The Pope and head of the Russian Orthodox Church release statement against gay marriage

The Pope and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church have released a joint statement condemning same-sex marriage. The statement, consisting of 30 points, holds wide-reaching significance for Catholics and followers of the Orthodox Church. The main message of the statement seems to be the reconciliation of the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

In a similar vein to many statements made by the churches, the “family” was high on the agenda. One point calls family the “natural center of human life and society”, but they say they are “concerned about the crisis in the family in many countries”. They then say that “the family is based on marriage, an act of freely given and faithful love between a man and a woman.”

The Pope and the Patriarch are apparently worried that the “biblical tradition, of paternity and maternity as the distinct vocation of man and woman in marriage is being banished from the public conscience.” Read more via PinkNews 

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Saudi Arabia: This hashtag is filled with suggestions of how to kill gay people

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Burning and castration are just two modes of executions that have been suggested after a video was posted online that allegedly showed a same-sex wedding in Saudi Arabia.

Over the last few weeks, a new hashtag has begun spreading across Arabic-language social media: “#اقترح_طريقة_لقتل_الشواذ” which translates to “#suggest_a_way_to_kill_the_faggots.” The hashtag appeared to have been born after this video was posted online on January 25 with the hashtag “زواج_للشواذ_في_جدة#” which means “faggots’_wedding_ in_ Jeddah.” Read more via Buzzfeed 

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Saudi Arabia: YouTube stars call for gays to be executed

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Popular Saudi Arabian YouTubers posted a shockingly homophobic video to YouTube. Uploaded by Fe2aFala – popular Arabic vloggers who have more than 500,000 subscribers, racking up over 45 million views 

In a shocking video uploaded to the video site, the young men rant about “Deviant marriage in Riyadh”, apparently after a local raid of a ceremonial gay wedding. They added: “We would like to thank the police for beating their asses.”

The men continue to insist that gays are “disgusting and nasty”, asking Allah to send his “godly wrath” upon them. The men then discuss whether gays are “mentally ill” and needing a “cure” – or whether they are “animals” who need to be “executed in the most horrific ways”. After outcry, YouTube took action to pull the video, with a message now explaining though it has been re-uploaded. Read more via Pink News 

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UK: Absolute fear’ keeps gay athletes in the closet

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Athletes, business leaders and influential figures from the world of sport took part in a ground-breaking conference yesterday at the Aon offices in the iconic Leadenhall Building in the city of London. Team Pride: LGBT in Sports was created to bring the business world and sports world together to share resources, best practice and open up a dialogue on LGBT inclusion in the sporting world.

Why should the business world care about LGBT inclusion in sport? Chiefly because commercial sport depends on major sponsorship. According to former NBA player John Amaechi, ‘the business world is starting to look at the people they’re spending £45billion worth of sponsorship on, and they’re saying “How can we spend with you if what you stand for is opposed to what we stand for?”’ Read more via Gay Star News

Is the world finally waking up to intersex rights?

Research has found between 0.05% and 1.7% of the global population are born with intersex traits – biological sex characteristics that don’t conform to typical notions of male or female. The upper estimation is around the same number of red haired people, yet intersex people are far less visible.

There are at least 40 intersex variations, ranging from genetic, chromosomal, anatomic and hormonal. In countries with access to western healthcare, it has become common practice to subject intersex children to medical interventions to make their bodies fit into the male/female binary, with damaging results.

Last month a landmark directive on intersex rights was announced by the government of Chile. The ministry of health issued guidance to stop “normalisation” surgeries on intersex children. It is one of two countries in the world that has produced any formal guidelines preventing these medical interventions. The other is Malta, which in April 2015, was the first country to prohibit these surgeries by law.   Read more via the Guardian

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Thailand: A new gay web series that is worth your health

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Have we been waiting too long for a realistic storyline of native Asian gay men coping with their sexual health issues? The answer is yes. Despite efforts to expand the visibility of LGBT individuals on mainstream TV series and webseries, there's still not a lot out there that truly empower sexual health and rights of gay men who are living in Asia – the region that’s progressing sluggishly, if not the least, in standing up for health and rights of its sexual minorities.

The tide, however, will turn. GAYOK BANGKOK The Series, a webseries following the lives of six diverse gay men living in Bangkok and their drama – relationship, career, family and, most of all, sexual health – in a manner that Asian gay men can truly relate. 

Read more via Test BKK
 

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Netherlands: Court convicts, fines politician for anti-gay statements

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A Dutch court convicted former Amsterdam politician Delano Felter for comments he made in 2010 against homosexuals. He was fined one thousand euros by the court, which conditionally suspended half the amount for two years.

“The gay profile is simply too dominant. I think that there are too many gays in the government,” he told broadcaster AT5. These people with these sexual deviations must basically be contested by heterosexuals,” he said. The court found his comments “unnecessarily offensive,” and incited discrimination against a group of people.

Felter was the leader of the Republikeinse Moderne Partij, or Modern Republican Party, when he made the remarks on camera as part of a political debate. 

 Read more via Netherlands Times

 

Australia: Zero tolerance for gay 'conversion' therapy

The state government will attempt to crack down on so-called gay conversion therapy through a new public watchdog with the power to investigate people purporting to "cure" or suppress homosexuality. The move comes amid growing concerns that such practices remain prevalent in Australia – including alarming claims of shock treatment or aversion tactics being used in recent years in a bid to thwart same-sex attraction.

Legislation will be introduced into parliament later this year to establish a new watchdog – the Health Complaints Commissioner – with the power to investigate and sanction anyone claiming they can treat homosexuality.

While registered practitioners can already be investigated by authorities, the legislation will close a loophole that currently exists regarding unregistered practitioners making unproven claims that they can convert gay people. "If they are found to be making false claims and to be acting in a manner that puts people's physical, mental or psychological health, safety or welfare at risk, the Commissioner will be able to ban them from providing such services," said Health Minister Jill Hennessy. Read more via The Age

US: Opt-out screening can improve acceptance of HIV testing

Compared with active choice testing, opt-out screening can substantially increase HIV testing, and opt-in schemes may reduce testing, a new study has suggested.

"Our study provides evidence that small changes in wording can significantly affect patients' behavior and thus our understanding of their preferences. Specifically, modifying HIV testing defaults led to clinically and statistically significant differences in test acceptance percentages." 

"We found that active choice testing, although previously considered a form of opt-in testing, is a distinct category: compared with a strict opt-in scheme informing patients that they can request a test, simply asking patients if they would like a test increased test acceptance by 13 percentage points," the authors write.

In an accompanying editorial, Jason S. Haukoos. MD, and Sarah E. Rowan, MD, both from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, emphasize that, "the study by Montoy and colleagues represents one of the largest trials to evaluate consent for HIV testing among emergency department patients, and the only one to do it in a randomized fashion but with particular focus on the efficacy of the various consent options." Read more via MedScape

New stamps promoting LGBT equality worldwide unveiled at UN

The United Nations Postal Administration unveiled a set of six commemorative stamps to promote UN Free & Equal – a global UN campaign for LGBT equality launched and led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The new stamps mark the first time the United Nations has issued stamps with this theme. In an interview, the artist who designed them, Sergio Baradat said he was very influenced by art from the first quarter of the 20th Century. 

“One of the stamps represents someone who is transgender,” Mr. Baradat said, referring to the stamp that depicts a person with butterfly wings, an image he says represents a person “becoming who they really are, blossoming." "We live in a world where even though [developed] nations have embraced marriage equality [and] LBGT equality, we still have a far, far, far way to go, but we are making some strides,” he added.  Read more via the UN 

Manoj Bajpayee And Rajkummar Rao Are Urging India To Be More LGBT-inclusive

Aligarh actors Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao, and director Hansal Mehta, released a video in support of the movement to slash Section 377 which criminalises homosexuality in India. 

They urged viewers to challenge the law, and to embrace open-mindedness about sexualities. Read more