In a first, a Chinese man is challenging local officials to allow him to marry his male partner, the latest move in a series of efforts to advance gay and lesbian rights in China, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sun Wenlin, a 26-year-old living in Changsha in central China's Hunan province, filed a complaint against the Changsha Furong District Civil Affairs Bureau. In the complaint, Sun argues that the law doesn't specifically say marriage is between a man and woman, but between a husband and wife. Until 1997, homosexuality was a crime in the Middle Kingdom, and it was classified as a mental illness until 2001.
In the United Kingdom, church heads have been ordered to permit same-sex marriages in military chapels following an 18-month standoff, the UK Metro reported. In 2014, regulations were passed to allow same-sex marriages in the 190 military chapels in England and Wales, despite opposition from some Conservative MPs. No such marriages have taken place since then, however, due to the employment of a "veto" by church leaders.
In Slovenia, voters have repealed a marriage-equality law by 63.5 percent to 36.5 percent, according to The New York Times. About a third of the 1.7 million registered voters cast ballots. It was a stinging defeat for the government, which had tried to prevent the vote by arguing that marriage was a human right that should not be subjected to a popular referendum. In addition, none of the former communist countries of Eastern and Central Europe have legalized same-sex marriage ( although Germany, which reunified in 1990, has broad protections for gay couples ).
In Israel, a Tel Aviv attorney is the first openly gay person to serve as a Knesset lawmaker for the right-wing Likud party, the Connecticut Jewish Ledger reported. Amir Ohana, 39, was sworn in to fill the seat of Interior Minister Silvan Shalom, who resigned amid accusations of sexual assault. A major in the Israeli army reserves and a former member of the Shin Bet security service, Ohana is the fourth gay lawmaker to serve in the Knesset. He and his partner have 4-month-old twins born through a surrogate.
President Obama has spent at least $700 million promoting homosexual tolerance in Africa—but the initiative may have backfired, according to an American Thinker item. The U.S. support is making matters worse," said Mike, 24, a university student studying biology in Nigeria. "There's more resistance now. It's triggered people's defense mechanism." While the money and public diplomacy have opened conversations and opportunities in societies where the subject was taboo just a few years ago, they have also made gay men and lesbians more visible—and more vulnerable to harassment and violence, people on both sides of the gay-rights issue contend.
A couple in Ecuador is making history with a unique pregnancy: The father-to-be is carrying the baby of his transgender partner, according to Fox News Latino. Fernando Machado and Diane Rodriguez announced their pregnancy, believed to be the first of its kind in South America. Rodriguez, who was born Luis, is one of Ecuador's most-prominent LGBT activists; she said she and her Venezuelan-born partner, whose birth name was Maria, decided to publicize the pregnancy to help change attitudes in the decidedly Roman Catholic society.
A gay man who fled the Caribbean island of St. Kitts after he was the victim of repeated homophobic attacks is facing deportation by Canadian authorities after his bid to seek asylum was rejected, according to Gay Star News. Rolson Ryan had been working in customer services in the tiny Caribbean nation—but after being attacked by mobs on two separate occasions, he no longer felt safe in his own homeland. Ryan still has the scars from being stabbed in one of the attacks—but that was not enough to convince Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board that he is in danger if he returns despite homosexuality being a criminal offense in St. Kitts.
In Australia, the Liberal Party's first openly gay federal parliamentarian has questioned the precedent a plebiscite on same-sex marriage could set, according to ABC.net .au. Sen. Dean Smith, a vocal same-sex marriage supporter, said a public vote on legalizing marriage for same-sex couples may open the door to votes on issues such as military deployment or euthanasia. Smith also raised questions over the funding of the vote; the federal government has pledged to hold a plebiscite after the next federal election, despite warnings that such a vote may be costly and fuel division.
A gay man has avoided extradition to Dubai—where homosexuality is outlawed—after a London court ruled there was a risk he would be tortured and was unlikely to receive a fair trial on theft charges, The Guardian reported. A judge at Westminster magistrates court said the United Arab Emirates had not given the court sufficient assurances that Michael Halliday's human rights would be respected. The theft allegation related to more than $175,000 U.S. said to have disappeared from a safe at a department store where Halliday had worked. He has consistently denied the accusation.
In the United Kingdom, a vaccination for the human papilloma virus, or HPV, is now going to be offered to gay men under the age of 45, NewNowNext.com reported. Young girls have been offered the vaccine since 2008 because of HPV's link to cervical cancer, and experts are saying the vaccination can also offer protection against the types of cancer commonly found in gay men.
Sweden's Skane County has opened three shelters for refugees fleeing oppression for being LGBT—but the managers are reporting that no one is actually using them, according to a NewNowNext.com item. The sites offer space for up to 158 LGBT people, but the country's Migration Board said it was unaware the shelters even existed. Attendo, the care-services company that is running the shelters, became LGBT-certified last May, and claims to have informed the board of its existence.
A gay clergyman has been banned from taking services after marrying his partner of 28 years in a case highlighting the Church of England's convolutions over homosexuality, The Guardian reported. Jeremy Davies has been refused "permission to officiate" by the bishop of Winchester even though the neighboring diocese of Salisbury allowed him to continue taking services following his marriage to opera singer Simon McEnery. Davies retired in 2011 after serving as canon precentor at Salisbury cathedral for 26 years.
The former leader of a French political party has been fined more than $5,000 U.S. for "publicly inciting hatred or violence" against LGBTI people, according to Gay Star News. A court in Paris sentenced Christine Boutin, ex-president of the of Christian Democratic Party, for saying that "homosexuality is an abomination" in April 2014. Boutin—who was minister of housing and urban development under President Nicolas Sarkozy—must also pay to two LGBTI groups, Mousse and Le Refuge.
Sanjay Sood-Smith, a gay man who has competed on the UK version of The Apprentice, is starting his new business venture: Tuk In is a range of Indian-inspired fast-food sandwiches that he and business partner Thomas Cropper launched recently, according to Gay Star News. Sood-Smith said competing on the show was the best decision he's ever made: "It led to me making the decision to leave banking after six years and go on to do something I'm really passionate about, which is food. It's led me to doing volunteering work with groups like Stonewall as a school role model and, of course, it was also great fun. I did really enjoy it."
A song on a singing competition to find a Eurovision contestant has been criticized for lyrics mocking a gay character, according to PinkNews. Sung by Maor Gamliel on Israel's Keshet production company's show The Next Star of Eurovision, the song was called "Leaving the Closet." It was the subject of 200 complaints after airing, but the out gay host of the show, Asi Azar, said critics should see the song as a joke. Keshet is being investigated by the Second Authority for Television and Radio on whether it has violated its tender obligations.
Singer TayTay Starhz revealed he's bisexual following a kiss with British TV presenter Zoe Ball, according to Gay Star News. Ball ( married to DJ Norman Cook, also known as Fatboy Slim ) is a presenter on Strictly Come Dancing's sister show, It Takes Two, and was out for the show's wrap party. The singer said, "I am bisexual; I am not defined by my sexuality."
