Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Taipei Saturday for Asia’s largest gay rights parade, with many urging parliament to push through a controversial bill recognizing same-sex marriage. Supporters from Taiwan and abroad waved placards reading “equal marriage rights” and “support gay marriage” as they marched through the capital for the 12th…
LONDON — When Jack James, 23, received a peck on his lips from his boyfriend while riding a No. 89 bus near Blackheath, Southeast London last August, probably the last thing he was expecting was to be ordered off the bus. But that is exactly what happened and has just now come to light in…
The Kyrgyzstan National Assembly has undertaken an initial vote to pass new harsh anti-LGBT legislation during its first reading. According to Radio Free Europe, 79 members of the Kyrgyz parliament voted in favor of the legislation, while seven voted against it. Two more parliamentary votes are required before the legislation is submitted to Kyrgyz President…
Compared to its Muslim neighbors, Turkey can seem like an oasis of tolerance. While legal protections for members of the LGBT community are virtually non-existent, Turkey also has a firmly established history of individual liberties that prevents, say, public hangings and other acts of barbarism to be directed toward members of the sexual minority. But…
SOUTH KOREA — The mayor of the South Korean capital Seoul has become the first mainstream politician in the country to endorse marriage between same-sex couples, reports GayAsiaNews.com. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon told the San Francisco Examiner that he hoped South Korea would become the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. “I personally…
GENEVA — “HIV and AIDS is not just a public health issue. It is a multi-layered social issue – an issue churches in West Africa should not ignore,” says Rev. Godson Lawson, a pastor in the Methodist Church in Togo, a country where 110,000 people are living with HIV and 6,600 lives have been lost…
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) today commended Catholic leaders meeting in Rome for using new, inclusive language in referring to the LGBT community. The preliminary but potentially ground-breaking document released today by the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops asserted that LGBT people have “gifts and talents to offer the Christian community,” and, for the first time,…
TURKEY — A new umbrella organization has been established to fight homophobia and transphobia in Turkey, the Islamic country that straddles Europe and Asia, reports GayAsiaNews.com In existence less than two months, Turkey LGBTI Union was created in order to ensure unity and solidarity among LGBTI groups, LGBTI Web sites and LGBTI organizations, Burçin Bordanacı…
BANGKOK — Thai authorities are raising awareness about HIV and are encouraging testing among gay men and transgender people by embarking on new and novel campaigns that include bare-chested male models in a glitzy ballroom dancing to house music while dozens of young gay men get their blood tested, reports GayAsiaNews.com. The party for gay…
The Harvey Milk Foundation, a global organization that promotes Harvey Milk’s legacy through human rights education and global outreach efforts, announced today that Ambassador Nancy Brinker and her son, Eric Brinker, will join Stuart Milk, nephew of the late civil rights leader Harvey Milk and co-founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation Oct. 9 in Budapest,…
