In England, Mark Carter—who won the title of Mr. Gay UK in 2006—returned to police work after being cleared of charges he raped a man and sexually assaulted two others in 2009, Pink News reported. Suspended from West Yorkshire Police, he was also due to face trial for possessing an anabolic steroid; however, he convinced the Crown Prosecution Service he was using the drug for medicinal purposes.
The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL) claims that breast implants are literally a matter of life and death for transgender people who need the operation to function in their new identity, according to LGBT Weekly. In the study, the group found that transgender people who are denied the operation are more likely to commit suicide than others who go through breast-implant surgery.
In a moment some activists have described as "historic," People's National Party leader Portia Simpson-Miller came out in support of LGBT rights in her run for prime minister of Jamaica, Care2.com reported. She made the comments during an election debate with incumbent Prime Minister Andrew Holness in advance of the Dec. 29 elections that resulted in her return to power. Simpson-Miller also said that no one should be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation and that if elected, she would review the anti-gay buggery law.
In Israel, the textbook Select Chapters in Psychiatry is generating controversy because it states that homosexuality is a "disorder" that should be treated to aid "normal sexual development," IBTimes.com reported. The textbook describes "the most accepted approach today" regarding homosexuality and transgender identity among children as a "disorder" that can be cured through therapy, citing U.S. psychiatrist Charles Socarides. There is an online petition demanding the removal of the controversial chapter from the curriculum.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain's outgoing prime minister, is proudest of passing a marriage-equality law, On Top Magazine reported. Zapatero lost out to Mariano Rajoy and his conservative Popular Party, as Spain deals with debt and very high unemployment. The power shift could lead to the repeal of the marriage law.
In Zimbabwe, an MP who was arrested after saying President Robert Mugabe had sex with other male politicians has been released on $200 bail, according to Pink News. Lynette Karenyi was arrested after saying, "Robert Mugabe has practised homosexuality with Jonathan Moyo and Canaan Banana." Moyo is an ex-information minister; the late Banana was the country's first president in the 1980s, but was convicted on 11 sodomy charges of forcing men to have sex with him.
British Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow has verbally attacked certain regimes for persecuting gay people, according to the Huffington Post. He said, ""In other parts the clock has actually been turned back and homosexuality has been made a criminal offence for the first time. Most appalling of all, there have even been reports of executions of men accused of [gay-related] offenses." Bercow, an ally of the LGBT community, recently featured pink triangles and a rainbow flag on his newly minted coat of arms.
The UK gay Humanist charity the Pink Triangle Trust (PTT) has welcomed the news that the late gay mathematician/code breaker Alan Turing will be honored with a special stamp as an online petition calls for a posthumous pardon to quash his conviction for gross indecency, according to a press release. Turing, who is also recognized as the father of the computer, is one of 10 individuals chosen for the Royal Mail's "Britons of Distinction" stamps to be launched in February.
Cozumel, Cancun and other areas of the Mexican Caribbean will soon allow same-sex couples to legally marry, according to Advocate.com . The marriages are legal in the region of Mexico known as Quintana Roo, "thanks to a legal gap in the Civil Code" that involves "people interested in getting married" without specifying their gender. Mexico City already has legalized same-sex marriage.
The gay-rights activist whose efforts led to the legalization of homosexuality in Northern Ireland and the founder of the Allsorts LGBT youth project will both receive MBEs (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire honors), according to Pink News. Jeff Dudgeon challenged the criminalization of same-sex acts, while Jess Wood founded the youth organization in Brighton in 1999.
