Mail ballots, massage parlours and a gay icon

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

Australian marriage fight shifts to mail-in vote

Australia is floating the possibility of a legally-questionable non-binding mail-in ballot as the next step in determining the future of same-sex marriage. The ballot could allow parliament to go ahead with equal marriage without a costly and controversial plebiscite. [Associated Press]

Trump trans ban would cost one billion

US President Donald Trump’s proposal to ban transgender people from the military would cost the military nearly one billion dollars, according to a new report. That’s one hundred times as much as the trans healthcare costs the president said he was trying to cut. [Complex]

Russian gay journalist threatened with deportation

A European human rights court has temporarily blocked the deportation of a gay journalist back to Uzbekistan, where homosexuality is illegal. Khudoberdy Nurmatov fled Uzbekistan after being tortured by security forces. [ABC News]

UK gay paper fights over “gay icon” article

The UK gay online newspaper Pink News has started an online tussle by reporting on internet commentary calling Prince George a “gay icon” because of a recent photo. The article sparked a war of words between the newspaper’s editor and a notable anti-gay politician. [The Daily Mail]

Kuwait wages campaign against gay massage parlours

Kuwait’s morals committee says it has deported 76 gay people and shut down 22 massage parlours this year in a campaign against homosexuality. Gay men in Kuwait can face ten years in prison. [Gulf News]

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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