GENDR—the world's first app created for the gender-variant and queer community—recently held its global launch, according to a press release. Available for download to mobile devices from the App Store and Google Play Store, membership fees are $5 per month or $30 per year. See GENDR.co.
In Brazil, nearly 1,600 people have died in hate-motivated attacks in the past four and half years, The New York Times reported. The figure came from the organization Grupo Gay da Bahia, which tracks the deaths through news articles. By its tally, a gay or transgender person is killed almost every day in this nation of 200 million. Advocates say the constant homophobic violence threatens to upend an idealized national spirit that promises equality and respect for all Brazilians.
Recently, stars came out in Paris for an amfAR auction to support AIDS research, Page Six noted. Spotted at the Peninsula there were actors Jennifer Garner and Adrien Brody, models Naomi Campbell and Petra Nemcova, and designers Tory Burch and Donatella Versace, among others. Auction items included a 1974 photo of David Bowie meeting amfAR's founding international chairman, Elizabeth Taylor, as well as a portfolio of 10 Andy Warhol prints of Mick Jagger that the artist and the rocker both signed.
In Venezuela, HIV-related deaths have increased due to medicinal shortages, according to a Fusion item. Medicine shortages in Venezuela have reached critical levels, as the country's economy collapses amid slumping oil prices and the mismanagement of public finances. The national federation of pharmacies reports that Venezuela has only 15 percent of the medicines it needs, and the situation is becoming life-threatening for many Venezuelans living with HIV.
A passionate debate on whether the Anglican Church of Canada should bless same-sex marriages came to a head July 11 when delegates to their triennial conference voted against authorizing such unions, CBC.ca reported. In order to pass, the resolution required two-thirds support from each of three orders: lay, clergy and bishops. The bishops voted 68.42 percent in favor of the resolution, and the lay delegates voted 72.22 percent in favor. However, the clergy voted 66.23 percent, just missing the percentage needed. The vote was the culmination of three years of work that began when the last General Synod, the church's legislative body, asked a panel to come up with the draft motion.
There are 11 remaining cities on three continents continuing to compete for the right to host the 2022 Gay Games, The Washington Blade noted. U.S. cities include Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Salt Lake City; San Francisco; Dallas; Denver; and Austin, Texas, while other spots outside the States include Hong Kong; Cape Town, South Africa; Guadalajara, Mexico; and Tel Aviv, Israel.
In Belgium, a gay man is seeking medical support to end his life because he says he can't accept his sexuality, and can no longer cope with the pain, Frontiers Media reported. The unnamed man has gone through 17 years of therapy, counseling and medication, and traces his issues back to a difficult childhood, raised in strict Catholicism by a mother with mental-health issues. Euthanasia is legal in Belgium, but there are strict requirements that patients must meet.
Public Health England ( PHE ) reported that the number of sexually transmitted infections ( STIs ) among men who have sex with men increased 10 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to Life Site. Among men who have sex with men, in 2015 there was a 21-percent increase in gonorrhea diagnoses, a 19-percent increase in syphilis diagnoses, and an 8-percent increase in chlamydia diagnoses. PHE has hired HIV Prevention England to address "stigma and discrimination" among men who have sex with men and other at-risk populations and promote "HIV testing, condom use, awareness of STIs, and other evidence-based HIV prevention interventions."
There has been extensive coverage of the massacre in Orlando, but an attack on a gay club in Mexico in May has gotten little coverage, NewNowNext noted. On May 22, three gunmen walked in La Madame, a gay bar in Xalapa, and opened fire. At least five people were killed, although some reports put the death toll closer to 15. "It disturbs me greatly that this story is not being picked up by the English-language media around the world, and the gay media especially," says Jay Bennie, co-publisher of GayNZ, one of the first English-language outlets to report the tragedy. "Gay lives matter, regardless of where they are and however powerful the country or well-known the city in which they are gunned down or otherwise killed is."
A group of Black Lives Matter activists temporarily shut down Canada's largest gay pride parade on July 4, when they stopped marching until the parade organizers agreed to their demands, The Washington Times reported. BLM, which was invited to march in the gay-rights celebration as an honorary group, stopped two-thirds of the way down the parade route, began chanting "Shut it down!" and lit several flares. The parade was stalled for about half an hour, until Toronto Pride Director Mathieu Chantelois met with the protesters and signed off on the list of demands. Said demands included an end to police floats at the parade and more spots dedicated to groups representing queer people of color.
The Vatican announced that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez RodrÃguez of the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, The Washington Blade reported. Lopez has repeatedly used homophobic slurs to describe gay U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James "Wally" Brewster.
In New Zealand, as parliament marks the 30th anniversary of the Homosexual Law Reform Act, Green MP Kevin Hague has said an apology from the government to those convicted under the old anti-gay laws for consensual acts would be a "small but crucial step," NZCity reported. Hague tabled Wiremu Demchick's petition in parliament that calls for an official apology to, and pardon of, people convicted of consensual same-sex acts before 1986. Justice Minister Amy Adams said she has discussed the issue with Hague previously, but it's more complicated than simply offering a blanket apology.
The European Court of Human Rights ( ECHR ) ruled that a refusal by Italy to grant residency right to one partner in a same-sex couple is illegal, KaleidoScot reported. The ruling will now affect all countries involved with the European Convention on Human Rights and members of the Council of Europe. The case got to the court when Italian authorities and courts refused the application for residence on family grounds of a New Zealand national, arguing they were not "spouses" under Italian law. The court ordered Rome to pay the couple damages of 20,000 euros, ANSA noted.
In order to counteract the "male, pale and stale" reputation that it's acquired, Oxford University has announced plans to replace portraits of famous men with those featuring female, gay and Black icons instead, NewNowNext noted. Students and staff have been asked to nominate subjects for the portraits, and some have already been put up for all to see. The paintings are part of Oxford University's Diversifying Portraiture project, launched in 2014.
Dr. John Sentamu, the archbishop of York, defended the Church's stance on same-sex marriage during a heated debate with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain, The Express noted. "You can still have your view in terms of the teaching of the church position on marriage and still be intolerant of anybody who's homophobic," the Uganda-born Sentamu said. Morgan contended that several things in scripture have been re-contextualized over the centuries, and asked why this issue couldn't be any different.
In the United Kingdom, mystery surrounds the death of a man who was discovered collapsed at a sauna in Manchester's gay village last August, The Manchester Evening News reported. A coroner has been unable to formally identify the Nigerian man, known to friends as Bode Lawal, after it emerged he had several different identities. During an inquest at Manchester Coroners' Court, assistant coroner Sally Hatfield said a pathologist was unable to ascertain a cause of death ( which occurred at H20 Sauna ) but believed it may have been related to the inhalation of poppers and an underlying heart condition.
