Elizabeth Taylor ran an AIDS drug ring
Elizabeth Taylor ran an underground drug ring to deliver pharmaceuticals to AIDS patients in the 1980s, according to the actress’s protégée Kathy Ireland. Taylor was a vocal advocate of care for AIDS victims, but her illegal charity was unknown until now.
Austrian city scraps gay traffic lights
A right-wing municipal party in the Austrian city of Linz has decided to scrap traffic lights with symbols of same-sex couples. The lights were installed using private donations to increase acceptance of gay people, but the new government says traffic lights should not “impart advice on how to live your life.”
Australia, Venezuela get LGBT lawmakers
Venezuela has elected transgender woman Tamara Adrián to the country’s national assembly, representing the capital city of Caracas. She will be the country’s first openly trans lawmaker. Australia has also elected its first openly gay MP in a by-election. Australia has previously only had gay senators.
Chicago schoolboard deadlocked with feds over trans rights
An angry dispute has broken out in Chicago between a school board and the federal government over the rights of a transgender student. The government, which supported the student, announced that she and other trans students would be able to use the changeroom of her choice. The district disagrees, and says the settlement only applies to one student, and would require her to change behind a curtain.
Read more at the Chicago Tribune.
Bermuda ruling opens doors to equal marriage
A gay Bermuda couple is already planning their wedding as their lawyer files for the British territory’s first same-sex marriage licence. A recent decision by a Bermudian judge, based on new human rights law, theoretically opens the door to the two men’s marriage. Traditional attitudes on the island, however, may make things more complicated.
Read more at the Royal Gazette.
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