Lucy Middleton

A fringe nationalist party opposed to LGBTQ+ rights emerged as one of the big winners in Japan's upper house elections on Sunday, muddying long-standing efforts to legalise same-sex marriage.

Japan is the only G7 nation without marriage equality, despite mounting pressure from a series of high-court rulings in the last 16 months declaring it unconstitutional.

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed multiple executive orders in his first three months in office that impact the lives of LGBTQ+ Americans, from healthcare, to legal recognition, to protection from discrimination.

Those who do not comply with the directives have begun facing a backlash from the administration.

An upstart nationalist party opposed to legalising same-sex marriage is gaining support in Japan ahead of a vital election that will determine which lawmakers could be involved in drafting such legislation in the country next year.

Japan is the only Group of Seven nation without marriage equality, despite mounting pressure from a series of high court rulings in the last 16 months declaring this to be unconstitutional.

Since the decriminalisation of same-sex relations in Namibia, the man who brought the case says he is hopeful the Supreme Court will uphold the landmark decision when it rules on a government appeal.

But activist Friedel Dausab decried what he described as a backlash against LGBTQ+ communities in the southern African country in the year since he won his case at the High Court.

On June 26, the United States will mark 10 years since the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in favour of Jim Obergefell, legalising same-sex marriage across the country.    

Obergefell filed the lawsuit against the governor of Ohio in July 2013, eight days after marrying his long-term partner John Arthur, who was battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in Maryland, where same-sex marriage was legal.

The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, in a case that could bolster efforts by other U.S. states to restrict transgender rights.

Tennessee's law denies hormone treatment and puberty blockers to under-18s for the purpose of changing gender or treating gender dysphoria, but allows them for other uses.

When Zach Bolen proposed to his partner Derrick Dobson in 2017, he chose a place that meant a lot to them; the hiking trail where the couple had first met, with a view over their entire home city of Boise, Idaho.

"I drove him to the top, claiming it would be a fun last-minute adventure as we had not been there in a while. I proposed with all of our friends and family behind us to surprise him after," Bolen, 33, told Context.

Seventeen-year-old Elliot Schneider knows how vital mental health support can be.

The American teenager, who uses the pronouns they/them, was just 12 when they came out as non-binary following a battle with depression and anxiety. Without their supportive parents and community, they are not sure they would have survived.

The European Union (EU) has come increasingly under fire for failing to act swiftly to combat the spread of anti-LGBTQ+ laws, including Hungary's Pride ban, with activists warning inaction could lead to further quashing of rights.

Hungary, under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is leading the charge in LGBTQ+ censorship and, in 2021, passed a law restricting LGBTQ+ information in schools and the media.

The world was watching as Pope Leo XIV delivered his first mass on Sunday, days after becoming the first American elected pope.

Robert Francis Prevost has used his initial days as leader of the Catholic world to call for peace in Ukraine, a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of imprisoned journalists.