Catholic beer, Kyrgyzstan propaganda and closet blackmail

Your Daily Package of newsy and naughty bits from around the world


Mexican activist threatens to reveal gay politicians unless marriage goes forward

An LGBT activist in Baja California says he will release a list of closeted gay politicians, officials and Catholic priests unless the government allows a gay couple to get married. The couple has tried three times to marry at Mexicali city hall, but the ceremony has been repeatedly blocked by clerks, the mayor and even a woman who gives compulsory pre-wedding advice to couples, even though the Mexican Supreme Court has given the green light.

Read more at La Jornada.

Russia: Trans drivers can stay on the road

Russian officials have clarified that yes, trans people are allowed to drive. A new Russian law banning those with psychological disorders from obtaining drivers licences recently sparked fears that trans people would be banned from the road. Part of the problem with the Russian law stems from a World Health Organization classification that still labels transsexualism as a disease.

Read more at Reuters.

MillerCoors chairman backs away from anti-gay Catholic group

The Human Rights Campaign says it has successfully lobbied beer company MillerCoors’ chairman to back out of a retreat with Legatus, a Catholic group that supports conversion therapy and calls homosexuality “one of the greatest delusions of our age.” Representatives for MillerCoors say chairman Pete Coors “was previously unaware of the controversy surrounding Legatus’s position on LGBT issues and will not be participating at their upcoming meeting.”

Read more from the Human Rights Campaign.

Austria lifts ban on gay adoption

The constitutional court of Austria has ruled that gay couples must be allowed to adopt children because there is “no objective argument for a differing rule based solely on sexual orientation.” Gay couples cannot marry in Austria but have many of the same rights as heterosexual couples. Until now, however, they could adopt a child only if one of the couple was the child’s biological parent.

Read more from the Associated Press.

 

European Parliament asks Kyrgyzstan to drop gay-propaganda law

The European Parliament has called on Kyrgyzstan to drop a law that would criminalize saying anything good about gay people. The Kyrgyzstani bill forbids disseminating information “aimed at forming positive attitudes toward non-traditional sexual relations.” The bill seems modelled after similar legislation from Russia, which has been working to exert influence on the region.

Read more from the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights.

Image credit: Mexicali contra la homofobia

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Niko Bell

Niko Bell is a writer, editor and translator from Vancouver. He writes about sexual health, science, food and language.

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