World news: UN's pro-LGBT Bollywood-style video; rugby player on 'accepted' gays
COMPILED BY ANDREW DAVIS
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ( OHCHR ) launched the first ever Bollywood-style UN music video at a press conference in Mumbai, India, to promote its Free & Equal campaign for LGBT equality, according to a press release. The two-and-a-half minute video, called "The Welcome," stars actress and former Miss India Celina Jaitly. Jaitly—who, last year, was nominated by the High Commissioner as a "UN equality champion" in recognition of her support for LGBT equality—makes her musical debut in the video, singing a new version of the 1979 Bollywood classic "Uthe Sab Ke Kadam."
British rugby player Paul Doran-Jones has said that gay men can come out in sports because they know their homosexuality is "accepted," according to The Daily Mail. Doran-Jones, 28, has a 10-month old baby with his girlfriend of four years, but told Attitude Magazine he understands how difficult it can be for gay sportsmen to open up about their sexuality. However, he admitted that rugby players may find it easier to come out than soccer players, citing Gareth Thomas' disclosure of his own sexuality.
Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were each given a reduced, suspended sentence of 18 months in jail for a conviction on charges of hiding hundreds of millions of euros from Italian tax authorities, according to The Huffington Post. Italy's appeals court upheld a verdict issued last June against the pair on charges of using Luxembourg holding company Gado to avoid paying taxes on royalties of about 1 billion euros ( $1.38 billion ). The sentence was reduced from 20 months because the statute of limitations applied to certain facts in the case.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry briefly touched upon LGBT rights during a speech he gave in the Ethiopian capital, according to The Washington Blade. "Africa's potential comes from the ability of its citizens to make a full contribution, no matter their ethnicity, no matter who they love, or what faith they practice," he said at an Addis Ababa park. Kerry also noted during the speech that he co-wrote a measure in the U.S. Senate to combat AIDS in Africa during the 1990s that later became the foundation for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ( PEPFAR ).
Saying "the time has come," Uruguayan actor/model Federico Diaz—who has been reported to have been involved with Ricky Martin—has come out publicly on Twitter, according to Gay Star News. "I only let myself be guided," he wrote in the message that the Latin Times translated. "I feel that God has awarded me with homosexuality, the sensation of confusion that I had and the uncertainty throughout the years of knowing who I really am [have] been left behind." Neither Diaz nor Martin has confirmed a romance; Martin recently split from longtime love Carlos Gonzalez Abella.
In Northern Ireland, the Assembly has rejected a proposal to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples, according to ITV.com . Members of the Assembly voted 51 to 43 against the Sinn Fein motion, the third time the matter has been brought to a vote. The Democratic Unionists tabled a contentious voting mechanism ahead of the debate, meaning the motion could only pass if a majority of both unionists and nationalists supported it.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron is opposed to giving straight couples the same equal rights as gays have when it comes to legal unions, according to Gay Star News. The Conservative leader will reportedly veto proposals to give straight couples the right to enter into civil partnerships. It is alleged he believes civil partnerships for straight couples would "undermine the sanctity of marriage" and possibly "alienate traditional Tory voters."
In Canada, the bar societies of Nova Scotia and Ontario have struck a blow against religious values in denying accreditation to future law school graduates of Trinity Western University, The Huffington Post reported. Nova Scotia Barrister's Society council ruled that Trinity Western University must drop a covenant that prohibits same-sex intimacy before graduates from the school would be allowed to enroll in the province's bar-admission program. That decision came a day after the Law Society of Upper Canada's board of directors in Ontario decided it will not allow the school's graduates to practice in that province, condemning the covenant as "abhorrent."
More than nine in 10 straight young British men have spooned with another man, new research has revealed, according to Gay Star News. Not only that, but a full 98 percent have reportedly shared a bed with one of their guy friends. Two British sociologists, Eric Anderson of the University of Winchester and Mark McCormack of Durham University, have examined what they call "homosociality" and published their findings in the journal Men and Masculinities.
English writer Alan Bennett said he didn't want to be "labelled" as a gay man for fear of it detracting from his artistic work, according to Pink Nwes. Bennett—who wrote The History Boys and The Madness of George III—told BBC Four, "My objection to people knowing more about one's private life was that I didn't want to be put in a pigeonhole. I didn't want to be labelled as gay and that was it."
In England, Culture Secretary Sajid Javid has reportedly blocked Lib Dem Equalities Minister Jenny Willott's plan to attend an EU gay-rights summit, and has scuttled plans for the UK to sign a declaration against homophobia, according to Pink News. The Tories reportedly feared that working with Europe on the summit would further alienate their right wing, already angered by equal marriage. The declaration against homophobia will be signed by 11 EU countries; however, despite partly being drafted by British civil servants, the UK will not sign.
Sir Richard Branson—the founder and CEO of the Virgin group, a billion-dollar multinational conglomerate—said that he and his company would boycott hotels owner by the Sultan of Brunei due to the country's anti-gay laws, LGBTQ Nation reported. The tiny Southeast Asian nation has adopted a form of Islamic Sharia criminal law that includes harsh penalties such as amputation for theft and death by stoning for same-sex sexual activity. Branson joins a growing number of celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres, Sharon Osborne and Stephen Fry, who are boycotting the Dorchester Hotel Group, which Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah owns.
In the Italian region of Reggio Emilia, a pamphlet that's intended for use in schools has been called gay pornography and indoctrination by some parents, according to LifesiteNews.com . The pro-LGBT group Arcigay distributed a leaflet at the Istituto Superiore Cattaneo-Dall'Aglio, a high school in Castelnuovo Monti, that included highly explicit language giving information on the best method to "have sex without risk." The leaflet was distributed following a meeting, arranged by the school, on anti-gay bullying.
Erykah Badu's recent performance at the birthday party of Swaziland's King Mswati III has earned her criticisms from human-rights activists, according to Billboard.com . Badu subsequently tweeted, "I was not paid by the KING. I had no idea of the political climate." Mswati has become notorious for his polygyny, marrying his 15th wife last year, and lavish lifestyle— 63 percent of Swaziland lives on less than $1.25 a day. According to LGBTnet.dk, only male same-sex relationships are illegal in the African country, with punishment including prison time.
A French driver hired by the startup transportation company Uber was fired in Paris over the weekend for allegedly refusing to pick up two men because they are gay, according to Edge on the Net. When the driver learned that the would-be riders cane from a gay club, he refused to give them a lift. After the couple ( Julie Leo Pasktier and Lucas Hrrschr ) tweeted what happened, Uber responded, "Luca, this unacceptable behavior is absolutely not representative of the spirit of Uber. The driver has been suspended." The company later posted that the driver would be fired.
Transgender Europe's Trans Murder Monitoring project has unveiled an interactive map of more than 1,500 reported murders of trans people since January 2008, according to a press release. The map will be promoted on May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia ( IDAHOT ), which is being held in more than 120 countries around the world. Data and advocacy tools are at http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/en_US/tvt-project/tmm-results/idahot-2014.htm.
One of Australia's most recognizable news broadcasters has died of cancer just months after coming out as gay, Pink News noted. Ian Ross, 73, went public about his long-term relationship with Gray Bolte in January, and credited the support of Bolte, his ex-wife and three children for his positive attitude throughout his illness. Ross's career spanned five decades, starting in 1957 at Sydney radio station 2GB. He then went on to spend 38 years at Channel Nine, working on the Channel Nine News and the Today Show.
