An insurance company has refused to finance a mastectomy for a transgender man, claiming that being transgender is a mental illness. A transgender man in his 20s, from the central region, underwent mastectomy a year and a half ago. But when he asked the Ayalon Insurance company for a refund, he was told his policy does not cover mental disorders or psychiatric treatments. “My classification as transgender has nothing to do with mental disorder,” he told Haaretz. “This is an unfair and wrong generalization.”

As dusk approached on Sunday, the streets filled with smiling faces that sparkled with glitter, along with ululating pop music and drums. All around, rainbow flags fluttered in the sky as the crowd gathered. “Don’t be quiet, don’t shut up, shout, homosexuals exist,” they shouted. On both sides of the peaceful, joyful crowd stood lines of police in riot gear, waiting with their shields add batons, the tension building.

Brandon Nichols of the Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services, said that Anthony Avalos "liked boys," prompting speculation that his sexuality played a role in his death.

The killings of 27 men in Australia between 1976 and 2000 were most likely homophobic hate crimes, police say. A New South Wales police taskforce has spent three years reviewing 86 cases in Australia's most populous state. It was prompted by a report from the Australian Institute of Criminology that questioned whether police had investigated some cases sufficiently.

Another historic royal wedding is set to take place this summer - the family's first same-sex nuptials. Lord Ivar Mountbatten, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, first made history when he announced he was gay in 2016 and became the first member of the royal family to do so.

LGBTQ fans and advocates have decried FIFA’s choice of Russia to host the World Cup this year, saying the notoriously antigay country would be unsafe for LGBTQ fans. While the sporting authority and the Russian government have tried to downplay the concerns, two fans have already been brutally attacked before the games have even started.

The mission of the Arkansas Conference of the UMC is to create vital congregations that make disciples of Jesus Christ, who make disciples equipped to transform lives, communities and the world. As followers of Jesus Christ we always want our beliefs and actions to help others grow closer to God and make God’s love, mercy and justice real in the world. As United Methodists we want to be welcoming to all people so they can know the love and acceptance of Jesus Christ.

This year the most prestigious event in the world of football, the World Cup, will take place in notoriously homophobic Russia. Despite the country's claims that LGBT+ fans should feel comfortable travelling to and attending the event, several reports suggest otherwise; the most recent comes from a group of Cossack security volunteers, who have said that they will report two men kissing to the police if they see them.

All European Union countries must recognise the residency rights of same-sex spouses, the EU's top court has ruled. In a landmark ruling for gay rights in Europe, the European Court of Justice ruled Romania must grant residence to the American husband of a local man even though Romania itself does not permit same-sex marriage. Adrian Coman, from Romania, and his American husband, Claibourn Robert Hamilton, have fought a six-year legal battle to get their marriage, which took place in Belgium in 2010, legally recognised in the eastern European country.

President Trump declined to officially recognize June as LGBTQ Pride Month, marking the second year in a row that he has done so. Trump issued a series of proclamations for June, including Great Outdoors Month, National Ocean Month, National Homeownership Month and African-American Music Appreciation Month.

The European Union's top court has ruled in favour of a Romanian gay man's right to have his US husband live with him in Romania. The country, which does not recognise same-sex marriage, had argued that the American was not entitled to the EU residency rights awarded to spouses. But the European Court of Justice said the term "spouse" was gender neutral. Adrian Coman and his American partner Clai Hamilton were married in Brussels in 2010.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake to celebrate the marriage of a same sex couple because of a religious objection. The court held that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission showed hostility toward the baker based on his religious beliefs. The ruling is a win for baker Jack Phillips, who cited his beliefs as a Christian, but leaves unsettled broader constitutional questions on religious liberty.

Less intelligent people are more likely to hold discriminatory attitudes towards same-sex couples, according to new research from Australia. The finding, which appear in the journal Intelligence, adds to a growing body of literature that indicates less intelligent people tend to express more prejudicial attitudes.

The Russian ambassador has denied the persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya – partly because President Putin has met with Elton John, according to reports. Alexander Yakovenko, the Russian Ambassador to the UK, was giving a talk at the Oxford Union on May 29, when students grilled him about Russia’s LGBT rights record. He was asked by a student: “Ambassador, I’m a gay man and if I was living in Chechnya over the past year I may have been killed tortured or imprisoned.

The city of Sapporo began issuing cards serving as proof of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender partnerships on Friday, responding to calls from couples seeking portable evidence they can present in emergencies and other situations. The city in Hokkaido started authenticating partnership oaths submitted by sexual-minority couples in June last year, but had only issued a certificate in the form of an A4-size (21 cm by 29.7 cm) document.

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League did everything it could to keep lesbians off the diamond. Seventy-five years later, its gay stars are finally opening up.

I didn’t know Kevin that well. The truth is, I didn’t know anyone at my church that well. Church is where I learned to wear a mask, to hide my true thoughts and beliefs. It was a fire and brimstone Baptist church. “Where the Old-Fashioned Gospel Is Preached,” the bulletin boasted each week. The pastor regularly yelled, “God said it, I believe, that settles it!” from the pulpit to a roaring round of Amens. Throughout my childhood, I spent several hours a week there. So did Kevin.

Hawaii is now the 12th state in the country with a law that prohibits therapists from offering so-called "conversion therapy" to minors. Conversion therapy, the practice of trying to change a person's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, is universally rejected by national organizations that guide accepted practices for licensed psychological professionals and is considered a pseudoscience.

An Oregon principal has resigned after a months-long investigation into how the high school under his leadership discriminated against LGBTQ students, including forcing them to read the Bible as punishment. When Liv Funk and Hailey Smith, two female students at North Bend High School in Coos County, began dating, they started to face discrimination — and even threats to their safety — from students and staff alike. For example, one teacher equated homosexuality with bestiality, and the school’s police officer told the young couple they were going to hell.

A victim of clerical sexual abuse has said that Pope Francis told him that God made him gay and that his sexuality "does not matter."