Police break up Moscow Pride, arrest activists
Police have arrested a group of Russian LGBT activists who attempted to hold an illegal Moscow Pride protest. On Saturday, the small group of activists defied the authorities by staging the Pride demonstration at Tverskaya Square. Scuffles quickly broke out between the LGBT activists and anti-gay protesters. Nikolai Alexeyev, one of the Pride organisers was […]
Australian big business backs gay marriage
Over fifty of Australia’s biggest businesses have come out in support of allowing same-sex couples to legally marry. The corporations took out a full-page open letter in Friday’s The Australian newspaper, announcing that “corporate Australia supports marriage equality”. The companies behind the letter include the likes of ANZ bank, Bank of Melbourne, Deloitte, EY, Google, […]
Kazakhstani “gay propaganda” bill blocked
In a victory for human rights, Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Council has rejected a proposed Russian-style ‘gay propaganda’ bill. The pending legislation was on Tuesday deemed unconstitutional because of the bill’s vague wording. Human Rights Watch welcomed the move. “Laws that construe information about sexual orientation as ‘propaganda’ have no place in Kazakhstan,” commented Mihra Rittmann, researcher […]
Kenyan Catholic priest calls for gay tolerance
A Catholic priest in Kenya has urged fellow African Christian leaders to be tolerant and accepting of gays and lesbians. According to Daily Nation, Fr Ambrose Kimutai, from the Segemik Catholic Parish in Kericho, said that Christians should love homosexuals as they are also “children of God”. “Kenya is a secular country, not a Christian […]
Merkel says “nein” to gay marriages
Despite growing pressure to legalise same-sex marriage across Europe, the German government says it has no plans to do so. While registered life partnerships for same-sex couples were implemented in 2001, offering most of the same rights as heterosexual marriages, full marriage equality is still not a reality in Germany. Last week’s overwhelming vote in […]
Ugandan tabloid outs gays at Pride “sex fest”
A Ugandan tabloid has published photos of gay Ugandans celebrating Pride in Birmingham, describing the event as “a sex fest”. The pictures of exiled Ugandan LGBT activists from the Out & Proud Diamond Group were splashed on the front cover of Thursday’s edition of Hello Daily. A number of African and Commonwealth LGBT activists marched […]
Complaint laid against homophobic Afrikaans gospel singer
Afrikaans gospel singer Suné Botha has outraged members of the LGBT community with her homophobic comments calling on God to punish gay people. In a May 24 post on her Facebook page, Botha wrote that she was shocked to hear that Ireland had recently voted to legalise same-sex marriage. “How sick,” she said. “And how contrary […]
Are South African gays among the world’s happiest?
An online survey has found that South African gays live pretty happy lives, relative to most of the rest of the world. The claim stems from a massive global “gay happiness” survey of 115,000 gay men by the Planet Romeo dating site, in collaboration with Germany’s Johannes Gutenberg University. In the index, South Africa rates […]
Vatican slams Ireland’s gay marriage vote
The Vatican says that Ireland’s overwhelming vote to legalise same-sex marriage last week is a “defeat for humanity.” On Tuesday, a senior Vatican official, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, spoke out against the outcome of the predominately Catholic country’s referendum at a press conference in Rome, reported The Guardian. Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State and described […]
Justice served! Killer gets two life sentences for horror lesbian murder
Activists have welcomed the two life terms handed out to the man who brutally murdered Disebo Gift Makau, an openly lesbian woman, in August last year. The Potchefstroom High Court last week sentenced Stoffel Pule Motlhokwane to life in prison for rape, life for murder, and 15 years for robbery. Motlhokwane was found guilty of raping […]