Pride day bomb injures 21 in São Paulo
Twenty-one people were injured after São Paulo's 13th gay-pride parade June 13 when a bomb was detonated in a downtown square that is home to nightclubs frequented by gays and lesbians.
Five of the injured were taken to hospitals. It appeared the bomb, which scattered shrapnel, was tossed from a building.
About 3 million people turned out for the eight-hour pride extravaganza.
Australians support same-sex marriage
Sixty percent of Australians say gay couples should be able to get married, a Galaxy poll has found.
Thirty-six percent of those questioned oppose same-sex marriage and 4 percent lack an opinion on the issue.
The poll also found that 58 percent of respondents think foreign same-sex marriages should be recognized in Australia.
"Clearly, Australians believe marriage is first and foremost about love and commitment, not your partner's gender," said Peter Furness, national convener of the group Australian Marriage Equality.
"This poll scuttles the only rationale put forward by the ( Prime Minister Kevin ) Rudd government for opposing equality, namely that a majority of Australians believe marriage should only be between a man and a woman. It surely increases the pressure on the Labor Party to endorse same-sex marriage at its upcoming national conference."
A 2004 amendment to Australia's Marriage Act bans marriage between same-sex couples as well as recognition of overseas same-sex marriages.
On Aug. 1, marriage-equality activists will stage a National Day of Action in several Australian cities.
Scottish gay activists arrested over 'sodomy' sign, T-shirt
Two activists from the group Queer Mutiny were arrested for breaching the peace May 23 in Edinburgh, Scotland, at a protest outside the Church of Scotland's General Assembly, London's Pink Paper reported June 11.
Police said Iona Murray, 21, breached the peace by carrying a sign that said: "Sinful Sodomite Seeks Similar For Sin + Sodomy. Westboro Baptists Need Not Apply." And a 27-year-old male activist was hit with the same charge merely for wearing a T-shirt that said, "I love sodomy."
Freedom-of-speech laws in the United Kingdom are different from those of the U.S., as are libel laws.
Clarification
This column recently reported that the Rev. Eva Brunne of the Stockholm diocese of the Church of Sweden is "believed to be the first openly lesbian bishop in the world." That is true, in the case of mainstream denominations, but there also are lesbian bishops in the GLBT-oriented Metropolitan Community Churches. Thanks to the Rev. Ray Neal of MCC Seattle for pointing this out.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley