Ancient gays, daring dictionaries and the Kiss Cam

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


Kiss Cam catches gay kiss at Dodger Stadium

The baseball tradition of pointing a camera at fans to make them kiss on the big screen went gay for the first time at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in May. Two gay baseball fans kissed on camera, and were rewarded with cheers and applause from the crowd.

Read more at Towleroad.

Yes, there were same-sex marriages before 2001

In oral arguments before the US Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito asked if there was any precedent for same-sex marriage in human civilization before legalization in the Netherlands in 2001. Mary Bonauto, arguing for same-sex marriage, was apparently caught unawares and answered that she knew of none. Experts were quick to point out that Bonauto was very wrong. At Philly.com, cross-cultural psychology professor Mariah Schug points out that Native American cultures and the Sudanese Azande civilization both practiced same-sex marriage, while livescience.com adds in Rome, Samoa, Mexico, Indiam and Thailand.

OED considers gender neutral honorific

The Oxford English Dictionary is considering the gender-neutral honorific “Mx” as an alternative to “Mr” or “Ms” according to one editor. The word, which is pronounced “mix” or “mux,” has come into use in the UK on official documents, and has now been flagged for inclusion in the dictionary.

Read more at the Advocate.

UK court grants child to gay couple in surrogacy dispute

A UK court has decided that a baby girl born through surrogacy will be removed from her mother and given to the gay couple who donated sperm to conceive her. The court ruled that the woman deliberately deceived the couple, and intended to keep the baby all along. In Britain there are no legally binding rules for surrogacy, and mothers are usually under no legal obligation to give up a child.

Read more from Reuters.

US immigration can’t handle third gender passports

 

The United States has no process to handle passports with a gender other than “male” or “female,” even though a fifth of the world’s population now lives in countries that offer third gender or non-gendered passports, says Buzzfeed. The problem came to a head over an Indian activist whose entry was delayed because her passport identified her as “T” for “transgender.”

Niko Bell

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

Read More About:
Power, Blog, News, The Daily Package

Keep Reading

The new generation of gay Conservative sellouts

OPINION: Melissa Lantsman’s and Eric Duncan’s refusals to call out their party’s transphobia is a betrayal of the LGBTQ2S+ community

Over 300 anti-LGBTQ2S+ bills have been introduced this year. This doesn’t mean we should panic

OPINION: While it’s important to watch out for threats, not all threats are created equally. Some of these bills will die a natural death

Xtra’s top LGBTQ2S+ stories of the year

The best and brightest—even most bewildering—stories from a back catalogue brimming with insight

Elon Musk and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton are suing Media Matters. Here’s why queer and trans people should care

OPINION: When politicians and the rich leverage the power of the state to quell dissent, we all lose