Two male French Olympic swimmers have posed in an intimate shot as an "imaginary couple" as part of an anti-homophobia campaign that also features images of actress Eva Longoria and singer/actress Lara Fabian as another couple, according to Pink News. Florent Manaudou and Frederick Bousquet posed in the photo, taken by Olivier Ciappa, who also started the campaign. In real life, Bousquet is partnered with Manaudou's sister, and the couple have a daughter together.
In Northern Ireland, a gay mayor has been appointed to North Down Borough Council for the first time, according to UTV. Alliance councillor Andrew Muir, who holds a degree in peace and conflict studies from the University of Ulster, was elected to the position and has chosen the theme of his term of office to be "Working as one." He told UTV, "My sexuality hasn't been an issue for me nor for my electorate nor my constituents since I became a councillor in 2010.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the government cannot force private health organizations to denounce prostitution as a condition to get taxpayer money to fight AIDS around the world, according to the Washington Post. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said the anti-prostitution pledge in a 2003 AIDS funding law improperly restricts the groups' First Amendment rights. Four organizations working in Africa, Asia and South America challenged the provision in the law, arguing their work has nothing to do with prostitution.
President Obama has picked a gay man, John Berry, to be the U.S. ambassador to Australia, according to a press release. Berry served as the director of the Office of Personnel Management from April 2009 to April 2013. Other recent gay ambassadorial nominees include HBO executive James Costos as the U.S. ambassador to Spain and Rufus Gifford—a former finance official for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, Obama for America and the Democratic National Committee—as the U.S. ambassador to Denmark.
French citizens Didier Ounnas and Gilles Barral married at the French embassy in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, according to On Top Magazine. Ounnas, 46, and Barral, 51, are reportedly the first same-sex couple from France to marry outside the country under a new law that took effect late last month. The men first met in 1988 on the dance floor of a club that no longer exists in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence, and moved to Brazil in 2000.
Vietnam's National Assembly has agreed to begin debate on legalizing same-sex marriage this year, according to Advocate.com . The LGBT movement in Vietnam blossomed on college campuses in recent years and has given rise to numerous advocacy organizations, including a support group similar to Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. The nation's first LGBT pride parade, last summer in Hanoi, went off without incident.
In Peru, police raided a gay bar in Pucallpa, claiming the venue did have have a proper license to conduct a wedding that was taking place there, according to Queerty.com . Some reports claim the couple was a gay man and trans woman dressed in traditionally heterosexual roles in order to protect themselves. Although there aren't any laws strictly forbidding same-sex marriage ceremonies in Peru, the government doesn't legally recognize them.
Nepal's Supreme Court has ordered the government to alter passports so that transgender people no longer have to describe themselves as male or female, according to RawStory.com . The court made the decision following a petition from a transgender individual who wanted a third category introduced on passports for people who identify themselves neither as male nor female. Sunil Babu Pant, director of the LGBT-rights group Blue Diamond Society, praised the court's decision.
Kevin Rudd has defeated Julia Gillard in a snap election to become new party leader and Australia's prime minister, according to Gay Star News. It comes just weeks after he announced his personal support for marriage equality in the country, saying he had previously been a "dinosaur" on the issue. Rudd, who was also prime minister 2007-2010, is facing calls from LGBT-rights advocates to make marriage equality a reality in the country-continent.
Mexican soap star Sebastian Ligarde has praised Latin singer Ricky Martin for giving him the confidence to come out of the closet, according to Contactmusic.com . In a recently published interview with Mexico's TvyNovelas magazine, Ligarde, 59, revealed he has been in a committed relationship with a man for 20 years. He added, "I believe I'm at an age when I can… have the courage to accept myself publicly, as Ricky Martin did. He has been an inspiration for me when it comes to talking about this subject. I'm gay and I say this with pride."
In Australia, parliament (the House and Senate) passed legislation outlawing outlaw discrimination against gays and lesbians by faith-based aged care providers, despite Coalition opposition on the grounds that the change infringes religious freedom, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Religious organisations enjoy an exemption from many areas of discrimination law, but the Labor party wanted to remove this exemption in relation to aged care services.
