Gay rights
University of Pennsylvania transgender athlete Lia Thomas competes in the 500-yard freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Column: Lia Thomas sparks all sorts of conflicting thoughts

By Paul Newberry Mar. 18, 2022 04:34 PM EDT

FILE - In this April 9, 2018 file photo, New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard lifts in the snatch of the women's +90kg weightlifting final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia. Hubbard will be the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics. Hubbard is among five athletes confirmed on New Zealand's weightlifting team for the Tokyo Games. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein,File)
Expert: Transgender Olympic athlete could polarize opinion

By Steve Mcmorran Jun. 24, 2021 01:37 AM EDT

Yuri Igarashi, right, a co-chair of the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation speaks at a press conference in Tokyo Friday, June 4, 2021. Sexual minority groups and supporters, in their last ditch effort to get their long sought equality law before the Olympics, petitioned at offices of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party whose conservative members are resisting and stalling the legislation. (Kyodo News via AP)
Japan LGBTQ activists push for equality law before Olympics

By Mari Yamaguchi Jun. 04, 2021 09:06 AM EDT

Japanese lawmaker Goshi Hosono speaks during a meeting of "LGBT Equality Law" in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Japan's Olympic chief marks pride week with LGBTQ event

By Mari Yamaguchi Apr. 27, 2021 08:48 AM EDT

Activists gather in front of parliament before they submit a petition in Tokyo Thursday, March 25, 2021. LGBTQ and other human rights activists submitted a petition with over 106,000 signatures to Japan's ruling party Thursday, calling for an LGBT equality law to be enacted before the Tokyo Games, saying Japan as host nation should live up to the Olympic charter banning gender and sexual discrimination. (Kyodo News via AP)
LGBT groups want equality law in Japan before Tokyo Olympics

Mari Yamaguchi Mar. 25, 2021 06:37 AM EDT