In New Zealand, electricity company Powershop has unveiled a four-story billboard painting that shows a smiling Pope Benedict XVI blessing a mixed-race gay couple, according to SeattlePI.com . Powershop has previously run ads showing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in bold blue eyeshadow as well as former President Richard Nixon with an Afro and a peace button. New Zealand's parliament is considering a marriage-equality bill.
In Vietnam, a Hanoi photography exhibition celebrating same-sex love has attracted thousands of visitors, according to Gay Star News. The exhibition, entitled "Open - Equal - Love." features work by Vietnamese photographer Maika Ela; Vietnamese LGBT rights campaigners Institute of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE) organized it.
In Cameroon, an appeals court overturned the conviction of two men jailed in 2011 for same-sex acts, according to BBC News. In November 2011, a court sentenced the two men to five years in prison after police arrested them for allegedly having oral sex in a car in the capital, Yaounde. The judge in the lower-court case had reportedly said that "the way the men dressed ... spoke and the fact that they drank Bailey's Irish Cream proved they were gay."
In London, a gay couple said they were not allowed to enter the bar Edward's, according to Gay Star News. The couple, Hywel Kennedy and Mike Strutton, claimed the bouncer told them the place was "couples-only" (even though they said friends were waiting for them inside) before turning them away. An Edwards employee told another publication that its security staff was ordered to restrict entry to men "when the bar is 70 percent full of guys."
Sweden has officially ended the forced sterilization of transgender people after thousands of Europeans fought to have the law repealed, according to Gay Star News. The legislation, which had been in effect since 1972, meant a trans person had to be sterilized; otherwise, the person's gender change was not recognized legally. However, the practice was officially banned Jan. 10 after a Stockholm administrative court said it was unconstitutional and that it violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
Former British Home Secretary David Blunkett called plans to introduce equal marriage in England and Wales a "complete dog's dinner," according to Gay Star News. (A "dog's dinner" is a real mess, according to UsingEnglish.com .) The Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield added, "In simple terms, I do not think that the government is entirely clear what it is doing or why it is doing it." The Labour Party hierarchy supports marriage equality.
In France, hundreds of thousands of people converged Jan. 13 on the Eiffel Tower to protest President Francois Hollande's plan to legalize same-sex marriage and, thus, allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt and conceive children, according to the Huffington Post. The protest march started at three points across Paris, filling boulevards throughout the city as demonstrators walked about three miles to the tower. A survey found that about 52 percent of French favor legalizing same-sex marriage, down from as high as 65 percent in August.
Androgynous model Andrej Pejic has landed on the cover of Serbian Elle—a first for the publication, according to ABC News. Pejic, 21, is a 6' 1" male model who models both men's and women's fashions. Born in Bosnia shortly before the Bosnian War, Pejic immigrated to Australia with his family at age 8. After graduating from high school, Pejic moved to London, where his career took off when he began posing as both male and female.
The pro-life group Society for the Protection of Unborn Children has expressed its opposition in England and Wales to a marriage-equality bill, saying it will lead to the "sexualization" of children, according to Gay Star News. In a letter sent to teachers, the group warns that the legalization of equal marriage would "undermine the true nature of marriage," which is to procreate. The group also opposes assisted suicide and some forms of birth control.
Singaporean lesbian activist Jean Chong recently met with the law minister K Shanmugam to talk about LGBT rights, according to Gay Star News. Chong first contacted Shanmugam via his Facebook page last October, out of frustration "about the state of institutionalized discrimination against [LGBT] persons in Singapore." Shanmugam responded that "there can be no suggestion that LGBT citizens are not wanted" but added that "the government is often caught in the middle trying to decide what would be acceptable to the majority."
In England, leading evangelical Steve Chalke wrote in Christianity magazine that he has altered his biblical understanding of homosexuality, according to Pink News. The Baptist minister said the Bible was much more inclusive than many people acknowledge. He added that he "formed [his] view not out of disregard for the Bible's authority, but by way of grappling with it and, through prayerful reflection, seeking to take it seriously."
In Ghana, a Christian group is protesting Ghana's new gender minister, Nana Oye Lithur, over her support of gay rights, Gay Star News reported. The anit-gay group, called the Concerned Clergy Association of Ghana, is opposing Lithur's appointment as minister for gender, children and social protection because she is a "proponent and supporter of gay rights." In Ghana, sexual acts between men are illegal and there is no protection from sexual orientation-based discrimination.
In Croatia, gay-rights activists held a mass kissing protest outside one of the country's main Catholic cathedrals after priests branded homosexuality "unnatural," according to Gay Star News. Approximately 100 demonstrators locked lips and waved rainbow flags outside the church in the capital, Zagreb. However, five times as many counterprotesters appeared, hurling slurs and eggs at the crowd.
In Ireland, a gay civil partnership took place in every county in the country last year, according to a BreakingNews.ie item. More than 420 couples held civil ceremonies in 2012, which was the first full year of same-sex partnerships. Almost a thousand same-sex couples have now registered their civil partnerships since the introduction of new legislation in April 2011.
In Israel, TLVFest (Tel Aviv's international LGBT film festival) barely survived the Israeli ministry of culture's attempt to shut it down, Gay Star News reported. TLVFest is the Middle East and one of Asia's largest LGBT film festivals, and will celebrate its eighth anniversary in June. However, founder/direcgor Yair Hochner said the event faces funding discrimination that may threaten its future.
In England, Harriet Braun announced that her BBC Three show Lip Service, a lesbian drama, will not return for a third season, Pink News reported. Braun said in a tweet that she was "So touched to know Lip Service was enjoyed by so many." She added that the BBC had not given reasons for its decision to axe the show.
