UK Prime Minister David Cameron has named Clare Balding as the LGBTI person he admires most, Gay Star News reported. The Conservative leader told Attitude magazine that while World War Ii code breaker Alan Turing was "an amazing man," he chose the BBC sports presenter because of "her enthusiasm [and] zest for life.." Cameron also said he once brought up the issue of LGBTI rights with the notoriously anti-gay Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Speaking of Balding, she has revealed she married her long-term partner in a very low-key ceremony, according to Gay Star News. Balding and her partner, newsreader Alice Arnold, have been together for 14 years and entered a civil partnership in 2006, which they now converted to a marriage. Balding and Arnold tied the knot in a tiny ceremony—with only themselves present—at the same venue in Chiswick, West London, where they had their civil partnership.
The first in-depth study on the treatment of LGBTI Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge has uncovered widespread sexual and emotional abuse, according to Gay Star News. All 48 interviewees for the study reported having to hide their sexuality for fear of being killed, while many said they were subjected to forced marriage, rape and sexual abuse by Khmer Rouge ( KR ) soldiers and officials. The KR are responsible for the deaths of up to 2,000,000 Cambodians—nearly a quarter of the country's population, many in mass executions in the now infamous "killing fields."
The Irish Senate has passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to adopt children, according to an Advocate.com item that cites PinkNews. Titled the "Children and Family Relationships Bill" and containing more than 120 amendments, the measure was the subject of passionate discussions during the course of a weeklong debate in the Seanad of the Republic of Ireland. Ultimately, the vote ended in a 20-2 win for same-sex couples in Ireland who wish to adopt. Also, the measure extends adoption rights to cohabitating couples.
A man who volunteered for an Australian HIV/AIDS-service organization is among those who were onboard Germanwings Flight 9525 that crashed into a mountain in the southern French Alps on March 24, The Washington Blade repoted. Greig Friday, a volunteer for the Victorian AIDS Council in Melbourne, and his mother, Carol Friday, were onboard the flight that was to have flown from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. Investigators believe that Andreas Lubitz, the 27-year-old co-pilot who was reportedly suffering from depression, deliberately crashed the flight.
The world's first polygamous gay marriage has taken place in Thailand's Uthai Thani Province, Breitbart News reported. Joke, 29; Bell, 21; and Art, 26, did not undergo a state ceremony, since Thai law does not recognize same-sex marriages or polygamy, but the trio claims their union is sanctioned by Buddhist law. Buddhism has no official teaching regarding homosexuality, other than prohibiting it for celibate monks.
A gay Canadian teenager has received an outpouring of support online after he detailed his father's hostile reaction to him coming out—in which his dad allegedly described the situation as "worse than death," the Irish Independent noted. Tyler, 15, posted screenshots of messages, which he says were sent to him by his father via Facebook messenger, on his Tumblr account. Many expressed hope that Tyler's father would come to accept his sexuality. One user wrote: "I haven't told my dad because I fear his reaction. I can only hope that your dad can be your dad again."
Malta has become the first country in the world to outlaw medical practitioners or other professionals from conducting any involuntary or coerced surgical intervention on minors with intersex variations, according to the Star Observer. The Gender Identity Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act was passed through the Maltese Parliament with cross-party support, without a vote. The passage of the bill has been met with praise by Organisation Intersex International ( OII ) Australia, along with various European intersex and trans* groups.
France is to retain a ban on gay men donating blood as the national ethics committee called for more health risks' research, RT.com reported. The idea to revise the restriction appeared as part of Health Minister Marisol Touraine's new medical reforms. France's National Consultative Ethics Committee ( CCNE ) believes maintaining a ban is not a matter of gay rights but a health issue.
Gay Syrians are being targeted by jihadis who pose as homosexual in order to entrap and ransom them, The Daily Caller reported. At least one kidnapping occurred—in Raqqa, Syria, in 2013. Islamic State militants pushed a gay man in his twenties off a ledge and stoned him to death when he didn't die from the fall in Raqqa. In January, the group's jihadis threw another gay man off a building in Mosul, Iraq.
Despite widespread support in Australia for the legalization of same-sex marriage, the message that it's ok for people to be gay isn't getting across to teenage boys, Gay Star News noted. Australia's national depression initiative BeyondBlue surveyed more than 300 14-to-17-year-old males—and found that one in five still said they found it difficult to treat same-sex attracted people the same as everybody else. Six in 10said they had personally witnessed people being bullied because of their sexuality, and four in 10 said they had seen homophobic bullying via social media.
The Anglican Archbishop of the Australian city of Brisbane has backed calls for the so-called "gay panic" defense to be removed as a possible partial defense under Queensland state law, Gay Star News reported. A "gay panic" defense is where someone, usually a man, who is accused of murder has claimed that he was provoked because the victim made sexual advances. Catholic Father Paul Kelly has been campaigning for the loophole to be closed—and now Brisbane Anglican Archbishop Phillip Aspinall has added his support to the campaign.
A South Africa court has ruled that gay men who have a baby born by a surrogate mother are entitled to paid maternity leave, the UK Telegraph reported. The labor court in Durban said it was not fair for the state information technology agency—an information technology service in South Africa—not to pay a gay man the customary four months paid maternity leave usually given to new mothers. "I think it's a vindication that these antiquated conceptions of marriage, of who is ultimately responsible for the care of the child, are rendered void," said Irvin Lawrence, the Durban-based lawyer representing an anonymous father.
In the United Kingdom, two men who killed gay people have become the first people to have a gay prison wedding, the UK Metro reported. Mikhail Gallatinov, 40, and Marc Goodwin got married in a 15-minute ceremony at Full Sutton prison near York. Gallatinov was convicted of murdering Adrian Kaminsky, 28, in Manchester in 1997, and was sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years in prison. Goodwin is serving a life sentence for killing Malcolm Benfold, 57, in Blackpool in 2007. They will not be allowed to share a cell.
Thailand's parliament has passed legislation passed a law banning foreigners and same-sex couples from seeking surrogacy services, LGBTQ Nation reported. Under the new law, only married Thai couples or couples with one Thai partner who have been married at least three years can seek surrogacy, and commercial surrogacy is banned.
