NEWSWORTHY
Explosive book by French author tells of alleged Vatican gay subculture and hypocrisy
A gay French writer has lifted the lid on what he calls one of the world's largest gay communities — the Vatican — estimating that most of its prelates are homosexually inclined and attributing much of the current crisis in the Catholic Church to ...
In a first, LGBT couples sue Japan over constitutionality of not recognizing same-sex marriage
“We’re not demanding anything special; we just want to have a chance to stand at the same starting line in our lives,” said one plaintiff.
Gender-neutral Canadian activist shows solidarity with Japan's LGBT communities
Gemma Hickey entered Japan this week with something no Japanese national can obtain — a gender-neutral passport in which the gender category shows neither female nor male, but an "X." The 42-year-old Canadian, who became one of the first in the country to receive such ...
LGBT couples to file lawsuit on Valentine's Day in push for equal marriage rights in Japan
Last fall, Ai Nakajima, 40, tied the knot in Germany with her long-time partner, Kristina Baumann, a 32-year-old from Berlin. But in Japan, where they live, Nakajima and Baumann share the fate of all same-sex couples in committed relationships — the denial of the ...
'Evil' Bruce McArthur jailed for life in Toronto gay killings
A Canadian landscaper was jailed for life Friday for the murder and sexual mutilation of eight men from Toronto's gay community whose bodies he dismembered and hid in planters. Bruce McArthur, who admitted to the killings last month, will be in his 90s before he ...
Unicode's new emoji aims to help break bloody taboo surrounding periods
Women and girls will be able to use an emoji to chat about their periods from next month, which will help to end the shame around menstruation, a child rights group said on Wednesday. Coding consortium Unicode, which distributes emoji across mobile devices, said it ...
At no point have I ever had to grapple with the decision to have my genitals surgically removed. Perhaps the same is true for you. While these may seem an odd set of affirmations to open with, they help illustrate a basic truth: How ...
Japanese law needs to catch up with the realities of trans life
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the current law for gender transition is constitutional, though it registered that this law may fail to align with our current society. The law requires people wishing to change their official gender to be unmarried, have no ...
Toronto serial killer wouldn't be up for parole till he's 116 if he gets consecutive life terms
A Canadian prosecutor asked a judge Tuesday to sentence serial killer Bruce McArthur to consecutive life sentences so he won't be eligible for parole for 50 years, when he would be 116. McArthur pleaded guilty last week to eight counts of first-degree murder. The former ...
Hong Kong top court denies male status to three transgender men
Hong Kong's High Court refused to allow three transgender men to be recognized as males on their official identity cards because they have not undergone full sex-change operations. The ruling Friday was seen as a blow to the fledgling LGBT movement in the semiautonomous Chinese ...
According to a recent survey, around 1 in 11 Japanese say they identify as LGBT. Therefore, knowing the language of this diverse community can help greatly with understanding.
A Dentsu survey finds that people are more aware of the LGBT acronym, giving learners of Japanese the opportunity to discover a world of new vocabulary.
