Compiled by David Webb

2021 LGBTI Film Festival Guangzhou targeted by young Chinese nationalists
CHINA — Foreign consulates in the southern capital of Guangzhou are under attack on the Chinese social media platform Weibo for sponsoring an LGBTQ film festival.

The month-long 2021 LGBTI Film Festival Guangzhou is sponsored by 17 foreign consulates. Foreign embassies frequently host cultural events about topics that cannot be shown outside of their premises. There will be 18 screenings of films and shorts.

The Chinese nationalists are accusing the embassies of attempting to “bring down China.” There is a growing trend among young Chinese people to oppose foreign involvement in the country, according to a film curator for the China Women’s Film Festival.

New Zealand introduces legislation to ban conversion therapy
NEW ZEALAND — Lawmakers here are considering banning conversion therapy on anyone under 18 or others with impaired decision-making capabilities.

If passed the law will carry a punishment of up to three years in prison. It will also make it an offense if conversion practices performed on an individual causes “serious harm,” regardless of age. That conviction would carry a sentence of up to five years in prison.

Conversion therapy is legal in many parts of the world, but a report by the United Nations found that the treatment can cause “significant loss of self-esteem, anxiety, depressive syndrome, social isolation, intimacy difficulty, self-hatred, shame and guilt, sexual dysfunction, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Peruvian LGBTQ activists worry about new president’s anti-gay marriage views
PERU — New President Pedro Castillo’s inauguration in Lima on July 28 raised concerns among LGBTQ activists about his opposition to marriage equality.

Castillo is a teacher from northern Peru who is a member of the leftist, socialist Free Peru party. He defeated his right-wing opponent who was the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori.

Castillo told the Associated Press during his campaign that he was opposed to marriage rights for same-sex couples, but he added that LGBTQ issues are not a priority.

QueerFest will observe 13th annual celebration in St. Petersburg this fall
RUSSIA — The cultural festival raising awareness about sexuality and gender identities will run from Sept. 23 to Oct. 3 in St. Petersburg.

The theme of the celebration will be “Inner Power,” a focus on the “power of every person, the power of our community and the power of unity across the country.” Organizers say that St. Petersburg is a much more tolerant city than Moscow and most other municipalities in Russia so they do not expect the event will be marred by protests or official oppression.

Still, observers note the LGBTQ rights movement has lost ground rather than made progress in the country since the first event in 2008. An anti-propaganda law has had a chilling effect on performances by drag queens and gay singers and musicians.

Homophobic online attacks terrify gay Russian family into hiding
RUSSIA — A lesbian family featured in an advertisement for a high-end food retailer has left the country after receiving death threats online.

Food retailer Vkusvill’s ad pictured four women (mother and daughter and their female partners) in a kitchen, praising Japanese rice balls with mushrooms and humus. The ad included an 18-plus warning. A 2013 Russian law bans the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations to minors.

The ad was taken down, angering LGBTQ advocates. But gay rights opponents were not appeased with some threatening to stab, rape and kill an eight-year-old girl in the family.

South Africa’s national beauty pageant to feature transgender contestant
SOUTH AFRICA — A 24-year-old transgender fashion model will compete for the Miss South Africa title.

Lehlogonolo Machaba is the first transgender contestant in the national beauty pageant since it was opened to transgenders in 2019. Machaba said, “Being the first is a bit overwhelming, and I’m also anxious that people do know now that I’m a trans woman.” She added that hopefully her competition will help inspire greater acceptance of the LGBTQ community.

South Africa is the only African country where same-sex marriage is legal. People can also change their identity in the national birth register.

Homophobic video on view by South Asian government officials considering LGBTQ rights
SRI LANKA — A police training video featuring a trainer warning that homosexuality could topple the government could influence lawmakers who are undecided on LGBTQ rights.

The video that became available on Twitter shows a counselor at police training in Kandy asking, “Would you like your child to be a victim of a homosexual?” All of the officers in the video reply, “No,” in unison. The female speaker reminds the officers that they would not have been born had their parents been gay.

The Sri Lankan Penal Code penalizes homosexual activity, but critics say the law is rarely used. Still police officers have been known to use the law to harass and extort LGBTQ individuals.

Ukraine’s far-right targets LGBTQ activist by publishing phone number online
UKRAINE — Homophobic insults and death threats are being sent to an LGBTQ activist after her phone number was published on a far-right channel on the Telegram messaging app.

Some antagonists have also tracked down her address and sent her photographs of her balcony and the entrance to her building.

“It’s difficult to sleep, knowing that people have declared they are hunting you,” the activist said.

Ukraine legalized gay sex in 1991, but the mainly Orthodox Christian nation is rife with far-right groups targeting groups and events they oppose.

‘Strictly’ television dance competition to feature first male couple
UNITED KINGDOM — British television “Bake Off” winner John Whaite will be part of the first male pairing on the dance floor for “Strictly Come Dancing,” a television dance competition.

The pairing comes a year after the first same-sex pairing of boxer Nociola Adam and professional dancer Katya Jones on the show. They were forced to pull out of the competition after Jones tested positive for COVID-19.

Whaite said he is “grateful, excited and nervous” to be joining the dance competition. “I’ve been wearing sequins and jazzy attire since I was three-years-old, and I can’t wait to hurl myself, full throttle, around the most glamorous dance floor on earth.”