Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride Month

LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. From our LGBTQ+ news platform Openly to our work facilitating legal support for organisations protecting LGBTQ+ asylum seekers and refugees, inclusivity is integral to the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s mission of strengthening free, fair and informed societies.

This Pride Month, we are celebrating these initiatives, our LGBTQ+ colleagues, and the global LGBTQ+ community. We are also taking time to recognise the enormous work that needs to happen before true equality is achieved.

Legal support for the UK social enterprise protecting LGBTQ+ asylum seekers and refugees

Homosexuality is illegal in 67 countries around the world. In 11 of these, it is a crime punishable by death. Sadly, this is just one example of the persecution that forces countless LGBTQ+ people to flee their homes to find safety, many to the UK.

With pro bono legal support from Weil, Gotshal & Manges facilitated through TrustLaw, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono service, Micro Rainbow, a UK social enterprise, received tax and structuring advice. The project marked the start of a long-term pro bono partnership with the international law firm and allowed Micro Rainbow to operate ‘safe houses’ for LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers, offering safety and a way to connect to the LGBTQ+ community in their new country. Read more.

Teaching media literacy to combat misinformation about LGBTQ+ communities

Enrique Anarte is a believer in the power of platforms like TikTok to combat the spread of misinformation. His position as TikTok Lead for Openly has recently seen him selected as an ambassador for the Poynter Institute’s MediaWise programme. As an ambassador he will teach an LGBTQ+ audience digital media literacy through the lens of fact-checking and journalism. In this recent interview Enrique talks about the initiative, his motivations, and why media literacy is so important for LGBTQ+ communities.

Our news coverage of LGBTQ+ rights this Pride Month

From the EU’s legal response to Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law to the joy of trans activists reacting to Spain’s new self-determination bill, our new collection on Pocket brings you stories from a Europe divided by its attitudes to LGBTQ+ rights.

This collection is the fifth in a series curated in partnership with Context, showcasing the Foundation’s coverage of global issues. To mark Pride Month, this edition features a variety of in-depth reporting from our LGBTQ+ news platform, Openly, alongside the biggest LGBTQ+ rights stories happening across Europe. View the collection.

Hear from our CEO, Antonio Zappulla

Our CEO Antonio Zappulla, an outspoken advocate of human rights, reflects on how the world has changed for LGBTQ+ people in the 20 years since he came out, and the challenges facing LGBTQ+ communities today. Read here