Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy comes out
With a tweet, and a flashy cover story in ESPN Magazine, Olympic freestyle skier and silver medalist Gus Kenworthy has come out as gay. Kenworthy was known during the Sochi Olympics for helping to save stray Russian dogs, but said the event wasn’t “the right time” to come out.
Same-sex civil unions begin in Chile
Dozens of gay couples rushed to take advantage of Chile’s new law permitting same-sex civil unions, which came into effect Oct 22. LGBT activists applauded the new law, but say they won’t be satisfied until Chile celebrates full marriage equality.
Read more at the Washington Post.
San Diego firm says it can undercut price-gouging pharma CEO
A San Diego pharmaceutical company says it can produce for $1 the pill for which Turing CEO Martin Shkreli wanted $750. Shkreli raised the price of the medication Daraprim, which can be vital for HIV and cancer patients, from $13.50 to $750, before backing down under pressure. Imprimis Pharmaceutical says it can now do one better, producing a similar drug for pennies.
A long road for LGBT Syrians
At BuzzFeed, J Lester Feder tells the stories of LGBT Syrians running for their lives from persecution at home. Too many, he writes, hit the dead ends of indifference, bureaucracy and insolvency before they can reach their dream of freedom.
Slovenia will vote on marriage equality
A referendum will decide whether Slovenia gets marriage equality, the country’s high court decided today. Slovenia is in a standoff between parliament, which passed a marriage equality bill, and a Catholic-backed citizens movement that gathered enough signatures to spark a referendum.
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