Bulgaria: "Gay Clown Putin" invades media
Irish LGBT magazine Gay Community News reported on March 7 that Bulgarian media platforms have been hacked, with a new version of "LGBTQ+ Putin," an image whose distribution was banned in Russia in 2016 on the grounds that it represented "an alleged nontraditional sexual orientation of the President of the Russian Federation."

The image shows Russian President Vladimir Putin in heavy makeup, with a rainbow flag in the background. It appeared on Nova TV, Bulgarian national television, Bloomberg, and Bulgaria On Air, causing all but the latter to temporarily halt online streaming of their content.

GCN called the hack an act of protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, since the words "Make Love, Not War" were the major addition since the original 2013 version.

London: Refugees must "prove" sexuality
The BBC reported on February 28 on how the United Kingdom's latest changes to a bill concerning immigration might affect LGBTQ+ asylum seekers. The bill would require proof that asylum seekers face danger because of their sexuality.

Bahiru Sheway, an LGBT+ rights advocate who grew up in Ethiopia, where same-sex relationships are illegal and carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, said, "I'm gay, that's all I know, right? But, like, there's no blood test that you can take from me to check my sexuality. I wish there was... that would make my life easy because I [wouldn't] even have that conversation with my parents, because my parents... deny that I'm gay, right? So how am I expected to actually convince an institution that is working against a migrant community?"

Protests against the changes to the bill broke out across the UK. Leila Zadeh of London-based charity Rainbow Migration said that if the bill passes in its current state, "many people could see their lives put in danger. And we really need to protect the very principle of refugee protection."