A notebook said to contain detailed mathematics and computer science notes written by Alan Turing, the late gay British cryptographer, is going up for auction in April, the International Business Times noted. Turing—the subject of the current theatrical release The Imitation Game—cracked the Nazi enigma code at the height of World War II, helping push the Allies to victory. The notebook, dated to 1942, has never been seen in public but is expected to demand as much as $1.5 million when it goes on sale at Bonhams auction house in New York on April 13.
The Islamic State ( ISIS ) has released images purportedly showing a gay man being pushed from a roof in Mosul, Iraq, according to Newsweek. The terrorist organization uploaded the photographs to Justpaste.it, a file-sharing service. Homosexuality is regularly publicly punished in ISIS controlled territories; two men were stoned to death in Raqqa, Syria, in November.
King Felipe VI has become the first Spanish head of state to appear on the cover of a gay magazine, Gay Star News reported. The monarch is featured in a special edition of the bilingual Ragap magazine. The six-foot-six Felipe became king when his father abdicated last June and, during his first week in office, the monarch became the first Spanish head of state to met with LGBTI groups.
A transgender man and his fiancée reportedly had a private meeting with Pope Francis, Advocate.com reported. The man, Diego Neria Lejarraga, wrote a letter about being rejected by his parish in Spain and being called "the devil's daughter" by a priest. A translation of text in the Spanish publication Hoy indicated that Lejarraga said the pope embraced him and that he now feels at peace.
Chilean legislators overwhelmingly voted in favor of a bill that would legalize same-sex civil unions, according to teleSUR. Eighty-six legislators in the Chamber of Deputies voted for the bill, while 23 voted against it and two abstained. The bill will now head to the Senate for a final vote.
In Britain, UKIP leader Nigel Farage's top aide, Matthew Richardson, has called trans women "she-males," Gay Star News reported. Richardson's comments were made in a speech in 2010 to the Young Amercia's Foundation Conservative Student Conference in Washington, D.C. It's a further major blow to the British anti-Europe party's reputation in the LGBTI community after a series of embarrassing mistakes. Farage has attempted to distance the party from homophobic remarks made by UKIP members, with some of the most egregious offenders—such as local councilor David Silvester, who claimed floods were God's punishment for gay marriage—suspended or removed from the party altogether.
Antonio Simoes, chief executive of HSBC UK, has credited being gay for helping him land the bank's top spot, according to On Top Magazine. In an interview with a newspaper in his home country of Portugal, Simoes said that being gay had made him "a more authentic person, better to empathize, and with more emotional intelligence." In 2013, Simoes, 39, was named the country's most influential openly gay executive by the group OUTstanding in Business.
LGBT equality was one of the issues discussed at the World Economic Forum ( WEF ) in Davos, Switzerland, recently, according to the HRC Blog. ( CNN's Richard Quest hosted "Improving the State of the LGBT Workforce," with E&Y's Beth A. Brooke-Marciniak, HSBC Bank plc's Antonio Simoes and Accenture's Sander van 't Noordende as panelists. ) In addition to the discussion included on the WEF's agenda, Microsoft and EY hosted a lunch on workplace equality.
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has moved to ban same-sex marriage, as well as making it extremely difficult for any future legislation to allow same-sex civil unions to pass, according to Pink News. The Parliament of Macedonia voted 72-4 yesterday to define marriage as specifically between one man and one woman. Also, an amendment reads that "legal relations in marriage, family, and civil unions are to be regulated by a law adopted by a two-thirds majority of the total Members of Parliament."
Vietnamese police recently arrested the leader of an online gambling ring and nine other people involved in the illegal organization whose web server is located overseas and total wagers amounted to almost $47 million, according to Tuoitrenews.vn. In their swoop on the ring on January 23, police officers initially detained 10 people of the group, which was led by To Cong Hung, 33, the director of a company and owner of a magazine dedicated to the gay community in Ho Chi Minh City. Among other things, Hung let his sister and many other people create bank accounts to receive money from gamblers across the country.
Fifteen years ago, Italian Danilo Giuffrida was disqualified from driving and told by his doctors he was not mentally fit to do so after he came out as gay during his military service, according to Gay Star News. Giuffrida, who is now 34, then took legal action against the country's Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport—and finally won back his license. He may receive as much as 100,000 Euros ( about $112,485 U.S. ) with his legal victory.
Hebro Travel will host a nine-day Jewish history and culture tour across Poland and the Czech Republic on Aug. 8-16 that will reportedly be the first gay trip of its kind, according to a press release. Among other things, the journey will include a private memorial service for the thousands of gay people who perished at concentration camps; visits of the Schindler's List route and Prague's Jewish Quarter; and participation in Prague Pride.
Japanese pro soccer player Riku Matsuda denies he appeared in two gay porn videos shot when he was in college, according to Outsports. The two videos—translated from Japanese—are called "At Last After Negotiating for 6 months the Active Duty Rugby Man Gave In!!" and "Beast Premium Disc 097," and feature an actor called Takeyama Shotaro, said to be Matsuda's stage name.
Canadian publicationsbecome all-digital
Pink Triangle Press (PTP) announced a major strategic repositioning to an all-digital publishing company. As a result, next month PTP will close print editions of the Xtra gay and lesbian community newspapers in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver, according to a press release.
PTP will focus on developing its journalism website, DailyXtra.com, and gay adult dating website, Squirt.org . The all-digital direction is a result of an eight-month strategic assessment process senior management at PTP began in spring 2014.
The final issues of Xtra Vancouver and Xtra Ottawa will appear on streets Feb. 12. The Toronto edition of Xtra will close on the newspaper's 31st anniversary; the final issue will be on streets Feb. 19.
