Let’s get to the bottom of this.

Top or bottom, it's an important question for men that like to have sex with men. But which side do you lean towards...

HBO

Family World News

One of Australia's longest-running anti-gay campaigners, Fred Nile, has declared gay sex is an "abomination" and "something God hates" in an edition of his newspaper devoted to same-sex marriage ahead of the national postal survey on the issue.

Nile, who is 82 and a member of the NSW Legislative Council, will be campaigning for people to vote "no" in the survey over the coming months.

In the most recent edition of the Family World News newspaper, which Nile edits, he pens a lengthy editorial about same-sex marriage, starting with: "In the beginning the almighty God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve!"

He warned people to obey The Bible, referring in particular to Romans 1:24-32, which is often interpreted as calling for the death of gay people, or saying their acts make them worthy of death.

Family World News

Under the heading "An Abomination", Nile writes that the current edition of the newspaper carries articles to "warn us" of the "serious consequences of same-sex so called 'marriage' between two homosexual men".

"Homosexual acts between two men are described by Almighty God as an abomination. An 'abomination' is something that God hates — if God hates same-sex relations, and same-sex 'marriage' how can Christians embrace it? Support it?

"Remember the main cause of HIV-AIDS!"

The passage does not mention lesbians.

Nile also called for an "active vocal campaign" defending marriage between a man and a woman.

"We must expose any compromising Organisation, Pastor, Church, etc that avoids their God Given responsibility by falsely claiming that same-sex marriage is only a political issue, NOT a Christian issue; NOT a moral issue," he wrote.

"This is Satan’s deception from the depths of hell! We must not allow ourselves!, our churches! Our Pastors! To be deceived by the father of lies – SATAN!"

Nile's office, which supplied a copy of Family World News to BuzzFeed News, described him as "Australia's greatest ever morals campaigner" in the email.

Nile campaigned vigorously against the decriminalisation of homosexuality in NSW in 1984 and played a central role in the Festival of Light organisation, which also campaigned against homosexuality and pornography.

Each year, Nile and his organisation pray that it rains on the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.

But his old-school, anti-gay talk of God's hatred and the "abomination" of gay sex is a far cry from how the modern-day "no" campaign is presenting itself.

The Coalition for Marriage — an organisation bringing together, among others, the Marriage Alliance, the Australian Christian Lobby, and leaders in the Anglican and Catholic churches — has taken a less biblical approach in its marketing material.

In a flyer produced for distribution at churches this weekend, the group wrote that same-sex marriage means parents can no longer oppose the Safe Schools Coalition, an LGBTI anti-bullying program that the Coalition claims is a "radical sex education program".

Its website highlights Safe Schools and defending freedom of religion and speech as key tenets in the fight against same-sex marriage.

Prominent Coalition for Marriage figure Lyle Shelton, from the Australian Christian Lobby, also penned an article in Nile's newspaper making similar claims about the Safe Schools Coalition and about religious freedom.

Fred Nile declined an interview request from BuzzFeed News.

Seriously. Follow. Immediately.

Julia Kaye

Instagram: @upandoutcomic

Melanie Gillman

Melanie Gillman / Via pigeonbits.tumblr.com

Kylie Wu

Instagram: @kyliesummerwu

Annie Mok

Instagram: @heyanniemok

View Entire List ›

“It would be nice if people just treated me like a whole person and not a walking question mark.”

Robin, a white femme genderfluid intersex person, seated in their manual wheelchair in front of a brick wall. They have blue hair, glasses, several visible tattoos and piercings, and are wearing purple lipstick and a shirt that says THE FUTURE IS ACCESSIBLE (courtesy of Annie Segarra).

Margot Louisa

This is what it feels like to be transgender in America: Some days it feels like we’re creating possibilities and finally making the world safer for one another. Other days all we can feel are the devastating threats to our community as reactionaries try to shame and legislate us out of public life.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration withdrew Obama-era guidelines protecting transgender students, and just last month, Trump tweeted that transgender people cannot “serve in any capacity” in the military (though the Department of Defense still hasn’t received any guidance from the White House about implementing the ban). The same day Trump tweeted about banning trans troops, the Justice Department argued in a major federal case that the Civil Rights Act’s Title VII does not protect gay workers.

At the same time, legal avenues for the advancement of trans people’s rights are opening up in new (and controversial) ways. On May 18, A US district court in Pennsylvania ruled that Kate Lynn Blatt, a trans woman, could sue her former employer for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Her former employer, Cabela’s Retail Outfitter, tried to argue that gender dysphoria was not covered under the act, but it was denied the motion to dismiss.

The court ruling has reignited a long-running debate about how we understand gender diversity. Is gender dysphoria protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act (and therefore a psychiatric illness requiring care)? This debate has been a centerpiece of trans discourse for years, with arguments today reflecting those in 2013 when the newly released DSM-V categorized gender dysphoria as a psychiatric condition. The development was an improvement from the manual’s previous edition's categorization of gender identity disorder — which described the act of identifying as a different gender as an illness in itself — but the 2013 decision still caused a split between trans organizations. Some spoke out against the continued pathologization of trans experience, and others focused on the way that this designation would make it easier for trans people to receive care.

Now the future of health care for the country at large remains an open question. While Senate Republicans failed to pass their last-ditch Obamacare repeal plan late last month, they haven’t yet completely given up the fight — and some health professionals assert that repealing the Affordable Care Act would devastate transgender Americans. In a society where transgender and gender-nonconforming people are far more likely than the general population to be unemployed, live in poverty, and live with disabilities, trans people’s access to safe and affordable health care is crucial to our survival.

I have been a transgender community organizer for over a decade. Despite all of the victories that have dotted recent history, I’ve found this current political moment to be one of the most stressful and frightening to be transgender in America.

As a disabled transgender woman in America, that stress is compounded. On any given day, I don’t know which part of my identity will be under attack. Transphobia and ableism are harsh realities of my day-to-day life, and of the lives of countless other Americans who share my experience.

Trans people with disabilities are among those most affected by these recent legislative and legal battles surrounding trans rights and the future of health care — but their voices have been strikingly absent from the national conversation.

So I’ve spent several weeks reaching out to them to hear what they think about the current state of health care, gender, disability, and identity. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Dom, 30, Nonbinary (New York City)

Dom, a nonbinary person with short black hair, wearing a black tank top.

Eli Sleepless

I don't consider transition-related care because of health insurance, living with financial insecurity, and the way my disabilities would impact physical transitioning. I instead cope with gender dysphoria through radical acceptance and working through internalized transphobia and gender constructs, and that's going okay, I guess. One thing that's an intersectional struggle for me is that strangers have so many questions about me on sight: What's my gender and sexuality? What's my race? Why do I look young and "healthy" but walk with a cane? It's too much to deal with sometimes, and I just stay home. I know I exist in all these in-between spaces as a mixed-race, disabled, nonbinary person, but it would be nice if people just treated me like a whole person and not a walking question mark.

There is a ton of ableism in the trans and queer community, and that's why I now only interact with other queer folks with disabilities, mostly trans people of color. We still struggle with internalized ableism, but can often support one another through that by being vulnerable, honest, and compassionate. Between racism, anti-queerness, and ableism, I basically keep to myself and focus on QTPoC Mental Health, networking with other activists and small grassroots organizations that address these complicated intersections. One group I highly recommend is National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network.

View Entire List ›

WTH is the difference between “seeing someone” and “dating someone”? Asking for a friend.

View Entire List ›

Stefan Postles / Getty Images

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has advised people to "put their arms around" their LGBT friends who are upset by anti-gay materials being circulated as part of the Australian government's voluntary postal survey on the issue of same-sex marriage.

Responding to unverified reports of a poster allegedly found in Melbourne saying "Stop the fags" and citing a discredited study claiming gay parents are more likely to abuse their children, Turnbull told Australians to rally around their friends and family who are in same-sex relationships.

"If you have friends, whether they are young people or old people, who feel threatened and a bit shook up by any debate like this, this is a time to put your arms around them and give them your love and support," he told 2Day FM radio.

"I deplore disrespectful, abusive language whether it is directed at young gay people or people of other religions or other races," he said.

The postal survey will be conducted from September 12 to November 7. The deadline for enrolling with the Australian Electoral Commission is this Thursday, August 24.

Turnbull, who supports same-sex marriage, has repeatedly rejected the argument that a national vote on the issue would be a harbinger for hate, saying he trusts the Australian people to have a respectful debate.

But in the just over two weeks since the postal survey was announced, there has been a barrage of comments, flyers and comparisons denigrating the LGBT community and same-sex relationships.

In the interview with 2Day FM, Turnbull urged Australians to "focus on the substance of the debate".

"Social change takes time, it takes debate and discussion, and you should not be distracted by a handful of extreme posters or flyers," he said.

"One of the problems in this debate is the tendency to caricature each side. The vast majority of people involved in this debate — and of course the vast majority of Australians, 99.99 per cent or whatever — are very respectful of each other."

BuzzFeed News has not been able to independently verify the "Stop the fags" poster about which Turnbull was asked.

However, similar claims about same-sex parents have previously been made by groups which are part of the leading "no" group, the Coalition for Marriage, including the Australian Christian Lobby, and Marriage Alliance.

In July 2016, Marriage Alliance wrote, "Continuing to raise children in a same-sex parent household amounts to child abuse" in a blog post on its website citing the same study as the reported poster.

The group also published a picture of a woman about to hang herself at work with a rainbow noose earlier in the year.

Comprehensive research reviews from, among others, the Australian Institute of Family Studies and Columbia Law School, have found there is no significant difference in wellbeing between the children of same-sex parents and opposite-sex parents.

Labor senator Jenny McAllister, who is chairing a Senate inquiry into the postal survey, has called for the community to submit offensive material to the inquiry.

The boy was 7-year-old Nicholas, who lives in Melbourne with his mums Katherine Jorgensen and Roanne Blackler.

"He is known in the school as the kid with two mums," Katherine Jorgensen told BuzzFeed News. "We seem to be the only rainbow family in the school.

"Most of the time, it’s pretty fine, but apparently what happened is that these kids were saying something around him, within his earshot, and looking at him. 'That’s the kid with two mums, it’s not a real family. He’s got two mums'."

The comment was made days after the government embarked on a nationwide postal survey about same-sex marriage.

Nicholas' godmother, Bek Allcroft, lives in Sydney. She was already worried that the heightened debate on same-sex families would affect Nicholas — but after she saw reports of a poster in Melbourne saying "Stop The Fags" and citing a discredited study claiming gay parents are more likely to abuse their children, Allcroft said "Enough".

She penned an emotional letter to her godson about his family, telling him that she loves him, and sent it on Monday night.

"I got home very angry and I sat down and I banged away at my laptop keys," Allcroft told BuzzFeed News.

"Kids are innocent. I'm sick of them being used as political footballs by people who don't know any better.

"Some people might say that it’s not okay for your mums to love each other because they are both women. THEY ARE WRONG," Allcroft wrote in the letter.

"Your mums were made to love each other from the same moment
the stars exploded, and they are the exactly right people for each other, and for you."

Allcroft, a Christian and a theology student, said she gets frustrated when people "twist my faith and my religion to suit their political agenda".

"The next person who goes, 'Oh but Jesus said...'. Jesus actually didn't say gay is bad. Jesus said 'love people'. It's not complicated."

"I thought it was the most marvellous thing she had written," she said.

"She captured not just what we want to say to Nicholas, but what people want to say to their own kids. It was just beautiful."

It used to be one of Nicholas' chores to collect the mail — along with filling up the toilet roll holder and feeding the dog — but the letterbox is now a battleground, and Nicholas has one less job.

"We had to tell him he couldn’t collect the mail anymore, that he might read something about his family," Jorgensen said. "The first thing kids who are seven say is 'why?'"

The couple is also wary of media, worrying that opening a newspaper or switching on the TV could expose Nicholas to false claims about his family.

"We’ve got a kid who is seven who reads at a 9-year-old level," Jorgensen said. "Yay for Nicholas! But that means we can’t let him read the newspaper.

"There’s too much stuff he could come across that puts his family in a negative light. We’ve had to alter our lives because of the postal survey."

Jorgensen said she and Blackler are "totally transparent" with Nicholas, but that he is a sensitive kid and they are deeply worried about the effect the debate would have on him.

"Any question he has ever had, we sit down and talk about it," she said. "But this would open up a situation where he would have to realise just how many people out there don't think his family is right, correct. Worth as much as others, or equal.

"We are so normal, it’s ridiculous. We are more than boring."

It ain’t easy living outside the box.

Identifying as genderfluid or nonbinary in a world that's still based on a strict binary can be.... difficult to say the least.

transmuseplanet.blogspot.com

And first coming to terms with your own gender identity, as well as coming out to friends and family, can be tough at times.

Twitter: @jayxthexhuman

So what helped make it all a bit easier? We want to know!

etsy.com

Maybe you saw yourself reflected in media or television, which made you feel less alone.

micdotcom.tumblr.com

View Entire List ›

“Babadook, if you could say one thing to your former closeted and monstrous self - what would it be?”

View Entire List ›

“Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual. Equality demands that the sexual orientation of each individual in society must be protected.” - The Supreme Court.

On August 24, The Supreme Court passed a judgement that privacy is a fundamental right for every Indian.

The case was put forth after petitions were filed to challenge the government ordering the mandatory use of Aadhaar cards. The Supreme Court released a statement saying: "Right to Privacy is an integral part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty guaranteed in Article 21 of the Constitution."

twitter.com

And people heaved sighs of relief and are ecstatic about the verdict.

Twitter: @nixxin

While the focus was on Aadhaar, the judgment has implications for several other issues, including sexual rights and freedoms. Specifically, WE HAVE ALL OF THE SEXUAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS:

Twitter: @Mayank1029

Furthermore, the judgement states: "The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population cannot be construed to be 'so-called rights'... Their rights are not 'so-called' but are real rights founded on sound constitutional doctrine."

Twitter: @karunanundy

View Entire List ›

“Vote now for marriage equality.”

Chris Hemsworth has taken to Instagram to remind Aussies to check and update their electoral details.

Instagram: @chrishemsworth

"Dear open minded, free speaking, laid-back, life-loving Aussies. Marriage is about love and commitment and, in a country based on equal citizenship, it should be available to everyone!", Hemsworth wrote.

"Vote now for marriage equality."

instagram.com

Hemsworth joins a bunch of other celebs urging Aussies to enrol and vote.

instagram.com

View Entire List ›

William West / AFP / Getty Images

A rush of new enrolments for Australia's same-sex marriage postal survey has seen the electoral roll grow to more than 16 million — the largest roll since Federation.

Since the survey was announced on August 8, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has added more than 90,000 new voters to the roll.

It has processed 765,000 enrolment transactions — including the new voters, address updates and other changes of detail — and has 165,000 yet to go, meaning the number of new voters could still rise.

"An estimated 95% of eligible Australians were enrolled at the 2016 federal election, increasing marginally to 95.3% at 31 July," said electoral commissioner Tom Rogers.

"We expect this to reach a record high once processing has been completed."

Posts asking people to enrol with the AEC link from actress Margot Robbie, singer Troye Sivan, and meme page The Simpsons Against The Liberals generated the most interactions on social media, according to an analysis by BuzzFeed News.

The AEC will provide final enrolment figures next week.

At the last federal election, 132,000 new voters registered with the AEC as part of 687,000 transactions.

It appears that the same-sex marriage postal survey has seen fewer new voters sign up, but more people updating their address or other details.

The most recent figures from the AEC indicated there are around 800,000 "missing electors" — people who are eligible to vote but not on the roll.

There are significantly more missing electors among Australians aged 18-39 than among those aged 40 and older.

Recent data from the Household, Income and Labor Dynamics (HILDA) survey found that older demographics tended to have more traditional views on marriage, but that all age demographics had shifted to be more in favour of same-sex marriage over time.

Unlike a usual election, the same-sex marriage survey is not compulsory and nobody will be fined for not returning their form.

Do you have questions about Australia's upcoming postal survey on same-sex marriage? Same. Here's a list of everything you need to know, and more.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

The health insurer Aetna is under fire for mailing letters that inadvertently disclosed that at least some of the 12,000 recipients were taking HIV medications, thanks to text visible through the envelopes’ windows.

The letters, which were sent earlier this summer, are a privacy breach, according to the Legal Action Center, a nonprofit law organization that advocates for people with HIV and AIDS, and the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania. On Thursday, the groups said they had asked Aetna to stop sending the letters and to correct its practices to prevent similar situations from happening again.

In the case of one such envelope, posted online by the groups, the words “filling prescriptions for HIV” can be seen through the window.

These letters were sent to about 12,000 Aetna members, Aetna spokesperson T.J. Crawford told BuzzFeed News. It is unclear how many of these showed private information through the envelope window.

Sally Friedman, legal director of the Legal Action Center, said that before Thursday, her group had received complaints from 23 people across nine states. Those people were taking medications for HIV treatment or prevention.

“It’s extremely harmful on many levels to people who received the mail,” Friedman told BuzzFeed News. “Young adults who have had their parents learn their HIV status this way, it’s been absolutely devastating to them.” She said she’s also heard from a person who had been kicked out of his home because of the letter, and another who felt “suicidal.”

One letter went to Edgar, a 26-year-old in Austin, Texas, who requested to withhold his last name to protect his privacy. As he recalled, his older sister handed him the envelope, asking, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Edgar is gay and taking the HIV prevention medication known as PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis. "I had to have the conversation with her about what is PrEP and why there's gay men who take it," he told BuzzFeed News. "It was an awkward situation. Here my family might possibly think I'm HIV-positive." Even though that wasn't the case for him, he added, "It was still a scare for them."

A redacted letter sent to an Aetna member in Brooklyn, New York.

Courtesy / The Legal Action Center and the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania / Via aidslawpa.org

“We sincerely apologize to those affected by a mailing issue that inadvertently exposed the personal health information of some Aetna members,” Aetna said in a statement. “This type of mistake is unacceptable, and we are undertaking a full review of our processes to ensure something like this never happens again.”

The July 28 letter that kicked off the debacle informed patients of a change in their pharmacy benefits and access to medications, according to a separate letter Aetna sent this week to notify patients of the privacy breach. Aetna became aware of the problem three days later.

In its latest letter, Aetna noted that the information displayed in the window was the patient’s “first name, last name, address, and in some cases, a reference to filling prescriptions for [certain] medications.” It added, “The viewable information did not include the name of any particular medication or any statement that you have been diagnosed with a specific condition.”

Shown this latest letter by BuzzFeed News, Friedman said it doesn’t matter whether a specific medication or condition was named.

“HIV is a highly stigmatized illness,” she said. “So even though it would be completely illegal and outrageous for this to have happened with some other type of medication or condition, the fact it’s HIV information makes it so highly stigmatized and painful for those involved.”

She added that this incident could foster mistrust between health care institutions and people who need help but may be afraid of seeking it. “I think this is harmful for patient privacy rights generally,” she said.

LINK: A HIV-Positive Dating App Leaked 5,000 Users' Data

LINK: Trials Begin For New Injectable Drug To Prevent HIV

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know in one place.

For many trans or gender-nonconforming people, top surgery is a significant milestone on the road to living life as one's authentic self. But, like any other major surgery, it can be overwhelming knowing where to start and what to expect.

And if you're younger, this may be the first time you've had to advocate for yourself in a hospital setting or deal with navigating health insurance — that's a lot to deal with. We asked BuzzFeeders who have already gone through the process to give you their best advice on preparing for and recovering from top surgery.

BuzzFeed LGBT also spoke with experts Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner, associate professor of plastic surgery at NYU Langone Health, and Gaines Blasdel, a medical case manager with the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, to help you keep all the facts straight about this big step.

Warner Bros Television

First things first, you need to find a doctor. You shouldn't feel guilty for shopping around — find a practice and surgeon with experience performing gender-affirming surgeries.

"Different surgeons have different training and think different things are the best way to go for valid reasons," says Blasdel. "So, you might get different answers from different surgeons. I advise everyone to go to multiple consultations — getting a second opinion will make you feel more secure in your decision."

It will also help to find a practice where staff are sensitive to gender markers on ID cards as well as to preferred names and pronouns, says Bluebond-Langner. "I do think it's important to go to a board-certified surgeon, someone with experience in gender-affirming surgery — understanding that chest masculinization is not just a mastectomy."

You can read about the various types of top-surgery procedures here. You and your doctor will have to discuss which is the best fit for your particular case.

NBC

Know that you will (most likely) need a letter of support from a therapist or mental health provider.

Once you find a surgeon, your provider will send a request to your insurance company to confirm that payment will, in fact, be covered. This is when they'll use letters of support from a mental health provider, explains Blasdel.

For practices which follow the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's standards of care for chest-masculinization surgery, it will be required that you have at least one letter of support. If you're on hormones, explains Bluebond-Langner, it can help to also have a letter from your hormone subscriber — though hormones are not a prerequisite for surgery.

Having a letter of support ensures that you, as the patient, are fully capable of making informed decisions for treatment. This entire process, confirming coverage, can take anywhere from one to several months. And if you get denied at first, don't get frustrated — just appeal.

"If they deny you coverage for any reason, you should request that in writing," says Blasdel. "You will use this to appeal. I always tell people to expect to be denied and you have to call their bluff. People will get denied even if, eventually, they will be able to receive coverage."

Fox

View Entire List ›

Vaitekune / Getty Images

The Australian Psychological Society (APS) has released a guide for how to talk to children about same-sex marriage, as Australians prepare to vote in a postal survey on the issue.

The APS is Australia's largest professional organisation for psychologists, with more than 22,000 members. It released the guide last week and has an official position of supporting marriage equality.

Dr Susie Burke, a senior psychologist with the APS, told BuzzFeed News the first thing adults should know is that they can actually talk to their kids about same-sex marriage.

"We suggest parents bring up the topic with their children — ask, 'Have you heard about the marriage equality debate?' — and listen closely to what they have heard," she said.

"We know children are aware that there’s something being discussed among the adults on marriage equality, and that this is to do with gay or lesbian or transgender people.

"It's also likely that children are going to have heard negative and discriminatory views expressed as well."

The guide suggests various topics parents and carers can address with their kids, including what marriage equality means, different kinds of relationships, and clarifying misconceptions or myths in the debate.

Among other things — and depending on age and level of interest — it can be an opportunity to talk about discrimination and social values, Burke said.

"[You could ask] why is discrimination harmful? It makes people feel bad about themselves, it renders a person less well, more likely to be depressed, anxious, to have other mental health problems."

APS / Via psychology.org.au

Burke said there was “no evidence” children are harmed by hearing about diversity in relationships. She added it was important to combat the “terribly hurtful idea” that same-sex parents may harm their kids.

“The way to address that is for parents to explain to kids, there is no evidence. The evidence is very clear that children of same-sex parents do at least as well as the children of heterosexual parents.”

The most vulnerable children will be those growing up in same-sex parented families, and young people who are LGBTI or uncertain about their sexuality or gender identity, Burke said.

The APS plans to distribute the guide to schools and parents, as well as making it freely available on its website.

In recent weeks, the Australian Medical Association has attracted criticism for its statement in support of same-sex marriage, from some doctors who take a different view.

Burke said she expects psychologists — as with doctors — will have a diversity of views, as does the general public.

"The truth is that health professionals are often a respected voice that people listen to," she said. "As with climate change, you’ve got climate scientists who offer an alternative view to the vast majority. People need to look at the majority view. What’s the consensus view among professional groups on divisive topics?

"A consensus view speaks volumes more than a small minority."

A Neo-Nazi group claims to have put up shocking anti-gay posters around the Melbourne CBD over the weekend to argue against same-sex marriage.

It comes in the midst of a heated debate in Australia over same-sex marriage, LGBTI rights, and LGBTI people more broadly, prompted by the government's national postal survey on the issue.

Last Monday, a single picture posted on Twitter of a different poster saying Stop The Fags went viral and attracted widespread condemnation from Australian political leaders.

Melbourne woman Alice Berkeley told BuzzFeed News she had spotted a new poster, which made similar claims, at a tram stop outside the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in the CBD on Sunday morning.

BuzzFeed News has chosen to blur the content of the poster. Berkeley tore it down after taking a photograph of it.

"I wasn't shocked — I was living in Abbotsford when there were "AIDS cures fags" stickers everywhere — but it made me angry," she said.

"The presumption that that sentiment would be welcome in the public space right now is appalling."

Supplied

BuzzFeed News has been sent several shots of the new poster seen in Melbourne from multiple sources.

The claims made on the poster are not supported by consensus research about the the wellbeing of children raised by same-sex couples.

Comprehensive research reviews from, among others, the government agency Australian Institute of Family Studies and Columbia Law School, have found there is no significant difference in wellbeing between the children of same-sex parents and opposite-sex parents.

Neo-Nazi group Antipodean Resistance claimed on Twitter to be behind the posters, and said its source was an article published in Quadrant journal by legal academic Augusto Zimmerman, who is a fellow at the International Academy for the Study of the Jurisprudence of the Family.

Earlier this year, Zimmerman was floated by some conservatives as a possible replacement for Gillian Triggs as president of the Australian Human Rights Commissioner. His candidacy was endorsed by former tennis player and anti-gay pastor Margaret Court.

Last week a different poster with online Neo-Nazi origins attracted widespread attention. That poster, reportedly up in Melbourne, also said "Stop The Fags" and featured a drawing of a child seemingly being menaced by adults wielding rainbow belts.

The poster attracted nationwide media coverage and provoked a response from opposition leader Bill Shorten.

However, BuzzFeed News was unable to directly speak to the person who took the original photo, and nobody else was able to provide evidence of the posters.

According to a reverse image search, an image of the first poster first appeared on the Neo-Nazi Iron March forum in March this year.

Meanwhile, another anti-gay poster with white supremacist origins has been circulating online with the Katter's Australian Party (KAP) logo on it.

The poster, titled "Misplaced Pride", makes several claims about gay people and the health risks of being gay.

Twitter

There is no suggestion anyone from the Katter's Australian Party was involved with creating the poster.

KAP is a minor party formed by Queensland federal MP Bob Katter in 2011.

Katter infamously claimed in 1989 that he would "walk backwards from Bourke" if anyone found a gay person living in his rural electorate, and, more recently, criticised the gay community for taking the word "gay" for themselves.

A QR code on the poster leads to a now-defunct version of a website belonging to American white supremacist group Vanguard America, which was involved in organising the recent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.

BuzzFeed accessed the Vanguard website via a cached version to find the "Misplaced Pride" poster available as a download — except with the words "Vanguard America" in place of the KAP logo.

The earliest iteration of the poster with the KAP logo appears to be an account belonging to a person or persons who asked to be known as "Sasha" and claimed to be a Russian living in Australia.

After initially declining to comment and saying only, "But let it be known that I bear no ill will towards Katter's Australian Party", the account user eventually claimed to have replaced the logo in order to circulate the poster without the Vanguard America tag.

"Okay fuck it, I thought it was funny what Katter said about there being no gays in Far North Queensland," they told BuzzFeed News via direct message on Twitter.

But Sasha declined to give BuzzFeed News further details about their identity.

"No one from Katter's Australian Party created or endorsed the poster and we do not appreciate the unauthorised use of our logo on such materials," KAP media manager Jessica Johnston told BuzzFeed News.

There is currently a Senate committee looking into the postal survey on same-sex marriage. Labor senator Jenny McAllister has asked Australians to submit offensive or degrading material to the committee.

Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images

The 2017 MTV Video Music Awards was a night of social and cultural messages: Susan Bro announced a foundation that will carry on the legacy of her daughter Heather Heyer, who died protesting hate in Charlottesville; Reverend Robert Mead, a descendant of Robert E. Lee condemned white supremacy; Paris Jackson decried hate; Pink spoke about the importance of expanding the definitions of beauty; and Kesha got emotional while touting the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

The "Praying" singer then introduced Logic, who performed "1-800-273-8255" (the National Suicide Prevention Hotline's number) with Alessia Cara and Khalid while backed by suicide attempt survivors and loss survivors. Following the performance, Logic delivered one of the night's most stirring speeches, which touched upon suicide, racism, sexism, homophobia, and other pressing issues.

"I just want to take a moment to thank you for giving me a platform to talk about something that mainstream media doesn't want to talk about: mental health, anxiety, suicide, depression and so much more that I talk about on this album," he began.

Getty Images

"From racism, discrimination, sexism, domestic violence, sexual assault, and so much more; I don't give a damn if you are black, white, or any color in between. I don’t care if you’re Christian, you’re Muslim, you’re gay, you’re straight, I am here to fight for your equality because I believe that we are all born equal, but we are not treated equally and that is why we must fight. We must fight for the equality of every man, woman, and child regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation."

Before embracing the survivors who flanked him, Logic closed up with this: "So I say here and now if you believe in this message of peace, love, positivity, and equality for all, then I demand that you rise to your feet and applaud not only for yourselves, but for the foundation we are laying for our children."

MTV

Orlando Gili for BuzzFeed

A fundraising campaign has been launched to open Britain's first homeless shelter for LGBT people.

The shelter, based in London, will comprise a former tour bus previously owned by the rock band Status Quo remodelled to temporarily house those most at risk from the dangers of rough-sleeping – many of whom also face compound problems resulting from hate crimes, domestic abuse, family rejection, and poor mental health.

Vulnerable LGBT people will be able to sleep in the stationary repurposed bus during the night throughout the winter months, with two members of staff looking after them. It could be open as early as this winter.

The idea for the project came from a homelessness outreach worker, Carla Ecola, who was herself homeless in London for several years during her twenties, and who has been consulting on the project with a range of organisations in the sector.

Orlando Gili for BuzzFeed

With £4,000 raised of the £8,000 needed to buy the tour bus, Ecola told BuzzFeed News that she is hopeful that the groundbreaking scheme will be trialled in the next few months.

“It would be great to run a pilot this winter,” she said, “but that depends on the support we get.” Specifically, she, along with fellow organisers, is seeking locations for the bus to be stationed.

“We’re looking at organisations already in the sector that have space, so we’re approaching them and making proposals.” The bus, however, could move around every few weeks, she said, according to available space in the grounds or car parks of charities.

Individuals in need would be referred by a range of LGBT and mainstream housing, immigration, and homelessness organisations. Once at the shelter, said Ecola, each service user would have their own small, private space on the bus, with a curtain for privacy. It would cater for all genders and a member of staff would stay awake all night.

Although this is the first shelter for LGBT people, there are already some buses similarly reused as homeless shelters around Britain, such as in Milton Keynes and the Isle of Wight – schemes that Ecola has sought advice from, along with a clutch of LGBT and mainstream homelessness organisations.

“I set up a steering meeting in February with Stonewall Housing, Housing Justice, and Homeless Link, along with colleagues I’d worked with in the sector, and proposed we start off a service specific for LGBTQ people,” said Ecola. “I wanted to have a community centre and in the evening it would be a shelter. We were advised to scale it down to an achievable project: the 12-bed shelter.”

MM Band Services

Ecola wrote to tour companies around the country to find one with a bus for sale at an affordable price, and following several offers of vehicles at £20,000 to £30,000, MM Band Services, the company that used to run tours for Status Quo, offered the band's old bus for £8,000, prompting Ecola to set up a JustGiving fundraising page.

Once the bus has been bought and the scheme is set up, Ecola will continue fundraising efforts to keep it open, including applying for grants from larger charities, and enlist a volunteer along with a member of staff to run the shelter.

It is, she said, vital to have a place for LGBT homeless people to sleep because of the multiple issues facing this group that are distinct from heterosexual homeless people's, and which can prevent those most in need from seeking help.

“First of all, the services don’t exist – if you’re a gay man or a man in general fleeing domestic violence there are no refuges for men. For trans women there is general access to refuges but they can still be challenged. And there are complications: abuse in the home, hate crimes, substance misuse. All the main contributing factors to people becoming homeless hit our community harder.”

Inside the former tour bus

MM Band Services

She added: “Having somebody in a service that identifies as LGBT – as well as everyone else within that service – it’s a more open, welcoming space [for LGBT homeless people], so people can get support. A lot of LGBT people go back into the closet when they’re accessing support services, if they access them at all, which means they’re not getting the support they need.”

Concealing sexual orientation or gender identity at the point a homeless person seeks help can prove damaging for the individual’s mental health, said Ecola, and also prevent staff from helping them.

“I’ve had clients who would have been eligible for emergency housing but they were scared to discuss or disclose their sexuality – not saying the person they were living with who was being abusive to them was their partner,” said Ecola.

This also forms part of the reason for an invisible problem of LGBT homelessness, with many mainstream services not aware of the scale of the issue, according to those working in this area. Michael Nastari, director of services at Stonewall Housing, the LGBT housing charity, told BuzzFeed News that there are no reliable statistics revealing the extent of the LGBT homelessness problem.

“A lot of LGBT [homeless] people will find themselves hidden – they won't want to sleep with other rough sleepers, so they’ll be in parks or in areas that are quite hard for them to be spotted,” he said.

“Every year the [London] mayor’s office does a count of homeless people across London, but they won't go in squats or derelict buildings. They won't go into a lot of parks, so
it’s really just the popular [sleeping] places. And they don’t ask about sexuality. If we don’t have any accurate statistics around LGBT rough sleepers, how do we know how big the problem is?”

The situation, meanwhile, is worsening, said Nastari, with the needs of service users becoming more complex in the last few years due to changes in the benefits system and the NHS.

Orlando Gili for BuzzFeed News

“What we found with housing benefit reform is people under 35 are excluded from full rates of housing benefit, so 25-to-35-year-olds are one of the biggest demographics who access our services for help,” he said.

“The impact of austerity is really beginning to come into its own. We’re having people with complex mental health issues that aren’t being picked up and supported by the NHS that would have been, because they’re overstretched and they don’t meet the new thresholds.”

Overall, said Nastari, “there just isn't enough shelters. LGBT people need homelessness shelters just like the rest of the community need homelessness shelters. However, LGBT people do have some specific issues, and we work with people every day with experience of being sexually assaulted, for example, while being in night shelters, or sleeping rough. So it’s really about trying to find spaces that are safe, especially for trans people.”

He added: “There’s very few places where, for example, if you’re working with an asylum-seeker with no recourse to public funds, you can place them. And on a cold night this [bus] might be a solution to that person having to exchange sex for a place to stay.”

The idea of the LGBT bus shelter was welcomed by Nastari, who has attended meetings about the project.

“We think if it’s a community-run project and it’s got the strength of the community behind it then it's very viable,” he said. “But it's not just about making the money, it's about making the community engaged and from what I’ve seen so far, that seems to be happening. There’s been lots of community events; a lot of people are talking about the project.”

Part of the LGBT bus shelter project, therefore, will involve engaging with the LGBT community, said Ecola, but also helping mainstream homelessness charities to understand the specific problems of sexual and gender minorities in order to improve their own services. And during the summer months, the bus will provide a drug- and alcohol-free “sober space” for LGBT people.

Getty

It was Ecola’s personal experiences of homelessness and her encounters with mainstream organisations that inspired the project. She came to London from Birmingham aged 20. “I left Birmingham after a really awful relationship and [after] moving in with my grandparents, who then asked me to leave when they found out I was gay.”

Having exhausted the hospitality of friends, Ecola found herself in London trying to cope in a new city with no money and nowhere to live.

“I ended up in quite a bit of trouble,” she said. “A lot of insecure housing, living in warehouses and squats in dangerous situations, derelict buildings with other homeless people. A lot of them were a lot older than me, taking drugs – not the kind of romantic idea of a squat.”

These environments were often frightening, said Ecola, and while taking odd jobs, she would try to avoid going back to them whenever possible. “I would spend time with people I didn’t like just because it was safer, to not hang around the squat. I’d find myself at parties I didn’t want to go to or being with people I didn’t want to be with, sleeping on buses or sleeping in the office of a temp job I had.”

Her life and wellbeing began to plummet, she said. “Being around people who are drinking all the time, and a lot of drugs, you fall into that trap. You’re dealing with a breakup and moving to a new town and it just spirals a bit out of control. You don’t feel like you can just go and live in any old house-share when you’ve been the victim of homophobic abuse.”

Her situation persisted for five years: moving from place to place, squat to sofa to disused building. When Ecola did finally summon the courage to seek help, she felt encumbered by shame and the feeling that as a young LGBT person she didn’t fit into homeless provisions.

Orlando Gili for BuzzFeed

“I decided to go into [homeless charity] Crisis’s day centre. I felt really out of place. I was this young person looking around at all these guys that I was quite scared of. I thought, These are the people I’ve been avoiding in squats.”

When she spoke to a member of staff, Ecola said, she “bottled it”. “I was saying I was just there to do tai chi and to use the art studios and she was like, ‘Well, you are homeless’ and I said, ‘No it’s fine, I just want help looking for a job.’ I couldn’t get my head round talking to her about all the situations I’d been in I really needed help for.”

Shame was part of it, but also, said Ecola, “I didn’t feel as entitled as other other people I saw in the service. I looked after myself. I wasn’t a heroin addict. I’d been homeless for years but I didn’t feel I was at the same rock bottom. You have this image in your mind of what a homeless person is. You never consider that you’re that person. You don’t consider yourself to have a drug problem or a mental health problem or that you’re homeless; you just see yourself as being a squatter that’s bouncing around and partying a bit too much.”

This self-image, distinct from the typical notion of a homeless person, is common among young LGBT homeless people, said Ecola – something that she found in her later job as an outreach worker and which further informed her determination to set up the LGBT shelter.

“You don’t really feel you belong in those [mainstream homelessness] services or that they would really understand your needs, or that it’s actually safe for you.”

In 2016, seven years after becoming an outreach worker and officially no longer being homeless, Ecola moved in with her wife, which prompted another realisation that led to the bus project.

“I realised that I’d never felt comfortable where I’ve lived,” she said. “I was quite sad about the fact that I’d never really had stable housing before or felt I had anywhere that was my own, never had a proper tenancy.”

Her vision, therefore, for the LGBT shelter, is one in which the needs of the service users can be properly understood – and therefore the right help can be offered.

Even, she said, “identifying other needs around sexual health or other risks like chemsex [the use of crystal meth, GHB, and mephedrone with sex]. These are things we would be able to talk to our clients about if they were to disclose their sexuality or gender identity.”

Overall, she said, the more layers of difficulties individuals and communities face, the more specialised help is needed, particularly when resources and help is so stretched elsewhere. This is the only way that the most vulnerable are to be protected. “As a minority we are more at risk,” she said. “But the sector hasn’t really responded to it."

Mark Kolbe / Getty Images

As Australia carries out its postal survey on same-sex marriage, the spectre of "transgender marriage" has been raised by some anti-LGBTI groups, as well as former Labor leader Mark Latham.

The Australian Family Association and the National Civic Council, which are very much opposed to same-sex marriage, have warned against allowing any two consenting adults to marry, claiming it will lead to changes in other laws.

Meanwhile, Latham wrote an opinion piece in The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday saying he supports marriage for straight and gay couples, but will vote "no" in a survey that would allow it for everyone.

So, will a "yes" vote in the postal survey allow all Australian couples to marry, or not? Here's some information:

The question you'll tick "yes" or "no" to in the postal survey later this year is: "Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?"

But a "yes" vote won't automatically change the law — the parliament still needs to pass a bill to legalise same-sex marriage. And it's the wording of this bill that will determine who can and can't marry in Australia, not the postal survey itself.

On ABC TV's Q&A on Monday night, attorney-general George Brandis said there were several possible models for that bill — the "most high profile" being senator Dean Smith's, released ahead of the Liberal party room meeting that brought us the postal survey earlier this month.

Smith's bill, and the one released by Brandis in conjunction with the plebiscite legislation last year, both propose changing the Marriage Act in the same way: replacing the words "a man and a woman" with "two people".

Via attorneygeneral.gov.au

This would change the definition of marriage in the act to: "Marriage means the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life".

This would mean any two consenting adults in Australia would have the right to marry. It might be a straight man and woman; a bisexual woman and a lesbian woman; two gay men; a transgender woman and a straight man; a non-binary person and a lesbian woman. And so on.

And while it's not guaranteed that any legislation passed by the parliament in the event of a "yes" vote will be worded in the exact same way, it is fairly likely that the "two people" approach will prevail.

Why? Because every bill put to the parliament in the past 10 years has taken this approach, plus earlier this year a bipartisan Senate committee found it was the most appropriate wording.

So, that's what we know so far. The rest is up to the parliament, in the event of a "yes" vote.

But some groups already in opposition to same-sex marriage have wielded the notion of "transgender marriage" as a tool in the debate.

A few days after the postal survey was announced earlier this month, the Australian Family Association sent out an email to supporters titled, "It's not same-sex marriage, it's transgender marriage".

The email makes the case that the "two people" change to the Marriage Act is not "same-sex marriage", but "transgender marriage".

According to the AFA, amending the Marriage Act to read "two people" would mean transgender sex and relationships education would be enforced in Australian schools. (There is no legal basis for this claim.)

It also claims that the "two people" change would mean transgender women can legally access "female school showers, change rooms and toilets, compete in women's sports and access female shelters". (These issues are dictated by anti-discrimination law or local laws and regulations, and are unrelated to any proposed change to the Marriage Act.)

President of the National Civic Council Peter Westmore also penned a piece warning against "transgender marriage" in News Weekly.

The AFA often sends out talking points to supporters, including an email last year that instructed supporters to tell their family and friends that being transgender is like having an eating disorder.

The email also referenced a list of gender identities on blogging site Tumblr.

In an email five days after the "It's not same-sex marriage, it's transgender marriage" email, the AFA tempered its language, saying it "could" lead to those things.

But it didn't let the argument go. On August 24, yet another email suggested supporters contact a list of businesses, including Qantas, McDonald's and Kmart, about "transgender marriage".

The letter template is as follows:

Dear [name],

Why is [your company] campaigning for transgender marriage? This will mean boys identifying as girls using the girls’ showers, change rooms and toilets, as advocated by the NSW, SA and Victorian education departments and the radical "Safe Schools" Coalition transgender sex education program.

The federal Attorney General’s Department said this year that making ‘2 people’ eligible to marry will allow people who are “non binary” to marry, i.e. a pangender can marry a gender queer person, or a man socially identifying as a woman can marry a biological woman and be in a lesbian marriage. (pg 2, Submission, no. 78 to the Senate Select Committee on the Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill.)

If transgender marriage based on self-defined gender identity and sexual orientation is legalised, won’t it be an offence under federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984 for teachers to treat transgender marriages “less favourably” than same-sex and heterosexual marriages? And an offence for teachers to not tell children they can change their gender identity, and for teachers to refuse boys identifying as girls’ access to the girls’ showers, change rooms, toilets and sports?

Why are you backing transgender marriage?

From [name]

None of the 21 companies targeted by the AFA have announced a retraction of their support for same-sex marriage since the email campaign began.

Many transgender, intersex and non-binary people in relationships can already marry, depending on their personal legal status when it comes to sex and gender.

For instance, Greens senator Janet Rice is legally married to her wife, Penny Whetton, who is transgender. Whetton's birth certificate still reads that she is male, and under current Victorian law, she and Rice would have to get divorced before it could be changed to read female.

While intersex people by definition have atypical sex characteristics, they do not necessarily exist outside of the male/female binary. According to a 2015 survey on Australian intersex people, 75% are male or female, while the remaining 25% have diverse gender or sex identities.

BuzzFeed News

The national suicide hotline has received an influx of calls relating to the government's postal survey on same-sex marriage, according to internal sources.

Last year a leaked screenshot from the database of the national suicide hotline Lifeline showed that a new category, "2016 Marriage Equality Plebiscite", was created when the plebiscite was first proposed. New categories are created when there is an increase in the number of calls relating to a particular subject.

Lifeline staff told BuzzFeed News they are asked to enter the "main reason" for each call they receive into the Lifeline computer system, and that recently there has been a spike in the "2016 Marriage Equality Plebiscite" category.

The category remained dormant after the government lost a vote to hold a compulsory plebiscite, but is being used again after the "yes" and "no" campaigns for the postal survey began.

A number of Lifeline's trained suicide prevention workers told BuzzFeed News that since the government embarked on its postal survey on same-sex marriage, they have been counselling callers affected by the heated debate over same-sex marriage, LGBTI rights, and LGBTI people more broadly.

This debate includes the Neo-Nazi anti-gay poster reportedly spotted in Melbourne and the Coalition for Marriage's "You Can Say No" ad, in which one parent claims her son was told he could wear a dress to school the following year, and that year 7 students were being asked to role play being in a same-sex relationship.

Mothers of transgender children told BuzzFeed News they are scared for their kids after viewing the "You Can Say No" TV ad, which they say wrongly conflates same-sex marriage with gender identity, and exposes their already-vulnerable children to hate.

Lifeline, which receives more than 2,000 a day, would not confirm the exact increase in postal survey related calls.

BuzzFeed News

According to the leaked screenshot, other categories added in the last year to the Lifeline system relate to the Centrelink robo-debt crackdown, the dairy farmers' crisis, the NSW greyhound ban, and the royal commission into child sexual abuse.

If you need to talk to someone, you can call Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue Australia on 1300 224 636.