Following a savage attack that caused him to suffer a brain hemorrhage, a gay man has died, LGBTQ Nation reported. In 2014, architect Mikhail Pischevsky was attacked shortly after leaving a nightclub in Minsk, Belarus. Following several operations, doctors had to make the difficult decision to remove roughly 20 percent of Pischevsky's brain in hopes of saving him. For "unintentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm," attacker Dmitry Lukashevich was sentenced to two years and eight months in jail ( but released after 11 months behind bars ), plus he had to pay Pischevsky $8,300 and his mother $3,300.
In the Netherlands, gay and bisexual men will be able to donate blood for the first time under new regulations, PinkNews reported. However, the men must have not had any male partners for 12 months before donating to be considered acceptable donors. Dutch LGBT-rights groups have said they are disappointed that the changes did not go far enough.
Northern Ireland remains the only part of the United Kingdom or Ireland where same-sex couples cannot get legally married, Out.com noted. Northern Ireland's assembly voted narrowly in favor of marriage equality; however, the Democratic Unionists ( DUP ), the largest party in the devolved parliament, was able to veto any changes in the law.
The first same-sex weddings could take place in Norwegian state churches in two years, Gay Star News noted. The Church of Norway's 12 bishops unanimously voted to adopt new rules that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in religious wedding ceremonies. The synod, the church's governing body, still needs to approve the development when it meets in April, and pastors would have the right to refuse to marry same-sex couples.
Aviator DJ Moran has launched PrideFlight2018 ( prideflight2018.com ), according to a press release. In spring 2018, Doran will attempt to become the first openly gay pilot to circumnavigate the globe on a goodwill mission supporting LGBTQ communities, groups and organizations worldwide. The mission will depart Indianapolis, with the first legs stopping in New Orleans, Key West, New York and Goose Bay, Newfoundland, before braving the flight across the North Atlantic to Glasgow via Greenland and Iceland. The total journey will be more than 15,000 miles.
One of the most prominent transgender Australians has been named as Queensland's Australian of the Year and, as a result, is eligible to go on to be named Australian of the Year for 2016, according to Gay Star News. Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) Group Captain Catherine McGregor is being honored for her work as a diversity champion three years after she transitioned to being a woman and went public as the highest ranking military officer in the world who is transgender. Before joining the RAAF, McGregor rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Australian Army and was deployed to East Timor three times.
Many transgender men who have the capacity to bear children are faced with barriers in the health-care system as a result of a lack of training, argue Juno Obedin-Maliver and Harvey Makadon in a commentary published in SAGE journal Obstetric Medicine. They also state that health-care providers and staff are often unaccustomed to caring for any transgender people, let alone ones who may be pregnant—resulting in obstructions in the vital care transgender men need during pregnancy. The full commentary is at The full commentary is available in PDF form here: http://obm.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/10/21/1753495X15612658.full.pdf+html.
Former British soccer player John Fashanu has admitted paying his late brother 75,000 British pounds sterling ( about $116,000 ) in a bid to persuade him against coming out to the public as gay, The Irish Independent reported. He compared the shock of having his brother Justin come out to the family as like "Hiroshima or Nagasaki on our lives." Justin, who was also a soccer player, was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy in the United States in April 1998, and killed himself the next month in his London flat.
In honor of the 40 million lives lost and the countless lives impacted by HIV/AIDS, amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is reigniting the fight to end the epidemic with a rally cry, according to a press release. amfAR is asking people to contribute to the cure by singing and uploading brief covers of the song "That's What Friends Are For" on the Countdown to a Cure website and on social media using the hashtag #SingForAIDS. Until Dec. 1 ( World AIDS Day ), amfAR's celebrities and supporters will be participating in the #SingForAIDS social campaign; visit www.curecountdown.org/sing/ .
A Canadian former gay porn actor serving a life sentence for murder is writing letters to friends filled with details about how much he is enjoying prison life, Gay Star News noted. "I really hope you'll be able to make it in July to the little cottage here," Luka Magnotta wrote to a friend in March. "I'll fill out the form and put you on the list. I'll go shopping for the food and movies. We have movie channels and movie night here so I can get any title." Magnotta was convicted of murdering and dismembering Chinese exchange student and sex partner Jun Lin, whom he met online in 2012.
When a Melbourne, Australia, bar slid a little homophobia onto their drinks menu, patrons were not having it, and blasted the establishment on Facebook, according to LGBTQ Nation. For seven years, Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment had a sign that read "No soy, no skinny, no tea… no poofter drinks" below its drink menu. A group of angry customers confronted owner Steve Miller, who refused to remove the sign; they then went on social media, resulting in Miller apologizing.
