UK DVD scrubbed of gay content in US version
The DVD cover for the movie Pride, about 1980s gay activists who support striking mine workers, has been sanitized of all gay content in its US version. A banner reading “Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners” is photoshopped out, and the cover description calls the group “London-based activists,” deleting any reference to their sexuality.
Clergy defect from civil marriage
A group of Christian clergy have decided that, if governments insist on legalizing gay marriage, they will give up on marriage as a civil institution altogether. Written by two Toronto theologians, “The Marriage Pledge” asks clergy to perform only religious marriages and refuse to sign government documents. Couples, they say, should get documents separately from a judge or government office. So far, 370 people, mostly clergy, have signed the pledge.
Read more at The New York Times.
Men arrested in Egyptian bathhouse raid begin defence
Lawyers for 26 men who were arrested in a Cairo bathhouse began their defence Jan 4. The men were charged with debauchery and performing indecent public acts, and many underwent examinations to determine if they had had anal sex. The defence said that the investigation was faulty and based on only one police officer’s testimony and that the men had suffered psychological duress from media coverage.
Read more at The New York Times.
Trans mayor elected in India
Trans candidate Madhu Kinnar has been elected mayor of the Indian city of Raigarh. Kinnar is an independent and beat a candidate from India’s ruling BJP. “People have shown faith in me. I consider this win as love and blessings of people for me. I’ll put in my best efforts to accomplish their dreams,” Madhu told New Delhi TV.
Canadian couple first to marry in a Mennonite church
Craig Friesen and Matt Wiens of Saskatoon were married New Year’s Eve in a Mennonite church, a first in Canada. The Mennonite church is officially opposed to same-sex marriage but decided last year to allow individual churches to make their own decisions.
Jamaican woman attacked by neighbour for living with a woman
A Jamaican woman says her neighbour attacked her with a meat cleaver because she was living with another woman and the neighbour assumed she was a lesbian. According to her account, the neighbour spread kerosene on her door and broke into her house twice before attacking her, leaving her with cuts on her neck and back.
Read more at the Jamaica Observer.
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