Following a September 2022 coup, Capt. Ibrahim Traore was named the transitional president of Burkina Faso and promised to bring security and prosperity to the West African nation, capturing the hearts and minds of many young people in his country and around the world.
Babu Dumi Rai, who worked at a help center in Kathmandu that has closed, warned that the aid cuts could lead to more HIV infections.“In our community people are hesitant to buy condoms, and many of them are not even aware they need to use a condom or even how to properly use them,” Rai said. “With all these projects and services shuttered, there is now a very big risk of the HIV infections to be on the rise.”
It is estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 people with HIV in Nepal are from the LGBTQ+ community, said Dinesh Chaudhury, who has been working with the help centers.Chaudhury said the centers also provided medical help to the community, and now people are struggling to find alternatives. Government hospitals and general medical facilities have some resources, but some in the LGBTQ+ community have said they feel uncomfortable with the way they are treated there.“It is uncertain where they can go to get help in the coming days,” Chaudhury said. “I have so many people come with questions on where they can go, but I have no answer.”
Simple Lama, a transgender sex worker, said access to medical help or items like condoms and lubricants is now far more challenging.“It was easier and safer to go to the centers and clinics to get medical help and consultations,” Lama said. “But now it is difficult to go to big hospitals, and when we go to the regular hospitals, people look at us differently, treat us differently.”
Sex work is illegal in Nepal, and sex workers are routinely harassed and chased by authorities. Transgender sex workers are generally more tolerated by the police because of the lobbying by LGBTQ+ rights groups pushing to stop harassment of their members.
Now the ranks of sex workers is growing as members of the LGBTQ+ community who had been working at the now-closed help centers look for new ways to survive.A spokesperson for Fecteau declined to comment.
Maine and the federal government have beenparticipation of transgender students in sports since Libby’s post, and the Trump administration sued the state on Wednesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — A newplanet outside the solar system may orbit two