Scotland's government announced plans to introduce an extensive world first LGBTI curriculum in schools across the country, Gay Star News noted. All state schools will now teach themes like LGBTI terminology and identities; tackling homophobia, biphobia and transphobia; prejudice in relation to the LGBTI community; and promoting awareness of the history of LGBTI equalities and movements. The LGBTI curriculum came about after the Scottish government launched an LGBTI-inclusive education working group.
The 80 members of the LGBTQ+ contingent La Comunidad boarded buses north to seek asylum, according to a tweet from RAICES Texas. The organization posted, "Just hours into the journey, they were stopped by Mexican federales, detained for hours w/out food & water, some vomiting & shaking." This group is a 501( c )( 3 ) nonprofit agency that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees in Texas.
A bill passed last week in Mexico's Senate granting same-sex couples equal social- security benefits as heterosexuals now moves to the Chamber of Deputies, where advocates expect it will be voted into law, according to an OpenlyNews.com item that cites Reuters. The vote in the country's recently sworn-in upper house was unanimous. President-Elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's Morena party won a majority in both the upper and lower houses of parliament in the July 1 election.
With the government of Saint Lucia recently meeting with the Cannabis Movement, a group representing LGBT people on the island is hoping to meet with the government as well to discuss its issues, StLuciaNewsOnline.com reported. United and Strong—the only LGBT group on the island, and one that is celebrating 18 years of existence—hopes to meet with the prime minister in an agreeable and non-hostile environment.
Poland President Andrzej Duda has said that he he would "seriously" consider a law banning "homosexual propaganda" in schools and scouting organizations, according to PinkNews. "I think that this kind of propaganda should not take place in schools, it has to be calmly and consistently opposed," he told Polish-language newspaper Nasz Dziennik. If such a law were put forward for consideration, it would likely be similar to the one currently in place in Russia, which bars "gay propaganda."
The chief marketing officer of L Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, has apologized for comments he made in an interview with Vogue about transgender models, The Huffington Post noted. Ed Razek said he didn't think transgender models should walk the runway because the show "is a fantasy. It's a 42-minute entertainment special." The company later published a statement from Razek in which he apologized for his "remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria's Secret Fashion show" that "came across as insensitive." Many social-media users, including trans model Isis King, expressed disdain about the apology.
A gay London man—accused in September of duping four straight men into having oral and anal sex by posing as a woman on Tinder and other dating apps—was sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to a NewNowNext.com item that cites Evening Standard. Duarte Xavier, 33, was found guilty of six charges of causing a person to engage in sex without consent. The court heard a statement from one victim who claimed he suffers from "extreme stress, anxiety, panic attacks and depression" after being used for Xavier's "own sick fantasy."
Lesbian YouTube star Jessica Kellgren-Fozard will receive a honorary degree from the United Kingdom's University of Worcester, Gay Star News noted. Kellgren-Fozard has long advocated for disability and LGBTI rights through her YouTube channel and blog. Comedian Jo Brand, Holocaust survivor Mindu Hornick and former England women's soccer player Marieanne Spacey-Cale will also receive honorary degrees from the university.
On Nov. 11, French President Emmanuel Macron, who has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" foreign policy, used his speech to decry excessive "nationalism" at the root of the First World War and succeeding conflicts, USA Today reported. Trump and other global leaders gathered in Paris to mourn the dead of World War I and heed the harsh lessons designed to prevent future conflict. "Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism," Macron told a gathering of world leaders that ranged from Russian President Vladimir Putin to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as Trump.
Ten men arrested for allegedly conducting a same-sex marriage ceremony on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar are to face a forced anal examination, activists told The Guardian. The UN Committee against Torture has said such examinations "have no medical justification" and campaigners say they violate international law.
On a related note, the European Union has recalled the head of its delegation to Tanzania because of what it calls a "deterioration of the human rights and rule of law" in the east African nation, CNN.com reported. The move to withdraw its ambassador, Roeland van de Geer, comes after severe international criticism over a crackdown on LGBT Tanzanians.
Fiona Mozley has been awarded the Polari First Book Prize for her debut novel, Elmet, according to The Telegraph. Now in its eighth year, the prize is awarded annually to a writer whose first book explores the LGBT experience in poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction. Mozley's win was announced at a ceremony at London's Southbank Centre as part of the London Literature Festival.
Barilla gave attendees of a contest in Italy boxes of spaghetti with a drawing of lesbians on the box, LGBTQ Nation reported. At the World Pasta Championship—an event Barilla sponsors—in Milan last month, hundreds of limited-edition boxes of spaghetti no. 5 were dispensed. In 2013, Barilla chairman Guido Barilla said in a radio interview: "I would never do an ad with a homosexual family. … If the gays don't like it, they can go an eat another brand." He later apologized.
Gay scenes have reportedly been censored from Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in cinemas throughout Malaysia, PinkNews reported. Queen fans in Malaysia have reported that 24 minutes have been cut from the 133-minute long movie, including a crucial scene where Mercury tells Mary Austin that he is bisexual, according to The Daily Mail. Censors have also reportedly taken out a scene in which the band are dressed in drag for the video for 1984 hit "I Want To Break Free."
A Japanese broadcaster ( TV Asahi ) canceled a live TV appearance of the popular Korean band BTS after a photo went viral of a band member wearing a T-shirt showing an atomic bombing juxtaposed with the celebration of Korea's liberation from Japan after World War II, Page Six noted. Japanese social media was filled with chatter over the photo of Jimin wearing the shirt with an image of a mushroom cloud with the English words "patriotism" and "Korea."
