The Liberian Senate has voted unanimously to approve a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, AFP reported. Homosexuality was already considered taboo while "voluntary sodomy" is a criminal offense. Senator Jewell Taylor—ex-wife of former president Charles Taylor, who was recently sentenced to 50 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity—sponsored the bill. However, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf—who said she would veto any gay-related measure—has the final say.
Serbia has become a hub for gender-reassignment surgery, according to a New York Times article. Nearly 100 foreigners and Serbs have undergone sex-reassignment surgery in the past year, and the numbers are growing, with people coming from countries as varied as Iran, South Africa and the United States. Reasons for Serbia's popularity include the facts that the surgery is costly and so controversial other countries in the region shun it.
People who recently attempted to use the gay meet-and-greet app Grindr in London may have been disrupted by the influx of Olympic athletes trying to use the service, according to the Huffington Post. In a July 19 post on the Grindr blog, app founder Joel Simkhai apologized to users who had experienced "service disruptions." The London tabloid The People said that the website crash was "due to the volume of demand. Technicians believe the arrival of Olympic teams on Monday sparked a flood of new customers—and loss of the service in East London."
Provincial General Hospital Comprehensive Care Centre (PGH CCC) in Kenya received AIDS United's 2012 Innovative Strategy Award for Access and Retention in HIV/AIDS Care, according to a press release. PGH CCC's intervention, the One Shilling Initiative, has its HIV-positive members from different care centers saving one shilling every day; the money is then put in a bank account to help other members. The health care facility is receiving $25,000 in unrestricted funding, and had all expenses paid for key staff to attend the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.
On the eve of meeting U.S. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, British Prime Minister David Cameron hosted a reception at 10 Downing Street for LGBT individuals during which he renewed his commitment to legalizing same-sex civil marriage, CNN reported. At the July 25 event, Cameron said that marriage is "something I feel passionately about and I think if it's good enough for straight people like me, it's good enough for everybody. [T]hat's why we should have gay marriage and we will legislate for it." Romney opposes marriage equality.
The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) launched a new publication featuring more than 100 abstracts on gay men, other men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people that were rejected from inclusion in the recent International AIDS Conference, according to PR Newswire. Entitled "Missing Voices from the Field," the publication highlights important new findings on major resource gaps in the MSM response as well as previously unseen epidemiological data from around the world. The full text is at www.msmgf.org/files/msmgf//documents/Missing_Voices.pdf.
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission recently honored Chilean Judge Karen Atala and U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, according to a press release. Atala won the first-ever Inter-American Court ruling to protect individuals from discrimination based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Baldwin is the first woman elected to Congress in Wisconsin and the first openly gay challenger ever elected to the U.S. Congress; she's currently running for the U.S. Senate.
In Scotland, gay-rights activists held a mock wedding outside Holyrood, the BBC reported. Outside the Edinburgh parliament, lesbians Jaye and Ruth Richards-Hill took part in a pseudo-wedding conducted by Rev. Jane Clarke of Metropolitan Community Church, which backs same-sex marriage. The couple—who were legally married in South Africa—said, "All we want is equality; the same rights as everyone else.
In Australia, a transgender prisoner at Ipswich has lost a case after claiming she was denied access to female-hormone drugs, according to the Fraser Coast Chronicle. Derek Sinden, who identifies as Thalia, said she would dress in girls' clothing when growing up; she became involved in the transgender community upon moving to Sydney. Wolston Correctional Center allowed Thalia to take a drug to block male-hormone production—but not in combination with a female hormone.
In Toronto, people are grieving over the loss of transgender activist Kyle Scanlan, who took his own life July 3, according to Advocate.com . One publication called Scanlon "a valued leader, gifted mentor, and much-loved friend." Scanlan helped found Toronto's Trans PULSE project and was also a member of the AIDS Bureau, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's Gay/Bi/Queer/Trans Men's Working Group.
The British House of Lords has launched a legal bid to pardon gay computer pioneer/codebreaker Alan Turing, according to the Manchester Evening News. Turing was convicted of gross indecency with another man in 1952; he was found dead at his home in 1954 after eating an apple laced with cyanide. Liberal Democrat Lord Sharkey introduced the bill in the House of Lords, while Manchester Withington MP John Leech will then try to take the bill through the House of Commons.
Vietnam's Communist government is considering whether to allow same-sex couples to marry or legally register and receive rights—which would make it the first Asian country to do so, according to the Huffington Post. Even longtime gay-rights activists are stunned by the Justice Ministry's proposal to include same-sex couples in its overhaul of the country's marriage law; they add that the fact that gay couples are being considered is a victory in itself.
In 2011, 6,795 couples had civil-partnership ceremonies in the United Kingdom—an increase of 6.4 percent over the previous year, according to the Telegraph. The number of dissolutions rose by more than a quarter; however, statisticians said this simply reflected the increasing number of people in civil partnerships. Prime Minister David Cameron and his Liberal Democrat deputy, Nick Clegg, want to go further and allow same-sex couples to marry.
South African Olympic archer Karen Hultzer came out as a lesbian to OutSports.com after her competition, according to an AfterEllen.com article. She said, "I am an archer, middle-aged and a lesbian. I am also cranky before my first cup of coffee. None of these aspects define who I am—they are simply part of me. I am fortunate that my sexual identity is not an issue, and I don't suffer the level of discrimination and violence that Black lesbians in South Africa do."
Hackers brought down a New Zealand website devoted to denying marriage equality, according to Advocate.com . The "Protect Marriage" website—which a group called Family First sponsors—was unavailable only a few hours into its initial launch. The web host called the hacking one of the "largest unprecedented attacks" on a website in that country.
Welsh soccer player Daniel Thomas' Twitter stream featured an anti-gay comment about British divers Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield after they narrowly missed out on a medal at the Olympics, Pink News reported. The anti-gay tweet read, "If there is any consolation for finishing fourth at least Daley and Waterfield can go and bum each other #teamHIV." Thomas denied sending the tweet, saying he is the victim of a "prank."
