Chelsea Manning, Malta and a queer parliament

Your Daily Package of newsy and naughty bits from around the world


Record number of LGBT MPs elected to UK parliament

Forty-five LGBT politicians were elected to parliament in the UK’s general election this week, more than in any previous parliament. A full fifth of the Scottish National Party party MPs were LGBT, but one trans candidate failed to be elected.

Read more at the Independent.

Chelsea Manning’s first interview

In a conversation with NBC News, trans woman Chelsea Manning spoke for the first time after being released from prison. Manning was imprisoned for leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, but her sentence was shortened by Barack Obama shortly before he left office.

Bulgarian right-wing group organizes against Pride

Right-wing counter protesters in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia are urging people to show up at Pride with improvised weapons to “cleanse” the country of “garbage.” Human Rights Watch is urging the government to protect Pride marchers.

Re-elected Maltese PM promises equal marriage

The prime minister of Malta has won a second term in office, and promised to legalize same-sex marriage in his campaign. The tiny island nation already boasts one of the best human rights records for LGBT citizens.

Read more at NBC News.

Malaysia pulls gay “prevention” competition

The government of Malaysia has cancelled a competition for the best video showing how to to “prevent” homosexuality. Activists successfully campaigned to have the contest taken down, even though being gay is illegal in the country.

Read more at the BBC.

Niko Bell

Niko Bell is a writer, editor and translator from Vancouver. He writes about sexual health, science, food and language.

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