According to an update from the World Health Organization ( WHO ) , approximately 5.2 million people around the world were being treated for HIV at the end of last year. "This is the largest increase in people accessing treatment in a single year. It is an extremely encouraging development," said Dr. Hiroki Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for HIV, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases. At the XVIII International AIDS Conferencein Vienna, Austria, July 18-23WHO called for earlier treatment for people with HIV.
A group of protesters calling itself Star Whore III stormed the International AIDS Conference site in Vienna, Austria, July 20, twirling red umbrellas and chanting, "PEPFAR kills sex workers!" and "Face us, Goosby!" The contingent was highly critical of Eric Goosby, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator and the man behind the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ( PEPFAR ) . PEPFAR requires that any organization receiving funds from it must have a policy against prostitution and sex trafficking.
The full United Nations Economic and Social Council voted in favor of a U.S.-led resolution to grant the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission ( IGLHRC ) consultative status July 19, according to an IGLHRC press release. IGLHRC is only the tenth organization working primarily for LGBT rights to gain such status at the United Nations. The resolution passed with 23 in favor and 13 against, with 13 abstentions and five absences.
Argentina's president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, signed South America's first same-sex marriage bill, making it a law, according to Advocate.com . Hundreds of pro-gay individuals stood outside Buenos Aires' Casa Rosada to show their support for the bill, which the legislature passed July 15. de Kirchner said the government is providing marriage equality to a group that deserves the rights given to it.
In Australia, soccer player Jason Akermaniswho said that gay athletes should stay in the closethas been kicked off his Western Bulldogs team, according to an Advocate.com item. Someone told the Australian paper The Age, "He hasn't earnt the trust of the group. It's a pattern of behaviour. You can't put it down to one thing. It has just gone on for so long. And we don't want it to keep going."
Gunmen burst into a birthday party at a hotel in Torreon, Mexico, on July 18, blocked the doors and killed 17 men and women, according to a Los Angeles Times article. The invitation to the party was sent via Facebook by a gay-rights group; however, the page invited everyone to the event, regardless of sexual orientation. This fact raised speculation that the killings were anti-gay crimes; however, some feel that drug traffickers were the killers. Authorities recovered more than 120 spent shells.
Sussex University will award British gay-rights activist Peter Tatchell an honorary doctorate for his many years of advocacy work, according to an Advocate.com item. Tatchellwho has been an activist for more than four decadessaid, "I was hesitant about accepting this honor. After all, my contribution to human rights is very modest. I am a long way from being a brave and effective campaigner. Many others are much more deserving than me."
In Australia, the censor has banned the movie L.A. Zombie, a Bruce LaBruce-directed movie that features graphic gay sex between the undeadalthough it may resurface in DVD form, according to Advocate.com . Donald McDonald, director of Australia's Film Classification Board, stated in a letter to Melbourne International Film Festival Director Richard Moore that the movie could not be screened because it would probably not receive a rating. L.A. Zombiea follow-up to LaBruce's 2008 film Otto; Or, Up With Dead Peoplefeatures an alien zombie who can bring the dead back to life with sex.
In Syria, authorities have released more than 25 men who had been in custody for attending and/or organizing private gay parties, according to GayMiddleEast.com ( GME ) . The officials reportedly released the menafter more than three monthsbecause they were embarrassed with the attention the case was getting. GME stated that although the release was a welcome development, the staff still feels that the party organizers and attendees "are not yet out of danger as their families were informed of their 'offences.'"
In Italy, Giorgio Mulèthe editor of the magazine Panoramais claiming that reporter Carmelo Abbate has the names and addresses of the closeted Catholic priests profiled in a recent magazine, according to Advocate.com . Mulè was responding to skeptical Catholic leaders who questioned the validity of the story, which uses unnamed individuals. The article follows the magazine's piece on the Holy See's gay-party scenewhere Abbate has reportedly seen several priests. ( The Holy See is the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome. )