Late October raids across seven Turkish cities detained 45 people, most of them trans women, over their social media posts. Then came İzmir. Here's what happened, what detainees describe inside the cells, and what rights groups are demanding.
Watch · 0:52 The story in under a minute Türkiye's Crackdown Turns on Trans Women: New Raids in Seven Cities and İzmir Watch now New guest every dayInspired by today's news
Tonight: Selin, from İzmir
A translator from İzmir, a phone full of statements, and four names worth remembering.
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Voters who leaned blue on candidates also backed trans student restrictions in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska and Washington. Missouri said no, and Vermont wrote LGBTQ+ equality into its constitution.
From a closing party in Copenhagen this weekend to Barbara Hammer in Vienna, Céline Sciamma in Belfast, 31 years of queer cinema in Madrid and a December finale in Ljubljana.
A prosecutor in Louga says 32 people face 'acts against nature' and 'wilful HIV transmission' charges, two months after a court threw out the same HIV charges against 82 others. The Youth Olympic Games are underway in Dakar until November 13.
Love Queer Film Week, the festival Peking University students started in 2001, called off its 2026 edition the night before it was due to open. It's the second LGBTQ+ film event in Beijing to fold under police pressure this year.
The Amadeu Antonio Foundation's end-of-season count: at least 299 CSDs across Germany in 2026, at least 156 hit by attacks or disruptions, and physical assaults on marchers up from 4 to at least 19.
A Court of Appeal judge from Far North Queensland, Thomas Bradley was sworn in as the state's 28th governor on November 1. Here's who he is and what the role actually does.
Election night in the US delivered a string of LGBTQ+ firsts: Chris Pappas wins New Hampshire, Sarah McBride is re-elected, Georgia elects its first out trans and nonbinary lawmaker, and Virginia voters strip the same-sex marriage ban from their constitution. In Texas, Democrats won after a flood of anti-trans ads.
A Dundee employment tribunal has dismissed all three of the Fife nurse's direct discrimination complaints against her union. It accepted her gender-critical belief is protected, but found it didn't shape how the RCN treated her. Here's what was decided, what wasn't, and where the wider Fife case stands.
After weeks of clashes in Tirana, Albania's government amended the law on assemblies with an emergency normative act: 72-hour bans near institutions, tenfold fines and new police powers. Lawyers say it may be unconstitutional. What it could mean for LGBTQ+ activism.
East Asia's biggest Pride marched under the theme “Our Voices, Our Journey”. President Lai said the fight for equality “must not be reversed”, and Taipei's mayor was met with chants of “don't raid gay bars”.
ILGA-Europe and Aleanca LGBT are bringing the second UNSTOPPABLE Pride Organisers' Summit to Tirana, December 10–13. Here's who can apply, what's covered, and why Albania's protest-filled year makes the city a pointed choice.
About 350 people walked from the Government building to Argentina Square on October 3 for the 14th Montenegro Pride. It passed peacefully, and the demands were concrete: trans recognition without forced medical procedures, and partnership rights that actually work.
Postponed from June by a heat wave, the Marche des Fiertés crossed Paris on October 3 with tens of thousands of people and one clear message ahead of next year's presidential election: the far right is not welcome.
The Star Trek and X-Men actor died at home in Los Angeles on Wednesday after Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. He called supporting gay rights 'a natural and uncomplicated choice', and Ian McKellen, who married him to his wife Sunny, has written that he loved him.
A month after announcing a comeback, Dutch public broadcaster NPO says it's 'too early' to compete in 2027. Here's what changed, who else is sitting out, and what it means for the fans who treat Eurovision as a queer holiday.
A degenerative knee injury has ended the Adelaide 36ers centre's career. Four years after he came out on court, Humphries is staying with the club, and his legacy is bigger than his stat line.
Pip Archer and Stella Pryor said their vows on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday, with a gale outside and one of the most quietly queer lines the show has ever broadcast. Here's why a farming soap getting this right matters.
The Albanian activist, who left Tirana in 2017 after death threats, says he and his partner Erjon Tela are expecting a daughter, Lili, via surrogacy in Canada. Back home, a family like theirs still can't exist on paper.
Only 12% of LGBTIQ people in Albania, 21% in North Macedonia and 29% in Serbia say they're fairly or very open, against 51% across the EU. On National Coming Out Day, here's what the numbers mean, and why coming out is yours to time.
Most anti-LGBTI violence in Albania is never reported. A 2026 Council of Europe report explains why, and what does exist: a free anti-discrimination complaints line, a hate-crime provision, and a dedicated LGBTI shelter. Here's how it all works.
We've lived in Tirana on and off since 2022, and spent time in Sarandë and Durrës too. Here's our honest answer to the question we get asked most: is Albania actually safe for a gay couple?
Albania just issued its first hormone therapy guideline for trans adults, and the country's religious leaders are pushing back hard. We're spending part of our year in Tirana. Here's what that argument looks like from the ground.
As Amsterdam hosts the global Pride movement this fortnight, the view from Tirana is a reminder that the distance between a canal parade and a still-banned march is measured in more than kilometers.
Skopje, Sarajevo, Pristina, Belgrade — one Pride after another went off this season, many without incident. Living here, we've learned the real question isn't the march. It's the 51 weeks after it.
Tirana Pride marches Saturday. On Friday we went to the diplomatic reception that traditionally opens Pride week here, and the most telling thing in the room was who was no longer at the front of it.
