Italian region Puglia's governor, Nichi Vendola, has said that "life in Rome is too dangerous for gays and lesbians," according to Gay Star News. Vendola—who has been openly gay since he was 18—told newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano, "I fear going out alone at night in Rome." Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno responded, "My city has the same problems of all European big cities. Vendola should think about his own city, Bari, which is not better than Rome."
In England, Dale Cregan—a one-eyed suspect accused of killing lesbian police officer Fiona Bone and another officer, Nicola Hughes—has admitted to killing them, according to Gay Star News. The 29-year-old pled guilty to luring two Bone, 32, and Hughes, 23, to a false robbery in Manchester and killing them. Before her death, Bone was engaged and planning her civil partnership with girlfriend Clare. Cregan still denies other murders he stands accused of committing.
Saud bin Adbulaziz Bin Nasir—a gay Saudi prince jailed for life in Britain for killing his manservant—is being transferred back to his home country to serve out the remainder of his term, according to the UK Telegraph. Bin Nasir, a grandson of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah II, was jailed in 2010 for killing Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz at their five-star hotel suite in London. The prince, 36, was told he had to serve a minimum term of 20 years in jail for the Valentine's Day attack. His lawyers argued that he could face the death penalty in Saudi Arabia because of his homosexuality.
Ugandan authorities have deported British gay play producer David Cecil back to the United Kingdom, according to Gay Star News. Cecil was arrested last year for producing and staging a play in August that featured a gay businessman who is killed by his own employees. Taken away from his Ugandan wife and young child, Cecil is hoping to appeal against the court's decision.
In Wales, a transgender woman accused of raping a woman after showing her around an S&M dungeon has insisted to a jury she did nothing wrong, Wales Online reported. In addition, Nadine Natasha Williams (formerly Dean Williams) denied wanting sex with the woman "as a last throw of the dice" before finally becoming a woman. Williams said the complainant had wanted sex and had asked to be shown the S&M room known as "the dungeon."
In Ireland, city representatives are deciding whether to name a popular bridge after a Dublin man who died following a "gay bashing" more than 30 years ago, according to Herald.ie. Independent councillor Damian O'Farrell has submitted a proposal which will see the revamped Fairview Park footbridge named after Declan Flynn. Flynn was beaten to death in the park on Sept. 9, 1982, by five teenagers because he was gay.
In France, marriage equality came one step closer to legality Feb. 12, as lawmakers in the lower house of parliament approved a bill that would extend the right to marry and adopt to same-sex couples, CNN.com reported. The measure was voted through in the National Assembly 329-229, with 10 deputies abstaining. The bill must still go before the senate before it becomes law.
Britain is closer to recognizing marriage equality, according to BBC.co.uk. MPs approved same-sex marriage in England and Wales in a key Commons vote, despite the opposition of almost half the Conservative MPs; the Commons voted in favor of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill 400-175.
The Turkish Armed Forces is set to introduce a new regulation that is similar to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban the United States recently repealed, according to Gay Star News. The old articles of "unnatural intercourse" and "'psychosexual disorders" as reasons to dismiss a soldier from the army are being replaced with a new criteria: "Sexual identity and behavioral patterns should be dominant and apparent in every part of life." Turkish LGBT associatiosn have sharply criticized the new rule, calling it discriminatory and a violation of human rights.
Israeli police arrested 10 women—including the sister and niece of comedienne/LGBT ally Sarah Silverman—for wearing prayer shawls while praying at Jerusalem's sacred "Wailing Wall," according to the Huffington Post. The women were part of a monthly service organized by a liberal group, Women of the Wall, that meets at the holy site. The comedienne posted on Twitter that she was proud of her relatives.
Philippe Ouedraogo—the archbishop of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso—criticized same-sex marriage, saying it's an "assault on the family" and that "Genesis tells us that God created man and woman." according to Gay Star News. Ouedraogo made his remarks during the Diocesan annual Catholic pilgrimage held at the Our Lady of Yagama Cathedral. Burkina Faso (formerly called Upper Volta) is a landlocked country in Africa.
In Singapore, Lawrence Bernard Wee Kim San (a former worker at Robinsons department store) is suing former employer Jim McCallum for alleged anti-gay harassment over six years, according to Gay Star News. In Wee's affidavit filed at the High Court, he said that his direct supervisor, Shia Yew Peck, told him that McCallum told him "anything from Lawrence cannot be right to begin with as Lawrence is wrong already as a person." Robinson's denies all of Wee's claims.
British HIV/sexual-health organization the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) has launched new services and support for transgender people, Gay Star News reported. Last year, THT produced Trans Health Matters, two guides on a range of health and wellbeing issues affecting the trans community; now it has expanded sections of its website containing trans-related advice and support. In Europe, estimates of HIV prevalence among transgender women are significantly higher than for the general population.
