Walmart, Ellen and synthetic marijuana

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


Obama on Ellen

Watch US President Barack Obama on the Ellen show, where he told the lesbian icon she’s done as much for gay rights as he has.

Indonesia bans gay emojis

The Indonesian government has demanded that messaging apps, including WhatsApp, remove gay themed emojis or face a countrywide ban. The decision is part of a broader crackdown on LGBT culture in the country, including banning gay student groups and blocking HIV education.

Lesbian couple jailed in Kuwait

An American lesbian couple have been jailed in Kuwait on what her family says are invented drug charges. They were arrested for possession of synthetic marijuana, which is legal in Kuwait, but prosecutors later said they possessed a pound of hash. The couple’s lawyer says the charges are really about their “alternative lifestyle.”

Read more at Click on Detroit.

Lawsuit challenges Walmart benefits denial

A legal advocacy group in Washington, DC, is launching a class action suit against Walmart for denying family benefits to the spouses of same-sex married employees. They say up to 1,200 employees were illegally denied health benefits, including a lesbian couple who were hit with $150,000 in uninsured medical costs after one contracted ovarian cancer.

Saudi Twitter embraces “kill a faggot” hashtag

After reports of a secret gay wedding the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, the hashtag “suggest a way to kill the faggots” in Arabic started trending on Twitter. There are doubts that the supposed wedding ever really happened.

Read more at BuzzFeed.

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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