The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) issued a statement condemning Rep. Chris Smith ( R-N.J. ) for his comments during the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa hearing on Nigeria. Smith said he does "not construe homosexual rights as human rights," and continued to question whether U.S. opposition to anti-LGBT legislation had negatively impacted the U.S.'s engagement in Nigeria. "On a day when 12 men were reportedly arrested for simply attending an alleged LGBT wedding in Nigeria, and as reports keep emerging about the impact of Nigeria's anti-LGBT law on the lives of Nigerians, it is unconscionable that Rep. Smith would not only object to the basic human rights of LGBT people, but argue that their rights should not be part of the administration's policy in Nigeria," said Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global.
The Imitation Game star Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Fry and the gay community are calling for royal pardons for men persecuted like Alan Turing, the mathematician who broke the Nazi Engima code in WWII and was prosecuted for homosexual acts in 1952 and underwent chemical castration, according to Page Six. Queen Elizabeth II pardoned Turing in 2014. Fry has said of other gay men who suffered the same treatment, "If he should be pardoned, then perhaps so should all of those men."
Italy took another small step forward in the fight for same-sex marriage, as Rome city council's assembly gave approval to a register for civil unions, Pink News noted. Heart-shape balloons were released after the vote at which 32 approved the move with 10 against and one abstention. The change was backed by Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino, who has been a long-time supporter of same-sex civil unions; he called the vote a "historic milestone."
Brazil's largest city hopes to encourage trans youth to return to school and finish their educations by offering them monthly payments, according to the Associated Press. The program being offered by Sao Paulo's Municipal Human Rights and Citizenship Secretariat is intended to help transgender youth from having to turn to prostitution to support themselves. One hundred students will receive 840 reals ( $325 U.S. ) a month if they attend 30 hours a week of middle- and high-school classes.
A newly appointed head of marketing for a Belarus soccer club was fired after fans told the club they didn't want "fags" as part of the team, according to Gay Star News. Valentin Sereda, a radio host in the former Soviet republic, was sacked from Dinamo Minsk FC over "unprofessional" actions that damaged the "reputation" of the club. Dinamo Minsk denied it was an anti-gay firing, claiming the team hadn't even hired him in the first place and he was merely being "considered" for the role.
A Russian court convicted a journalist who set up a website to support LGBT teenagers under a controversial law banning "gay propaganda" aimed at minors, according to the Japan Times. Thousands of teens use the social networking site, called Children 404, to post accounts of realizing they are gay and their experiences of coming out to family, friends and teachers. The site's 26-year-old founder, Yelena Klimova, wrote on Facebook that a magistrate's court found her guilty of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors," and that she will appeal the fine of 50,000 rubles ( about $780 U.S. ).
A man has pled guilty to ripping a man's heart out to "prove he was not gay," according to Gay Star News. Andrew Chimboza, 35, has now apologized to his victim's family for "exceeding the boundaries of self-defense." In court, he admitted to murdering 62-year-old Mbuyiselo Manoma in the South African town of Gugulethu last year. Chimboza faces life in jail after pleading guilty to murder without premeditation.
A new poster for the 20th anniversary London revival of Kevin Elyot's My Night With Reg, a classic AIDS-themed comedy, was deemed inappropriate for display by the London Underground, Advocate.com reported. The poster features actor Lewis Reeves with his bare rear obscured by David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust album. The ad, which passed Advertising Standards restrictions, was banned by Transport for London ( TfL ), which governs the Underground.
In France, The Divine Mercy Missionaries bought the Texas Bar premises in a gay-friendly district in Toulon with help of a donation from a priest of the diocese, The Irish Independent reported. The venue is planned to be used as a meeting place for those at the church. The missionaries announced their auction purchase with "joy" on their website and said "the bar of Sodom will become the pub of Mercy. The president of the Gay Power Toulon association told the French publication The Local, "I would have preferred if someone else got it but they've wanted the place for years. To them, it's like Satan is right next to their church."
Also in France, that country's highest appeals court allowed a gay man to marry his Moroccan partner,despite the North African kingdom's refusal to recognize same-sex marriage, Gay Star News reported. France legalized gay marriage in 2013; however, a 1981 agreement said marriages between French and Moroccan nationals were subject to the laws of their respective countries. The Cour de Cassation said that a clause in the agreement signed stated that the law of one of the countries could be discarded when it violated fundamental rights.
In Bhutan, a lama has said that homosexuality does not affect one's understanding of Buddhism, and that lesbians probably reach enlightenment before anyone else, Gay Star News reported. Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, who is known for his wit and sense of humor, made the comments in a YouTube video uploaded Jan. 22. The filmmaker and writer said he wanted to talk about the "interesting question of sexual orientation" and how it fits into Bhutan Buddhist's way of life.
