The Dalai Lama has come out in support of gay marriage, saying it was "OK" and a personal affair for people of the same sex to commit to each other, according to NBC News. "If two people ... really feel that way ... and both sides fully agree, then okay," the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said on the Larry King Now show. Ultimately, the Dalai Lama, who like all Tibetan Monks is celibate himself, said same-sex marriage was up to each government and was ultimately "individual business."
In Mexico, U.S. resident Craig Taylor was found dead on the side of a road in Cancun after he reportedly got into a fight over the bill at a nearby gay bar, The Daily Mail reported. Taylor—a native of Kissimmee, Fla.—was found dead after reportedly getting into a fight the night before. Six people have been arrested in connection to the incident, though none have been charged with murder; five of them worked at the bar, and the sixth is the owner.
In an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Pope Francis suggested the Catholic Church could tolerate some types of non-marital civil unions as a practical measure to guarantee property rights and health care, according to Catholic News Service. "Matrimony is between a man and a woman," the pope said, but moves to "regulate diverse situations of cohabitation [are] driven by the need to regulate economic aspects among persons, as for instance to assure medical care. It is necessary to look at the diverse cases and evaluate them in their variety." He also said the church would not change its teaching against artificial birth control but should take care to apply it with "much mercy."
Sweden will be stopping all development aid to Uganda over the new anti-gay law, according to Gay Star News. Hillevi Engstrom, Sweden's international aid minister, has condemned the recently passed legislation in Uganda punishing gay people with life in jail. Sweden said it would also maintain subsidies to civil society organizations.
A campaigner who admits to being "a right pain in the arse" has been sacked from a committee in the Australian state of Victoria after threatening to produce car bumper stickers mocking alleged inaction over LGBT bullying, Pink News reported. Rob Mitchell claims he was dismissed from the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Health and Wellbeing Ministerial Advisory Committee for "asking inconvenient questions" and criticizing Victoria's coalition government in a radio interview. Mitchell also slammed State Premier Denis Napthine and Victoria's Health Minister David Davis for their approach on tackling HIV transmission in Victoria.
An amateur soccer player who shouted anti-gay slurs at a gay referee has pleaded guilty in court, according to Pink News. Appearing at Perth Sheriff Court, Dale Ritchie, 25, admitted to a charge of breaching the peace aggravated by prejudice against sexual orientation. Perth United suspended the father of two after calling Joe Richardson a "faggot" and a "poof" during a match last year in Bridge of Earn, Perthshire. Ritchie will be sentenced next month.
Legal activists say a Zambian human-rights worker has been acquitted in a Lusaka court of charges related to comments he made in support of the rights of gay people, LGBTQ Nation reported. The Southern Africa Litigation Centre, based in Johannesburg, hailed the acquittal of Paul Kasonkomona as a boost for freedom of expression in Zambia. Last year, Kasonkomona was arrested after saying on a television program that the rights of groups including gays and sex workers should be recognized as a way of dealing with HIV.
Human-rights activist Dorothy Aken'Ova has claimed that four young men were convicted of gay sex and whipped publicly as punishment in an Islamic court in northern Nigeria, according to the Associated Press. The four were among dozens caught in a wave of arrests after Nigeria buttressed its criminal penalties for homosexuality with the new Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act in January. Aken'Ova has said that the men could face further violence in prison if human-rights organizations do not come up with an additional fine of 20,000 naira ( $120 ) a judge assessed to each of the men.
A Mississauga high school student has filed a complaint to Ontario's human-rights watchdog over what he considers systemic homophobia in his French Catholic school, according to the Toronto Star. Christopher Karas, a Grade 12 student at École Secondaire Catholique Sainte-Famille, claims teachers and administration have repeatedly belittled him for being gay. Karas claims the abuse began two years ago, when he was separated from other male students on a field trip to Ottawa because they refused to bunk with Karas because of his sexuality.
An activist group says the global telecom company Orange has withdrawn advertising from a Ugandan tabloid newspaper that printed the names of 200 suspected gay people after a severe anti-gay law was enacted last month, the Associated Press noted. Orange, a subsidiary of France Telecom, reportedly made the decision after more than 77,000 of its members petitioned the company to "remove the advertisements" with the newspaper Red Pepper.
The Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs' 2013 decision to not provide antiretroviral therapy medication ( ARV ) to the Linda Clinic was overturned by the Administrative Court in Tallinn, Estonia, according to AHF. The Linda Clinic opened its doors in June 2013, but still cannot function fully because the Ministry of Social Affairs blocked the clinic's access to ARVs, despite agreements made in 2012 with the previous minister of social affairs. The latest ruling does not automatically grant the clinic access to state-procured ARVs, but it obligates the ministry to make a new, lawful decision.
A gay-porn channel in Canada has been ordered to start showing more Canadian content, according to Pink News. Premium gay TV channel Maleflixxx was one of three adult channels called out by broadcast regulator CRTC for failing to show enough content produced in Canada. TV channels in Canada have to meet a 35-percent quota of homemade content.
A gay Myanmar couple married in a lavish public ceremony that they say was the first of its kind in the country where gay sex is illegal, The Washington Times reported. Grooms Tin Ko Ko, 38, and Myo Min Htet, 28, exchanged rings in an upmarket Yangon hotel. The marriage does not enjoy any legal status in Myanmar, but the couple was still reportedly thrilled the ceremony was able to take place.
A lesbian couple from London have announced they will be the first to exchange vows at the Roman Baths, Pink News reported. Alana McVey and Kirsy Hopton have announced that they will marry May 25, and intend to be the first couple to marry at the Baths. The couple met through a mutual friend several years ago, and dated long-distance for a while before Hopton ( who lived in Cornwall ) decided to move to London.
Six U.S. servicemembers—gay, lesbian and straight—put on heavy makeup to dance and lip-sync songs such as Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" for a capacity crowd at the Rocker NCO Club at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, according to Stars and Stripes. The event was a fundraiser for the recently formed Okinawa chapter of OutServe-SLDN, the largest nonprofit advocate for the military's LGBT community. Hoping to sell 75 tickets for the event, the group reportedly ended up selling 400 in 10 days.
