Organs from patients with HIV have been used in life-saving transplant operations in the United Kingdom for the first time, The Guardian noted. The four transplants—two livers from separate donors and a pair of kidneys from the same person—all happened within the last five years but have only now been made public; all three donors were deceased. The agency NHS Blood and Transplant hopes the medical breakthrough will inspire people living with HIV to join the organ donor register.
Wales has elected its first-ever openly LGBTI politicians, Gay Star News reported. Hannah Blythyn, the the former Labour LGBTI group, won the Delyn constituency while Jeremy Miles, also for Labour, won Neath. In addition, Adam Price, for Plaid Cymru, was elected in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr.
Voters have made history in the Philippines, electing their first-ever transgender politician to the House of Representatives, according to CNN. Liberal Party candidate Geraldine Roman routed her closest rival in the congressional district of Bataan, winning 62 percent of the unofficial vote count with 99 percent of precincts reporting. Filipino LGBT political organization LADLAD was quick to congratulate her, noting the historic significance.
A transgender man in Iceland has given birth to a baby girl—after getting pregnant partway through his transition, PinkNews reported. Henrý Steinn, 19, had started living as male when he found out he was pregnant via his boyfriend, Doddi. The teen decided to hold off on gender-hormone treatment that could impact the baby, continuing to live as male throughout the pregnancy.
In the United Kingdom, a gay couple from Brighton said that they were attacked in the city by strangers because of their sexuality, according to Gay Star News. James Flox Loxton and Dain Luka posted on social media pictures of their badly injured faces, claiming they were targeted by strangers on the streets when they were on their way home from a night out. Luka wrote on his Facebook page that he suffered multiple fractures in his face and his eyes were bloodied, adding that he was unable to see with his left eye.
In the Bahamas, a lawmaker said that transgender people should be exiled to an island, The Washington Blade noted. The Bahamas Tribune reported MP Leslie Miller said he would contribute the first $1,000 to an effort to relocate trans people. The newspaper noted the lawmaker also said that he prays "God would come now and just end the world" because trans people's actions "go against his will." Miller's comments angered Bahamian LGBT-rights advocates.
A new report from New York advocacy group Human Rights Watch says that Japanese LGBT students have faced harassment, violence, exclusion and threats in the country's schools for decades, QNotes reported. The organization released the 84-page report after dozens of interviews with LGBT people, teachers and school staff. Human Rights Watch also published manga in Japanese and English depicting the experiences of the interviewed LGBT students.
A same-sex marriage in San Francisco is making waves in China, Advocate.com reported. Hanscom Smith, the United States consul general in Shanghai, recently wed his partner Lu Yingzong, or Eric Lu, at City Hall in San Francisco. The New York Times reported that their nuptials have sparked conversation in China about same-sex marriage, which is not legal in the Asian country. Lu is from Taipei, the capital city of the neighboring island nation of Taiwan. In 2014, Brian Davidson, the British consul general, also caused a stir after marrying his partner in Beijing.
Germany's Deutsche Bank announced it would freeze plans to create 250 new jobs at its Cary, North Carolina, location after the state passed legislation limiting the ability of transgender people to use bathrooms or locker rooms, Foreign Policy reported. The German bank employs about 900 people at its software application development center in Cary, and had announced the growth plans last September. The German-American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern U.S. says that German firms have created more than 30,000 jobs in North Carolina.
In Australia, Gayby Baby—a film aimed at assisting children to help promote acceptance and equality for kids with same-sex parents—has been banned from being shown in schools in New South Wales, PinkNews reported. The movie, directed by Maya Newell, follows four children raised by same-sex couples over a period of several years. The film was recently screened in Chicago, with a panel discussion on the movie.
Also in Australia, football is the latest battleground for opponents of same-sex marriage who are targeting St. Kilda and Sydney as part of a campaign to derail the the Australian Football League's first Pride match, The Age noted. Flyers were left on spectators' cars outside a game recently; said flyers read, "Children deserve a mother and father." Essendon and North Melbourne will run through "Stand up for Equality" banners before their match on May 14, and a guard of honor will be formed by pro-LGBTI group the Purple Bombers.
South Africa's first gay rugby team have launched an eye-catching recruitment campaign to encourage players to sign up, NZ Stuff noted. The Jozi Cats released a racy photo shoot that features members of the team, which is open to anyone, posing in images emblazoned with homophobic slurs above their heads, including "Rugby—that's so gay." The Jozi Cats are hoping to break stereotypes down within the traditionally macho rugby world; the club also offers adults the chance to learn the game from scratch.
The BBC's new primetime adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream has been sexed up to include a lesbian kiss, a gay romance and cross-dressing, according to The Sun. Russell T Davies' ( the UK's Queer As Folk ) new racy version features actors such as Maxine Peake, Matt Lucas and John Hannah as classic characters Titania, Bottom and Theseus. Russell's 90-minute adaptation also changes the ending of Shakespeare's 400-year-old play: Theseus, King of Athens, dies of a heart attack instead of living, which frees his bride Hippolyta to fall into the arms of fairy queen Titania, which whom she shares a sensual kiss.
Fashion store Actually, in Singapore, has announced the launch of a new capsule collection ahead of this year's Pink Dot festival in June, Gay Star News reported. Pink Dot is the biggest annual LGBTI-pride festival in the region; it launched in 2009. Organizers encourage participants to wear pink for the day, and Actually has accordingly produced a range of pink-hued T-shirts, bags and soft toys in collaboration with local streetwear label Mash-Up.
A landmark court case against forced anal examinations on homosexual men is being fought in the Kenyan courts, the UK Independent reported. In what is believed to be the first legal petition brought against the practice —widely condemned by rights groups as torture—two men are fighting the Kenyan government on enforcement of the exams. Anal examinations are believed to be relatively rare in Kenya, but are commonly used against homosexual men in, among other places, Egypt, Tunisia, Uganda and Turkmenistan.
