U.S. Sen. Ed Markey introduced the International Human Rights Defense Act to direct the Department of State to consider preventing and responding to discrimination and violence against the LGBT community a foreign-policy priority, according to MassLive.com . In addition to setting LGBT rights as an international policy priority, the bill would also require the State Department to devise a global strategy to achieve the goal of encouraging other nations top enact legislative protections and establish a position in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor responsible for coordinating the effort. "For the United States to hold true to our commitment to defending the human rights of all people around the world, we must stand with the LGBT community in their struggle for recognition and equality everywhere," Markey said in a statement.
The Ontario Liberals won a majority June 12, making Kathleen Wynne the province's first elected female premier and Canada's first elected openly gay premier. MetroNews.ca noted that this win is the Liberals' fourth consecutive win and was accomplished despite multiple accusations of corruption the entire campaign. Wynne first concern is to pass her $130-billion, left-leaning spring budget, The Toronto Star reported. "I'm very eager," Wynne told reporters outside her office after meeting Lieutenant-Governor David Onley to set the legislature's return for July 2 with a new cabinet from a Liberal caucus that is 11 members larger.
The winner of Mr. World, the spin-off competition of Miss World, is Nicklas Pedersen, a.k.a., Mr Denmark, according to The Huffington Post. In second place was Emmanuel Ifeanyi Ikubese from Nigeria, with Jose Pablo Minor from Mexico in third. The male version of the competition took place in Torbay—dubbed the "English Riviera" on the website—and featured 46 hopefuls from all over the world.
Oxford University will not rescind an honorary doctorate in law given to the sultan of Brunei, despite a recently introduced law which makes homosexuality punishable by stoning, Pink News reported. The sultan—whose family has governed Brunei for 600 years and whose fortune is estimated at $13 billion—received an honorary knighthood from the queen in 1992 and has been awarded several honors from British universities, including Oxford. Responding to PinkNews questions about rescinding the awrad, an Oxford University spokesperson said it would not and declined to comment further.
Speaking of Brunei, more than 100 members of Congress have signed a letter urging Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to force Brunei to repeal recently imposed laws that call for the stoning of gays and adulterers—or face expulsion from ongoing trade negotiations, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Marc Pocan, an openly gay Congressman from Wisconsin, drafted the letter, which reads in part, "Brunei's adoption of the revised penal code legalizes violence against its citizens, constituting torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment. The United States must make it clear that we will not tolerate such abuses."
A Moldovan court has fined the Orthodox Christian bishop of Balti and Falesti over controversial claims he made about LGBTI people in September 2012 in a landmark ruling, Gay Star News reported. Bishop Markel had called for LGBTI people to be banned from working in education, food preparation and the health industry, claiming that "92 percent of them are AIDS/HIV patients [sic]." LGBTI Moldovan rights group GenderDoc-M lodged a complaint against Markel; a court ordered he pay the organization a fine of 10,000 leus ( about $750 ) as well as 12,000 leus ( about $850 ) to cover the group's legal expenses.
Several transwomen had their heads shaved and were jailed in a male prison in Malaysia, according to Gay Star News. It followed their arrest at a wedding in Bahau, Jempol, because the religious police said the women and one other were violating Sharia law. The other escaped jail, as she was under the age of 18, but will be counseled for a year in attempts to "cure" her. Trans-rights group Justice For Sisters claimed the women were pressured into giving up their appeal for reduced sentence.
Austria's first lesbian member of parliament was sprayed with a potentially blistering acid during an interview at Vienna's annual Rainbow Parade celebrating LGBT pride, The Advocate noted. The attack did not injure MP Ulkrie Lunacek or the crew filming her. Although no injuries were reported, more than $60,000 of damage was reportedly done to the news crew's camera and electronic gear; Lunacek's clothing was also damaged.
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) urged Secretary of State John Kerry to directly raise the United States' vehement opposition to Uganda's recent enactment of its Anti-Homosexuality Act in a recent meeting with Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa, according to a press release. In addition, following recent news that an administration-ordered interagency review of the U.S. relationship with Uganda has produced pending recommendations for actions, HRC renewed its call to President Obama to begin taking immediate new steps to hold the Ugandan government accountable for the law.
Massachusetts-based Oscar Wilde Tours announced the launch of its inaugural tour, marking the company's entry into the high-end gay travel market, according to a press release. Dubbed "Oscar Wilde's Dublin, London and Paris," the tour is the first in a series of offerings that aims to connect gay travelers with their own heritage. The tour uses the life of Oscar Wilde as a way of examining the broader culture of homosexuality at the end of the 19th century, when the Victorian Era was giving way to the modern age and sexual attitudes were undergoing a revolution.
The "Queering Translation: Translating the Queer" conference will be held in Vienna, Austria, on March 26-28, 2015—and proposals are being sought, according to a press release. It is stated that "the aim of this conference is to explore the common ground, both on a theoretical and practical level, of [queer studies and translation studies] and to promote cross-fertilization by bringing together scholars from different cultures with various research backgrounds." Scholars are invited to submit 200-300-word proposals by Sept. 30, 2014 to queertranslation@univie.ac.at. More information is at https://queertranslation.univie.ac.at.
Botswana has backed a call by the African Union's highest human rights body to protect the human rights of LGBTI people—although it has not yet said it will repeal its laws criminalizing same-sex relationships, according to Gay Star News. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has praised the pro-LGBTI resolution, and Botswana's government has now added its support. Botswana retains colonial-era laws banning "unnatural carnal knowledge," but the law is very rarely enforced and LGBTI activists have been able to hold public protests for their rights.
A man who claims responsibility for a portion of the Texas Republican Party's platform addressing conversion therapy says he's an ex-gay himself—and that in some ways food replaced "sexual sin" for him, according to The Advocate. Jeremy Schwab, a former actor who founded a Dallas-based ex-gay ministry called Joel 2:25 International, posted on Facebook, "We recognize the legitimacy and value of counseling which offers reparative therapy and treatment to patients who are seeking escape from the homosexual lifestyle." He originally added on his blog, "I think in some ways food replaced sexual sin for me and now I can't even get into my OWN pants."
