Scotland has become the 17th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage after the Scottish Parliament passed the Marriage and Civil Partnership ( Scotland ) Bill by an overwhelming majority, LGBTQ Nation reported. The members of Parliament voted 105 in favor, with 18 objecting and zero abstaining. Five last-minute amendments putting limits on the Marriage Equality bill, by Christian MSP John Mason, were rejected.
A record crowd estimated at over 5,000 participants turned out for gay pride in Mumbai, India, on Feb. 2—the first pride event since the country's supreme court reinstated a colonial-era law that criminalizes gay sex, according to LGBTQ Nation. Now in its seventh year, Mumbai's pride event was bigger and bolder, attracting crowds from across the globe for a festive and highly charged atmosphere. Activist Ashok Row Kavi said, "Ideally, the march is about taking pride in what you are. But this year's upsurge in numbers is a reflection of the community's anger and hurt over being re-criminalized."
GLAAD has unveiled its GLAAD Global Voices: 2014 Winter Olympics Playbook, a resource guide for journalists and spokespeople covering the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, according to a press release. The Playbook will be distributed in four languages to thousands of journalists traveling to Sochi and/or covering the 2014 Winter Olympics and provides essential background information, story ideas and profiles of LGBT Russians to speak about Russia's anti-LGBT laws. See http://glaad.org/russia.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police ( RCMP ), also known as the Mounties, have appointed the first openly lesbian woman to lead the police force for the province of Alberta, according to Gay Star News. Assistant Commissioner Marianne Ryan assumed the command of the RCMP in Alberta Jan. 29 after a handover of responsibilities from Deputy Commissioner Dale McGowan. Ryan told The Canadian Press that she had never had any problems during her long career with the Mounties as an openly gay woman.
The archbishops of Canterbury and York have written to the heads of all the national churches in the global Anglican Communion, reminding them of a 2005 commitment they made to the pastoral support and care of gay people ahead of a trip by Archbishop Justin Welby to Africa, Gay Star News reported. Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, is not visiting Nigeria or Uganda ( both of whom have recently passed strict anti-gay laws ) but also sent copies of the letter to the presidents of both those countries.
In Kyrgyzstan, gay people have claimed extreme abuse from police, including at least one instance of rape via a hammer, according to Gay Star News. International charity Human Rights Watch is urging authorities in the Central Asian country to acknowledge the police brutality and investigate all allegations of torture, blackmail and intimidation. Mikhail Kudryashov, a 24-year-old who said he was beaten and threatened with rape in 2010, said in a Human Rights Watch report, "The police told me that Kyrgyzstan is not a place for me. They said that they know many men like me."
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has officially refused to attend the Sochi Winter Olympics, but has denied it is a "snub" regarding Russia's anti-gay law, according to Gay Star News. Instead, Cameron declined the invitation on the grounds there is no precedent for serving prime ministers to attend the Winter Olympics. Britain will be sending Anne, the Princess Royal and former London Olympics chief Lord Sebastian Coe.
Alexander Suturin—a Russian newspaper editor in the region of Khabarovsk—was fined 50,000 rubles, or around $1,400, for publishing an article quoting a teacher, who was fired for being gay, as saying "My very existence is proof being gay is normal," according to AmericaBlog.com . It is illegal in Russia to quote a gay person if that person does not self-incriminate. Suturin's article reportedly "detailed the claims of a local geography teacher and gay-rights activist who said he was pressured into quitting his job at school and assaulted by neo-Nazis because of his sexuality."
Two brothers were arrested in the Brazilian city of Manaus in connection with the murders of four gay men, according to Fox News Latino. The investigation was initiated in November after the death of journalism student Steve Host da Costa Barros, 36. The older of the two brothers, considered by authorities to be "a maniac," met Barros in a bar and, 20 days later, allegedly robbed and murdered him with the help of his sibling.
In the Ivory Coast, an angry mob "ransacked" the headquarters of the African country's most prominent gay-rights organization, following days of anti-gay protests in a country generally seen as moderate on the issue, according to the Associated Press. Nearly 200 people stormed the offices of Alternative Cote d'Ivoire in Abidjan, the capital, breaking windows with stones and stealing computers and other equipment, said Claver Toure, the group's executive director. Ivory Coast does not have a history of anti-gay violence, and has occasionally been described as a haven for gay men and lesbians fleeing persecution elsewhere in the region.
Finnish Olympic swimmer Ari-Pekka Liukkonen has come out as gay, saying he wanted to talk publicly about his sexual orientation close to the Sochi Olympic games to help raise awareness of Russia's controversial anti-gay "propaganda" law, according to LGBTQ Nation. "Finally I can be myself," said Liukkonen in an interview with Finnish national public broadcasting company YLE. "I wanted to start a broader discussion in connection with Sochi, because it's sad that the legislation in Russia restricts the human rights of young people and others."
A gay soldier is to receive a historic London honor for fighting to end anti-gay bullying in schools, Gay Star News reported. James Wharton, one of the first openly gay soldiers in the British Army, is slated to receive the Freedom of the City of London. Wharton joined the army in 2003 and once spent seven months serving in Iraq. In addition, he is in a civil partnership with his boyfriend, Thom, and was the first openly gay soldier to appear on the front cover of Soldier magazine.
Bangladesh's gay community has launched its first magazine in a bid to promote greater acceptance of gays who face widespread discrimination in the conservative Muslim-majority country, according to NDTV.com . The 56-page glossy magazine, called Roopbaan, was officially launched in the capital Dhaka at an invitation-only event that included leading members of the gay community and human-rights activists.
In honor of Team USA's participation in the 2014 Winter Olympics ( Feb. 7-23 ) and Paralympics ( March 7-16 ) in Sochi, Russia, the U.S. Department of State has produced a one-minute video highlighting the diversity of the U.S. athletes competing in the Games as well as everyday Americans, according to a press release. The video focuses on the theme "We Are All Athletes," to promote diversity, social inclusion, sportsmanship and teamwork. "We Are All Athletes" showcases U.S. Olympians, Paralympians, and recreational athletes of various backgrounds, including gender, race and ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and abilities.
AT&T has become the first major U.S. corporation to make a public statement condemning the anti-LGBT Russian law outlawing "homosexual propaganda," according to a Human Rights Campaign press release. AT&T was the first telecommunications company to earn a perfect 100 percent on the HRC's Corporate Equality Index. AT&T's blog post condemning the Russian law says in part, "AT&T has a long and proud history of support for the LGBT community in the United States and everywhere around the world where we do business. ... Russia's law is harmful to LGBT individuals and families, and it's harmful to a diverse society."
Norway's most high-profile openly gay politician will attend the Paralympic Games in Russia with his husband, despite the controversy surrounding Russia's anti-gay propaganda law, LGBTQ Nation noted. Health Minister Bent Hoie said he would take his husband, Dag Terje Solvang, a senior advertising executive, to Sochi, Russia, in March following the main Winter Games.
Rory O'Neill, also known as Irish drag queen Panti Bliss, made an impassioned speech about the nature of homophobia following the conclusion of a play at the national theater of Ireland, the Abbey, according to a Huffington Post that cites The Journal. The debate itself stemmed from a television network's redaction of comments Bliss made on the air earlier about what constitutes homophobia. In addition to rescinding Bliss' comments, the network also reportedly paid off a Catholic lobbying group Bliss called anti-gay.
