Openly gay speed skater Blake Skjellerup missed out on an automatic bid to the Sochi Olympics by one position, according to Outsports.com . While 32 automatic bids were handed out for the distance, Skjellerup finished 33rd, becoming the first alternate. Skjellerup, who was poised to become the first out gay male competitor in Winter Olympics history, competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics for New Zealand before coming out publicly.
Gay and unmarried couples are now free to adopt children in Northern Ireland, according to Gay Star News. Health Minister Edwin Poots had tried to challenge the Court of Appeal's decision in June that legislation banning gay couples from adoption was unlawful. While a single gay person could adopt children in Northern Ireland, a couple in a civil partnership were banned. Northern Ireland now joins England, Scotland and Wales—the rest of the United Kingdom—in allowing gay couples to adopt.
U.S. Forces Korea has granted full marriage benefits to same-sex couples, meaning the spouses of gay and lesbian servicemembers and U.S. civilians living in South Korea can now shop at the commissary and post exchanges, according to Stars and Stripes. The decision comes after USFK officials deliberated for months on whether granting such benefits to gay couples would violate the status of forces agreement in a country where same-sex unions are not recognized.
Couples in Italy may still adopt Russian children because their country does not recognize same-sex marriages, officials from both nations said, according to UPI.com . Pavel Astakhov, the Russian government's children's rights minister, said Italy is one of a diminishing number of European nations still eligible to adopt Russian children. Italy still bans same-sex unions despite Rome's mayor coming out in favor of gay marriage recently.
Senegalese police detained five women accused of violating the country's anti-gay law, News One reported. The women were detained during a birthday party at a restaurant in Dakar's Yoff district that has been described in the Senegalese press as a meeting point for gay men and lesbians. Senegal's penal code calls for prison sentences of up to five years and fines of up to $3,000 for committing "an improper or unnatural act with a person of the same sex."
Since launching in August 2012, the Chinese gay dating app Blued has acquired 2 million users, according to Jezebel.com . Like many other geolocating dating apps, Blued allows users to see and chat with other nearby users. However, while Blued provides multiple ways of connecting users, it also provides news including local events and information on HIV/AIDS and on the progress of gay rights in China. Geng Le, a prominent gay rights and HIV/AIDS prevention advocate, leads the team behind the app.
Swedish scientists have identified a new strain of HIV that appears to progress much faster than most previously identified variations of the virus, ABC News reported. The new strain, known as A3/02, is a recombinant, meaning it is a cross between two previously identified HIV strains. Lund University researchers said that the infection moves from HIV to full-blown AIDS in about five years, about two years faster than most previously known strains.
The pilot for Moonlight People—a Russian series about LGBT individuals—has been filmed. ( Ekaterina Polyanskaya is the director and screenwriter. ) There are two parallel stories about a boy and a girl in the center of the series' plot. They live in different parts of the country, are of different ages and have varied socioeconomic backgrounds—but are both members of the LGBT community. A trailer is at www.gay.ru/news/rainbow/2013/11/26-27617.htm. The official website is www.MoonlightPeople.com .
Women and Equalities Minister Maria Miller announced that the first same-sex weddings in England and Wales will take place March 29, 2014, Gay Star News reported. Parliament passed the Marriage ( Same Sex Couples ) Act in July. As a result of the government's work, the first weddings in England and Wales will now be able to happen several months earlier than the government anticipated. Also, gay and lesbian couples who married abroad under foreign law and are currently treated as civil partners will be treated as married as of March.
Athletes have now been expressly warned against protesting against the anti-gay laws in Russia while they compete in the Sochi Winter Olympics next year, according to Gay Star News. International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) chief Thomas Bach has told athletes they should avoid being involved in any "controversy." Rule 50 of the IOC's charter states, "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."
In Taiwan, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has decided to allow people to change their legal gender without transitioning, Gay Star News reported. Transgender and intersex communities have praised the decision for matching their needs. For instance, doctors in existing evaluation have to meet with patients' parents, whose veto power can be a nightmare for many adult children.
The pro-LGBT organization Stockholm Pride won Gold and People's Choice in the Lovie Awards for the acclaimed campaign #GOWEST—but sent the heart-shaped gold statuette to Russia President Vladimir Putin with the inscription, "To a man with a heart of stone, here's a heart of gold," according to LGBT Weekly. The mission of the Lovie Awards is to recognize the unique nature of the European Internet community.
Chicagoan James "Wally" Brewster recently presented his ambassadorial credentials to Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina, Windy City Times reported. Brewster is the seventh openly gay ambassador, and the fifth appointed by President Obama. He and Satawake were married in Washington, D.C., Nov. 22, shortly after Brewster was sworn into his envoy position by Vice President Joe Biden. On Nov. 26, Brewster released a video introducing himself to Dominican Republic residents.
India's supreme court has upheld a law that criminalizes gay sex in a ruling gay-rights activists have criticized, the BBC reported. The decision—in which the court said it's up to parliament to legislate on the issue—reverses a landmark 2009 Delhi High Court order that had decriminalized same-sex acts. According to Section 377, a 153-year-old colonial law, a same-sex relationship is an "unnatural offense" that is punishable by a 10-year jail term.
In Israel, Tel Aviv Family Court Judge Naftali Shilo annulled a same-sex couple's overseas marriage, marking the second gay divorce in the country, Gay Star News noted. Shilo declared the unnamed couple divorced but did so in such a way as to avoid recognizing them as being any way married in Israel. Israel has recognized same-sex marriages performed outside of Israel since a High Court of Justice decision in 2006.
