In Cuba, a variant of HIV that is much more aggressive than other known forms of the virus has been documented, according to Medical News Today. Patients infected with this new variant progress to AIDS so rapidly that they may not even know they are infected, with AIDS symptoms occurring within three years of infection. If a person contracts multiple strains of HIV—typically by engaging in unprotected sex with multiple infected partners—then these strains can recombine into a new variant of HIV within the host. The new Cuban variant of HIV is one such recombinant version of the virus.
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) announced its newly formed partnership with the U.S. Department of State's Global Equality Fund, a press release stated. Established in 2011 by then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the fund brings together governments, corporations, foundations, and civil society organizations to work toward a world free of anti-LGBT discrimination and violence. The Global Equality Fund provides critical emergency, short-term, and long-term assistance to advance and protect the human rights of LGBT people in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Secretary of State John Kerry has selected an openly gay career Foreign Service officer to serve as the United States' "heart and conscience" in promoting equality for LGBT people in countries where there is extensive discrimination, The Washington Post reported. Kerry announced Feb. 23 that Randy Berry, currently consul general in Amsterdam, would be the first special envoy for LGBT rights. The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ), in a statement released after Berry was chosen, said it had worked with Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), and encouraged Kerry to create the position.
A Tokyo district announced it plans to issue "partnership" certificates to gay couples, becoming the first Japanese municipality to recognize same sex units—albeit only symbolically, The Bangkok Post reported. The Shibuya district—a crowded business hub that hosts many international firms and embassies, along with trendy fashion houses, cafes and schools —said it planned to draft an ordinance designed to foster diversity and equality. The semi-autonomous locality, often translated as "ward" in English, has 217,000 residents, including nearly 10,000 foreigners.
In 1935, Sigmund Freud penned a response to a mother who had asked him for help with her gay son, The Huffington Post reported. Despite the broader perceptions of homosexuality at the time, Freud took a different approach, telling the woman it's "nothing to be ashamed of." While the this correspondence sheds light on his personal communications, it has long been known that Freud did not view homosexuality as a pathology. He believed everyone was born bisexual and later became either straight or gay because of the relationships with those around them. The letter currently appears at the Museum of Sexology part of the Wellcome Collection in London.
Pope Francis is making waves in the LGBT community again with his most recent comments comparing transgender people to nuclear weapons, saying both do not "recognize the order of creation," CBS San Francisco reported. The National Catholic Reporter stated the comments were made in a new book published called Pope Francis: This Economy Kills, which calls on Christians to preserve God's order of creation. In an interview with veteran Italian journalists Andrea Tornielli and Giacomo Galeazzi, the pope compares genetic manipulation and nuclear weapons with gender theory, a broad term for how people learn to identify themselves sexually and how it's transmitted culturally.
In an unprecented move Feb. 18, the Vatican gave a group of gay Catholics VIP seats at Pope Francis' weekly general audience, Gay Star News reported. The 50 pilgrims from the United Staes sat front and center in St. Peter's Square but were only identified on the list of attendees as a "group of lay people accompanied by a Sister of Loretto." Even though the Vatican monsignor skipped over New Ways Ministry entirely when he read out the list, co-founder Sister Jeannine Gramick said the gesture was a "sign of movement" in the Catholic church.
Two convicted murderers will be the first gay couple to marry behind bars in the United Kingdom—even though one was found guilty of a gruesome and fatal gay-bashing, NewNowNext.com stated. Marc Goodwin, 31, and Mikhail Ivan Gallatinov, 40, have received permission to tie the knot at Full Sutton prison in Yorkshire, England. Goodwin led a gang that prowled Blackpool looking for gay men to attack; he was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for the murder of 57-year-old Malcolm Benfold. Gallatinov, meanwhile, strangled a 28-year-old gay man back in 1997; he is eligible for parole in two years.
The Chilean government has agreed to drop its opposition to marriage rights for same-sex couples in a lawsuit filed with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, On Top Magazine reported. Government officials met with LGBT-rights group the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation to finalize "an amicable settlement." The administration of former President Sebastian Pinera argued against the "new definition of marriage" in a brief filed in the case in 2013.
Ghanaian celebrities have taken to social media to condemn the beating of a suspected gay man, opening a rare window for debate on homosexuality in a country where gay sex is illegal, BBC News reported. A video circulated on social media showing a famous music promoter, nicknamed "Kinto" being beaten and threatened by an angry mob. Police have made an arrest and say Kinto was "framed," according to reports. But celebrities who know Kinto expressed disgust, with some going on to question Ghana's laws on homosexuality.
Greece's new left-wing government has promised to grant same-sex couples legal status in response to a 2013 international court decision condemning the country for discrimination, The Huffington Post noted. Justice Minister Nikolaos Paraskevopoulos told parliament that civil partnerships, first legislated in 2008, would be extended to gay couples but did not say when the changes were planned.
In Spain, authorities at Madrid's metro have opened an investigation into an internal memo circulated to employees that flagged gay people as a problem group that needed extra vigilance, according to The Guardian. The memo notes several stops along the metro, detailing the groups that workers should check to ensure that they have valid metro tickets, such as "musicians, beggars and gays." The LGBT group COLEGA-Madrid said it had brought the memo to the attention of the public prosecutor responsible for hate crimes.
A hotel in Sweden has been accused of refusing access to gay couples, lying that it was "closed for refurbishment" when same-sex couples inquired, according to Pink News. A man named Mikael, who attempted to book a spa visit to the Elite Stadshotell at Vasteras, has claimed that the hotel told him and his boyfriend that it was being refurbished. The following day, he booked the same weekend, using a fake name and saying he was attending with a girlfriend. Mikael said he would report the incident to the Swedish equality ombudsman.
A Swiss legislative panel has voted overwhelmingly in favor of same-sex marriage, Gay Star News reported. The legal affairs committee recommended that the National Council adopt a parliamentary initiative called Marriage for All. The vote was 12 in favor and two opposed, with one abstention. The initiative, which the Green Liberal Party submitted, calls on the legislature to open marriage to same-sex couples as well as registered partnerships to opposite-sex couples.
Pink paint was thrown over two police stations and three banks in Auckland, New Zealand, in a second "pinkwashing" attack, Gay Star News noted. Queers Against Injustice claimed responsibility for a similar vandal attack on a GAYTM last week. The group accused ANZ of commercializing LGBTI rights after the bank covered four ATMs with rhinestones and renamed them GAYTMs.
Following the success of similar rankings in other countries, GLEN ( Gay and Lesbian Equality Network ) have announced details of a survey to discover the best places to work for LGBT equality in Ireland, Gay Star News noted. The organization's Eimear O'Reilly, program officer of workplace diversity, said that GLEN had received interest from "a range of leading public- and private-sector employers" since the announcement.
The British House of Commons is investigating an incident involving two trans activists who have claimed they were misgendered repeatedly by security staff, Gay Star News noted. Anwen Muston, a Labour transgender officer, and Sophia Botha, a disability officer for LGBT Labour, were both attending a parliamentary reception hosted by Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt for the launch of Labour's LGBT schools policy. Muston and Botha both claim that guards called them "sir."
A Valentine's Day ad campaign urged the estimated 30 million closeted Chinese people to come out, according to Gay Star News. The ads, which appeared on social media Feb. 13, showed gay couples relaxing at home. David Li, one of the lead organizers of the China LGBT Awareness Campaign, said he hoped the ads would generate a public conversation about LGBTI issues in China and encourage people to come out of the closet.
