Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, has been returned to Canada and has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing and dismemberment of Montreal university student Jun Lin, CBC News reported. Magnottaa 29-year-old who has performed in gay-porn movieswas flown from Germany to Quebec's Mirabel airport by military plane. Magnotta was arrested in a Berlin cybercafe June 4 after a worldwide manhunt.
British same-sex couple Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow have spent more than $100,000 to ensure their next child is a girl, Queerty.com reported. The couple already has five kids via egg donors and surrogates: four boys and a girl (two sets of twinsAspen and Saffron, and Jasper and Dallasas well as a middle son, Orlando). To ensure the next baby's gender, the Drewitt-Barlows flew to California to use in vitro fertilization.
In Colombia, a gang gunned down 34-year-old gay hairdresser Juan Francisco Fernandez Cuello in Barranquilla, according to Gay Star News. Pro-LGBT groups say the killing is the fifth gay-related murder in the city this year. Suspects on motorcycles shot at Fernandez Cuello as he left a venue in the Villa San Pedro area with some friends.
In the UK, regulator Ofcom has ruled that an interview with Christian therapist Lesley Pilkington on Russian state radio breached the United Kingdom's Broadcasting Code, Pink News reported. The interview material was the source of the controversy, as Pilkington referred to homosexuality as a "disorder" and criticized so-called "aggressive homosexual propaganda." Ofcom said that Russian presenter Vakhtang Kipshidzhe used the interview to advance his own agenda.
The Times of Israel has reported that a pro-gay photograph of two soldiers that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) uploaded is "misleading," according to Pink News. The photo (on IDF's social-networking page) shows the soldiers walking down a street and holding hands with the caption: "It's pride month. Did you know that the IDF treats all of its soldiers equally? Let's see how many shares you can get for this photo." However, the Times said the men in the photo were not a couple and that only one of them was gay. The IDF said these accusations were irrelevant.
In South Africa, reports state that transgender activist Thapelo Makutle has been murdered, Pink News reported. Some reports say Makutle, 23, was completely beheaded in the attack; however, it appears that the police file documents that his throat was severely slit. Two men attacked him for being gay and transgender.
In the UK, Ulster Unionist Party MP Lord Maginnis' homophobic remarks has led to the party distancing itself from him, according to the Guardian. Maginnis criticized what he called "unnatural" and "deviant" gay practices during a live radio debate over a report that revealed increasing levels of homophobia in Northern Ireland. However, the party said in a statement, "Lord Maginnis was speaking in a personal capacity without our knowledge or permission and his comments do not reflect Ulster Unionist party policy."
Ontario has become the first Canadian province to recognize gender identity in its human-rights legislation, according to CBC News. Christine Elliott, deputy leader of the Opposition Progressive Conservatives said the new law will "prevent discrimination against anyone in Ontario." In a rare show of unity the measurewhich all three parties in the legislature supportedpassed unanimously.
In Split, Croatia, a recent gay-pride event took place without incident. According to SouthFloridaGayNews.com, riot police watched as several hundred people, including some government ministers, marched June 9. Many of the participants carried flags and banners reading "Gay is OK" and "We are all equal." Police briefly detained more than 40 people, but there was no unrest despite threats of violence.
Studies led by Andrea Camperio Ciani at the University of Padova in Italy seem to show that gay men provide an evolutionary benefit for their families, according to the Huffington Post. Mothers and maternal aunts of gay men tend to have significantly more offspring than the maternal relatives of heterosexual men. Because of this, the maternal relatives' so-called "gay man genes"which the researcher say make women more attractive to mentend to get passed to future generations in spite of their tendency to make their male inheritors gay.
In Brazil, organizers estimated more than 3 million people attended Sao Paolo's pride parade June 10 in the world's biggest pride celebration, according to Pink News. The Southern Hemisphere's largest city has celebrated at pride every year since 1997 with steadily growing numbersalthough this year's number is a decrease from last year's 4 million attendees. The theme of this year's pride event was: "Homophobia has a cure: Education and criminalization."
In Kenya, several reports indicate that bars and clubs in the country's main cities are enforcing a ban on LGBT people, Pink News noted. Bars in Mombasa, Nakuru and Nairobi are allegedly banning entry to men who are seen as "too effeminate or women seen as too masculine or butch." For instance, bouncers in the Nairobi nightspot Tacos turned away gay patrons after receiving orders to do so.