Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham, a gay Australian, reveals in his new autobiography Twists and Turns that he battled an addiction to crystal meth in the years leading up to the London Olympics, according to Towleroad.com . He reveals that he started doubting himself after winning gold in 2008; coupled with an injury, he turned to smoking crystal meth to boost his moods. Eventually, he became addicted; he recovered with the help of Narcotics Anonymous, a drug rehabilitation clinic, hypnotherapy and the support of his inner circle.
Tony Briffa, the first openly intersex mayor in Australia, is stepping down despite being re-elected to the Hobsons Bay city council, in the western suburbs of Melbourne, according to Gay Star News. Briffa said, "I've been able to show leadership in our community and with that, to also ensure the queer community in [nearby suburbs] also partnered with us in supporting our community." Briffa will continue to serve the Hobsons Bay community as a city council member.
International "hacktivist" organization Anonymous has hacked eight Ugandan government websites in the wake of the announcement that the country will pass a bill making homosexuality punishable by death, according to South Florida Gay News. A member of the group who identifies himself as "Doktor Bass" posted the usernames and passwords for several of the country's official government sites on Pastebin, adding on Twitter, "We are pro-gay!"
Chicago activist group Gay Liberation Network (GLN) is demanding that a local Nov. 22 concert featuring Jamaican dancehall artist Beenie Man be cancelled, Gay Star News noted. The artist, whose real name is Anthony Moses Davis, gained infamy with tracks featuring anti-gay lyrics that even called for the killing of LGBT individuals. In a letter that Windy City Times published, GLN mentioned Beenie Man's recent apology in The Advocate but added, "he said that in Jamaica the only homosexual activity involved older, wealthy men preying on heterosexual youth—a narrative directly contradicted by LGBT people on the scene."
In England, a Christian housing manager who was demoted and had his salary cut after he criticized same-sex marriage has won his court case, according to Gay Star News. Adrian Smith was a manager at Trafford Housing Trust; however, after he wrote on Facebook that "marriage is for men and women," he was demoted to advisor and had his pay cut 40 percent. In ruling for Smith, High Court judge Mr. Justice Briggs said that "The breach of contract which the Trust thereby committed was serious."
In Italy, a local councillor who made headlines for a recent gay slur has decided to run for the primaries of PDL, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's party, Gay Star News reported. Andrea di Pietro attacked Puglia's governor Nichi Vendola, one of the few openly gay Italian politicians, by tweeting, "Vendola is as unctuous as the lubricant he uses." Now Di Pietro will run for the primaries of his party even though Vendola's SEL party had asked him to leave his post as councillor.
Pinki Pramanik, an Indian gold medalist at the 2006 Asian Games, has been accused of lying about her gender amid allegations that the female sprinter raped a woman, according to Gay Star News. Pramanik was charged with raping and assaulting her female housemate, who claims the athlete is actually a man and broke a promise to marry her. Indian authorities claim that results from a gender test proved she is biologically male.
In Canada, gay British Columbia activist Jack Hallam, 84, said he's leaving war criminal Omar Khadr, 26, $700 in his will, according to CBC.ca. Hallam, a retired zoologist, said Khadr could put the money toward his education now that he has been repatriated to Canada after spending a decade at a U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay. Hallam's leaving Khadr the money although he feels the criminal would not approve of him being a gay atheist.
Also in Canada, 16-year-old transgender student James Spencer claims he's been barred from using the men's washroom at his high school in Ontario's Durham Region, MetroNews.ca reported. Despite collecting signatures of about half the students in the school, Spencer is still not allowed to use the men's washroom. He's been granted access to the women's washroom and a private washroom that needs a key from the main office; however, neither works for him.
Nigeria's assembly is weighing a bill that would ultimately jail gay citizens and anyone who supported them, according to the Huffington Post. The bill would make it a crime for gays and lesbians to get married, to witness a gay marriage or for affirming churches to perform same-sex weddings; gays and lesbians who marry would face 14 years in prison. Gay-rights groups have called upon Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan to veto the bill should it pass its final reading.
In Malaga, Spain, a 30-year-old transgender woman was found dead—and her boyfriend, also 30, is suspected of killing her, according to Gay Star News. The victim was found with a stab wound in her chest. Members of the Association of Transsexuals in AndalucÃa have spoken out against news reports for refusing to call this case a gender-related hate crime, and for referring to the victim as a male.
In Britain, Jaymi Hensley—a member of the boy band Union J, which competed on that country's X Factor show—has come out, according to The Sun. Hensley revealed that Louis Walsh, a judge on the show, encouraged him to come out, adding that Walsh told him, "Put it this way—both of my big boy bands had a gay member in them." The 22-year-old, who lives in Luton with his mother, Jackie, has been in a relationship with his boyfriend, 21, for three years; the couple plans to marry and have kids.
Approximately 1 million people hit Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach Nov. 18 for the Brazilian city's annual gay-pride celebrations, Gay Star News reported. Fifteen floats blaring music lined Avenida Atlantica, while many attendees dressed in colorful carnival costumes. However, organizers also hoped this year's event would send a message about fighting for the criminalization of homophobia; Brazil's Grupo Gay da Bahia documented 266 LGBT-related murders in the country last year.
In England, a transgender woman was attacked in Brighton Nov. 18, according to Gay Star News. Police were called after the woman said she had been physically and verbally abused after a night in the city, which is known for its large LGBT community. A Sussex police spokeswoman said that William Emerson, 19, and Benjamin Weyman, 21, "have been charged with using threatening, abusive and insulting words or behavior to cause harassment, alarm or distress."
In France, anti-gay marriage protesters attacked topless women posing as nuns who were staging a counterprotest, Gay Star News reported. Ukraine-based feminist group FEMEN staged a topless counterprotest of an anti-gay marriage march in Paris by painting "In Gay We Trust" on their breasts and spraying powdered "sperm." French feminist writer Caroline Fourest told the Associated Foreign Press that the anti-gay individuals also lashed out at journalists who filmed them punching and throwing objects at the counterprotestors.
London Mayor Boris Johnson is supporting England's first-ever national HIV-testing week, Gay Star News reported. HIV and sexual-health charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, which recently marked its 30th anniversary, launched the campaign to encourage gay and bisexual men to test more regularly for the virus. The week will run Nov. 23-30.
In Cuba, Adela Hernandez—a biologically male Cuban who has lived as a female since childhood—has made history by becoming the first known transgender person to hold public office, the Huffington Post reported. Hernandez recently won election as a delegate to the municipal government of Caibarien in the central province of Villa Clara. Hernandez, 48, saw her election as another milestone in a gradual shift away from attitudes in the years since former leader Fidel Castro expressed regret over the treatment of people perceived to be different.
