Gay U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir will not be competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, according to Gay Star News. Weir, a two-time Olympian, did not register to try and qualify for the national championship where the U.S. Olympic team will be chosen. Weir had been getting a lot of attention in recent months because of the backlash Russia has been receiving for its anti-gay propaganda law, which has had some calling for a U.S. boycott of the Olympics.
Turkey as censored the dating app Grindr, according to Kaosgl.org . Istanbul Anatolia 14th Criminal Court of Peace blocked off Grindr as a "protection measure." Kaos GL Association's Lawyer Hayriye Kara said it is very likely that the decision might be related to "general morality," an ambiguous term used often against trans sex workers. The website of the application is blocked by Telecommunications Communication Presidency.
A former soccer player from Brindisi has been crowned Mr. Gay Italia 2013, according to TheLocal.it. Giovanni Licchello, 26, who played for Swiss club Scion until 2009, was rewarded for his bravery after being left scarred for life when he defended a gay friend who was beaten in a nightclub. In addition, Hussyien Adnan—an Iraqi refugee who fled his home country after his family ordered his execution—received the Special Prize for Bravery. The award for Mr. Gay Smile went to 39-year-old Michele Ratti, a math and physics professor from La Spezia in northern Italy.
Out Russian journalist Elena Kostyuchenko, who writes for the Novaya Gazeta, promised on Twitter she will start outing closeted members of parliament who voted in favor of the country's "gay propaganda" law, and those who vote for a proposed law that would remove children from their gay parents, according to SouthFloridaGayNews.com . Kostyuchenko said publishing the private information of Russian legislators is like a "nuclear bomb" that should only be used as a "last resort. However, given the new anti-gay bill recently proposed, she said that "such a time has come."
In Guyana, a judge interpreting a colonial-era law has ruled that cross-dressing is a criminal offense only if it's done for an "improper purpose" such as prostitution, according to a SouthFloridaGayNews.com article. However, the partial victory has frustrated gay-rights activists who are pushing for the 120-year-old statute to be removed from the books. The rare court challenge of the controversial 1893 law was filed by the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination after several of its members were hauled before the courts and given minor fines for wearing female clothing in 2009. The transgender litigants were born male but say they identify as female.
Circuit Factory, a UK-owned gym in Dubai, has removed an advertisement suggesting overweight women turn men gay, Gay Star News reported. The gym took down the controversial advert, titled "Bent: Getting Our Priority Straight," after it received international criticism. The 12-minute explicit video showed British founder Phil Parkinson as having a stale relationship because his girlfriend gained weight; he is then seen watching the movie Brokeback Mountain and showing an interest in men. After the girlfriend joins the gym and loses weight, the relationship rekindles.
Qradio, India's first online radio station dedicated to the LGBT community, launched Sept. 10, according to Gay Star News. Launched from Bengaluru, a city in southern India, Qradio is a 24/7 online radio channel offered by Radiowalla.in, a multichannel Internet radio platform running over 30 stations. Anil Srivatsa—CEO and Co-founder of Radiowalla Network Private Limited, the parent company of Radiowalla.in—said he hopes that India's first LGBT radio station will "create awareness and acceptance about alternate sexuality."
A video on social media shows a gay man in Russia being beaten and raped with a bottle by a group of men who wanted him to "repent for his sins," according to an Advocate.com item. Reporters for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said they had seen the video, which is on a mobile-phone application; while they could not verify its authenticity, they did speak to a man who claimed to have participated in the assault. The assault reportedly took place in the city of Novosibirsk, although police allegedly were not aware of any such attack. The video is similar to one that surfaced in August on a Russian social-networking site of a group attempting to make a transgender woman sit on a bottle.
In Canada, the New Democratic Party in Manitoba has passed an anti-bullying bill requiring schools to accommodate gay-straight alliances, as well as clubs promoting equality between students of different genders, races and abilities, Pink News reported. Bill 18 was passed during the closing session of the legislature Sept. 13; more than Manitobans spoke at public hearings on the bill. Education Minister Nancy Allan said gay-straight alliances provide a safe place for young people during a vulnerable time in their lives.
In Israel, a transgender man who took part in the violent robbery of a gas station will have his time behind bars reduced because his gender identity requires him to be kept in isolation, according to the Times of Israel. The Supreme Court ruled that the subject, who was born female but identifies as male, should serve 10 months instead of 15 months. The convict, 29, is in the process of gender reassignment and has already undergone breast-removal surgery.
Can Cavusoglu, who was born in Istanbul but educated in the United States, has announced his intention to run for mayor of Bulancak—making him the first openly gay candidate to run for any office in Turkey, according to the New Civil Rights Movement. Homosexuality has been legal in Turkey since 1858, but there are no legal protections for gays in the largely Islamic country, and anti-gay sentiments reportedly run deep. The country is unusual in that the government is considered more accepting of LGBTs than the general populace is. Elections will be held next March.
Masha Bast, the chairwoman for the Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights, recently took part in a demonstration to protest Russia's anti-LGBT laws—and has also come out as a bisexual transgender woman, according to Advocate.com . Best told the Moscow Times her reasons for coming out: "First, it would have been very difficult for me personally not to come out. Second, having represented people in the Manezh Square, Primorsky partisans, and Bolotnaya cases, when those finished up I finally had the opportunity to come out. Third, my coming out was a protest against what is going on in Russia today. I couldn't just sit there and do nothing."
In Scotland, authorities have released the description of a man who attacked two gay men Sept. 14 outside a nightspot in Edinburgh, Gay Star News reported. Two victims, ages 26 and 27, were attacked outside Planet Out gay bar. The 26-year-old was walking past a store after leaving the bar when he turned around and saw his friend on the ground. When he returned to help, he was struck in the face by the attacker, who also made an anti-gay slur.
