Italian mag’s gay rugby kiss cover furore
Italian sports fans have reacted with both anger and praise after a local magazine featured two gay rugby players proudly kissing on its cover. SportWeek cover stars Giacomo and Stefano are a couple who play together in Italy’s first gay-friendly amateur rugby team, Rome’s Libera Rugby. The photo of their on-field smooch is accompanied by […]
US military set to allow transgender service members
Almost four years after lifting the ban on gay service members, the US military looks set to do the same for transgender personnel. On Monday, US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter Carter announced a working group to study the “policy and readiness implications” of allowing transgender service members to serve openly. He acknowledged in a […]
Angela Merkel says gay unions cannot be called marriage
German leader Angela Merkel says she does not believe that a union between people of the same sex can be described as a marriage. Merkel, who’s been criticised by some for her hard-line stance towards Greece’s economic woes, made the comments in an interview with YouTube personality Florian Mundt. “I’m someone who is very supportive […]
Watch: Men holding hands abused, attacked in Moscow
Two brave Russian men have filmed the shocking reactions of passers-by when they dared to walk through Moscow holding hands. The men from Chebrussia TV decided to conduct the “social experiment” following the recent legalisation of same-sex marriage in America to see what response ordinary Russians would have to their very tame same-sex public affection. […]
Pope invites gay rights activist to meeting
In what’s believed to a first, Pope Francis invited the head of an LGBT rights group to attend an official discussion during a visit to Paraguay. Simón Cazal, director and co-founder of the organisation SomosGay (We are gay), was surprised to be asked to take part in a roundtable, in which civil society representatives met […]
Watch: Video of Nigeria collapse church’s gay exorcism
A disturbing video has emerged of the “exorcism” of a man said to be possessed by a gay demon at preacher T.B. Joshua’s infamous church in Nigeria. Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All Nations made headlines in September last year after a multi-storey church guest house collapsed in Lagos, killing 116 people, 81 of whom were South Africans. The video, […]
Exclusive! Afrikaans pop singer comes out, reveals marriage plans
Afrikaans pop singer Leroi has revealed that he is gay and is planning to marry his boyfriend next month. Leroi (Leroi Janse Van Rensburg) started singing and realised his passion for being on stage and performing when he was 16. He went on to make it to the top 25 of Supersterre and the top […]
Two men tortured and jailed for three weeks for being gay
Reports have emerged of the brutal detention and torture of two men in Lebanon for being gay. According to L’Orient-Le Jour, the men, Omar*, a 30-year-old engineer, and Samer*, 25, were driving together in Southern Lebanon on 9 June when they were arrested, initially for drug possession. At a military checkpoint, officers found half a gram […]
Anti-gay fervour spikes ahead of Obama’s Kenya visit
As homophobic incidents spread ahead of President Obama’s visit to Kenya later this month, the White House says that the American leader may well address LGBT rights during the trip. Obama’s pending visit has ignited a firestorm of anti-gay sentiment in Kenya, as politicians and traditional and religious leaders have warned him not to bring […]
Wow! Almost a billion people now live with marriage equality
It’s been revealed that around 929 million people now live in countries or areas in which same-sex marriage is legal. That’s almost one-seventh of the global population! The astonishing statistic was compiled by Australian LGBT rights activist, Tony Pitman from the Melbourne Ports Residents for Marriage Equality. He explained that the most recent and dramatic […]