Following the international outcry over Russia's anti-gay legislation that overshadowed the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in a letter to prospective host cities that it would be adding a new anti-discrimination clause to its host city contract, according to a press release from pro-LGBT group AllOut.
Oslo, Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, are the three candidate cities for the 2022 Games.
According to IOC Sports Director Christopher Dubi, the new clause will include "the prohibition of any form of discrimination, using the wording of Fundamental Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter." AllOut stated that "this clause will ensure that future host cities must abide by international human rights standards in order to host the games, including the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens and athletes."
Denmark celebrated 25 years since it became the first country in the world to provide legal recognition of same-sex relationships, according to Gay Star News. On Oct. 1, 1989, the first 11 Danish same-sex couples were wed through civil ceremonies at the Copenhagen Town Hall by then-deputy mayor Tom Ahlberg. Celebrations were held in Copenhagen to mark that anniversary, and a special exhibition was opened yesterday at the city's town hall by Copenhagen Mayor Frank Jensen and Crown Princess Mary.
Rob Halford, the gay lead singer of the metal band Judas Priest, recently said that when they played in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2012, the band was told to not mention anything gay-related, according to Advocate.com . Halford told the British publication Mojo about the incident but added, "I wouldn't have wanted to do that anyway. I'm not an activist, but just me standing on that stage in that very homophobic place was a victory."
London police are worried about the risk posed by Queen Elizabeth's staff finding dates on Tinder and Grindr, labeling them "a security nightmare," according to NewNowNext.com . The Queen has more than 800 live-in staff members at Buckingham Palace. While butlers and maids can't have guests in Buckingham Palace itself, they can bring overnight guests to their quarters at St. James's Palace and the Royal Mews as long as they sign them in at the front desk.
A Ugandan judge responsible for striking down an "illegally passed" anti-gay Ugandan law has revealed she has received death threats, according to Pink News. In August, the country's Constitutional Court struck down the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which called for repeat offenders to be sentenced to 14 years in prison and made it a criminal offense not to report someone for being gay. One of the judges, Justice Solomy Bossa Balungi, has since revealed that she has received threats on social media such as "Die fat dike [sic]" and that she would be "punished by God."
At least 216 LGBTI people have been murdered this year in Brazil, where homophobia is not a crime, Gay Star News noted. The Gay Group of Bahia collected data from January to Sept. 29, and is based on police records and news reported. Gay men are the most affected ( 59 percent ), followed by trans individuals ( 35 percent ) and lesbians ( 4 percent ).
Gay asylum seekers who have experienced persecution in their home countries and fled to Australia to seek political protection will allegedly be resettled in Papua New Guinea, where it is illegal to be gay, according to En.ria.ru. Four gay Iranian men are currently being held in an immigration detention and asylum processing center on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. "I thought Australia and its people would be my protector, but they taught me otherwise," one asylum-seeker stated.
Seven people have been arrested on homosexuality-related charges after police raided a house in Cameroon's capital of Yaounde, Pink News reported. The police arrested the men after smashing down the door and discovering men engaged in "prostitution and homosexual acts." The anonymous owner, known as "XX," and fellow participant of the house escaped via the roof of the house and subsequently avoided arrest.
In Canada, the parents of a transgender girl have said their whole family are the targets of transphobic bullying from a parent at her school, according to Pink News. Winnipeg's Izzy and Dale Burgos said that ever since 8-year-old daughter Isabella came out as transgender last month, a parent picking up her child has repeatedly targeted the family with transphobic actions and comments. Izzy said the school spoke to the parent, but the bullying has only gotten worse since.
In England, the Minister for Portsmouth, Matt Hancock, was forced to apologize after retweeting an anti-gay poem on Twitter, The News reported. Hancock retweeted a limerick by a user calling himself "In_A_Flap" that said the Labour Party was "quietly going quite dead" and was "full of queers." Hancock deleted the tweet and said in a new post: "Previous RT was a total accident. I wholeheartedly disagree with offensive comment in the tweet & am incredibly sorry for any offence caused."
The city council of Quezon City, the Philippines' largest city, has approved an ordinance banning anti-LGBTI discrimination, Gay City News reported. The law was passed unanimously by more than 30 city councilors after a marathon eight-hour session. The law extended a 2003 resolution banning discrimination of LGBTI people in employment to education, delivery of goods or services, insurance and access to accommodation.
During a speech before the United Nations, Iceland Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi said his country and Suriname are convening a conference to talk about gender equality—although only men will be invited, according to NorthCountryPublicRadio.org . Bragi made the announcement in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the UN women's conference in which world leaders declared, "Women's rights are human rights."
A High Court judge will decide if ex-health minister Edwin Poots displayed apparent bias in banning gay men from giving blood in Northern Ireland, according to BBC.com . Justice Treacy has already ruled the lifetime prohibition is irrational; however, he reached no conclusion on claims that Poots' stance was prejudiced by religious beliefs. Lawyers for a gay man who brought the case were set to challenge that aspect of his verdict.
Now that the situation involving Oscar Pistorius is over, South Africa is the scene for another high-profile murder trial—with this one involving British businessman Shrian Dewani, who will be tried for the killing of his wife on their honeymoon in 2010, The Huffington Post UK reported. The trial could hinge on the evidence of a German male prostitute, who claims that Dewani paid him for sadomasochistic sex on three occasions, and other men who will also claim they had liaisons with Dewani, including a parliamentary aide. Prosecutors claim Dewani conspired with three South African men to kill Anni; the South Africans have been convicted of the crime and are serving jail terms.
The brother of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is in the running to succeed him after the anti-gay politician dropped his re-election bid over health concerns, Pink News reported. Earlier this year, Rob Ford—who recently was diagnosed with a tumor—refused to join a standing ovation to praise the organizers of WorldPride Toronto, and voted against a council proposal to help homeless LGBT teens. Doug Ford, who is already a city councillor, threw his hat into the ring just minutes before the final deadline for candidates.
Kyrgyzstan's gay-propaganda bill, which prides itself on being stricter than Russia's, is closer than ever to becoming law, according to Gay Star News. Kurmanbek Dyikanbaev, the bill's co-author, confirmed a parliamentary committee has approved the language of the draft legislation; it will now bent sent to parliament. Unlike Russia's bill, which only fines the "guilty," Kyrgyzstan's will punish people who "propagate homosexual relations" by up to one year in jail.
A Berlin-based artist is under fire for projecting his Grindr chats with unsuspecting men onto a wall in a public street, according to Pink News. Dries Verhoeven is streaming conversations with men onto the side of a building in a busy public square in the city, on the corner of Oranienstrasse and Mariannenstrasse. The stunt is part of art project "Wanna Play," which has Verhoeven flirting with men and inviting them to perform non-sexual activities. Several users of the hookup app have reacted with anger when they found that their seemingly private conversations were broadcast for the entire world to see—and some fear it could lead to people being outed.
A poll found that nine in 10 Jamaicans said the country's sodomy law that criminalizes sex between men should not be repealed, according to Gay Star News. Conversely, only 5 percent said it should be abolished. Also, the poll also found that 82 percent of Jamaicans believed gay men were not treated fairly by the legal system or the police.
Balinese-born transgender woman Mayang Prasetyo has been identified as the victim of a shocking murder-suicide discovered in Brisbane, Australia, Gay Star News reported. Police found that chef Marcus Peter Volke apparently killed and cooked Prasetyo after neighbors complained of a bad smell coming from the ground-floor apartment. ( Apparently, the victim had been dead for several days. ) Volke fled the police when they arrived, but slit his own throat before he could be captured.
