ISRAEL – The speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Reuven Rivlin, has angered conservative Knesset members (MKs) for stating that he plans to meet gay community leaders during gay Pride month. Nissim Ze’ev, an MK, said, “I am astonished over the Knesset speaker’s decision to host so-called gay families. I can’t understand his motive.” The Jerusalem…
SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s ambassador to Uganda, Jon Qwelane, has been found guilty of hate speech for an anti-gay column he wrote before his appointment. The South African Human Rights Commission’s spokesman Vincent Moaga said a judge ruled that the newspaper column in question, which was headlined Call me names, but gay is not…
NEPAL – Nepal’s Central Bureau of Statistics has given official recognition to gay and transgender people in this year’s Nepalese census. For the first time data was collected on the third gender from 5.6 million households across the country. This has been seen as a major victory for equality in a country that only decriminalized…
GRENADA – On the eastern Caribbean island of Grenada, officials have arrested a man for engaging in sexual activities with another male, the Associated Press reported. The 41-year-old man was charged for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old man, Grenada’s director of public prosecution, Christopher Nelson, said last week. The age of sexual consent in…
BRAZIL – The results of Brazil’s 2010 national census recognized 60,000 same-sex couples. For the first time, the census contained a question asking if those interviewed formed a same-sex couple. The results were published by the governments official Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Toni Reis, president of the national LGBT association ABGLT, was surprised…
AUSTRALIA – A peaceful protest by marriage equality advocates in Adelaide, Australia, to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, ended in violence after members of the Adelaide Christian Street Church disrupted the demonstration. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the scuffle began when a woman was pushed off her wheelchair by a Christian protester. “A…
Violence has marred previous Pride parades in Moscow. RUSSIA – Moscow city officials have rejected an application for a gay Pride parade to be held in the city center later this month, citing a risk of public disorder. The organizers said in a statement that they received a letter last week from Moscow city hall…
UGANDA – Supporters of anti-gay legislation being introduced in Uganda look set to lose the battle to introduce the death sentence for what they describe as “aggravated homosexuality.” The bill, first introduced in October 2009, was ostensibly shelved by Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni following an international outcry. However, public hearings on the bill have taken…
UNITED KINGDOM – Two drag queens have been savagely attacked in the northern British city of Liverpool. Drag artist Lady Shaun, well-known in the gay community as a street entertainer, is recovering from a broken jaw after she was knocked out by a man who punched her in the face. She told the Liverpool Echo,…
SOUTH AFRICA – Human Rights Watch (HRW), one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights, has said the murder of a South African lesbian activist who was stoned and stabbed to death is part of an “epidemic” of hate crimes against gays. Noxolo Nogwaza, a 24-year-old member of the…
