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Editorials, personal essays, and community voices. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and reflect the diversity of LGBTQ+ perspectives.
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.
Tirana Pride 2026 marches Saturday. Thursday night we went to a screening of Sworn Virgin and stayed for a panel that turned into the most honest conversation about gender we have heard in Albania.
Tirana Pride 2026 is Saturday. We spent Wednesday at the public EU accession panel and in a long sit-down with a PINK Embassy organizer who has been at this since 2012. The most interesting moment came from somebody we did not have on the schedule.
Tirana Pride 2026 is on Saturday. We spent Tuesday at the EU accession panel, on a call with the organizing coalition, and walking the route. Here is what the city looks like with four days to go.
We wrote a thirteen-days-out dispatch from Blloku last week. Now Tirana Pride 2026 is five days away, the official posters are on the lampposts, and the city feels different in a way we can't quite stop noticing.
We are in Tirana on the day. Some rainbow flags are out, some embassies are flying them, the Pride parade is six days away, and the city is humming in a way that — for the first time — feels normal. A first-person dispatch from May 17.
May 17 lands on Sunday — the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia. From where we're sitting in Tirana, it feels less like a campaign moment and more like a stocktake. Some notes on what's planned across the Balkans.
We wrote a long preview of Tirana Pride 2026 six weeks ago. Now the parade is less than two weeks away, and the city is starting to look — and feel — different. Some thoughts as the countdown gets short.
Lesbian Visibility Week 2026 wraps tomorrow with Lesbian Visibility Day on April 26. After a week of programming and panels, the day itself is the part that asks something of the rest of us.
We're back in Porto for our third stint in Portugal. The anti-trans bills that passed their first parliamentary reading last month are the background hum of every conversation right now.
When we call every queer act of self-expression 'brave,' we're accidentally reinforcing the idea that being yourself is inherently dangerous. It's time for a language upgrade.
Eighteen states have zero local LGBTQ+ news outlets. Social media platforms are stripping content protections. Corporate DEI has collapsed. The case for independent queer journalism is stronger than ever — here's why.
