Ben Aquila's blog

U.S. Suprem Court split over public funding for schools that reject children of same-sex parents

2026-11-03T16:37:11.926-05:00

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority offered clear support for Catholic preschools that claim Colorado's taxpayer-funded program improperly excludes them by unconstitutionally intruding on their religious rights.

At issue is whether those private education institutions that deny admission to children of same-sex parents violate state anti-discrimination laws, and can therefore be denied a generally applicable public benefit.

In a lively two-hour oral argument, the justices debated competing interests involving both religious liberty and a state's interest in ensuring equal opportunity for gay and lesbian parents.

Conservative justices focused on the "free exercise" claims by the Catholic parishes that state requirements for receiving public benefits amounted to religious discrimination.

The schools’ attorney, Nicholas Reaves, said families must affirm the schools’ statement of community beliefs in good faith. According to him, some circumstances involving same-sex couples would prevent enrollment.

But justice Sonia Sotomayor distinguished instruction from exclusion: “You can teach whatever it is you want to teach, but if parents choose to subject their children to this teaching, you have to accept that child,” she said. “That should be their choice, not your choice to exclude them.

The ruling is expected by next year.

The number of trans athletes is tiny, especially compared to public perceptions

2026-10-30T13:05:17.979-04:00

A recent study on the prominence of trans athletes in the NCAA reveals a major juxtaposition between truth and perception.

The results show that 15% of American adults think that between 1% and 5% of NCAA athletes are transgender, and 14% of Americans think between 6% and 25% of student athletes are trans.

Those numbers are wildly inaccurate: In 2024, NCAA President Charlie Baker told Congress that fewer than 10 of the NCAA’s more than 500,000 athletes were transgender.

An NCAA spokesperson confirmed that the current number of student-athletes competing in women’s sports who identify as transgender is effectively zero, in accordance with the administration’s executive order forbidding their participation.

The false perspective could be a reason that polls show most Americans are uncomfortable with trans athletes in women sports because they believe more are competing than actually are.

When people hear politicians and athletes making a big deal out of trans women in sports, some believe what they’re saying blindly instead of actually researching for themselves.

Despite this clear reality, only 31 percent of adults said none or less than 1 percent of student athletes are transgender.

Still, the survey found that a majority of Americans oppose transgender student athletes playing on sports teams that match their gender identity, rather than their birth sex with 51 percent of American adults opposing it strongly.

Far-right party threatens to end Pride Day in Spain and cut LGBTQ+ rights if they come to power

2026-10-25T17:54:40.737-04:00

Santiago Abascal, leader of the Spanish far-right party Vox, advocates for the abolition of the Pride Day and parade that takes place annually in Madrid. Vox has become the first far-right party in Spain with probabilites to come to power since the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

Abascal stated: "If I were to strip naked in the middle of the street and engage in sexual acts, I would likely cause a disturbance or infringe upon the rights of others. If someone is walking along holding a child’s hand and encounters such a scene, they would be forced to provide a lot of explanations, and there is simply no need to expose children to such shocking behavior," Abascal added.

Abascal also shared his views on same-sex marriage. He reiterated his belief that such unions cannot be termed "marriage," and indicated that, should his party come to power, Vox would repeal the law that currently permits same-sex marriage.

Attacks by the far-right Vox party on LGBTQ+ rights are testing years of political consensus on the issue in Spain, which in 2005 became only the third country in the world to allow same-sex marriage.

In the next campaign for Spanish national election, November 29th, Vox has pledged to curtail gay pride parades, heaped ridicule on diversity lessons it wants to scrap in schools and has even drawn parallels between homosexuality and bestiality.

Spaniards must stop them!!!

Hungary lawmakers lifted restrictions on LGBTQ rights introduced by Orbán

2026-10-21T12:49:27.523-04:00

Hungary lawmakers have voted to remove anti-LGBTQ provisions from a 2021 “child protection” law adopted under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

By a 139-51 margin, the Hungarian parliament passed a bill retaining protections against material that can “seriously impair the child’s physical, intellectual, emotional, or moral development.”

But the amended law removes bans on the “portrayal” or “promotion” of sexual or gender diversity. The term “promotion” was ill-defined and interpreted broadly under the Orbán regime.

The vote marks the first significant reversal of the Orbán regime’s efforts to crack down on LGBTQ visibility. Prime Minister Péter Magyar won a landslide victory in April, ending 16 years of rule by Orbán’s Fidesz party.

Plans for a global coalition to attack LGBTQ+ at the UN

2026-10-17T13:28:37.325-04:00

Far-right activists are trying to dismantle global protections for LGBTQ+ people under the guise of ‘family values’.

While the United Nations was hosting its annual General Assembly, several key figures filled a room in a near hotel. Attendees included Trump administration officials, leaders of anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups, far-right politicians from Latin America and reporters from far-right media.

These people were meeting for the Global Forum for Life, Family and Freedoms, a two-day summit of right-wing leaders with an ambitious goal to create a new “pro-family” Core Group at the UN.

Since 2008, the UN has had an LGBTI Core Group with 42 member states whose mission is to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights on a global stage. The US left this Core Group, an early move by Trump in his second term.

The organizers of this new group hope to create an opposing organization to push for policies that undermine LGBTQ+ rights around the globe. They think the existing LGBTI Core Group has only been successful because there has not been organized conservative opposition, which a new core group would provide.

Core groups are not official UN bodies, so there is no strictly required procedure for their creation. The LGBTI group is unique in that it is designed for continuous operation on multiple issues rather than as a response to a specific conflict or crisis. The “pro-family” core group would change that, threatening to shift the balance of power at the UN.

Besides Trump officials, behind this initiative there are far-right activists from Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Guatemala, Canada, Armenia and Dutchland. Other interested countries would be Uganda, Burundi, Saudi Arabian and also Russia.

Maria Sjödin, executive director of Outright International, an NGO that focuses on supporting LGBTQ rights worldwide, warns that the plans, and the danger they present, must be taken seriously. “Currently, we are seeing quite an extensive and horrendous backlash against LGBTQ+ people,” she says. “What they potentially want to do here is to actually make inclusion of everyone more difficult.”

Turkish crackdown widens on LGBTQ organizations

2026-10-10T08:48:02.575-04:00

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) strongly condemns Turkey’s state-led discriminatory, oppressive attacks on feminist and LGBTQ organisations, media platforms, student groups, and rights defenders and activists within the country.

Since mid-September, access to the websites and social media accounts of a dozen organizations have been blocked by court order, while over 60 members and activists have been detained, their offices and homes raided, mobile phones, laptops and other digital devices seized, and judicial proceedings launched against them.

These actions threaten the very existence of the LGBTQ organizations targeted, limiting their ability to carry out legitimate human rights work, deterring participation and support, and chilling the free speech rights of not just these groups, but any organization that even reports on LGBTQ oppression.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who heads an Islamo-conservative government, has described the LGBTQ community as a "deviant movement of perverts". Also Turkish courts have jailed more LGBTQ activists and supporters.

Türkiye has banned Pride marches in İstanbul since 2015, citing security and public order concerns. Rights groups say restrictions on LGBTQ events and organizations have expanded in recent years, while authorities repeatedly described LGBTQ rights as incompatible with traditional family values.

A trans woman makes history as the most voted woman to Congress in Brazil

2026-10-07T15:13:53.477-04:00

The deputy of the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) Erika Hilton has made history in Brazilian democracy by becoming the woman who has received the most support ever in congressional elections.

Hilton has obtained more than 1.5 million ballots, thus consolidating the renewal of her seat in the Chamber of Deputies for the state of Sao Paulo. This figure surpasses the record of just over one million votes obtained in 2018 by fellow PSOL deputy Joice Hasselmann.

After the results were confirmed, the parliamentarian emphasized the importance of broadening the focus beyond the specific claims and difficulties of the LGBTQ community. "When we are in politics, we do not only fight for or for ourselves, but for a project for Brazil," she pointed out.

Erika Hilton was the first black transgender woman to hold a seat in the Congress of Brazil and also the first to be elected councilor in Sao Paulo in the municipal elections of 2020. Although her main banner has been the defense of the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ community, she has also played a relevant role in other agendas, such as proposals for reducing the workday.

She also stressed that "We fight in politics for a more plural, more diverse, more representative Congress. We would have liked to win the state government and we are in a close contest for the Presidency of the republic," she stated, after the data showed Flávio Bolsonaro with 47% of the votes, ahead of the current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is two points behind.

Bolsonaro is leading the race for the second round for Brazil Presidency, scheduled for October 25. Of course, Hilton admitted that the balance of these elections has not been fully positive, but she hopes and desires that current president Lula finally wins the elections.

Go Lula, Go Brazil!!!

Tens of thousands take streets to march for Paris Pride

2026-10-04T19:00:13.103-04:00

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Paris to take part in Paris Pride, defending the rights of LGBTQ people against a backdrop of growing popularity of the far right.

The event, which began at Place d'Italie in the south of Paris and ended at Place de la Bastille in eastern Paris, where a concert will take place, brought together around 50 associations.

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire, who leaded the march through the capital, highlighted some of the threats that the LGBTQ+ community is still facing, saying, "LGBTQIA+ venues are still being threatened, attacked, discriminated against, and subjected to violence and intimidation."

Last year, France's Assemblée Nationale unanimously voted for a bill intended to recognize and compensate homosexual people for the damage caused by discriminatory laws in force between 1942 and 1982.

Happy Pride!!!

Two-thirds of countries do not criminalize same-sex sex

2026-10-02T11:16:32.869-04:00

A new report from the HIV Policy Lab shows remarkable progress in decriminalization of consensual same-sex globally. As of this year, 129 out of the 194 countries tracked — two thirds of states — do not criminalize same-sex sex.

According to the report, law reform has accelerated as thirteen countries, including Barbados, Botswana, and India, have recently repealed criminalizing laws, including some of the world’s major economies and those with the highest HIV rates.

The authors show multiple models of progress through case studies of decriminalization from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean that show how countries can remove structural barriers and promote health equity.

However, this report also documents a dangerous counter trend of rising homophobia and anti-LGBTQ laws, prosecution, and persecution in some countries. Some countries have become even more punitive, imposing long prison sentences or even the death penalty.

Read the report here

LGBTQ groups around the world loses funding

2026-09-30T09:11:10.172-04:00

A new report that Outright International released notes 90 percent of LGBTQ rights groups around the world have lost funding since January 2025.

Forty-nine percent of the organizations said they have lost more than half of their total budget since January 2025, and 75 percent of the groups said they lost more than a quarter of their total funding.

“What was initially framed as a temporary freeze has become a structural disruption,” notes the report. “The effects have cascaded far beyond US government funding: corporate, institutional, and philanthropic donors have also shifted, stalled, or quietly withdrawn, often without public scrutiny.”

“The broader environment in which LGBTQ movements operate has continued to deteriorate — with democratic backsliding, anti-NGO legislation, rising violence, coordinated legislative attacks on trans and intersex people’s rights, and emboldened anti-rights actors filling the space left by the retreat of US global leadership,” the report added.

“At the same time, LGBTQ organizations have not stood still,” reads the report. “They have continued to resist, adapt, and serve their communities under extraordinary pressure, often absorbing the costs of these funding shocks in ways that remain largely invisible.”

Check the report here

UN human rights chief alerts over comprehensive onslaught against LGBTQ rights

2026-09-28T15:56:38.311-04:00

United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said there is a comprehensive onslaught against LGBTQ rights around the world.

“We know that progress for human rights has never been linear … but today’s backlash is deep and it is coordinated and the persecution of LGBTQ people around the world is escalating at an alarming rate,” he said.

“We know that across every region, LGBTQ people continue to live and to love in the face of hostility and exclusion. Their rights, safety, well-being are under attack … it’s a comprehensive onslaught,” he added,

Türk also noted “more and more candidates and political parties … use bigotry in order to promote anti-LGBTQ sentiments” during election campaigns. He pointed out trans people and women are often targeted.

In his remarks, he specifically referenced Russia, Turkey and Senegal, which further criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations earlier this year. He also noted some countries. like Indonesia, have deemed LGBTQ groups as terrorists, extremists, or national security threats.

La bola negra

2026-09-24T09:49:29.820-04:00

La bola negra (The Black Ball) is a 2026 Spanish drama film directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (Los Javis), inspired by the unfinished work of the same name by Federico García Lorca.

Los Javis may no longer be together, but their creative partnership is as strong as ever. The pair are back with The Black Ball, an epic drama following the interconnected lives of three gay men. The plot shifts between 1932, 1937, and 2017.

Loosely adapted from the work of renowned Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, the movie stars some big names, like Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close, and Guitarricadelafuente in his acting debut.

The pair emphasised their focus was honouring the queer community. Ambrossi shared: “As part of the LGBTQIA+ community, do we honour like we should the people who were murdered, who endured repression, who fought for our rights? Would they look at us and be proud? I ask myself this very often.”

Calvo also added: “We also wanted to explore the idea of inheritance – the inherited hatred and shame – and how that is pervasive even today.”

The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, earning Calvo and Ambrossi the Best Director prize. Reviews praise the film for its period-drama ambition and scale.

6,000,000 thanks!!!

2026-09-23T08:53:46.681-04:00

Of course America is ready for a gay president

2026-09-21T10:08:30.853-04:00

Pete Buttigieg said 'of course' America is ready for a gay president.

The former Transportation Secretary, who ran for president in 2020, tells Meet the Press he wouldn’t have run if he didn’t believe the country was ready for a gay president in the first place as he weighs a potential 2028 bid.

70% of voters in the US would vote for a gay man as president, a poll has found. The poll, which was conducted by Quinnipiac, found that 85% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans were willing to see a gay man become president.

The US Senate in a historic and overwhelmingly bipartisan vote confirmed Buttigieg's nomination 86-13 as Secretary of Transportation. He was the first openly gay person to lead a department and hold a Cabinet-level position.

Watch the moment below:

Crackdown on LGBTQ community widens in Türkiye

2026-09-18T12:44:43.429-04:00

Turkish authorities have begun proceedings aimed at closing two LGBTQ rights associations and also blocked 14 websites and 186 personal social media accounts, expanding a nationwide crackdown that has led to the pretrial detention of at least 62 people.

The move came as authorities broadened an operation against the LGBTQ community in which more than 200 people were detained, sparking a backlash from rights groups at home and abroad.

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that the operation involved legal action against 162 people, nine associations and 13 businesses in 15 provinces.

Turkish courts have jailed more LGBTQ activists and supporters, raising to 62 the number remanded in custody following a weekend crackdown.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who heads an Islamo-conservative government, has described the LGBTQ community as a "deviant movement of perverts".

Russia fines Booking.com for violating gay propaganda law

2026-09-15T10:58:55.607-04:00

Russia has slapped the international travel site Booking.com with an approximately $70,000 fine (6 million rubles) for violating the country’s so-called gay propaganda law.

The court of Moscow reportedly handed down two three-million-ruble fines to the company in response to a newsletter sent to foreign partner hotels that contained information on housing LGBTQ+ tourists for Pride Month events.

Putin initially passed its propaganda law in 2013, banning propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations directed at children. In 2022, Russia’s Duma expanded the law to include all ages, criminalizing any action or the spreading of any information that is considered an attempt to promote homosexuality in public, online, or in films, books, or advertising.

Then, in 2023, the country took it a step further, with the Supreme Court deeming the international LGBTQ+ movement an extremist organization.

Romeo Beckham makes acting debut in gay tennis romance

2026-09-12T18:09:28.922-04:00

Forty Love, a drama set in professional tennis, exploring the balance between ambition, performance, and intimacy on the French Riviera.

The movie marks the feature film directing debut of fashion photographer Pierre-Ange Carlotti, who also co-wrote the script alongside Gaëlle Macé.

The story revolves around Sacha Gallo, a tennis superstar who’s been training with his father to win a major trophy in Paris. But the arrival of a charismatic new rival — played by Romeo Beckham — challenges everything Sacha thought he understood about competition, ambition and himself.

For the first time, Sacha faces an opponent of an entirely different nature: love. A force as exhilarating as it is destabilizing and far more dangerous than anything he has encountered on the court.

The young cast of Forty Love: Beckam, Kircher and Voisin

Joe Locke stars in a new movie

2026-09-07T22:05:31.392-04:00

Heartstopper actor Joe Locke stars alongside Tom Cullen in queer drama Black Church Bay. The film director is Rhys Marc Jones.

In a remote Welsh coastal village, the disappearance of an openly-gay sixth form student disrupts the delicate balance of local life for one deputy head teacher, exposing long-buried secrets and threatening to tear the community apart.

Rather than treating the relationship as a straightforward forbidden romance, the story appears positioned to examine the enormous imbalance of power between an adult teacher and a teenage student, while asking what happens when a seemingly idyllic community is forced to confront the secrets hiding beneath its surface.

The film is scheduled to premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 15.

Joe Locke spent four years playing Charlie Spring, alongside Kit Connor, in Heartstopper, one of television’s gentlest gay love stories.

Watch the movie's trailer here or here.

Poland already recognises foreign same-sex marriages

2026-09-01T16:07:25.370-04:00

Poland has officially started legally recognising same-sex marriages performed abroad, though same-sex marriage is illegal in the country.

The move follows a ruling in the EU Court of Justice, which sided with a same-sex couple whose marriage, which was performed in Germany, was not granted legal recognition in Poland.

In July, president Karol Nawrocki vetoed the legislation, which was backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which would have given same-sex couples the ability to register a legal agreement that would give them rights in joint property ownership, access to a partner’s medical information, inheritance tax exemptions, joint tax settlement, and the ability to make burial decisions.

PM Tusk assured that the country would begin recognising same-sex marriages performed in other European Union countries. Let's see.

From Amsterdam to Cape Town, WorldPride is coming to Africa

2026-08-14T11:27:39.685-04:00

WorldPride is coming to Africa in 2028, to the South African city if Cape Town. The city was chosen by the International Association of Pride Organizers (InterPride) as the host for WorldPride 2028.

WorldPride Cape Town will be the first-ever WorldPride held on African soil, with the South African edition confirmed for 28 September to 14 October 2028.

The WorldPride mantle is a major milestone for Cape Town, South Africa and the wider continent.

The programme will be shaped by the continent’s sporting passion, its bold contemporary arts, deep-rooted cultural and carnival traditions, its globally influential fashion, and the heritage of a people who know how to gather, celebrate, and stand together

One of the main events during Cape Town WorldPride will be a United Prides of Africa Unity Concert. Check the website here.

Congratulations Cape Town!!! Congratulations Africa!!!

First same-sex marriage in Bolivia after a legal battle

2026-08-11T05:41:39.139-04:00

Fabiana Banzer and Scarlett Rocha became the first same-sex couple to have a civil marriage recorded in Bolivia, after a legal battle that lasted almost four years.

The couple formally applied for a civil marriage on October, 2022, but the union was completed after a lengthy administrative process and two constitutional injunctions filed by its team, until the couple obtained recognition and legal protection from the Bolivian state.

Bolivia recognised a same-sex civil union for the first time in 2020 after a gay couple took their battle for recognition to the courts. Bolivia’s constitutional court ruled that the civil registry must recognise their relationship as a free union.

While these legal victories are historic, it does not mean Bolivia has legalised same-sex marriage nationwide. Bolivia’s Constitution defines marriage as a union between a woman and a man, meaning same-sex marriage remains outside the country’s general legal framework.

It is time Bolivia!!!

Poland’s top court rules not to recognise EU same-sex marriages

2026-08-09T14:41:06.833-04:00

Poland’s top court has rejected plans to recognise same-sex marriages that were carried out in other EU member states, in a huge blow to the country’s LGBTQ+ community.

In a statement, the Constitutional Tribunal Court said that the ruling was unanimous and final and that EU same-sex marriages could not be copied into Poland’s civil registry.

In overturning the plans, Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal Court has defied an order from the Court of Justice of the European Union. The denial could lead to tension between the Polish court and the EU.

The news comes just two months after Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, assured that the country would begin recognising same-sex marriages performed in other European Union countries.

Then, Poland needs to change the law as other EU countries did before.

Pride march in Romania goes ahead despite being blocked four years in a row by municipality

2026-08-04T17:05:58.883-04:00

An LGBTQ+ Pride march in Romania went ahead despite it being banned for the fourth consecutive year. The march took place in Oradea, a city in western Romania with a population of around 180,000 people.

The city hall rejected all proposed routes and explicitly cited alleged violations of social conduct and morality norms, making Oradea a rare case within the EU for repeatedly blocking Pride.

Despite the official ban, over a thousand of activists and supporters went ahead and held a peaceful demonstration in front of the city hall. Besides, more than 152 organisations from 30 countries have signed a statement calling on officials to allow the march to take place in complete safety and in line with EU law.

In 2025, six hundred people attended an unauthorised march in the same city, with nine participants later fined. This time representatives from several diplomatic missions took part, along with Romania’s ombudsman.

Over 30,000 people joined Pride march in Bucharest, demanding civil union partnership legislation and equal rights after presidential election buoyed the far right in Romania.

This is not an LGBTQ+ issue. This is a democratic issue. It’s about the freedom to public assembly. And if a local LGBTQ+ community in Romania can be denied this basic human right without any repercussion, it can happen pretty much anywhere in Europe, for pretty much any community.

Happy Pride!!!

2026 edition drew a record-breaking crowd
of over 35,000 participants to Romania's capital

Discrimination rises in football, statistics says

2026-08-02T09:18:28.709-04:00

LGBTQ+ football charity Kick It Out has shared that it received 203 reports of homophobia in the sport during 2025/26, which marks a 43 percent rise from the previous season.

The troubling statistics have prompted Football v Homophobia, a campaign group that was set up to fight discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in football, to issue an urgent call for action.

According to Kick It Out, the number of reports of homophobia in football during the 2025/26 season amounted to the total from the last four seasons combined.

The charity counts homophobia as everything from individual prejudice against certain players to homophobic and transphobic mass chanting from fans.

Alarmingly, the stats for youth football were even higher this season, and saw a 90 percent increase in reported incidents.

Racism remains the most reported form of discrimination, with 792 reports, up 19% year-on-year and making up 45% of the total.

Read the full statistics here.

Amsterdam and Berlin become LGBTQ capitals in 2026

2026-07-29T06:54:39.598-04:00

From July 25 to August 8, Amsterdam will host WorldPride 2026, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors from every continent. The Dutch capital could hardly be a more fitting host.

The Netherlands has long been recognized as one of the world’s most progressive and inclusive societies, becoming the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001. Hosting WorldPride is not only a celebration of that history—it is a powerful reminder that freedom, equality, and acceptance remain values worth protecting.

This year’s WorldPride theme, “Unity,” could not be more relevant. When the world seems increasingly divided by war, political polarization, nationalism, and fear, celebrating WorldPride has become about far more than LGBTQ rights. It has evolved into one of the world’s most visible expressions of tolerance, openness, and the belief that people from different cultures, identities, and backgrounds can live together peacefully.

Amsterdam is not standing alone. Only a few hundred kilometers away, Berlin is preparing for one of Europe’s largest Christopher Street Day (CSD) celebrations.

The German capital has long symbolized freedom, resilience, and reconciliation. Once divided by a wall representing ideological conflict, Berlin today represents exactly the opposite—a city where diversity is celebrated and differences are embraced.

This year’s Pride celebrations create a remarkable connection between the two European cities. Happy Pride!!!