Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says he not homophobic, according to CBC.ca. There is an ongoing debate over whether Ford is anti-gay after he chose to sit during a standing ovation for WorldPride organizers and he was the lone vote against a study of homeless shelter space for LGBT youth. Doug Ford, the Rob's brother and campaign manager, said the sit-down was about consistency: "Rob Ford has decided not to go to the gay pride parade. And all of a sudden, he's going to get up and he's going to be applauding the gay pride parade?" Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam said the mayor has already demonstrated he doesn't care about the gay community.
Hit TV show Glee has been ordered to change its name in the UK by the High Court, after losing a trademark battle. Mark Tughan—owner of The Glee Club comedy and music venues in Birmingham, Nottingham, Oxford and Cardiff—argued that the Fox show was hurting his business, as customers were likely to assume that his clubs were associated with the show and avoid them. Judge Roger Wyand ordered Twentieth Century Fox to "cease naming" the series Glee in the United Kingdom, and awarded £100,000 ( $ 166,400 U.S. ) in costs to Tughan.
The U.S. Census Bureau released its annually updated interactive global resource on the prevalence of HIV infection and AIDS cases and deaths, according to a press release. First developed in 1987, the database now holds more than 164,000 statistics—an increase of approximately 5,900 new estimates in the last year—and is the most comprehensive resource of its kind in the world. The Census Bureau database is maintained with funding from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ( PEPFAR ) through the United States Agency for International Development ( USAID ). See www.census.gov/population/international/data/hiv/interactive/ .
About 100 of the 298 killed in the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crash in Ukraine July 17 were reportedly individuals headed for the 20th International AIDS Conference in Australia. Attendees at a pre-conference gathering in Sydney were informed the morning of July 18 that 100 of their colleagues—among them researchers, medical workers and activists—had been killed in the crash, Sydney Morning Herald reported. Among the dead were reportedly Joep Lange, an HIV researcher from the Netherlands and a former president of the International AIDS Society; Glenn Raymond Thomas, a spokesman for the World Health Organization; Pim de Kuijer of Stop AIDS Now!; Martine de Schutter of AIDS Fonds; Jacqueline van Tongeren of AMC Department of Global Health; and Lucie van Mens of the Female Health Company.
Singapore has pulled the third collection in the Archie: The Married Life series that features the same-sex marriage of character Kevin Keller, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Singapore-based cartoonist Sonny Liew made the discovery; local distributor Kinokuniya informed him that the collection was "deemed to breach the Content Guidelines for Imported Publications, and removed from sale by notice of MDA." Recently, the cartoon made headlines when lead character Archie Andrews died while saving the life of best friend Keller.
Malawi has officially suspended arresting people for gay sex, according to a Gay Star News article. Justice Manager Janet Chijaya-Banda has said the law, which punishes homosexuality with up to 14 years in prison, is effectively no longer used. Arrests under Malawi's anti-gay laws have been reportedly suspended since November 2012, but it has not been made official until now.
Australia's Commonwealth Games swimming team has rallied behind Ian Thorpe, with squad members saying they hoped his coming out provided him with some comfort in his personal life, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The five-time Olympic gold medallist confirmed in an interview with Michael Parkinson—for which he was reported to have been paid more than $500,000—that he is gay. National head coach Jacco Verhaeren—who was previously the coach of one of Thorpe's great rivals, Dutch champion Pieter van den Hoogenband—said Thorpe's sexuality should not be an issue and would not affect his standing among the team.
Palestinian Mohammad Abu Khdeir, 17, was reportedly kidnapped and killed in retaliation for the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teens, according to VICE News. Palestinians claimed Israeli settlers were responsible for the killing. There were other reports that Khdeir's family killed him for being gay in a so-called "honor killing," but family members have denied these claims.
France's lifetime ban on gay men donating blood is facing a serious legal challenge after a judge in Europe's top court found the prohibition amounts to discrimination, according to TheLocal.fr. Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi, from the European Court of Justice, ruled that France's ban is illegal because it prohibits donations from men simply because they've had sex with other men. The case now goes to the full 28-member European Court of Justice.
In Nigeria, the Kano State House of Assembly passed into law the state Rape Prohibition Bill 2014, according to Leadership.ng. The law, passed unanimously, imposes a maximum of life sentence for convicted rapists—but also contains a section for gays and lesbians. The LGBT-related provision reads, "Whoever has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of fourteen years, and shall also be liable to a fine of N50,000 [about $300 U.S.]."
Danish couple Rasmus Holm and Thomas Møller Lassen have adopted a nine-month-old South African girl, making them the first same-sex couple in Denmark to legally adopt a child from another country, according to Gay Star News. Same-sex couples have been allowed to adopt as couples since 2010 in Denmark; however, few countries allow overseas adoptions by same-sex couples. Holm and Lassen plan to raise their daughter, Le, in the port city of Aarhus.
In Canada, Andre Noel Denny will be assigned a Mi'kmaq ( pronounced "micmac" ) interpreter during his second-degree murder trial in September, CBC.ca reported. Denny is accused of killing gay activist Raymond Taavel outside a bar in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in April 2012. Denny, currently at the East Coast Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, was at large from the Nova Scotia Hospital when Taavel was killed. Mi'kmaq is an Eastern Algonquian language spoken in Canada and the United States.
One of the winners of this year's Britain's Got Talent has opened up about his sexuality, saying that he is openly gay but "no one asked" during his time on the show, Pink News noted. Singer Jamie Lambert, 22, is one-fifth of theater vocal group Collabro, which won the final of Britain's Got Talent in June with a rendition of "Stars," from Les Miserables. He added, "It's not all of who I am. I would hate for people to see me as 'the gay one,' rather than the one who sings that line."
Out British diver Tom Daley told Attitude who he feels are the sexiest male stars, according to a NewNowNext.com item. "Other than my boyfriend obviously," Daley said, "I would say Zac Efron and [model] David Gandy have it pretty good!" Daley also said that he "would love to get married and have kids," and provided the key to staying in shape: "I have a high-protein, low-carb diet." Daley graced the cover of Attitude's Hot 100 issue, joining celebrities such as David Beckham, One Direction's Zayn Malik and Russell Tovey.
Georgian soprano Tamar Iveri landed herself in hot water earlier this year when the press revealed an anti-gay Facebook post made by the singer in May 2013. After being released from her contract with Opera Australia as a result of the anti-gay comments, Iveri is now reportedly planning a concert to benefit LGBT victims of violence, The Huffington Post reported. The concert is scheduled to take place on National Coming Out Day, Oct. 11, in Tbilisi, Georgia, and will be "dedicated to the victims of all kinds of violence."
