– Federal Parliament has passed Australia’s own version of Magnitsky Laws, which allows for targeted sanctions against individuals responsible for human rights violations. Emma Hoy spoke with one of the bill’s key supporters, Federal Greens Senator Janet Rice about the legislation, along with Nic Holas from the Victorian Pride Lobby about how they’d like the new legislation used to target abusers of queer people around the world. – The Federal Coalition is pushing new legislation pitched as an anti-trolling bill. However, many have critiqued the legislation as doing little to stem trolling, i ..read more

– World AIDS Day is 1 Dec so we look back at two stories from this season. One looks at exciting new research being undertaken in Melbourne into a potential cure for HIV, while in the other, we look into the concerning rising HIV infection rates in Indonesia. – Continuing our retrospective – back in August when Australia pulled its last troops out of Afghanistan, unlike other western countries it refused to take in more refugees. Months later the Australian Gov has still not changed its policy, despite wide-ranging criticism. We spoke with Dennis Altman at the time who wrote an open letter to ..read more

– The federal government has tabled its long-awaited Religious Discrimination Bill. The legislation would weaken some existing protections for LGBTQIA+ Australians and has been roundly condemned by queer advocates, among others. We speak to Equality Australia about what this legislation means for the community. – Melbourne Queer Film Festival has been rocked by a boycott campaign after it refused to withdraw Israeli film The Swimmer from its program. Boycott organisers say the film, and allowing it to be aired, is pinkwashing, while MQFF says it has a duty to support a diverse range of filmma ..read more

– New research by Vic Pride Lobby finds the vast majority of queer Victorians surveyed don’t trust or feel safe around police. We speak with Nic Holas of the Lobby about the findings, some of the impacts that the lack of trust can lead to, and what the police can do to improve their relationship with our communities. – Victoria’s new LGBTIQ Commissioner, Todd Fernando, sat down with us to chat about how he came to the role, the work he’s been undertaking, the issues he sees our communities are facing, and the importance of supporting and fostering regional queer communities. The post Majority ..read more

  – The Victorian state government has proposed changes banning deferrable medical interventions on intersex children until they are able to consent. The changes have been welcomed after years of campaigning by intersex advocates who highlight the mental and physical damage that can be done by interventions. We speak with a paediatric surgeon about how the system currently operates. – Recently in Bulgaria’s capital, Sophia, a far-right mob led by a presidential nominee attacked a queer community centre holding an event for trans people and issues. What happened in the attack and how more ..read more

– The board of Sydney Mardi Gras has proposed changes to its constitution that would mean a significant portion of the board is appointed by other board members, not elected by the organisation’s members. The motion will be put to a vote at an upcoming general meeting. Some in the organisation are critical of the proposal, namely the activist group, Pride in Protest. – As Victoria comes out of what is hopefully its last significant lockdown, the usually vibrant arts scene is coming out of an 18+ month shutdown. We speak with some performance artists about how they’ve coped, what it’s like com ..read more

– As Melbourne emerges from another tough long lockdown, we hear from some queer pubs about how they’ve managed while their doors were shut and how important queer spaces are for the community. – Burundi is a small country nestled in the middle of Africa that has seen significant civil war in its not-too-distant past. While widespread violence isn’t a feature of the political process in recent years, homophobia from the state and society is increasing. Burundi passed its first laws against homosexuality in 2009, banning both male and female homosexual acts. In such a climate, speaking out isn ..read more

– The Australian Human Rights Commission has released a report recommending non-medically necessary interventions on intersex children be banned until they are able to give consent. We speak with intersex advocate, Tony Briffa, who has been calling for the changes for years. – Although abortion was ruled a constitutional right in the US in the 1970s, opponents have long tried to restrict access through various state legislation. Texas has passed laws so strict it’s essentially a de facto ban. We investigate how women’s constitutional rights have been circumvented. – New pop-up Covid vaccinati ..read more

– NSW has a new premier in Dominic Perrottet. A self-declared social conservative, he has previously expressed opposition to marriage equality, abortion, and support for Donald Trump. Is social progress under threat? We investigate. – Victorian Parliament has passed reforms on Assisted Reproductive Treatments. We speak with the Vic. Pride Lobby about how the reforms benefit rainbow families, but also how they didn’t go far enough. – Scotland has introduced wide-ranging LGBTQI issues and history into its school curriculum, from age-appropriate discussions around gender and sexuality, to the hi ..read more

  – A petition calling for gender-affirming surgery to be covered amassed over 100,000 in a matter of days. Currently, the surgery isn’t covered and is extremely expensive. We speak with Sally Goldner from Transgender Victoria about what impact Medicare coverage could have. – The EU has been applying pressure to Polish province governments over ‘LGBT-Free Zone’ ordinances that have been passed by many provinces since 2019. With the threat of funding being withheld, some have dropped the ordinances. We speak with academic Cai Wilkinson about if the changes might lead to improvements on th ..read more