Russia doesn’t want gay Finnish postage stamps (Russia)
Notoriously anti-gay Russian politician Vitaly Milonov is calling for his country to ban Finnish postage stamps bearing artwork by erotic artist Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland. “They are basically elements of homosexual propaganda, which is banned in our country,” Milonov says. The stamps were so popular in Finland when they went on sale that there were lines around the block to buy them.
Catholic bishops on new gay policy: Nope (Vatican City)
Catholic bishops at a synod on family life voted down new inclusive language toward gay people. A proposal presented at the gathering had urged bishops to include the phrases “accepting and valuing” gay sexual orientation and offering “a welcoming home” to gay people. Even after the proposal was severely watered down, it still failed to get the two-thirds majority necessary to pass, though it did receive more than 50 percent of the vote.
Scientists say first-ever sex was done sideways (Australia)
In a study published in the journal Nature, researchers at Flinders University in Australia say that the first animals to have sex did it sideways, not face to face. According to the researchers, male fish living in lakes more than 380 million years ago used their tiny hands to swing their giant L-shaped penises sideways between female genital plates that were “like cheese-graters.” Sounds like fun.
Gay men kicked off London bus for kissing (UK)
Two gay men say they were kicked off a bus in London after giving each other a “peck on the lips.” They told the London Evening Standard the bus driver told them that their behaviour was “disgusting” and that “it is my bus; it is my rules” before ordering them off the bus. Transport for London says it is investigating the complaint.
Read more at the London Evening Standard.
Seoul mayor retracts gay marriage support (Korea)
After telling The San Francisco Examiner earlier this month that he personally supported gay rights and hoped Korea would be the first Asian country to legalize gay marriage, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon backtracked Oct 20 after recieving a flood of angry complaints. The city government clarified that Park was suggesting only that gay marriage might happen in Korea, not that he hoped it would. Korea’s Christian minority, about 20 percent of the population, is vocally opposed to gay rights.
Obama: Gay marriage is a constitutional right (USA)
President Barack Obama told The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin that he believes the courts should ultimately mandate gay marriage in all 50 American states, even though his administration has not yet argued that case in court. He also said that the Supreme Court’s best decision during his tenure was to allow states to make their own decisions on gay marriage. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court refused to hear appeals of seven gay-marriage cases in five states, all ruling in favour of gay marriage. This means the decisions will stand and signals the end of the road for gay-marriage opponents in those states. Obama says that allowing states to strike down gay marriage individually is even more important than striking down the Defense of Marriage Act last year.
Read Jeffrey Toobin’s analysis at The New Yorker.
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