Oxford University has revised its strict academic dress code to accommodate transgender students, according to the Independent. Now, men can attend formal occasions in skirts and stockings, and women can wear suits and bowties. The university said it had rewritten laws governing academic dress following concerns that they "did not serve the interests" of transgender students.
In Lebanon, security authorities swooped in on a gay movie house in Beirut, shutting down the movie house, arresting 36 male attendees and performing anal probes on them, according to the Jerusalem Post. Gay Star News noted that "an unknown number" of the 36 had been released after an unnamed doctor administered the anal exam, which is meant to detect sperm. Journalist Michael J. Totten said, "It shouldn't be surprising ... that the country where [Muslim group] Hezbollah lives still has a long way to go."
German cyclist Judith Arndt became the first out lesbian to medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London when she won a silver medal in the time trials, according to SheWired.com . She has participated in every summer Olympics since 1996, making this her fifth time at the games. U.S. entrant Kristin Armstrong won the gold medal in the event and Olga Zabelinskaya of Russia won the bronze.
In Ireland, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Lord Mayor of Belfast Gavin Robinson attended a gay-pride event—but he renounced homosexuality while there, according to the Irish Central. Robinson made history when he accepted an invitation to sit on the panel of a public debate ahead of the pride march in the city. However, he defended many of DUP's policies, including the lifetime ban on gay people donating blood and the party's opposition to marriage equality.
In Italy, Nichi Vendola—the openly gay governor of the southern Puglia region and leader of the Sel Party—has announced his candidacy for prime minster in the 2013 elections, according to Times of India. Vendola, 53, may face three-time prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who resigned in November amid a deepening debt crisis and sex charges. Should Vendola win, he would be the country's first out gay prime minister.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton honored a group of Ugandan human-rights activists at a ceremony in the country's capital, Kampala, according to the Washington Blade. Frank Mugisha—executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda—was among the members of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law who received the State Department's 2011 Human Rights Defenders Award at the U.S. embassy.
Several countries have relaxed or eliminated their restrictions on gay blood donors, according to a Washington Blade item. For example, the U.K. Department of Health announced that men who have not had sex with another man in 12 months are able to donate blood in England, Scotland and Wales. Italy and Spain screen both heterosexual and gay potential blood donors based on specific behaviors, and Chile says that sexual orientation does not bar someone from donating.
Mexican entertainer Chavela Vargas—known for defying gender stereotypes—died in Cuernavaca, Mexico, at age 93, according to the Hollywood Reporter. She rose to fame while singing "ranchera" songs while wearing men's clothes, smoking cigars and carrying a pistol. Vargas—whose music was featured in many Pedro Almadovar films—didn't come out until publishing her autobiography Y si quieres saber de mi pasado (If You Want to Know About My Past) at age 81.
A gay pastor who married his musical-producer boyfriend in New York last year has fulfilled a vow to hold a wedding banquet in his native Malaysia in what they believe is the first such event in the country with a Muslim majority, according to MyrtleBeachOnline.com . Malaysian-born Ngeo Boon Lin and African-American husband Phineas Newborn III quietly held the closed reception Aug. 4 with about 200 guests. "We're thankful to be able to make Malaysian history here," Newborn said.
In Wales, a soccer player has been arrested after tweeting anti-gay posts about Olympic divers Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield, Pink News reported. The message on Daniel Thomas' Twitter page disparaged the UK diving pair—neither of whom is known to be gay—after they lost out on medals at the Olympics synchronized men's 10-meter diving. Authorities said that Thomas "was interviewed at Neath police station and has been released on police bail pending further enquiries."
During the London Olympics, Britain's only gay competitor helped his equestrian team win gold, Pink News reported. Carl Hester, 45, rode Uthopia in the dressage's Grand Prix Special at Greenwich Park. The team—which included Charlotte Dujardin and Laura Bechtolsheimer—celebrated what was the country's 20th gold medal of the games. This is Hester's first Olympic medal.
The Holy See papal court has rejected the man nominated as next Bulgarian ambassador to the Vatican because of a steamy gay scene in a best-selling novel he recently wrote, according to an Irish Times item. Kiril Maritchkov—who is married to an Italian woman, is a father of two and speaks five languages—looked like a good choice on paper. However, in his book Clandestination, Maritchkov tells the story of Ivan, who is so short of money that he prostitutes himself for 50 euros ($62) to a man in Rome. However, Bulgaria has stuck by Maritchkov, resulting in a stalemate.
The French Catholic Church is reviving a centuries-old custom with an updated national "prayer for France" that opposes the same-sex marriage and euthanasia reforms the new Socialist government is planning, according to Reuters. The prayer, to be read in all churches Aug. 15, echoes the defense of traditional marriage by Pope Benedict and Catholic leaders around the world as same-sex marriage gains acceptance. In 1638, King Louis XIII decreed that all churches would pray on Aug. 15, the day Catholics believe the Virgin Mary was assumed bodily into heaven.
In Canada, hundreds of thousands of people attended the Vancouver Pride Parade, according to CBC.ca. One of this year's grand marshals was local transgender beauty queen Jenna Talackova, who took on business tycoon Donald Trump for her right to compete in Miss Universe Canada earlier this year. Pro hockey player Manny Malholtra also marched in the parade, and he was joined by players from the Vancouver Cutting Edges, the only gay hockey club in western Canada.
