LGBTQ+ & Gay Rights

AMSTERDAM: The organizers decided for the 2021 edition, to turn the queer film festival into an online version with its best lesbian movies.

GERMANY: Often forgotten, the victims of Nazi Germany also include 5,000 to 15,000 gay men marked with the Pink Triangle.

NETHERLANDS: Gay men enjoy a significant amount of social acceptance and freedom in the capital city of the Netherlands – but it has come at the loss of many gay places and institutions.

SPAIN: Sitges tends not to be on everyone’s radar, which is why mentioning it to the uninitiated usually draws befuddled looks. For many gay men, however, the name Sitges evokes images of sun, sea, and… intimate encounters.

Chris Vincent experienced bullying like so many queer people growing as a young gay guy in a rather difficult environment. After graduating from acting school, the Danish LGBT and HIV/Aids activist Chris Vincent had to face an additional challenge to his young life: He was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 2014. Since then he has taken part in different campaigns to spread knowledge and awareness for HIV/AIDS and has founded an NGO himself.

WORLDWIDE: That is why we would like to use today’s opportunity to share knowledge about this important topic, help to create awareness, and show our support.

EUROPE: Couple of Men reporter Sarah could talk to transman Soldado who was born in Siberia, Russia, and had to face discrimination and violence for being LGBT in his home country.

NETHERLANDS: The story of lesbian couple Diana and Roksana from Poland, who left their home country to get married in the UK and to live a life in peace and love in the Netherlands.

LAOS: The Democratic People’s Republic of Laos also called Laos for short, has the reputation of being one of the most tolerant communist countries for the LGBTQ+ community.

HOME: Today, I am 36 years old living together with the man of my life and our tomcat in Amsterdam. I am having a rainbow family with two children together with three wonderful human beings. My parents are proud of who I am, they love and appreciate my partner and support me in anything I am doing. But it wasn’t always like that.

WORLDWIDE: The path for a change in the right direction always starts with a first step. These 10 people from around the world have made history for the LGBTQ+ Movement.

WORLDWIDE: Top list of the best LGBTQ+ and gay travel bloggers who know about the colorful history of the LGBTQ+ community and can show you the best destinations!

CAMBODIA: Additionally to the two genders, male and female, Cambodia’s national language Khmer also knows the third gender kteuy, describing a person who has the physical characteristics of one gender but the behavior of the other.

WORLDWIDE: Gay artwork? Of us? On Instagram? What? Well, let us tell you a short story about our photos on our Instagram account.

VIETNAM: Homosexuality was still described as a social evil by a national television broadcaster in 2002, comparable to prostitution and illegal gambling. Over the past years, the situation for the LGBT community in Vietnam has improved.

MYANMAR: …or Burma, still one of the most conservative countries in Southeast Asia, is also the country where life is anything but easy for LGBTQ+ people

LEBANON: The country has a reputation in the Middle East for being the most liberal of all countries when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community in general.

The two men Pavel Stotcko and Evgenii Voitsekhovskii met via the Russian online network VKontakte and fell in love. Pavel’s family knew that the two men lived together, but homosexuality was kept from their fathers. Pavel’s mother, in turn, knew but preferred the word friendship when she spoke of the two.

RUSSIA: A kiss and a murder. This is how recent events in Russia can be summarized in the LGBTQ+ community. Renowned LGBTQ+ activist Yelena Grigoriyeva was found dead in St. Petersburg in mid-July, with several stab wounds in the chest and signs of strangulation.

WORLDWIDE: These people have actively campaigned for gay and lesbian equality fought for LGBTQ+ rights and, in an exceptional way, ensured that attention could be drawn to change the perception of the lesbian, gay, trans and queer lives.

GEORGIA: Although homosexuality has been legal in Georgia since 2000, it is taboo in large parts of the country with far-reaching consequences for lesbians, gays, and queer people in the country.