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Qatar, which has laws that criminalise homosexuality, will host the football World Cup later this year. But, English Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham claims he has been told Qatar police will not arrest LGBTQI fans for holding hands or kissing in public at the World Cup. The country has faced questions about its human rights records, treatment of migrant workers and homophobic laws ahead of the World Cup. Homosexuality in Qatar  is illegal.

National treasure and gay Indigenous elder Uncle Jack Charles, who died on September 13, will be honoured and celebrated at a state funeral, the Victorian government confirmed on Monday. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said that Uncle Charles’ family had accepted the offer of a state funeral. “There is no actor, no activist, no survivor and no Victorian quite like Uncle Jack Charles. He leaves behind a legacy – one of profound honesty, survival and reconciliation – and one that every single Victorian can be proud of,” the Premier said in a statement. The State Funeral Service will be held at Hamer Hall at 2pm on Tuesday October 18, 2022.Uncle Jack CharlesUncle Jack Charles, a proud Boon Wurrung, Dja Dja Wurrung, Woiwurrung and Taungurung man, was a survivor of the stolen generation – as an infant, he was forcibly removed from his mother by authorities.

Recent activity at former gay bar ARQ Sydney could indicate it’s reopening this October or November after its shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.Originally, the club was shut down due to crowd limits brought on by the coronavirus. At the beginning of the pandemic, ARQ had intentions of reopening as soon as it was able to.

Fifteen years after 20-year-old Matthew Leveson walked out of Sydney gay nightclub ARQ and disappeared, never to be seen again alive, his parents have shared an emotional tribute. “Matty, it is fifteen years today that you were murdered and our lives changed forever.  A part of our hearts went with you to heaven,” Faye & Mark Leveson, Mathew’s parents, posted on .Matthew Leveson (right) was last seen on September 23, 2007, leaving ARQ nightclub in Sydney with his then boyfriend Michael Atkins (left).Matthew had walked out of ARQ in Darlinghurst, Sydney, in the early hours of September 23, 2007. CCTV footage showed him leaving the club with his boyfriend Michael Atkins (then 45 years old). On September 25, 2007, Matthew’s parents reported him missing and two days later on September 27, his car was found abandoned at Waratah Park Reserve in Sutherland. Matthew’s parents Faye & Mark Leveson.Matthew’s parents continued their search for their son’s body and in 2015 a coronial inquest into the death was resumed.

I’ll never forget the energy in the room at Sydney Bi+ Network’s first Bi+ Visibility Day event, BiLines, back in 2019. With standing room only at Redfern Town Hall, we gathered for our storytelling event to celebrate bi+ people and communities, our unique experiences, and joys.

The NSW Teachers Federation’s and transgender service provider The Gender Centre’s applications to march in the 2023 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) Parade has been rejected.In an open letter to members, NSW Teachers Federation General Secretary Maxine Sharkey revealed “with great disappointment” that their application to march in the 2023 SGLMG Parade was rejected, despite having marched in the last several parades. Sharkey acknowledged the Union’s support for Mardi Gras in the past, “including providing spaces in our conference centre and encouraging members to volunteer as marshals or float participants in Mardi Gras parades. Sharkey stressed, however, that even though the Union would not be marching in the Parade, “we will contribute to the Sydney WorldPride Amplify program.”The Gender Centre health and communications manager Eloise Brook said “We provide over 90 per cent of trans-specific services to the community in NSW,” According to an interview in the Sydney Morning Herald, SGLMG received so many applications “far exceeding our total capacity.”This year’s Mardi Gras Parade is part of Sydney WorldPride 2023.Sydney WorldPride 2023 takes place from February 17 to March 5, 2023 with nearly 1 million people expected to take part in the 17-day celebration.© Star Observer 2022 | For the latest in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, be sure to visit

Parties, proms and meditation practice are on the menu in Queer Sydney this week, making for an incredibly diverse array of things to do and see this weekend and beyond. Fifteen years after its closure, Chinatown’s Harbour City Twin Cinema is being revived by month-long festival Pleasures Playhouse. Starting Thursday, three consecutive parties are to be thrown each night, but only Friday’s show starring a DJ set by Kiwi duo Broods with special appearances by Big Wett and Heaps Gay DJs has tickets still available.Pleasures Playhouse runs until October 31st with a wide range of exciting and queer-inclusive events to come.

For the second year running, Queensland Police Force officers will not march in uniform in Brisbane Pride. In a joint statement, issued with Brisbane Pride, the police have committed to issuing an apology to the LGBTQI community in early 2023.The joint statement was issued days before Brisbane Pride, which is scheduled to be held on September 24, 2022. The statement said that the delay in finalising the apology was the reason for asking police not to march in uniform in the Pride parade. Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll.Police commissioner Katarina Carroll, who is leading the preparations for a formal apology, said she was committed to delivering it in consultation with community members, including serving LGBTQI police officers. The Queensland Police Force had in 2015 lifted a 25-year-old ban on its officers marching in uniform in the Brisbane Pride Festival.

Right-wing Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson has accused schools and hospitals of “sex crimes” and “sexualising children” for discussing sexuality and providing gender-affirming care.“In a healthy country, with an intact social fabric, neighborhood dads would give out instant justice to anyone who even thought about sexualizing their kids,” he said. “Sexualizing children screws them up for life — ask anyone to whom it has happened — period. No one should put up with this. No parent should put up with this for one second, no matter what the law says.

Thirty four years ago a young newly graduated police constable Tim Dooley arrested LGBTQI activist Rodney Croome, who was calling for the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Tasmania. Last week the two met for the first time after over three decades in very different circumstances. This was just the second encounter between Cooley, now a Commander with the Tasmanian Police, and Croome, a former Tasmanian of the Year, who was appointed Member of Order of Australia for his LGBTQI activism in 2003. Croome recalls that in 1988 the LGBTQI community’s relationship with the local police were “at a low ebb”. In 1988, Tasmania’s LGBTQI community started their decade long battle to call for the repeal of the law that criminalised homosexuality with up to 21 years imprisonment.

With the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral set to take place on Monday 19th September, many shops across London will be closed for the day, except for one gay sauna.Pleasuredrome, a popular bar spa in London that boasts as the “only gay venue in the UK that never closes” announced that it will not play music and show its regularly scheduled porn in the cinema. Instead, they will be live streaming the funeral in the cinema.“The staff and management of Pleasuredrome Spa join together in expressing their sense of deep sadness and loss at the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II,” management wrote on their website.“In accordance with Government guidance and advice, Pleasuredrome Spa will remain open on Monday, 19th September.

Award-winning designer and creative director at CRE8 in Cairns, Aaron Coshaw passed away at the top of Victoria Falls, Zambia. He was surrounded by his loving partner, Jay Horne and friends.Horne expressed his grief at the passing of his partner on , saying he was “completely dumbfounded, devastated, lost and heart broken.”“Yesterday afternoon, just after this photo was taken my rock, my guide, my confidant, my partner in life and number 1 support [Aaron Coshaw] passed away at the top of Victoria Falls here in Zambia,” Horne wrote.“But I am desperately trying to take comfort in the fact that Aaron passed away in such a beautiful location and that he was so excited to tick off number 3 of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World.”While in grief, Horne is facing the task of bringing Coshaw back home, with the help of local and state members in Cairns, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Australian Embassy.Coshaw’s life was full of excitement and remarkable achievements.

The US Senate is delaying its vote on legislation that will protect same-sex marriage until after the November mid-term elections. This is to allow Republicans some political breathing room to support the bill without offending their support bases.Leading Democratic negotiator on the bill, Senator Tammy Baldwin is confident that the bill will pass if Republicans are given time.“We’re very confident that the bill will pass, but we will need a little more time,” she told CNN.The decision to delay the vote comes after many weeks spent in bipartisan negotiations as a small group of senators had tried to reassure any concerns Republican senators had as a way to gain their support on the bill.The Respect for Marriage Act seeks to codify same-sex and interracial marriages whilst repealing the Defense of Marriage Act, which only recognises marriage in the US between a man and a woman.Senator Susan Collins has stated that the amendment would “make it clear” that the bill will not “legalise polyamorous marriages” or force churches to perform “same-sex marriages.”“I think we’re in very good shape, very good shape.

A NSW Supreme Court jury  on Thursday held Hamdi Alqudsi guilty of allegedly plotting to carry out attacks on Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and other places as leader of the terrorist group ‘Shura’. The court has scheduled Alqudsi’s sentencing over two days starting October 31, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Alqudsi was the first Australian to be convicted and sentenced to eight years imprisonment in 2016 for his role in sending young men from Australia to Syria to help  Islamic State fighters in the country’s civil war. The prosecution case was that Alqudsi set up the Shura in 2013 and dubbed himself the “commander” and “emir” of the Shura. Shura means consultation council in Arabic.

To Barbra, With Love makes its debut in Sydney, Canberra, and Adelaide in celebration of Barbra Streisand’s 80th Birthday. The critically acclaimed concert showcases Streisand’s impressive musical career and features local orchestras behind celebrity performers. The show premiered earlier this year at the Hammer Hall in Melbourne, with high praise from both audiences and critics. Starring four of the Australian theatre industry’s most impressive singers.

A suspect wanted in the stabbing death at a California gay bar, has been arrested.On September 9, Christopher Finley, 28, and Jacob Touchstone went out for a date night and nightcap at Mineshaft bar in Long Beach.An altercation happened between the couple and an unnamed man with a taser and, soon after, an altercation with Smalls, resulting in the couple being stabbed. Finely would pass away eight hours later at the hospital.Smalls is being charged with one count of murder, one count of attempted murder.In a statement, police said there is “no evidence this is a hate or bias-motivated incident.”The couple’s GoFund Me page reveals that the couple has been together since 2016.“From then on, there was never a Jake without a Chris,” the page states. “They had ups and they had downs and they even tried the whole time apart thing, without ever really leaving each others’ lives.

For the first time, participants will be able to register as Non-Binary when they sign up for the 2023 London Marathon.Races that operate under World Athletics rules, such as the Championship, Good for Age, and elite athlete races will not offer a third option. According to London Marathon Event Director Hugh Brasher, “This is a significant step forward for the TCS London Marathon as we continue our journey to make our event truly inclusive.”Brasher continued, “We know there is still much more to be done, but changes such as this demonstrate our commitment to making the TCS London Marathon an event that is for everyone.” According to the Boston Athletic Association, in an interview with The Independent, “non-binary athletes can submit entry applications if they’ve completed a marathon as a non-binary participant during the current qualifying window.”LGBTQI sports advocacy group, Athlete Ally spokesperson Joanna Hoffman rescinded to the news, saying, “A truly inclusive marathon provides space for every runner to register, compete and be celebrated exactly as they are.”Hoffman continued, “Including a nonbinary category in the Boston and London Marathons, following the New York Marathon’s prior adoption, is a critical step forward.

A trans boy has been outed at a school in Israel resulting in anti-trans protests by parents and threats of school transfers. The third grader attends Morsheth Naria school in Givat Shmuel. Trigger Warning: This story discusses transphobic conduct, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.In an interview with Ono News, a parent said, “The administration knew about the story and probably most of the teachers did too, but it dropped on the parents like lightning on a clear day.”According to JewishPress, 17 transphobic parents of third graders threatened to pull their children from school.“We, the majority of third-grade parents, are not ready to contain the phenomenon and accept the damage to our spiritual character and the emotional damage that our children are going through and will go through in the future.”“We need your help in this fight to stand firm on the way our children are educated, and our insistence that we are not ready to apologize for our way of life and our desire to educate our children according to our will.”In response religious LGBTQ Group, Havruta tweeted, “In the service of transphobia and under the auspices of the hate lobby, there is a demonstration in Givat Shmuel against a religious trans boy.

Just days ahead of the event, Serbian authorities have banned the 2022 EuroPride Parade through the streets of the country’s capital Belgrade.Last month, the Serbian Church had called for armed attacks on LGBTQI people marching in EuroPride. Subsequently, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić had called off the march citing “security concerns”. EuroPride organisers had said they would go ahead with the parade, but this week updated that police had banned the route of the Pride walk scheduled for September 17, 2022. Police bans EuroPride 2022 MarchToday, on September 13, the Serbian Police banned this year’s EuroPride March, by handing over the official notice to the organizers.

Australian Special Forces veteran, founder of the Australian Values Party, and OnlyFans model Heston Russell is suing the ABC for defamation.According to Russell’s lawsuit, the November article made defamatory claims including that Russell “was reasonably suspected by the Department of Defence of committing a crime or crimes when he was a commando in Afghanistan,” and that Russell “was involved in callously killing an Afghan prisoner in Helmand province in mid-2012 because the prisoner would not fit on a US aircraft.”The lawsuit goes on to state that “Russell has been gravely injured in his character, his personal reputation, and his professional reputation as a former member of the armed forces, and has suffered and will continue to suffer substantial hurt, distress and embarrassment.”He continued, “I will not be making any further comment now that the matter is before the Court.”According to the Daily Telegraph, Russell is being represented by defamation lawyers Sue Chrysanthou SC and Rebekah Giles.  In the past, the pair have represented Christian Porter, Geoffrey Rush, John Barilaro and Andrew Laming.He is suing for damages, aggravated damages, legal costs, and for the ABC articles to be removed. The ABC, in a statement, said it “will defend its journalism on this important issue of public interest.”On August 12, Russell pleaded not guilty to assaulting a man at a private party in Sydney on January 2022.In December 2021, Russell made headlines when it was revealed that he raised approximately $15,000 in the name of a veterans’ mental health charity by selling nudes of himself via OnlyFans.© Star Observer 2022 | For the latest in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, be