Engelstalig

• Dutch Parliament approves ban on conversion therapy

  Sep 10, 2025 Marc Dirix

  The Dutch House of Representatives has voted in favor of a ban on conversion therapy, practices aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. COC Netherlands and the Transgender Network, which have campaigned for this ban for nearly 15 years, welcomed the decision. The organizations are calling on the Senate to swiftly pass the bill, supported by D66, VVD, GroenLinks-PvdA, the SP, and the Party for the Animals.

  “This is a victory for the victims of conversion practices,” said Myrtille Danse, chair of COC Netherlands. “You are perfect the way you are; don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. So-called ‘healing’ is a myth: these practices don’t change who you are, but they destroy lives. It’s encouraging that Parliament has now made it crystal clear: these harmful practices are unacceptable and banned. We are grateful to the bill’s sponsors for their work.”

  The new law, which still needs approval from the Senate, draws a clearer line on the limits of religious freedom. Clergy, pastoral workers, and religious organizations will no longer be allowed to perform actions intended to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

  Conversion practices often involve faith healers, exorcists, or pseudo-therapists who claim to “cure” homosexuality or transgender identities. However, these practices never change a person’s identity or orientation and instead frequently cause severe psychological harm, ranging from depression to suicide.

  According to LGBTQ+ organizations, there are still at least 15 providers of conversion practices in the Netherlands. Internationally, an estimated 3 to 5 percent of LGBTQ+ people are subjected to them — meaning thousands of people are affected domestically.

  The ban makes it illegal to offer conversion practices to minors and vulnerable adults. Advertising such practices will also be prohibited. Any attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity will now be punishable by law.

  COC Netherlands, the Transgender Network, and other organizations have been advocating for this ban for nearly 15 years. They submitted a petition to Parliament, held numerous discussions with lawmakers, and succeeded in getting the promise of a ban included in the Rainbow Voting Agreements of 2021 and 2023.

  Human rights organizations such as the United Nations and the Council of Europe, along with associations of psychiatrists and psychologists, also support a ban. Countries such as France and Germany have already implemented similar legislation.

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• Burkina Faso criminalizes homosexuality with prison sentences up to five years

  Sep 2, 2025 Marc Dirix

  The parliament of Burkina Faso on Monday passed a law criminalizing homosexuality, introducing fines and prison sentences ranging from two to five years. The amended law was unanimously approved and takes effect immediately. It had already been endorsed last year by the country’s military government under Captain Ibrahim Traoré.

  Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayla announced on national television that foreigners found guilty under the law will also be expelled from the country. According to the BBC, the law still requires Traoré’s formal signature.

  Burkina Faso has been governed by the military since a 2022 coup. The soldiers claimed the coup was aimed at stabilizing the country amid a worsening security crisis and improving governance. However, human rights groups accuse the junta of violating fundamental freedoms by mass arrests of critics and forcing them into military conscription.

  Until now, Burkina Faso had no specific laws targeting homosexuals, although LGBT+ communities have long been forced to live discreetly. The measure is part of a broader reform of the Civil and Family Code, which also tightens the rules for acquiring Burkinabe nationality through marriage and grants legal recognition to religious and traditional unions. Authorities plan to launch a nationwide campaign to inform Burkinabè citizens about the new law.

  With this approval, Burkina Faso joins more than 30 African countries where same-sex relations are criminalized. Unlike many former British colonies in Africa, the country did not inherit anti-homosexuality laws after gaining independence from France in 1960. Nevertheless, Burkina Faso remains a socially conservative and deeply religious nation, with fewer than 10% of people thought not to follow any faith. The new law reflects a growing trend of anti-LGBTQ legislation across Africa.

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• Berlin goes kinky: Thousands gather for Folsom Europe

  Sep 1, 2025 Marc Dirix

  Between 15,000 and 20,000 fetish enthusiasts attended the 22nd edition of Folsom Europe in Berlin last week. As in previous years, the Fuggerstraße and surrounding area were transformed into a massive social gathering where leathermen, along with many puppies, furries, and other fetish lovers, came together to celebrate their diversity.

  This year, Folsom Europe did not take place in September as usual, but for the first time at the end of August. From Wednesday to Sunday, the area around the Motzstraße and Fuggerstraße hosted numerous events and parties. The highlight, as always, was the big street festival on Fuggerstraße.

  “This year, we remain true to our motto: ‘The Sexiest Social.’ You don’t always have to reinvent yourself,” explains Denis Watson of Folsom Europe. “That’s the essence of Folsom: celebrating community, visibility, and sexuality in a sexy, social, and subversive way.”

  In the surrounding streets, visitors could not only meet one another but also connect with numerous organizations. There were bondage demonstrations, and visitors could shop to their hearts’ content. This year, special focus was placed on bringing together different fetish and queer communities. More than ever, the FLINTA* community was actively included. As in previous years, puppies and furries were given their own safe space with the Animal Farm, but this year, for the first time, the concept was expanded with an Animalz Party, held immediately after the Folsom street festival.

  The week kicked off with the installation of a rainbow flag of about 120 square meters on the Maaßenstraße, at the entrance of the Regenbogenkiez (Rainbow District) near Nollendorfplatz. The rainbow flag is even visible from the U-Bahn station.

  “We’re thrilled that the redesign of the Maaßenstraße once again sends a strong message of openness, respect, and solidarity,” said Jörn Oltmann, district mayor of Tempelhof-Schöneberg (The Greens), in a statement to Queer.de. “The rainbow is a symbol understood worldwide — and here in Schöneberg, it holds a very special place.”

  

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• LGBTQ film Julian to open Film Fest Gent

  Aug 26, 2025 Marc Dirix

  Julian, the feature debut of Belgian director Cato Kusters, has been selected as the official opening film of Film Fest Gent 2025.
  Inspired by the book of the same name by Fleur Pierets, Julian is a moving and captivating portrait of two women deeply in love who decide to marry in every country where same-sex marriage is legal.

  At once fragile and raw, Julian tells the story of Fleur and Julian. After an unexpected meeting, sparks fly instantly. When Julian proposes, Fleur comes up with a bold idea: to marry in every country where two women are allowed to wed. What begins as a dream evolves into an ambitious plan. Driven by love and a growing sense of urgency, they embark on their unique “world tour of love”. But after only four ceremonies, their project comes to a painful, premature halt.

  Three years after winning the Best Belgian Student Short Film Award with Finns Hiel, Cato Kusters returns to Film Fest Gent. With her first feature film, Julian, she will open the 52nd edition of the festival, taking place from 8 to 19 October. At just 26 years old, Kusters becomes the youngest director ever to open FFG. The film will also have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday, 6 September.

  The idea for Julian came when Cato Kusters heard a radio interview a few years ago with Fleur Pierets about Project 22: together with her great love Julian P. Boom, the writer, artist and activist set out to marry in every country where same-sex marriage was legal at the time. The couple began their performance art project in 2017, but a year later, after just four weddings, it came to an abrupt end. Pierets channeled her grief, love and memories into her debut memoir Julian.

  Kusters was deeply moved by the story and felt a strong responsibility to tell it right.
  “It’s a powerful story that remains relevant, especially at a time when the rights of so many people are under threat,” the young filmmaker explains.

  The screenplay was co-written with award-winning writer Angelo Tijssens, internationally acclaimed for his collaborations with Lukas Dhont on Girl and Close. With Julian, Tijssens opens Film Fest Gent for the third time as co-writer. The Dhont brothers also return to the festival as producers through their company The Reunion.

  The score is composed by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine, the duo behind the music of Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Loveless, the Netflix series Baby Reindeer, and Gagarine, winner of the FFG Explore Award.

  The lead roles are played by Nina Meurisse and Laurence Roothooft, with supporting roles from Rosalia Cuevas, Peter Seynhaeve, Zach Hatch, Jennifer Heylen, Yannick De Coster, Joep van der Geest, David Coburn and Claire Bodson.

   

  The 52nd edition of Film Fest Gent runs from 8 to 19 October 2025.

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• Amsterdam Court to Rule on U.S. Trans Woman’s Asylum Case

  Aug 20, 2025 Marc Dirix

  A 28-year-old American trans woman will appear before an Amsterdam court on Wednesday to challenge the rejection of her asylum application in the Netherlands. The Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) rejected her claim on the grounds that there are no special exemption groups for the United States. However, according to LGBT Asylum Support, the information on which the IND based its decision is outdated since Donald Trump’s return to power.

  Since Trump’s re-election — and especially following his inauguration — many LGBTQ people have fled the United States. Among them are many trans individuals, as the U.S. president declared upon taking office that the government would recognize only two genders and cut funding for transgender healthcare for minors.
  “This has led to significant policy changes, including bans on transgender individuals in the military, restrictions on youth access to transgender healthcare, and extreme limitations on government communication,” reads a statement on LGBT Asylum Support’s website.
  “Terms such as ‘gender identity,’ ‘transsexual,’ and ‘non-binary’ are no longer allowed, effectively erasing LGBTQ+ people as a minority. As a result, fear of persecution among transgender and queer individuals — as well as hate crimes — has risen sharply in the U.S., a fact confirmed by recent FBI research.”

  The IND maintains that discrimination by authorities or fellow citizens can amount to persecution if it is so severe that victims can no longer function socially and professionally.

  That is exactly the situation of the 28-year-old American woman, who recently learned that her asylum application had been denied.
  “The discussion will focus on the basis of the assessment,” explains Sandro Kortekaas, chair of LGBT Asylum Support, in the Dutch newspaper Het Parool.
  “There is no official country report (ambtsbericht) for the United States describing the current situation.”
  According to LGBT Asylum Support, there are “extremely deteriorating conditions for transgender and queer people in the U.S.”

  As supporting evidence, LGBT Asylum Support refers to a recent ruling by a Canadian federal judge in the case of a non-binary American asylum seeker. “In Canada, a federal judge recently suspended the deportation of a non-binary American, citing the Trump government’s hostility towards transgender and non-binary individuals. In this case as well, the risk assessment was based on outdated information and was deemed ‘flawed and unreasonable’ by the federal judge.”

  In light of the growing number of asylum applications from the U.S. and the lack of an up-to-date country report, LGBT Asylum Support has written to the minister requesting the immediate suspension of these cases until a new report is completed. The organization also calls for all transgender and queer asylum seekers from the U.S. to be included in the national asylum procedure and to be placed, for their safety, in protected LGBTQ+ units.

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• Publishers win lawsuit against controversial book ban in Florida

  Aug 19, 2025 Marc Dirix

  A federal judge ruled last Friday that Florida’s HB2019 law, which allowed parents to remove books with alleged sexual content from school libraries and classrooms, was overly broad and unconstitutional.
  “Historically, librarians curate their collections based on professional judgment, not by orders from above,” the judge stated. “There are also indications that the law swept up far more non-obscene books than just the titles mentioned here.”

  The law was also used to remove, in addition to titles such as Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Richard Wright’s Native Son, and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, books with LGBTQ themes from school libraries.

  Last year alone, some 4,500 books were pulled from various school libraries. Under the 2023 law, Florida schools could be pressured to remove books deemed “inappropriate” or “too pornographic” by parents. In the Collier County School District, more than 350 books were removed under HB1069, including If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo and Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett. Other well-known LGBTQ+ titles, such as And Tango Makes Three, I Am Jazz, and Jacob’s New Dress, were also banned across multiple Florida districts due to the law’s vague wording. According to research by PEN America, 39% of the books removed in more than one district were LGBTQ-related.

  Several major publishers, including Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishing, and Simon & Schuster, joined with a number of authors to challenge the law in court. The judge’s ruling emphasized that schools must rely on a U.S. Supreme Court precedent: whether the average person would find the work as a whole sexually arousing; whether it depicts sexual content in an offensive manner; and whether the work lacks literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

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• Turkey arrests LGBTQ activist after speech to the Council of Europe

  Aug 15, 2025 Marc Dirix

  The Turkish youth delegate to the Council of Europe and LGBTI+ activist, Enes Hocaoğulları, was arrested upon his return at Ankara Airport. The arrest took place on August 5. Turkish authorities accuse him of defamation for speaking out during a Council of Europe address against the arrests of several Turkish mayors.

  On March 19, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to protest the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. The main political rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, he was detained on charges of corruption. Within days, he was expected to be nominated by the Republican People’s Party (CHP) as its presidential candidate for the upcoming election.

  Enes Hocaoğulları is a youth activist and international relations coordinator at ÜniKuir, an Ankara-based association advocating for the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ people within Turkish universities. Turkish authorities claim that Enes “spread misleading information” and “incited public hatred” after, in his speech before the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, he denounced police violence and the arrest of elected mayors back home. His remarks quickly became the target of a coordinated smear campaign, portraying him and his organisation ÜniKuir as agents of “moral corruption” and “foreign influence.” The public prosecutor alleges that Enes’s statements “damaged Turkey’s international reputation.”

  Enes’s case is being closely monitored by European institutions and human rights organisations. According to ILGA-Europe, the court has accepted the indictment and confirmed his arrest, rejecting his lawyers’ appeal. His first hearing is scheduled for September 8, and he will remain in detention until then. He is currently being held in Sincan Prison in Ankara.

   

  Enes’s arrest comes amid an escalation of anti-LGBTI+ measures in Turkey. Following the declaration of 2025 as the “Year of the Family,” the government has introduced new laws restricting access to trans healthcare, censoring LGBTI+ content, and targeting queer student organisations. His arrest must be seen as part of this broader campaign against LGBTI+ rights.

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• Swiss pediatrician elected new Mister Gay Europe

  Aug 2, 2025 Marc Dirix

  On Friday evening in Amsterdam, 30-year-old Swiss pediatrician and firefighter Michael Pereira was elected the new Mister Gay Europe.
  He succeeds Dutchman Tim Kusters, who held the title for the past two years. Mister Gay Belgium and teacher Imran Nawaz was elected first runner-up. The second runner-up was 28-year-old Dutch entrepreneur Kadeem van de Pol.

  During the one-and-a-half-hour show on Dam Square, the twelve finalists introduced themselves to the public. Throughout the past week, they had to prove themselves in several challenges, including a written test on LGBTQ rights, athletic trials, and photoshoots. A professional jury judged each part of the competition, and the public could also vote online for their favorite.

   

  The new Mister Gay Europe wants to use his position as a pediatrician to support LGBTQ children. “With my project Safe to Grow, I want to ensure that no child ever grows up alone and afraid because of who they are,” said Michael Pereira during the election show in Amsterdam. “I stand for safe spaces, education, visibility, empowerment, and real support.”

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• Florida Subpoenas Restaurant Over Drag Show Guests

  Jul 31, 2025 Marc Dirix

  The public prosecutor of the U.S. state of Florida has ordered a popular restaurant in Vero Beach to identify all attendees of its drag shows.

  Last month, The Kilted Mermaid restaurant hosted a drag performance to celebrate Pride Month. According to Florida’s Attorney General, James Uthmeier, “adult, sexualized performers” performed in the presence of children.
  In May, a federal court ruled that a 2023 law banning drag shows in Florida may be unconstitutional. The law, supported by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, aimed to punish venues that allow children to attend “adult live performances.” While drag shows were not explicitly mentioned, the sponsor of the legislation stated that such performances were indeed the target. Under the law, establishments could have their liquor licenses revoked. The court temporarily blocked the law after a local restaurant that hosted drag shows filed a legal challenge, arguing the measure violated free speech rights.

   

  That suspension did not stop Uthmeier from issuing a subpoena to The Kilted Mermaid. The subpoena, issued earlier this month, requests copies of guest lists, reservation records, surveillance footage, and contracts identifying performers. The prosecutor announced the action in a press release, which was filled with anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and attacked the tens of thousands of people who have attended drag events in the state: “In Florida, we don’t sacrifice the innocence of children for the perversions of some demented adults.”

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• Trans women excluded from WDF women’s darts tournaments

  Jul 30, 2025 Marc Dirix

  Dutch darts player Noa-Lynn van Leuven, like other trans women, is no longer welcome at women’s tournaments organized by the WDF darts federation. She is being excluded following a recent change to the eligibility criteria for women's competitions. On Monday, the world’s second-largest darts federation announced that its legal bodies had approved the decision — initially proposed in 2024 — by majority vote. The measure takes effect immediately.

  “We understand that these changes may be challenging for those wishing to participate in these tournaments,” the WDF wrote. “Those affected will be contacted.”

  Van Leuven is still allowed to participate in WDF tournaments in the so-called “open category,” which also includes all men. However, the women’s category is now exclusively reserved for women assigned female at birth.

  The Dutch trans woman meets the gender eligibility requirements set by the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA), but she is no longer allowed to compete in WDF women’s events. She is still permitted to take part in tournaments organized by the largest darts federation, the PDC.

  On her Instagram account, Noa-Lynn van Leuven expressed her disappointment at the WDF’s new policy:
  “This decision affects me personally — though, fortunately, its impact is not too severe at this point,” she wrote. “But still... it hurts. Once again, it’s a loss for the trans community in sports. And that breaks my heart.

  As a trans person in the darts world, I know how vital inclusion is — not just on paper, but in practice. It’s disheartening to see yet another policy, framed as ‘fairness,’ that ultimately results in exclusion without truly considering the people behind the labels. My heart goes out to all the athletes affected by this. We remain visible. We keep going.”

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