Barely one day after President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law, Ugandan tabloid newspapers began running articles publishing the names and photographs of people perceived to be LGBTI, according to an International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission press release. On Feb. 25, Red Pepper published a list of names of what it called the country's "200 top" gay people, some with photographs. On Feb. 27, HELLO! Uganda published an article entitled, "Defiant! Top City Homos Throw Mega Bash," along with photographs and names of persons perceived to be LGBTI.
A Vatican cardinal has criticized Uganda's anti-gay law and called for the repeal of its severe penalties, according to the Associated Press. Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said that "homosexuals are not criminals" and shouldn't be sentenced for up to life in prison. Uganda has been hit with substantial aid cuts in reaction to the law; for example, the World Bank has postponed a $90-million loan for Uganda's health systems.
The IGLTA Foundation is offering five scholarships to attend the 31st Annual Global Convention of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association in Madrid this May, according to a press release. Now in its second year, the Building Bridges Scholarship program was created to support the next generation of LGBT travel professionals. For complete eligibility requirements and the online application, visit www.igltafoundation.org/scholarships. Applications are due March 14.
A Russian man is facing nine years in jail after fatally stabbing a doctor for proposing gay sex, according to Gay Star News. The killer reportedly visited the doctor's apartment and substance abuse counselor to seek medical help last summer. During the meeting, it was alleged the doctor proposed the men have "homosexual relations." The killer—reportedly under the influence of an unknown drug—was reportedly infuriated, grabbed a nearby knife and stabbed the physician.
Various venues set to host the Russian Open Games in Moscow canceled, including the Hilton Hotel and four sports venues, according to Outsports. Organizers allege the government has pressured these venues to discontinue relationships with the Russian LGBT Sports Federation, the organizers of the Open Games. The Russian Open Games—a multi-day, multi-sport event aimed at promoting "healthy lifestyles, physical activity and sports among the LGBT community and its supporters"—was the first of its kind held in Russia, and ran Feb. 26-March 2.
The BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival will now be known as BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival after extensive consultation with its audiences, according to the UK Independent. The festival was first a one-off in 1977 called Images of Homosexuality, which played in the cinema for a month. The London festival became an annual event from 1986 when it had the name Gays' Own Pictures; two years later it was renamed the BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
Following a recent federal ruling, married same-sex couples in Mexico can access benefits the Mexican Social Security Institute is administering, according to On Top Magazine. In a landmark ruling handed down Jan. 29, the Second Chamber of the Mexican Supreme Court found it "discriminatory" for the agency to exclude gay and lesbian couples from accessing health and pension benefits. Jose Alberto Gomez Barroso had filed a sexual discrimination complaint against the institute on behalf of his deceased husband.
The percentage of people opposed to gay relationships in Northern Ireland has dropped from three quarters to a quarter over a period of 25 years, Pink News reported. The NI Life and Times Survey looked at the views of 1,200 people on a range of issues, including whether they agreed with same-sex relationships. The percentage of those who said gay relationships were "always wrong" fell from 76 percent in 1989 to 28 percent in 2012. The latest survey also however, found that a third of Northern Irish people disapproved of gay adoption, and were opposed to lesbians being offered fertility treatment.
LGBT-rights activists are fighting to stop a Uganda-style anti-gay bill in Kenya, according to Gay Star News. Denis Nzioka, a gay-rights activist in Kenya, and his colleagues are planning to combat against an anti-gay parliamentary caucus to address the "issue" of homosexuality. Led by Kiharu MP Irungu Kangata, the leaders have demanded anti-gay laws in the African country to be stricter and enforced.
Egypt's military leaders have come under ridicule after the chief army engineer unveiled what he described as a "miraculous" set of devices that detect and cure AIDS, hepatitis and other viruses, according to the Associated Press. The claim—dismissed by experts and called "shocking to scientists" by president's science adviser—damages the army's carefully managed image as the savior of the nation.
The secondary legislation needed for same-sex marriages to commence in England and Wales has passed in the House of Lords, according to Pink News. The passage of six regulations in the House of Lords paves the way for the first same-sex marriages to commence March 29. The legislation is now slated to return to the House of Commons, due to opposition. The very final vote is expected to take place March 5 in the Commons.
At the Cesars—the French equivalent of the Oscars—the gay film Stranger by the Lake was nominated for several awards, but won only one: Most Promising Actor ( Newcomer ), for the film's star, Pierre Deladonchamps, Out reported. Cannes' big winner, the lesbian-themed movie Blue Is the Warmest Color, was nominated in eight categories but also took home only one award, that for most promising actress for Adele Exarchopoulos. Guillaume Gallienne's Me, Myself and Mum led the pack by winning five awards, including Best Film and First Film.
Actor Stephen Fry ( Wilde ) will narrate a musical broadcast of one of the United Kingdom's frist same-sex weddings since its marriage-equality measure passed, Digital Spy noted. ( Britain's Channel 4 will broadcast "Our Gay Wedding: The Musical." ) The musical will reportedly feature guest stars and showbiz legends, accompanied by Fry's commentary and introductions. Fry, a longtime supporter of equal marriage, recently urged David Cameron to back the campaign against Russia's anti-gay policies.
British bisexual teen Richard Scott Kennedy has spoken out after a brutal attack in Preston, according to Gay Star News. The 18-year-old Kennedy, a theater student, said a group violently assaulted him because of his sexuality, with the gang stomping on his face causing his teeth to go into his gums. Kennedy said on Facebook, "My face is swollen and it was worse yesterday, both my knees are badly injured ... All of this and what was their motive? because of my fucking sexuality. needless to say it's absolutely disgraceful to violently attack someone because of who they are."
Isle of Man merchant ships still ban gay sex—a law the government has described as an "oversight," according to Gay Star News. Lee Vorster, of the Manx Rainbow Association, said he was "shocked" to discover the archaic law still existed on the partially independent island between England and Ireland. The Isle of Man decriminalized homosexuality long after the rest of the British Isles changed its laws.
A Lebanese judge has found that a transgender woman's relationship with a man does not constitute "unnatural sexual intercourse" in a setback to those who want the criminalization of LGBTI people in the majority Muslim nation, Gay Star News reported. The case occurred earlier this year in the district of Matn, as Judge Naji al-Dahdah threw out the case Jan. 28, ruling that the transgender woman's relationship with a man breached no law in Lebanon. Al-Dahdah's ruling cited a December 2009 ruling from Judge Mounir Suleiman that consensual same-sex relations were not against nature and could, therefore, not be prosecuted under Article 534.
