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Leo Varadkar, Ana Brnabić, Edgars Rinkēvičs, Xavier Bettel

Current world leaders who are openly LGBTQ+

As of June 2023, it's still rare for a head of government to be openly LGBTQ+. Here are the four leaders currently in office or elected to the top job.

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The Graphic Truth: Worlds Apart on LGBTQ Rights

LGBTQ+ rights are not distributed equally around the globe. While some countries are taking progressive steps toward equal rights, just as many are implementing discriminatory and dangerous anti-LGBTQ legislation. From Latin America to Oceania, members of the LGBTQ+ community still face repression, imprisonment, and even death threats.

On the positive side: A Japanese court ruled last week that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, paving the way toward legalization. Also, in 2022 we saw Cuba and Switzerland add themselves to the list of countries that recognize same-sex unions.

Meanwhile, Uganda signed the world’s toughest anti-LGBTQ laws in May, mandating the death penalty for homosexual acts and 20-year prison sentences for anyone who promotes homosexuality. In the US, there are currently 491 anti-LGBTQ bills in state legislatures. While not all of them will become law, they all hurt the LGBTQ community – both domestically and globally. After all, each domestic effort also reflects a weakening US resolve to stand up for LGBTQ rights on the global stage.

We take a look at the landscape of rights for same-sex couples around the globe.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 7, known as the “stop woke act,” in Florida, on April 22, 2022.

Daniel A. Varela/Miami Herald/TNS/ABACAPRESS.COM

Ron DeSantis and the latest battle over Black history

As Black History Month begins today in the US, the country’s latest culture war battle is about … Black history.

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French President Emmanuel Macron

Paige Fusco

Hard Numbers: Macron’s pension fireworks, US and Europe’s inflation woes, Russia’s LGBTQ crackdown, Big Tech’s bad week

65: French President Emmanuel Macron plans to implement pension reform and deliver on his vow of raising the retirement age by three years to 65 by 2031. Expect uproar! If there’s one thing the French hate more than politicians, it’s government interference with the national pension scheme.

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A model of a natural gas pipeline, a Euro banknote and a torn EU flag placed on a Russian flag.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

Hard Numbers: EU gas price dip, Swedish camera thieves, Myanmar festival attack, Qatar vs. LGBTQ

100: The cost of burning natural gas to produce a megawatt hour of electricity in Europe has dipped below 100 euros ($99) for the first time since Russia began cutting supplies to the EU earlier this year. Experts say milder-than-expected weather and topped-up storage units are to thank for the price relief. Can it last?

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A demonstrator holds a sign reading "No more Core Group (a group of international diplomats), no more BINUH (the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti)" during a protest against the government in Port-au-Prince.

REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol

Hard Numbers: Haiti's looted aid, Cuba’s gay marriage breakthrough, Kazakhstan’s red carpet for Russians, India’s “anti-national” crackdown

6 million: Amid recent protests over Haiti’s soaring food and fuel costs, looters have swiped at least $6 million worth of UN humanitarian aid, including thousands of tons of food. The UN now says the Caribbean nation is on the brink of “humanitarian catastrophe.”

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Paige Fusco

The Graphic Truth: LGBTQI identification vs. social acceptance

International polls often gauge what percentage of a given population identify as LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex). But the willingness of people to divulge their gender identification and sexual preference is likely influenced by social and cultural attitudes towards LGBTQI people. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, where same-sex sexual acts can be punishable by death, no one is going to be upfront about their sexual proclivities. We look at the percentage of people who identify as LGBTQI in G20 countries, as well as how each of these countries rank on UCLA Law School’s LGBTI Social Acceptance Index.

This comes to you from the Signal newsletter team of GZERO Media. Subscribe for your free daily Signal today.


US President Joe Biden

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Hard Numbers: Biden’s pardon powers, Beijing learns from Shanghai, Japan unveils relief package, Russia’s “anti-gay” machoism

3: Using his executive clemency powers for the first time, President Joe Biden on Tuesday pardoned three people and shortened scores of other sentences. The most high-profile person to get clemency was Abraham W. Bolden, the first Black Secret Service agent to serve in a presidential detail. He was found guilty of bribery charges but has maintained his innocence. The other two pardonees were incarcerated for drug-related offenses.

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