World

Fun and Gay Games in Cologne

The world’s biggest sports and cultural festival, the Gay Games has been hailed a success with almost 10,000 participants from 70 countries gathering to compete in Cologne, Germany last month.

Australia was well represented, with 365 athletes competing in a wide range of sports across the week-long games. (more…)

Proposition 8 Just Won’t Die

Celebrations over the demise of California’s Proposition 8 were short-lived last month as the ruling was immediately appealed to the next level of the judiciary.

US District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker struck down the proposition on August 4, deeming it unconstitutional, but left the marriage ban in place for now.

Since the ruling, the case has come into question over a technicality. (more…)

UK Domestic Violence Crack-Down
A British police force has targeted same-sex domestic violence with the launch of an advertising campaign urging victims to come forward. The West Yorkshire police force unveiled their ‘We Won’t Turn Our Back’ campaign in response to over 400 incidents reported by victims of abusive gay and lesbian relationships in the last year. The poster uses images of men and women with footprints and injuries across their backs. Pink News reported many studies had found that victims of domestic abuse, especially gay men were often too embarrassed to report these crimes. (more…)

Vienna Hosts World’s Leading AIDS Conference

Two thousand activists stormed the opening ceremony of the recent International AIDS Conference in Vienna, broadcasting the message ‘No retreat – fund AIDS’.

AIDS 2010 Co-Chair Dr Julio Montaner couldn’t hide his disappointment and frustration at the recent G8/20 meetings, condemning the recent meetings as having failed the HIV/AIDS community. (more…)

The Science of Lesbianism

Lesbianism came under the microscope this month as stories of anti-lesbian drugs and female-on-female mice surfaced in international news.

Firstly, three US academics have blown the whistle on a steroid that prevents masculine qualities in prenatal girls – labelled the anti-lesbian drug.

Northwestern University bio-ethicist Alice Dredger and two colleagues described the controversial use of Dexamethasone, a steroid used by pregnant women to eliminate the chance of infant girls developing a genetic condition that can lead to the development of ambiguous genitalia in the womb. (more…)

World News Briefs - August

Olympic Pride
Proving to be good sports, the London 2012 Olympic committee have released a memento in support of the LGBT community. The first in a series of six pin badges to be released, the LGBT-focused souvenir displays the 2012 logo set against the pride rainbow flag. The other five badges will address five other areas of diversity such as age, ethnicity and disability. Openly gay rugby player Gareth Thomas said it was great to see the committee reaching out to all communities and making sure that London 2012 are a games for everyone. (more…)

Gender on the Agenda in Barcelona

Over 700 gender-diverse leaders and activists from 60 countries congregated in Barcelona last month for the first-ever International Congress on Gender Identity and Human Rights.

Forming a collective voice for this minority, the conference toiled away on establishing their common hurdles, present demands and future solutions. (more…)

Desperately Seeking Asylum

Against the odds, a gay Uzbekistan man who ‘lived with terror everyday’ won asylum in the US last month for fear that he would be persecuted for his sexual orientation if he returned to his country.

The US Department of Homeland Security issued the grant and reported a high-risk of torture and abuse.

The Uzbek man, who could not be named out of fear of continued persecution said he was arrested and abused by police for having an intimate relationship with a man. (more…)

World News Briefs - July

Violence at San Fran Pride
There was bloodshed at this year’s San Francisco Pride Parade with one teenager shot dead and two others gunned down, resulting in non-life threatening conditions. Two men, aged 20 and 21, were then shot while attending a vigil for 19-year-old Stephen Powell who was killed at the weekend pride event. AP reported Powell was shot multiple times during a street party while local police have said the shooting was gang-related. Police have arrested a 20-year-old for Powell’s death while there are no suspects identified for the two other shootings. (more…)

Malawian President Bows to International Pressure

A presidential pardon has released two gay Malawian men who were sentenced to 14-years in jail, just weeks after their sentencing.

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika pardoned the couple on humanitarian grounds after a meeting with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on May 29.

Ban expressed great confidence in the Malawian Government and hoped this move would encourage the nation to update its current laws to the international standard. (more…)