Slovenia has become the 11th European Union country to approve same-sex marriage, according to Euronews. The parliament passed the measure by a vote of 51 to 28. Deputies have also voted in favor of legalizing adoption by gay and lesbian couples. Worldwide, Slovenia will become the 21st country to legalize same-sex marriage once the president signs the bill.
In China, a political advisor proposed a ban on group sex between men at the country's annual legislative sessions, Gay Star News noted. Professor Sun Jianfang from the Institute of Dermatology at Peking Union Medical College said the measure would help prevent the spread of HIV. According to statistics, the proportion of HIV transmission between men who have sex with men rose from 2.5 percent in 2006 to 25.1 percent in the first half of last year.
Out gay actor Sir Ian McKellen ( Lord of the Rings ) is leading the fight to save a London gay pub, Gay Star News noted. McKellen has signed his name to a petition to save The Joiners Arms, which is at risk of being turned into apartments. Joiners Arms landlord David Pollard launched the gay bar in 1997; since then, it gained notoriety as a place of excess, anarchy and debauchery. The pub was forced to close this past January after its license was not renewed.
Islamic extremists have beheaded three gay men in Iraq, Gay Star News reported. In pictures published on social media, it shows men blindfolded and knelt in front of a huge crowd in an unidentified province in the northern city of Nineveh. A masked executioner, dressed in black, wields a long and rusty sword. Under Islamic State-imposed sharia law, homosexuality is punishable by death.
An angry mob stoned a young, allegedly gay man to death in Jamaica and filmed themselves hurling rocks at his head, Gay Star News reported. The video of the murder of the alleged gay youth, believed to be aged around 19 to 21, has gone viral on social media. The identity of the murdered youth and many of the other details of the stoning are still unknown. Some have reported the victim was gay and had visited underground gay venues in Kingston
Russian diplomat Sergey Khalizov recently demanded that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reverse his administrative ruling that offered marital benefits for the first time to all of the United Nations' lesbian and gay employees, as well as to other U.N. workers who had entered legally recognized domestic partnerships, ThinkProgress noted. Khalizov said that Ban's action violated a U.N. General Assembly resolution that left it to employees' governments to determine if they are eligible for spousal benefits. Moscow has been weighing whether to force a vote in the budget committee, known as the Fifth Committee, to stop funding such benefits; the United States and other major powers don't have the power to veto votes in the Fifth Committee.
In Australia, a man who met his victims on the social-networking app Grindr before robbing them at knifepoint has been sentenced to at least 17 months in jail, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Corey Draper, 23, used the app to locate potential victims in his area. After chatting online, the suggestion was made to meet up to use the drug ice. With time served, he will be eligible for parole on Oct. 2.
Two men who ran a South Africa camp linked to "gay conversions" have been found guilty of murder, child abuse and assault, Pink News reported. Three teenage boys died after attending the Echo Wild Game Rangers military-style camp, which was intended to "make men" out of teenage boys. Alex de Koker and Michael Erasmus beat one of the boys, Raymond Buys, with a spade, sticks and a pipe; forced him to eat soap powder and feces; and chained him to a bed when he tried to escape.
In London, an investigation has been launched after a man died hours after collapsing at a gay sauna in Waterloo, The Evening Standard reported. The 37-year-old man was rushed to hospital after he was taken ill at the Pleasuredrome gay sauna in Cornwall Road. Three men died at the venue in 2012; all had taken the drugs mephedrone and/or GHB.
In Toronto, hundreds of people packed into a room at the 519 Community Centre on Church Street to celebrate and mourn the life of a transgender Somali-Canadian woman named Sumaya Dasai Dalmar, Torontoist.com noted. The 26-year-old Dalmar, also known as Sumaya Ysl, died from unknown causes. Several people—such as Somali artist Abdi Osman, a close friend of Dalmar who referred to her as "his muse" at the memorial—remain dissatisfied with the thoroughness of the Toronto Police investigation.
The Japanese education ministry has issued a document to schools and the education board requiring educational institutions give attention and support to LGBTI students, Gay Star News reported. Local media reports that LGBTI students are often abused and bullied on Japanese campuses, while experts and scholars are recommending schools carry out effective responses earlier to prevent suicide.
In England, a gay couple had a letter posted through their door threatening them to leave or else they'd be "run out" of the village where they live, Pink News reported. North Yorkshire Police are launching an investigation into the letter, which reads: "This is a respectable village. We do not like gays living here, we do not want a load of gays coming and going day and night." Justin Heaven, one-half of the couple, shared the letter on a Hemingbrough Facebook page; it has had more than 600 shares and comments of support as well as well wishes for the couple.
In Scotland, Glasgow couple Stephen and John Devaney have alleged they were turned away from Loch Lomond Waterfront at Balmaha after the owner told them they did not want "people like you here," according to Herald Scotland. However, the complex denied the owner, Suzanne Cottram, had made the comments and threatened legal action over the reports. It said in a statement on its website: "Suzanne Cottram did not say the words attributed to her, nor would she do so because of her Christian faith and her belief in the dignity of all people.
In Ireland, a printing firm refused to issue same-sex wedding invitations for a long-time customer, Irish Central reported. Beulah Print cited its Christian beliefs as the reason for the refusal, explaining that the business doesn't "agree with homosexuality." Jonathon Brennan—a hairdresser from Drogheda and four-year customer of Beulah Print—is set to wed John Kierans, his partner of eight years, this August. Beulah Print had initially agreed to print the invites until it came to the decision that it could not do business with him because of his sexual orientation.
Hundreds of thousands of people packed the streets of Sydney's gay village to watch the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras take place for the 37th year in a row, Gay Star News reported. Nearly 150 marching groups and floats as well as tens of thousands of people participated in this year's parade, including one consisting of members of Australia's armed forces; moreover, for the first time ever, they were lead by the most senior enlisted military figures in the Australian Army, Navy and Air Force.
World Rugby has signed a historic pledge to eradicate homophobia in the sport alongside International Gay Rugby, Pink News noted. As part of the agreement, the organizations pledged to recognize and respect the right of any player, official and spectator to be involved with rugby without discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or identification, as well as the the common goal of inclusion and the elimination of homophobia in rugby.
