Out gay Olympic diver Tom Daley has been praised for posting a photo of himself in front of the Kremlin in Moscow, Pink News noted. Russia passed a law in 2013, banning the "promotion of non-traditional" sexual orientations, and has been widely condemned since, including calls to boycott the Sochi Winter Olympics last year. Daley—a Brit who's dating Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black—posed in front of the Kremlin alongside fellow divers Chris Mears and Jack Laugher.
France's openly gay pick to become its next ambassador to the Holy See has met with Pope Francis—only to be reportedly told he is unacceptable for the job, according to Gay Star News. Laurent Stefanini met with Pope Francis for a 15-minute audience over the weekend, and was told that France's legalization of same-sex marriage in 2013 was part of the reason he could not accept him into the Vatican's diplomatic community. Stefanini was previously a deputy ambassador to Vatican City from 2001 to 2005.
Armed men in Swabi, Pakistan, abducted and gang-raped a transgender person after killing two others in a pre-dawn incident, according to The Express Tribune. The incident took place in the Yar Hussain neighborhood of Swabi district, where a group of transgender people was returning home after performing a music and dance show at a wedding party. Sajjad Khan, district police chief of Swabi in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, said the men were waiting for them in a field and tried to abduct all of them but they refused. The attackers then opened fire.
Bengali actress Disha Ganguly, known for her role in the popular sitcom Tumi Ashbey Bole, committed suicide via hanging on April 9, Breitbart reported. Officials believe she committed suicide due to social pressures regarding her lesbian relationship with another actress. Ganguly was actually engaged to a man, actor Vivaan Ghosh—a relationship her parents reportedly forced. With pressure from her parents, boyfriend, and girlfriend, police believe the 23-year-old actress "gave in to death."
Designer Prabal Gurung, who was born in Singapore and raised in Nepal, is asking people to donate to his organization, Shikshya Foundation Nepal, to help provide medical support and more for the Nepal earthquake victims, Out.com noted. Hundreds of people have been killed by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal April 25. Nepal is considered one of the most pro-LGBT countries in Asia.
Kenyan judges ordered a government agency to register a human-rights group representing the country's gay people, the Associated Press noted. The Kenyan constitution recognizes and protects the rights of minorities, the three judges of the High Court said in their ruling. The Non-Governmental Organization Co-ordination Board had refused to register the rights group on religious and moral grounds.
Two Turkish caricaturists have been fined for insulting President Tayyip Erdogan after a court ruled that one of their cartoons implied he was gay, Reuters reported. Bahadir Baruter and Ozer Aydogan were prosecuted for an illustration on the front page of satirical magazine Penguen last August in which an official greeted Erdogan while apparently making a circle with his thumb and forefinger. Prosecutors launched the indictment after a citizen complained that the hand signal, commonly used in Turkey to insult gay people, was against the country's moral values.
Vietnam's ministry of health is finalizing draft amendments to the civil code that will likely acknowledge transgender people for the first time, Gay Star News reported. Nguyen Huy Quang, head of the ministry's legal department, said they were still collecting opinions on the issue but he personally preferred to "address the fact and solve it." Quang said Vietnam did not currently allow sex reassignment surgery; however, up to 1,000 of its citizens have done the surgery abroad and are now living in the country.
In Britain, one of UKIP's council candidates has been revealed as a former porn star who once shot scenes with women performing sex acts on each other, according to Pink News. John Langley, who is standing for the party in Bristol council elections, has been revealed to be an adult entertainer under the name "Johnny Rockard," who shoots and stars in porn films. Party leader Nigel Farage came to Langley's defense, saying, "Oh, please. He hasn't done anything illegal, has he? You know, when I look at the people who have been jailed from the other parties, I think this is a fairly minor issue."
A UK university is offering the first course dedicated to drag, Gay Star News reported. Performing arts students Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, Lancashire, will be able to take the third-year module Drag Kings and Drag Queens of Performance next year. Covering a variety of topics, it will include drag performance, costume, lip-syncing and the use of humor.
Also in Britain, sporting-goods chain JD Sports has suspended a number of staff members after a gay couple were allegedly referred to as "battymen," Pink News noted. Gavin Matthews and his partner, Craig Hards, claimed they encountered the homophobic language from staff members. JD Sports said in a statement, "We deplore discrimination of any kind and take this matter very seriously and took action as soon as this mistake was realized."
Saying sorry is not enough, Northern Ireland Health Minister Jim Wells has been called before the Northern Ireland Assembly's health committee to explain his comments that gay couples are more likely to "abuse" children, Gay Star News noted. At a meeting, he said, "You don't bring a child up in a homosexual relationship. That a child is far more likely to be abused and neglected." His comments were immediately met by uproar from the audience.
Militants fighting for the Islamic State in Syria have brutally stoned two gay men to death only seconds after they were photographed embracing and "forgiving" them, The Daily Mail reported. Huge crowds were in the desert clearing where the group of executioners made a display of hugging the blindfolded couple and telling them they were forgiven of their "sins," before pummeling them to death with hundreds of fist-sized rocks.
Plans for a "rainbow" zebra crossing in England to support gay rights could be abandoned—amid fears it would cause hallucinations for dementia sufferers, The Daily Mail reported. The brightly colored pedestrian crossing was due to be installed in Totnes in Devon—the first in Europe —as a mark of the town's pride for its gay community. But experts have warned that painting the road different colors could have side effects for people with Alzheimer's.
Organizers of the Mr. Gay World pageant in South Africa were left shocked and disappointed after India's entrant to the competition pulled out due to a flurry of homophobic abuse, Time.com reported. Thahir Mohammed Sayyed, an Australia-based model, withdrew from the event over threats to himself and his family back home. The weeklong event began in Knysna, South Africa, on April 26 and was slated to feature contestants from 20 countries. Sayyed would have been the only Asian participant.
Chuck Feeney—a billionaire of Irish-American descent best known as the rich guy who wants to go broke in his lifetime—has been identified as one of the key backers for the legalization of gay marriage in Ireland, International Business Times reported. The marriage-equality drive in the country is poised for a referendum on May 22, and Feeney has donated almost half a million dollars of his money to make the campaign successful. Feeney, now 82 years old, has allotted $1 billion from his $7.5-billion fortune to be spent on issues of equality in Ireland, along with other initiatives to help "services to better reflect the needs of LGBT people."
The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C. ( GMCW ) and Youth For Understanding USA ( YFU ) announced they will partner to conduct a first-ever visit by a gay chorus to Cuba, according to a press release. The nine-day concert tour, to take place July 10-18, will aim to raise awareness of issues that LGBTQ communities face. The tour will encompass five performances in and around Havana, and will include public forums designed to open lines of communication about social policy and LGBTQ equality.
A brain surgeon from Italy has claimed that a higher proportion of gay people kill themselves compared to the rest of the population because they suffer from an identity crisis, according to Pink News. Massimo Gandolfini, the director of neuroscience and head of neurosurgery at the Poliambulanza Foundation in Brescia, made the comments at a meeting of Comitato Articolo 26, which campaigns against teaching about gender and sexuality. He also said it was wrong for a teacher to knowingly support a child who is gay, suggesting that sexuality is a choice.
Religion and politics are likely to make for an intriguing mix in Riga, Latvia, this summer when a former Soviet state plays host to Europe's highest-profile gay pride event for the first time, The Moscow Times reported. The annual EuroPride festival will descend in mid-June on the capital of Latvia, a country forging closer ties with the West but still struggling with a legacy of intolerance toward the LGBT community. One in four locals takes a critical view of homosexuality and just one in 25 backs the decision to host EuroPride, according to a survey that Latvian market researchers SKDS compiled.
In the world of tennis, icon Martina Navratilova will no longer coach Agnieszka Radwanska, Tennis.com noted. The two began working together this past off-season, with Radwanska bringing on the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion in an effort to help win her first major title. But Radwanska has struggled this season, losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open and reaching just one semifinal, that at her hometown tournament in Poland.
