reached Córdoba Avenue they came across the attacker, who intimidated them by blocking their way with his bike and then hit them .

“I was walking hand in hand with my girlfriend, since I had an appointment at the dentist and we decided to go on foot,” one of them recounted, according to Página|12 . Unexpectedly, the man approached them, crossed his bicycle and asked her: “Why do you dress like a man if you are a woman?” And “before I could react, he hit me with a punch that knocked me to the ground, leaving me unconscious . Everything went black.”

Continue reading at: https://www.laizquierdadiario.com/Otra-replica-del-odio-oficial-hombre-ataco-a-golpes-a-una-pareja-de-lesbianas-en-Recoleta (Source)

Kazakhstan: Being a feminist and a lesbian – the repression of Zhanar Sekerbayeva

The recent arrest of lesbian and feminist activist Zhanar Sekerbayeva is yet another example of the systematic repression faced by women human rights defenders in Kazakhstan. Co-founder of Feminita and board member of the EuroCentralAsian Lesbian* Community (EL*C), Zhanar was sentenced to 10 days of administrative detention in an attempt to silence her activism ahead of International Women’s Day. …

Zhanar was arrested without any formal justification while training at the gym. She was later convicted for alleged violations of the rules of public assemblies. According to EL*C, her detention is clearly political, aimed at preventing her from participating in feminist demonstrations before March 8 .

Furthermore, during the trial, explicit references were made to her links to LGBTI+ activism, despite the protest where she was arrested being unrelated to this cause. This demonstrates how institutional LGBTphobia in Kazakhstan is used as a weapon to discredit and persecute feminist and queer activists. The Feminita organisation has been systematically prevented from obtaining legal recognition and its members face harassment, fines and criminalisation.

Continue reading at: https://esqrever.com/2025/03/02/feminista-lesbica-cazaquistao-zhanar-sekerbayeva/ (Source)

Further reading:

Argentina: man burns lesbian family home after years of harassment

On Wednesday, January 29, Orlando Alcides Lutz Fogar doused the house where a lesbian couple and their daughter lived in Cañuelas with gasoline and set fire to it. Unbeknownst to the attacker, they had left the house after Lutz Fogar pointed a laser at the house.

But Wednesday’s attack on the house was not the first. The women had been suffering the attacks for three years, which were reported on different occasions. In one of these attacks, the violent neighbor had doused the lamp post with gasoline and set it on fire, putting at risk not only this family but also several of the houses around it. The women filed several complaints, but the Justice Department put a restraining order on only one of the family members, which was never enforced.

The couple arrived in Cañuelas in 2022, looking for a quiet place to live. There they learned that a neighbor harassed other people, particularly if those people were women or sexually diverse. In conversation with Agui, one of the women who suffered the attack, said, “the day we saw him for the first time was when he attacked another lesbian couple who lived on the block. We got into an argument because the man went to record the property of these girls and intimidate them and when we went to tell them that the girls were not alone, and that’s when our ordeal began.” …

After the successive attacks, the women realized that they were being targeted by a laser light and decided to leave their house because they felt at risk. Not knowing that they were not there, Lutz Fogar went to set fire to their house. They found out because a neighbor called them to warn them.

Continue reading at: https://www.tiempoar.com.ar/ta_article/un-hombre-prendio-fuego-a-la-casa-de-una-familia-lesbiana/ (Source)

Update: https://listening2lesbians.com/2025/03/27/argentina-man-accused-of-burning-lesbian-family-home-denied-release/

Argentina: 4 lesbians set on fire, 1 survives

6 July 2024: It was an attack that sent shockwaves through a country long considered a pioneer in LGBTQ rights. In the early hours of May 6, four lesbian women were set on fire in Argentina. Only one of them survived.
It happened at a boarding house in the Barracas neighborhood of Buenos Aires, where Pamela Fabiana Cobas, Mercedes Roxana Figueroa, Andrea Amarante and Sofía Castro Riglo were sharing a room. Witnesses say a man broke in and threw an incendiary device that set the women on fire.
Pamela died soon after. Her partner Roxana died days later of organ failure. Andrea died on May 12 in a hospital.

Continue reading at: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/06/americas/argentina-lgbtq-milei-fire-deaths-intl-latam/index.html (source)

Russia: lesbian artist Aleksandra Skochilenko speaks about her release

6 August 2024

This as-told-to essay is based on a [Business Insider] conversation with Aleksandra “Sasha” Skochilenko, a Russian artist who was sentenced to seven years in prison in March 2022 for replacing supermarket price tags with anti-war slogans. She was released last week as part of the prisoner swap between the US, Russia, and other countries. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

On Thursday, an FSB officer told us we were going to be freed as part of a prisoner swap — the miracle we had been waiting and hoping for. At first, I didn’t believe it — for 2 ½ years, I’d been lied to every single day. I thought that I would be serving the rest of my sentence — seven years. Russian political prisoners don’t have the privilege of early release.

Continue reading at: https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-artist-freed-sasha-skochilenko-prisoner-swaps-describes-release-freedom-2024-8 (Source)

Fiji: Director of Rugby sacked for anti lesbian comments

The Fiji Rugby Union has sacked former women’s captain Laijipa Naulivou four days into her job as Director of Rugby after she said the women’s game had a “gay problem”.
Naulivou, the first captain of Fiji’s national women’s team, told the Fiji Sun newspaper this week she was against gay women in rugby and said they should be excluded if the team was “affected” by them.
“Those who played with me know that I do not condone being gay for women in rugby,” the paper quoted her as saying.

Continue reading at: https://nit.com.au/07-02-2025/16124/fiji-director-of-rugby-sacked-for-gay-problem-comment (Source)

Cameroon: lesbians imprisoned after rejecting neighbour

“After six months without a trial, the young imprisoned lesbian couple Yane and Hage were set free through the intervention of Project Not Alone. That initiative, supported by readers’ donations and a grant from the Attitude Foundation, feeds and frees innocent victims of anti-homosexuality laws in Cameroon and Nigeria. …

When their neighbor made sexual propositions to her, Yane lost her temper, called him a “poor guy” and made clear that she wasn’t interested. Insulted, he decided to get his revenge on her. He tried to learn whatever he could about her and Hage.

Within a couple of weeks, he had discovered that they were a lesbian couple, a revelation that he shared with other neighbors, including a police officer. The police arrested Hage and Yane on suspicion of homosexuality after observing that many masculine-looking women visited their home.

The couple was held at the police station for two days, then were referred to the public prosecutor’s office and then to prison.”

Continue reading: https://76crimes.com/2024/11/08/imprisoned-lesbians-set-free/ (Source)

India: police protection helps lesbian couple start life together

Amid the flurry of Valentine’s Week celebrations, two young women in Lucknow are beginning a new chapter together, thanks to police intervention that shielded them from family opposition. The women, both 23-year-old, were in a relationship since 2021 but were living apart, fearing family backlsh.

Continue reading at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/police-help-unite-same-sex-couple-tell-kin-not-to-interfere/articleshow/118074250.cms (source)

Senegal: lesbian activists fighting for visibility in a hostile nation

“Homosexuality has once again become a focus of debate among the political classes in Senegal, where newly appointed Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has alternately claimed that homosexuality is tolerated in the nation, and advocated for harsher criminalization of same-sex intimacy.

Senegal lesbians and gays already face penalties for same-sex intimacy, with up to 5 years’ imprisonment and fines of 1.5 million CFA francs (approximately U.S $2,500), making advocacy for LGBTQ rights extremely difficult.”

Awa (pseudonym): I’m the president of a women’s association [Editor’s note: for security reasons, the name of the organisation is being withheld] in Dakar and I can say that in the current political and social climate in Senegal, lesbians, although invisible in the public debate, are often exposed to corrective rape at an early age.

Very often, when a family suspects that a young girl is a lesbian, she is taken by force to a marabout who, far from giving her a religious education, will rape her. This does not happen all the time, or in all social contexts, but in rural Senegal it is far from rare.

Then there is the psychological reconstruction work that needs to be undertaken, with a lot of listening, tact and solidarity towards young women who arrive in Dakar weakened and traumatised when they have managed to escape from their family environment, after several years of forced marriages. In that sense, nothing has changed, despite the passing years.”

Continue reading: https://76crimes.com/2024/06/26/two-senegal-lesbians-fight-for-visibility/ (Source)

Ugandan lesbian activist Kasha Nabagesera one of BBC’s 100 inspiring and influential women

“The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has named Ugandan LGBTQ+ rights activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera to its list of this year’s “100 inspiring and influential women from around the world”.”

“The BBC said about Nabagesera: “Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda, punishable by prison sentences – and LGBTQ+ advocate Kasha Nabagesera is fighting to change these repressive laws. As an openly gay woman, she has made a profound impact campaigning against LGBTQ+ stigma across Africa. Nabagesera has successfully sued newspapers and the Ugandan government for anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric: she has twice challenged anti-homosexuality laws in Ugandan courts and is currently challenging a 2023 act.”

Continue reading at: https://76crimes.com/2024/12/30/bbc-lists-ugandan-lesbian-activist-among-worlds-100-inspiring-and-influential-women/ (source)

It has also been reported that “for the first time since Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) 2023 came into force, cases of homophobia-driven arrests have topped the list of human rights violations against known or suspected LGBTQI+ persons, overtaking violence and evictions, according to a report just published by the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF).”

Continue reading at: https://76crimes.com/2025/02/19/anti-lgbt-arrests-rising-in-uganda/ (source)

Martinique: a changed journey for lesbians in the church?

“For a very long time, being openly a Christian lesbian was like walking on eggshells. Today things have changed a lot. Four years ago, I could be the subject of criticism and gossipy backbiting within my parish. That’s no longer the case at all, because I’ve asserted myself without denying who I am.  I’ve made my place instead of abandoning my faith.”

Continue reading: https://76crimes.com/2024/06/19/martinique-testifies-undeniable-progress/ (Source)