A book says that the number of staff working in London's LGBT sector has dropped 20 percent in just two years, according to Gay Star News. The new London LGBT Almanac, now in its second edition and published by Kairos in Soho (KiS), also reveals the LGBT sector has 0.038 percent of the income of London's voluntary sector. Some of the 109 organizations KiS researched had to make big cutbacks to their staffing but many more faced cuts.
In New Zealand, the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology banned a gay student artist's erotic work, according to Gay Star News. Alex Ouston's project featured wine bottles draped in decorative items of clothing; a QR code then directed people to a website featuring pictures of men wearing the exotic trimmings on their genitals. Ouston, 37, told the Daily Mail, "I was a bit gutted. They [the adornments] looked really good, and the labeled bottles added greatly to the reading of my art. It just proves how prudish people are about nudity and sexuality."
A Danish study (with results in Clinical Infectious Diseases, a peer-reviewed journal of the Infectious Diseases Society of America) shows that among HIV patients receiving well-organized care with free access to antiretroviral therapy, those who smoke lose more years of life to smoking than to HIV. Estimated life expectancy differed significantly based on smoking status. A 35-year-old HIV patient who currently smokes had a life expectancy of 62.6 years, compared to 78.4 years for a nonsmoker infected with HIV.
South Korea has made history by electing its first female president, ABC News reported. Conservative ruling party candidate Park Geun-Hye, 60, won with 51.6 percent of the vote over left-leaning opposition candidate Moon Jae-In, who garnered 47.9 percent of the vote. Voter turnout was its highest in 15 years.
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar recently revealed her plan to protect LGBT people against discrimination in a private letter to gay-rights campaigner Lance Price, according to Gay Star News. The letter (which the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian obtained) states, "I do not support discrimination in any form against any individual, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. ... I have mandated my Minister of Gender, Youth and Child Development, Senator the Honourable Marlene Coudray, to prepare and present a national gender policy to Cabinet over the coming months."
In Taiwan, lawmaker Yu Mei-nu said she will hold a public hearing about the legalization of same-sex marriages, according to Focus Taiwan. Yu, of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, said the hearing is slated for Dec. 26. Government officials, gay-rights groups, experts and scholars will be invited to the event. Yu said she is proposing an amendment to three articles in the Civil Code to legalize same-sex marriage.
In New Zealand, Auckland's St. Matthews church has a sign that reads, "It's Christmas. Time for Jesus to Come Out," complete with a baby in the manger with a rainbow over his head, according to The Global Dispatch. Rev. Glynn Cardy said the sign was about trying to lift the humanity of Jesus: "The fact is we don't know what his sexual orientation was."
A gay teacher in Vancouver Island, Canada, was suspended with pay after showing a class of 9- and 10-year-olds a video of draq queens lip-synching to Bette Middler's "Mali Kalikimaka," a Hawaiian Christmas song, according to Pink News. Teacher Joe Winkler said he showed the video to his students at Brentwood Elementary School to illustrate LGBT diversity. Some took issues with various aspects of the video, including a bare-chested man eating a banana.
Ian Hunter has apparently become the first gay Australian politician to marry, as he wedded artist Leith Semmens in Spain, according to Advocate.com . Hunter, the social inclusion minister for the state of South Australia, said he and Semmens were sorry their home country wouldn't recognize their union; however, they couldn't wait for it to enact a marriage-equality law.
In Brazil, a Sao Paulo court ordered notaries Dec. 20 to begin offering marriage licenses to same-sex couples without a judge's approval, according to the Washington Blade. The decision, which will take effect in Brazil's most populous state in 60 days, comes after the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court ruled in May 2011 that gays and lesbians can enter into civil unions. In January, Alagoas became the first Brazilian state to extend marriage to same-sex couples without judicial approval; Bahia followed suit in November.
In Ireland, a man was attacked on a train when two other passengers found out he was gay, according to Gay Star News. The victim—a man in his 50s who has Asperger's syndrome—was sitting in a near-empty carriage using his laptop to look at a gay dating website. The victim told the Irish Times, "They started accusing me of being a pervert. I tried to get my laptop from them and they chased me into another carriage where they started beating me. I was screaming for assistance and covered in blood.'" He said the attackers also stole his iPod and a pair of headphones.
