Former TV personality Raymond Chan has become the first openly gay representative in Hong Kong's 70-person legislative assembly, according to Queerty.com . However, Chanwho defeated Democratic Party vice president Emily Lau Wai-hing by only 1,000 votesdidn't discuss his orientation during the campaign. Among other things, Chan plans to work aggressively to implement the Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance.
Bertrand Delanoethe Socialist mayor of Paris and one of France's few openly gay politicianscriticized the archbishop of Lyon and primate (chief bishop) of the Gauls for a series of remarks about equal marriage, according to Pink News. As an example, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin recently told RCF Christian radio that marriage equality would bring about a complete "breakdown in society." Delanoe replied, "It is very shocking and even surprising coming from him, because he is someone I consider a wise man."
Activists are calling for the release of a man arrested in Cameroon for "homosexual behavior," the Huffington Post reported. Roger Jean-Claude Mbede was sentenced to three years in prison for sending a text message to another man that read, "I'm very much in love w/u." He is appealing the conviction after a year of served time. Approximately 25,000 people have signed an Allout.org petition on his behalf.
A gay Canadian man is facing charges after he pepper-sprayed a 14-year-old girl who had allegedly harassed his boyfriend, CBC news reported. Christopher Whittle, 39, admitted he sprayed the girl outside a Halifax shopping mall after he watched the girl taunt his partner for six weeks. Whittle said he did not know the girl was 14. Whittle faces four charges stemming from the incident.
The Malaysian government has begun trainings that teach educators how to spot gay students, Reuters reported. The Teachers Foundation of Malaysia has organized 10 such seminars, which instruct that tight, light-colored clothes and large handbags for boys are both signs of homosexuality. The trainings are intended curb homosexuality in the country.
A major Australian newspaper has printed a column that claims that childhood molestation can lead to homosexuality, according to Gay Star News. The Australian printed anti-gay activist Dr. David van Gend's opinion that homosexuality was a treatable disease and that LGBT youth suffered poorer mental health than heterosexuals.
David Cecil, the British producer behind a gay-themed play staged in Uganda, is now out of jail, according to Advocate.com . Officials tossed Cecilthe man behind the production of The River and the Mountainin prison because he allegedly violated the Uganda Media Council. Cecil posted bail, but can't leave the country until his next hearing Oct. 18.
In the UK, gay couple Michael Black and John Morgan is suing the owner of a bed-and-breakfast after she refused to let them stay in a double room in 2010 because of her religious views, Pink News noted. Human-rights group Liberty, which has taken the case, argues that it was illegal to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation. However, the legal team representing owner Susanne Wilkinson says the couple are not in a civil partnership, and so cannot claim discrimination.
Clarke Carlisle, the chairman of the UK's Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), said that the first British soccer player to reveal he's gay can expect a financial windfall, according to Pink News. Carlisle told Inside Sport, "There might well be substantial benefits and commercial opportunities for the first person to do it. ... But any player considering coming out would need to weigh all this up, particularly the immediate intrusion into their lives."
In Australia, politician Cory Bernardi has suggested that legalizing same-sex marriage could lead to bestiality also becoming legal, according to 3News.co.nz. Bernardi, a senator with the Liberal party, called the push for marriage equality "another chip in the fabric of our social mores" and part of an attack on "our enduring institutions." He later called an 80-40 vote in favor of the Marriage Amendment Bill a "failure of democracy."