Scotland's first same-sex weddings took place in the early hours of New Years Eve, TIME.com reported. Joe Schofield and Malcolm Brown married at the Trades Hall in Glasgow, and Susan and Gerrie Douglas-Scott had a private ceremony in the same city. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Green Party co-convener Patrick Harvie were witnesses at the Douglas-Scott's wedding, while Scottish poet Liz Lochhead and Scottish Government Minister Marco Biagi MSP attended the ceremony for Schofield and Brown. The new law on same-sex marriage came into effect in Scotland earlier in December.
Global registry services provider Afilias announced the beginning of the one-month "sunrise" period for the top-level domain ( TLD ) dedicated to the LGBT community: dot LGBT or .LGBT, according to Business Wire. The sunrise period allows trademark holders to register names immediately, after which registration will be open to all LGBT community members and those serving it beginning Feb. 10. However, during the sunrise periodending Feb. 4registration is limited to eligible trademark holders. Visit www.get.LGBT.
Bearded drag Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst has indicated that she "wouldn't refuse a meeting" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Pink News. One Russian MP said Wurst's Eurovision victory signified "the end of Europe" and, following her victory, Russia developed plans to revive a Soviet-era Eurovision rival as a "family-friendly" alternative. Wurst has also said, "I absolutely [want a gig] there. I have many fans in Russia. This is incredibly beautiful because it shows me that many Russians do not agree with the decisions of their government."
A leading Belgian Catholic bishop has called for his faith to find ways of formally recognizing same-sex couples in the church while maintaining that heterosexual marriages must continue to occupy a special place, Gay Star News reported. "There should be recognition of a diversity of forms [of relationships]," Bishop of Antwerp Johan Bonny said in an interview with the De Morgen newspaper. Bonny has attributed the leadership of Pope Francis I for giving him the courage to be public with his views.
A same-sex-marriage law in Luxembourg approved by lawmakers over the summer came into force Jan. 1, according to On Top Magazine. Jean Paul Olinger and Henri Lorenzo Huber were the first gay couple to exchange vows; the men, both in their 60s, live in the southwestern city of Differdange. Luxembourg's openly gay prime minister, Xavier Bettel, has previously expressed his support for marriage equality.
Meretz party lawmaker Nitzan Horowitzonly the second openly gay member of the Israeli Knessetannounced his plans to retire from politics after six years as an MK ( member of Knesset ), according to Gay Star News. Horowitz announced his departure on Facebook, writing that it had been an "easy decision" for him to make. Uzi Even, also from the Meretz party, became Israel's first-ever openly gay lawmaker in 2002 after he was chosen by the party to replace an MK who had resigned her seat; however, he was not re-elected in 2003.
A man found guilty of killing a chef by gross negligence during a sex game will been jailed for five years, The UK Guardian reported. Alun Williams, 47, died following a heart attack after allegedly asking to be hooded and swathed from head to toe in clingfilm and PVC sheeting bound with tape. Richard Bowler, 35, was convicted of Williams' manslaughter by gross negligence, while his co-defendant, David Connor, 23, was cleared of the same charge. Ian Hope, prosecuting, said police found substances such as ketamine, cocaine, methamphetamine and amyl nitrate ( "poppers" ) in Williams' rucksack.
The acting principal of a high school in Jamaica went into hiding after photos appearing to show him having gay sex were posted online, Gay Star News noted. The photos apparently circulated widely among students at the school before finding their way to the media. However, while the acting principal agrees the photos are of him, he claims they have been digitally edited to portray gay sex. The teacher is married to a woman and has three kids, and there are online posts where people threaten the lives of his children.
A third-gender candidate made history by winning the mayoral elections in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh Municipal Corporation by defeating the nearest rival from the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ), according to the Huffington Post India. Madhu Kinnar, who contested as an Independent candidate, won the election by 4,537 votes against BJP's Mahaveer Guruji. Kinnar, 35, of the Dalit community, and is the first person from the third gender to get elected to the post. In 2014, India's top court recognized the country's transgender community as a third gender in a landmark judgment.
In Toronto, the owner of a Bloor West Village clothing boutique says her store has repeatedly been the target of anti-gay graffiti, according to CBC.ca. Carolyn Eby, the owner of Trove, says she's filed three police reports since August because vandals keep covering a pride flag displayed in the storefront window. Previously, the vandals used cardboard or rubber cement to cover the flag. But recently, Eby arrived at her business to find a hateful message scrawled in white spray paint on the back of the building. Eby said she will not remove the pride flag.
Out gay British magician Derren Brown recently shut down a Twitter user who made Brown the subject of an anti-gay rant, according to Queerty. Twitter follower @HossamAlyyy posted, among other things, "@DerrenBrown: I feel fuckin embarrassed that I followed a homosexual for a long duration I wish u see ma tweet to make u feel ashamed bastard." Brown responded, "@HossamAlyyy I'm very flattered you're attracted to me ( if I read between the lines correctly ) but I'm not looking for a bf right now x." Hossam has deleted his original tweets.
In France, the rifts within Marine Le Pen's far-right movement have been exposed by the appointment of a senior gay activist as her "cultural" adviser, the UK Independent reported. The recruitment of Sebastien Chenu, founder of the GayLib movement in France, came shortly after the magazine Closer outed a senior figure in the Front National ( FN ), Florian Philippot. The two events have brought to the surface long-suppressed tensions within the FN over an alleged "gay lobby" surrounding Le Pen. According to one FN official, Laurent Brice, Le Pen has become an "icon" to many right-wing gay people.
Also in France, statistics released in Paris show that 13.5 percent of weddings to take place in 2014 were for same-sex couplesthat's one in every eight unions, according to Pink News. It marks the second year that same-sex weddings have been legal in France, after Socialist President Francois Hollande passed the reform in May 2013. More than a third of the Paris weddings took place in the gay-friendly Marais district, while 72 percent were in liberal districts that elected socialist mayors.
In India, renowned actor Manoj Bajpayee has confirmed that he will be play a gay professor in an upcoming film that Hansal Mehta will direct, The Hindustan Times noted. Mehta, who found prominence since he directed critically acclaimed Shahid, based the film on the life of slain lawyer and human-rights activist Shahid Azmi. His film with Manoj is inspired by a suspended professor at Aligarh University who was filmed on a spy cam having consensual sex with a rickshaw-puller just days before he was going to retire.
Also in India, Bollywood actor Sahil Khan is ready to refute claims he's gay by releasing "intimate" photos of him with a female lover, NewNowNext.com noted. Khan reportedly had an affair with producer Ayesha Shroff but when it went south, she claimed Khan never consummated their relationship because he was gay. The actor maintains the couple was the real dealand claims he has the photos to prove it.
One woman in Argentina, after discovering that a toy doll appeared to have an appendage similar to a penis between her legs, posted a photo of it on her Facebook and the photo went viral, MedicalDaily.com noted. The manufacturers of the fairy doll, located in China and sold by Argentine company Once, may not have even been aiming to make the toy "transgender." However, there is speculation that the piece of plastic between the doll's legs might simply be a small "protuberance" that allowed the part to be pulled from the mold during the manufacturing process.