In Brazil, the general magistrate of justice of Rio de Janeiro state, Judge Valmir de Oliveira Silva, published a legal ruling authorizing same-sex marriage in the state, Gay Star News reported. The ruling, published in the state's official notification, stated that the magistrate found the existing legal provisions [i.e., no marriage equality] unconstitutional and in breach of the Federal Supreme Court's previous ruling on gay marriage. Rio de Janeiro has now become the 11th state of Brazil to institute marriage equality.
A gay marriage fair has been held in Paris for the first time, just four days after lawmakers voted for marriage equality, Gay Star News reported. Photographers, caterers and wedding planners were just some of the businesses represented at the event, which was held under tight security after violent anti-gay marriage protests.
Bikinis and briefs are no longer welcome on some sands in the United Arab Emirates, according to the Huffington Post. Authorities in Ras al-Khaimah, the northernmost emirate in the country, have posted signs on public beaches warning of possible fines for revealing swimwear such as two-piece bikinis for women and brief trunks for men. Just days earlier, officials in neighboring Saudi Arabia deported three men for being "too handsome," according to Out Traveler.
Speaking of beachwear, gay website Queerty has released its annual list of the top beaches around the globe. Farme, Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro (in Brazil) was listed for "the city's seemingly endless supply of stunningly hot muscle men. New York's Fire Island; Sydney, Australia's, North Bondi; Sebastian in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Herring Cove in Provincetown, Mass.; and Costa Rica's Manuel Antonio Beach are just some of the other spots mentioned.
Colombia's Senate rejected a marriage-equality bill 51-17, defying a mandate by the nation's highest court to extend same-sex couples all the benefits of marriage, Advocate.com reported. In 2011 the Constitutional Court of Colombia ruled that the nation's Congress, of which the Senate is part, must pass legislation within two years assuring that same-sex couples have the same rights and benefits as heterosexual married couples. Same-sex pairs can legally register their unions if Congress does not do so by June 20.
Indian cult T-shirt brand Bewakoof has apologized for a joke about gay rape on its Facebook page, according to Gay Star News. After cricket player Chris Gayle set a world record in an Indian Premier League match, Bewakoof posted a joke that read, 'If a man rapes another man, he is called GAY. If a man rapes 11 other men, he is called GAYLE." Users who reported the post to Facebook as inappropriate and offensive were told that it does not violate the "community Standard on hate speech."
Former Paraguayan presidential candidate Horacio Cartes has apologized after a series of remarks about the gay community and same-sex marriage, ABC News reported. The New York Times cites a radio interview in which Cartes, 57, compared gay people to "monkeys" and said he would shoot himself "in the testicles" if his son ever married another man. In apologizing, he said, "I have no shame in apologizing to those who felt offended for an expression of mine with respect to same-sex marriage."
The head of a group speaking out for the rights of Fa'afafine—a third-gender culture unique to Samoa—said that same-sex marriage is low on the organization's list of priorities, Gay Star News reported. Roger Stanley, president of the Samoa Fa'afaine Association (SFA), said to Radio Australia, "It's a very delicate time and we don't want for the gay marriage to push out our other issues," referring to a crime-ordinance bill that proposes to decriminalize female impersonation, indecent acts between males and sodomy in Samoa.
The State Department's latest country human-rights reports, released April 19, reveals to a range of serious abuses directed at LGBT populations in every region, according to a press release from the Council for Global Equality. The reports cite numerous instances of government officials' complicity in LGBT abuse. For instance, in Jamaica, prison wardens reportedly were involved in numerous incidents of violence against gay inmates; and, in Chile, gay prisoners were denied access to hygienic services. The 2012 reports also underscore infringements of the rights of transgender people, including cases of extreme violence and targeted killings. To read the full report, see www.globalequality.org/newsroom/latest-news/1-in-the-news/184-humanrightsreports2012.
Spain's first openly lesbian politician, Angeles Alvarez, has asked closeted members of government to come out of the closet, according to Gay Star News. Alvarez—who was speaking at an event held by Spanish LGBT-rights groups COGAM and ArcÃ"poli in honor of the Day of Lesbian Visibility—asked closeted members of government to come out publicly, to lend further support to young gay individuals and to move along LGBT-friendly policies.
Truck drivers in Greece are demanding the removal of an ad by an online travel agency that shows an apparently gay truck driver trying to seduce a young male hitchhiker, according to GreekReporter.com . The Truck Drivers Association of Greece says that the spot is insulting to their profession. Gay-rights organizations have said they also find the ad offensive.
A gay couple is accusing a South African winery of discrimination for refusing to host their wedding, Gay Star News reported. The owners of Diemerskraal wine estate in Paarl said "it didn't feel right" to host the wedding and reception of Emile Butler and his fiance, Gareth O'Brien. Butler and O'Brien continue to look for new venues to host their wedding and reception.
In Windsor, Ontario, Canada, the inaugural Run For Rocky raised at least $40,000 to support LGBT youth, CBC.ca reported. The event was launched in honor of Rocky Campana, who died last August when he was taken off life support after he attempted to take his own life. Organizers also petitioned to change the rules that regulate the donation of organs from the gay community.
Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir retired from politics ahead of general elections, according to Gay Star News. Sigurdardottir became the world's first openly gay or lesbian head of state in February 2009 when she was appointed prime minister of Iceland after Independence Party leader Geir Haarde resigned over his handling of the country's financial crisis. Same-sex marriage was legalized in Iceland the following June, and Sigurdardottir became one of the first to utilize the new law, marrying her long-term partner, Jonina Leosdottir.
In Japan, about 12,000 people joined a parade April 28 to kick off Tokyo Rainbow Week, according to On Top Magazine. Attendees gathered in the "Pride Village" setup in Yoyogi Park before marching through the streets of Tokyo's posh Harajuku shopping district in the Shibuya Ward. The celebration continued afterward in Pride Village, where organizers had set up a performance stage and vendor booths.
Spartacus Traveler International will be exclusively designed for iPad and Android tablets, with a focus on the U.S. market, according to a press release. The gay-travel magazine combines technologies for e-magazines such as interactive links, sliding photo galleries and embedded videos as well as editorial content to featured destinations, accommodations and travel gadgets for the LGBT market. The Spartacus International Gay Guide has sold more than 1.7 million copies since 1981.
In South Africa, a 15-year-old boy died after being chained to his bed, beaten with planks and sticks, electrocuted and forced to eat his own feces as part of a three-month training course designed to make "men out of boys," according to Queerty.com . Wilma Buys had sent her son, Raymond (who had been diagnosed with ADHD), to Alex de Koker's Echo Wild Game Rangers in Johannesburg after it was recommended to her by a friend. Gender activist Melanie Nathan has suggested that Raymond and two other teens who have died at the camp were all "perceived as gay and clearly effeminate," and that de Koker's methods had "gay repartaive undertones."
In Denmark, a Copenhagen bar has apologized after ejecting two men for kissing and after one of them, a member of a Danish LGBT youth organization, reported it as a hate crime, Pink News reported. In late March, a bouncer at Cafe Funke threw out the two men, who talked, drank and eventually kissed at the venue. One of the men was Christoffer Jakshoj, a member of the Danish LGBT Youth Organisation, and he reported the situation to police. Jakshoj eventually contacted the bar's owner, who apologized face to face.
A European Union court ruled that a Romanian soccer club needs to show it does not promote discrimination after its outspoken owner went on an anti-gay tirade, according to Courthouse News. The ruling came after Romanian LGBT organization Accept complained to the National Council for Combating Discrimination about soccer club FC Steaua and one of its owners. In 2010, Steaua's owner, George "Gigi" Becali, blocked the club from accepting the transfer of a player he believed was gay.
