Former Prime Minister of Iceland Johanna Siguroardottir, the world's first openly gay head of government, will headline the WorldPride Human Rights Conference 2014, according to Gay Star News. The June 25-27 event—organized as part of the WorldPride celebrations, which next year are in Toronto—will feature presenters from 60 countries.
A trans woman, murdered five months ago, has finally been given a proper funeral in Rome, according to Gay Star News. Back on July 29, Andrea Quintero was discovered on a train track in the Italian capital's main Termini station. While at first it appeared to have been a suicide, an investigation found the 28-year-old Colombian was beaten to death with sticks and thrown off the platform.
A transgender woman is fighting for her life after being gored by a stag in what has been described as a "bizarre and horrific" attack in Scotland, according to Gay Star News. Doctor Kate Stone, a Cambridge academic, was airlifted to hospital in Glasgow after being wounded by the animal near Fort William in the Scottish Highlands. Stone suffered severe injuries to her neck and spine that the stag's antlers caused.
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) announced its first contribution to the Russia Freedom Fund ( www.russiafreedomfund.org ) in the amount of $100,000, according to a press release. The announcement is featured in a video holiday card to the Russian LGBT community, compiling support and solidarity for their cause across social media. The video is set to singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson's song "Blood Brothers."
Uganda President Yoweri Museveni has said he will not just sign the new Anti-Homosexuality Bill without checking it carefully, according to Gay Star News. The bill, which parliament passed recently, no longer has the death penalty for gays, but does offer life in prison for those who repeatedly commit same-sex acts. It also requires people in authority to report offenses under the act within 24 hours, or else face imprisonment for three years or a fine.
Three couples married in a Christian chapel on the grounds of Tunghai University in what are believed to be the first Christian same-sex weddings in Taiwan, Gay Star News reported. The ceremonies were presided over by the Rev. Elias Tseng—the first openly gay Christian pastor in Taiwan. The Taiwan GDi Association, the Taiwan LGBT Pride and various student groups organized the event.
The gay rainbow-flag theme for the Christmas lights on Rome's main shopping street sparked controversy, according to The Huffington Post. City assemblywoman Imma Battaglia said she and mayor Ignazio Marino had decided to send a message with the multicolored lights that go on for almost a mile on the bustling Via del Corso. Battaglia, who also leads a gay-rights group, said the lights were intended to be against homophobia following the suicide of a gay teenager in the city. However, several politicians—especially those with the far-right Fratelli d'Italia ( Italian Brothers ) party—opposed the lights.
China's largest dating and marriage website, Jiayuan.com, says roughly one out of every 20 university students in the country has had a lover of the same sex, according to a Gay Star News article. In a poll of 8,894 respondents, 5.57 percent admitted being in a same-sex relationship at least once. This compares with the 15.34 percent and 20.46 percent who told Jiayuan they have been caught in a love triangle and a secret love, respectively.
Gay British playwright Alan Bennett called the late Margaret Thatcher a "mirthless bully" in diary extracts published in the latest issue of The London Review of Books, according to a Gay Star News item. He added the former prime minister "should have been buried, as once upon a time monarchs used to be, in the depths of night." The diary extracts published in The London Review of Books also reveal Bennett urinated in the graveyard at the funeral of British actor and friend Richard Griffiths at William Shakespeare's hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon. Bennett has written scripts for stage and screen, including award-winning plays The History Boys and The Madness of George III.
