Gay marriage: On the 1st of April 2001, 20 years ago, gay marriage was allowed for the first time in the world by the Dutch government.
Dubai: Noura Al-Matrooshi is the first female Emirati to become an astronaut. She was born in 1993, studied mechanical engineering and is working for the National Petroleum Construction Company. She will start to train with NASA.
Euro 2020: Stéphanie Frappart is the first woman to officiate at a men’s Euros. Last December, she became the first female referee at a men’s Champions League.
26th of April: Lesbian Visibility Day
This day of visibility for Lesbians was created in Montreal in 1982. It was celebrated every year in Quebec (Canada) to raise awareness about the diverse sexual orientation, LGBTQ+ rights by focusing on lesbians. It became an official international day on the LGBTQ+ calendar in 2008.
Chloé Zhao: 2nd woman to win an Oscar of the best director with her film “Nomadland” and the first Asian woman this prize. Her win was censored in China, the country where she was born and lived for 14 years.
European Gymnastics Championship: Sarah Voss decided to wear a full-body suit against the sexualisation of women in sport. She wants to be an example for women who would feel safer with a full-body suit. She also wants to let women have the choice to wear what they find comfortable. Moreover, she is the first woman to wear this full-suit body without religious reasons.
Kuwait: A femicide launched calls for greater safety. The woman who was killed had already reported her harasser to the authorities which shows that they were not efficient enough to protect her.
Lithuania: The Lithuanian artist, Erikas Malisauskas raised over $6,000 for LGBTQ+ groups selling a digital collage of 400 homophobic messages bundled in the shape of a cloud. These messages were sent to a member of parliament defending LGBTQ+ rights.
Cameroon: Cameroonian LGBTQ+ activist and influencer Bandy Kiki has been promoting the case of Loic Njeukam, better known as Shakiro and Patricia who were arrested in February for wearing women’s clothing at a restaurant. They have already spent more than two months in prison waiting for their trial to begin. If the court comes to a guilty verdict, the sentence could be up to five years. Bandy Kiki points out how Cameroonian authorities implement always more oppressive policies for LGBTQ+ people.
Sources:
cnn.com
rlq-qln.ca/histoire-jvl/