U.S. ice-cream business Ben & Jerry's is changing the name of one of its product flavors in support of marriage equality in the UK, according to Pink News. Oh! My! Apple Pie! will become Apple-y Ever After, with tubs featuring a gay couple atop a wedding cake decorated with rainbows. The company is also teaming with LGBT group Stonewall to launch a Facebook app that asks users to "marry" each other online.
Russian officials have banned a gay pride house from the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, according to Gay Star News. The first Pride House was held at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver; there will also be one this year in London for the Summer Olympics. However, Judge Svetlana Mordovina ruled that a Pride House would risk the country's "territorial integrity." The International Olympic Committee responded, but stopped short of criticizing the judge's decision.
In a speech to U.S. bishops visiting Vatican City, Pope Benedict XVI warned against same-sex marriage, according to the BBC. The pope warned of "powerful political and cultural currents seeking to alter the legal definition of marriage." He also asked the bishops to stress that the Church considers cohabitation and premarital sex "gravely sinful" and "damaging to the stability of society."
In England, a waitress at the diner Damon's refused to give lesbian couple Liz Ross and Hayley Simpson a rose on Valentine's Day, saying the twosome were not a "real couple," the Huffington Post reported. "I noticed as I was paying the bill all the girls were getting roses," Ross said. "Hayley ... asked if I could get one. I said we were a lesbian couple, but she told us, 'Lesbians aren't real couples.'" Damon's operations manager Keith Gee apologized to the couple after they complained via email, letter and phone.
St. Petersburg, Russia, has officially banned "gay propaganda" after Gov. Georgy Poltavchenko signed a bill March 11, according to GlobalPost.com . St. Petersburg is the fourth city in Russia (after Arkhangelsk, Ryazan and Kostroma) to pass such legislation. Additionally, the Russian Orthodox Church's representative on youth issues, Dimitri Pershin, called today for the legislation to be introduced nationwide.
A group of Ugandan LGBT activists filed suit in federal court in Massachusetts against evangelist preacher Scott Lively, the founder of the Springfield-based Abiding Truth Ministries, according to a MassEquality press release. The group, Sexual Minorities Uganda, is accusing Lively of violating international law by inciting the persecution of LGBT people in Uganda. It is suing Lively under the alien tort statute, which allows foreigners to sue in U.S. courts when international law is involved.
The British government has launched a 12-week consultation on the possibility of legalizing same-sex marriage in England and Wales, the BBC reported. Senior church figures and conservative members of Parliament are opposing the proposal. Civil partnerships, introduced seven years ago, give same-sex couples similar legal rights to married couples. However, the government wants same-sex couples to be legally allowed to take vows before the next general election (in 2015).
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on Nigeria that condemns, in part, the current legal threats to the country's LGBT citizens, Pink News reported. Nigeria's Same Gender Marriage Prohibition Bill has been amended by the Senate to punish those in a same-sex union with 14 years' imprisonment, and anyone "aiding or abetting" such unions with 10 years behind bars. The parliament's resolution calls for, in part, "the abolition of current legislation criminalizing homosexuality."
Feminist writer Germaine Greer was glitter-bombed in New Zealand for her comments about transgender women, Pink News reported. Among the comments were items from a 2009 column in which she wrote that trans women "seem to us ghastly parodies" and claimed being transgender was a "delusion." Members of the group Queer Avengers branded Greer's thoughts "transphobic feminism" and doused her with glitter.
In Canada, Calgary police arrested anti-gay activist Bill Whatcott after authorities received complaints about him distributing flyers, according to Xtra.ca. The flyers allegedly included anti-gay statements and pictures of genitalia infected with an STD. Whatcott—who plans to distribute the remainder of the flyers—made headlines last year when he argued before the Supreme Court of Canada for the right to distribute hateful literature about gay and lesbian people.
The upper house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the Council of States, voted 21-19 to let same-sex couples adopt children, according to TheLocal.ch. In addition, applicants seeking to adopt must be in some form of registered partnership (not necessarily marriage). The lower house, the National Council, must now consider the measure before it can become law.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the president of Liberia and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, recently defended a law that makes homosexuality illegal, Advocate.com reported. Regarding a proposed law that would make same-sex marriage a crime punishable by up to a decade in prison, Sirleaf said, "We've got certain traditional values in our society that we would like to preserve." Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was interviewed along with Sirleaf, refused to comment on her statements.
In Canada, two lesbian hockey fans, identified only as Christina and Alicia, got engaged during a game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, SheWired.com reported. Alicia, decked out in a Maple Leafs game jersey, was blindfolded and escorted onto the ice. The blindfold was removed and a message from Christina was played that read, "My love for you is a journey, starting at forever and ending at never. You're my world Zing, XOX." Christina then got down on bended knee and proposed; the couple kissed and left the rink arm in arm.
An investigation has revealed that the Dutch Roman Catholic Church surgically castrated at least 10 teen boys and young men "to get rid of homosexuality," according to the Telegraph. People told investigative journalist Joep Dohmen that the surgical removal of testicles served a twofold purpose: as treatment for homosexuality and as punishment for those who accused clergy of sexual abuse. Members of the Dutch Parliament are calling for a governmental investigation.
