Articles about LGBTQ

June is Pride Month, and ahead of this Apple has launched its Pride 2025 Collection. There are free components to the collection, in addition to some to purchase, making it accessible to everyone.

The company says it proud to financially support organizations that serve LGBTQ+ communities and is using the collection as a way to "celebrate the strength and beauty" of such communities around the world. Among the goodies on offer is the hand-assembled Pride Edition Sport Band for Apple Watch, but iPhone and iPad users have not been forgotten.

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It is quite some time since Facebook was hit with the "free the nipple" campaign that demanded the company stop censoring or removing images of breastfeeding women. But now Meta is facing new recommendations from its independent Oversight Board to update the Adult Nudity and Sexual Activity Community Standard that it applies to Facebook and Instagram content to ensure it is "governed by clear criteria that respect international human rights standards".

The recommendation comes as the Oversight Board overturned Meta's decisions in 2021 and 2022 to remove content posted by a couple -- one of whom is transgender, the other non-binary -- for violating Sexual Solicitation Community Standards. Meta is criticized for taking a simplistic view of gender, with the Board saying that it is "unclear how the rules apply to intersex, non-binary and transgender people, and requires reviewers to make rapid and subjective assessments of sex and gender, which is not practical when moderating content at scale".

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In iOS 15.4, Apple is introducing a new voice option for Siri. The latest addition is a voice that is described as being "less gendered" and is being introduced to increase diversity.

This is not the first time Apple has used its digital assistant to promote inclusivity, having previously introduced black-voiced Siri options. The company says it is giving users the ability "to choose a voice that speaks to them".

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Over the weekend, users noticed that a number of search terms -- such as bisexual -- appeared to be blocked on Twitter. Having said "we've identified an error with search results for certain terms. We apologize for this. We’re working quickly to resolve & will update soon," Twitter has finally explained what happened.

Perhaps predictably there's -- assuming you believe Twitter -- nothing sinister going on. Instead, the company's latest policy changes, which took extra measures to block sexual content, meant that its automated systems were being rather heavy-handed in censoring certain content, completely failing to take context into consideration.

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Google recently caused controversy and upset by censoring LGBTQ videos from appearing in Restricted Mode on YouTube. The company later apologized, fixed the problem, and then updated its policies. Now Tumblr has found itself caught up in a similar hullabaloo.

Complaints were raised after -- just like YouTube's Restricted Mode -- Tumblr's Safe Mode was found to be filtering out LGBTQ+ content. The site has now apologized, updated its algorithms, and explained why the problem came about in the first place.

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Back in March, Google was hit by criticism after it was discovered that its Restricted Mode filtered out many videos with LGBTQ content. A month later the company announced that it had fixed the problem that led to videos being "incorrectly filtered" and now, to coincide with Pride month, Google has revealed policy updates to Restricted Mode.

Google says that it has worked with LGBTQ creators and YouTube employees and will now explicitly allow content that was previously blocked, to be seen in Restricted Mode -- hoping to quieten any shouts of "censorship." The new policies mean that content such as "kissing at weddings, personal accounts of difficult events, and speaking out against discrimination" should no longer be caught in the net.

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June is Pride month, and two of the biggest names in tech are getting involved in the celebrations. Google and Facebook are both showing their support for LGBTQ communities around the world.

Facebook has introduced a new, temporary, "reaction" in the form of a rainbow flag, while Google Maps is highlighting Pride events in cities around the world -- so you can either navigate to them to take part, or avoid the crowds if you're heading elsewhere.

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Social media platforms are, by their very nature, keen to be welcoming to as broad a spectrum of people as possible. Twitter, YouTube, and other services of their ilk like to be seen to be as inclusive as can be imagined and Facebook is no different.

This month is Pride Month, and Facebook is not only joining in the celebrations, but also using it to indulge in a little self-celebration and self-congratulation. The social network is rolling out a rainbow frame, a Pride reaction and Pride-themed masks for photos, Pride stickers in Messenger and more, but the company is also falling over itself to prove how diverse not only its userbase is, but also its workforce.

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In the US, May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Facebook is using this to raise awareness of the tools it offers for those in need of help. The social network says that it wants to help people connect with the help they need to promote good mental health and well-being.

The company is also expanding its suicide prevention tools -- something it has offered for a decade now -- by working with new partners. The latest addition to the fold is The Trevor Project to help offer support to LGBTQ youth, and Facebook also says that its overall arsenal of tools has been improved by advancements in technology.

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Around this time last month, Google was facing criticism for appearing to censor LGBTQ+ videos with the Restricted Mode feature. Now the company says that it has addressed the problem and will no longer be "incorrectly filtering videos."

Google says that this means hundreds of thousands of videos with LGBTQ+ content have been unlocked, and more than 12 million videos in total have been affected. The company has already issued an apology for the filtering, but now it is keen to be seen making amends.

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Following a massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Facebook has been prompted to activate its Safety Check feature in the US for the first time. 50 people lost their lives in the attack on the LGBT nightclub.

Previously used following natural disasters around the world as well as a man-made tragedy, Safety Check gives people in a trouble spot to let friends and family know that they're OK. The deadliest mass shooting in American history ended up being the trigger for the first activation of the feature on US soil.

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North Carolina's decision to pass House Bill 2 -- which effectively block measures to protect LGBT people -- means that residents of the state are no longer able to access a popular porn site. Just as Bruce Springsteen decided to show his disgust at the new legislation by cancelling a concert in North Carolina, so xHamster has taken the step of blocking North Carolina porn consumers from accessing the site.

North Carolina's new law prevents local governments from passing anti-discrimination rules to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and it is sending ripples of disgust through the equal rights movement. With xHamster's involvement, the fight against the legislation has been taken online, hitting state residents where it hurts in a bid to encourage people to sign a petition against the bill.

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As the battle between the FBI and Apple rumbles on, the debate about encryption has intensified, bringing with it renewed discussion about privacy. There are few people who would want to give up their right to privacy and allow unrestricted access to their personal communication, but there are some for whom privacy is even more important.

Tim Cook is just one of the voices shouting that a backdoor for the government would be a backdoor for anyone. Most people and companies have sided with Apple saying that rather than backdoor access, what's needed is stronger encryption, greater security, even more robust privacy. It's something that has the support of people from all walks of life, but it's an issue that's very close to the hearts of the LGBTQ community.

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Facebook found itself under fire last year for imposing a real name policy. Drag artists, the LGBT community, musicians and other groups were among those who felt they should be able to use a name other than the one that appears on their birth certificate. The social network ultimately backed down, but the whole debacle left something of a bad taste in the mouth.

People are able to use "the authentic name they use in real life" to identify themselves on the site, and Facebook has opened up gender options further. There's no need to feel limited by the male or female labels, or even make a selection from a readymade list -- you can now specify whatever gender you want. But is this enough?

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It's only a few weeks since Tim Cook announced that he is gay and the impact is already starting to be felt. The Apple CEO wrote in Bloomberg Business that "I'm proud to be gay", and his coming out has proved to be inspirational, even in the short time between then and now. Now an anti-discrimination bill in Alabama is to be named after him.

Alabama is in the process of passing a bill that will make it illegal for state employers to discriminate against workers on the basis of their sexuality. Democratic state Representative Patricia Todd is the Alabama's only openly gay lawmaker and she proposed the billing, mentioning Tim Cook's name "in jest".

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