[Europe]
EU launches LGBTI survey, warns countries to improve gay rights
The EU has called on countries hopeful of joining the European Union such as Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo to improve their records on gay rights and to increase protections for their LGBT populations as a new survey was launched to gauge the discrimination faced by LGBT people in countries across the continent.

[Brasil]
Capitão de corveta brasileiro mudou de sexo e foi afastado da Marinha
Alexandre tinha uma carreira promissora na Marinha brasileira. Chegou a capitão de corveta e viajou pelo mundo . Mas no dia em que informou a insitituição que queria continuar na Armada mas como mulher, caiu o Carmo e a Trindade, ou, na versão carioca, talvez o Cristo e o Pão de Açucar

[España]
Condena ante la agresión en Zaragoza a una mujer transexual
La Asociación SOMOS LGTB+, el Colectivo Magenta y ATA (Asociación de Transexuales de Andalucía), organizaciones en defensa de la igualdad de géneros, de las diferentes orientaciones sexuales e identidades de género, en especial de las realidades lésbica, gay, transexual y bisexual y entidades de pleno derecho de la Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gais, Transexuales y Bisexuales FELGTB, manifestamos nuestra más firme condena a las agresiones físicas y verbales que en la madrugada del miércoles 4 de abril tuvieron lugar en la discoteca ‘La Jungla’ del Casco Viejo de Zaragoza hacia una mujer transexual, activista del colectivo ATA de Andalucía.

[France]
les joies du Coline out : échanges et réactions suite à ma “sortie du placard”…#1
ou comment vérifier qu’on ne s’est pas trompée en choisissant son amoureuse, ses amiEs ou en nouant des relations privilégiées avec certainEs collègues, et que sa famille n’est pas si arriérée que ça… un exposé intime de Coline, spéciale dédicace à toutes celles et ceux qui m’ont accompagnée ces derniers mois et écrit des mots gentils ces dernières semaines, à ma petite sœur et à mes parents.

[Afghanistan]
Exploitation of ‘dancing boys’ in Afghanistan exposed
Washington Post reports on the rising practice of men keeping teenage boys as sex slaves and dancers in Afghanistan
Afghanistan sees rise in 'dancing boys' exploitation

[China/Netherlands]
Be a Woman premieres in Amsterdam this week
A documentary about drag queens in southwest China has its European premiere this week in Amsterdam

[Malaysia]
Minister: No TV ban on 'soft men'
Are they in or are they out?
That's the question many Malaysians are asking after the latest clarification by their government on an alleged ban on the portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) characters on state-owned television channels.

[Canada]
2,6 M$ pour changer de sexe
Le gouvernement du Québec a payé 2,6 millions de dollars pour 103 chirurgies de changement de sexe depuis 2009. Une popularité qui prouve la nécessité du programme, selon les transsexuels.

[Canada]
Conservative MP links trans people and sexual predators
On April 5, during the second reading debate for trans rights Bill C-279 in the House of Commons, Conservative MP Dean Allison said the bill would give “special rights” to “sexual predators” caught lurking in women's washrooms.

[Canada] [Commentary]
Reflections on the Jenna Talackova Story
Some reflections on the Jenna Talackova story . . .
At the beginning, when the story broke, the consensus among journalists I spoke with was that it seemed unfair to Jenna to be booted out of the Miss Universe Canada pageant, but that the pageant owners probably had a right to determine who could compete and who couldn’t.
[Commentary] The Jenna Talackova Case: Will It Advance Rights of Transgender People in Canada?

[AZ, USA]
Phoenix mayor seeks ordinance to outlaw discrimination against gays
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton is looking to address gaps in the city’s human-rights protections, and has assembled a group of aides and attorneys to draft an ordinance that would outlaw discrimination against LGBT residents.

[AZ, USA]
True LGBT Story: Spouse changes gender, couple stays married
Shellie and Randi Ruge, 'We're from Peoria, Ariz.'

[Latin America]
Trans-Persons’ Right to Identity
“Identity plays an important role in the life of a person,” stated petitioner Andres Rivera of the Organization of Transsexuals for the Dignity of Diversity. “We are characterized, discredited, and not recognized in our identity as transgender and this translates into a mirage of existence; we become invisible.” On Friday, March 23, 2011, four representatives of Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Personas Trans (Redlactrans) participated in a thematic hearing before six Commissioners of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR, Commission) in Washington, D.C.

[Mexico]
Impune el 98% de crímenes de homosexuales
Durante 10 años, de 1995 a 2005, de acuerdo a cifras que aporta la Comisión Ciudadana Contra los Crímenes de Odio por Homofobia (CCCCOH), más de dos mil homosexuales han sido brutalmente asesinados en México y el 98 por ciento de estos crímenes permanece impune.

[Chile]
Amend and Pass Anti-discrimination Bill
Chile’s congress should address significant shortcomings in an anti-discrimination bill currently in the final stages of parliamentary debate, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to leading parliamentarians.

[Argentina]
Trabajo para un sector muy vulnerable
El proyecto que acordaron el Ministerio de Trabajo de la Nación y la Federación de Lesbianas, Gays, Trans y Bisexuales (LGBT); llegará a mediados de año a Rosario. Las empresas serán incentivadas por el Estado, para contratar a trans.