SCOTUS, Vagina Monologues and big Mexican balls

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


Baja California couple to sue mayor for blocking marriage

Two men in Baja California who were denied marriage despite an order from the Mexican supreme court say they will sue the mayor and city officials who blocked their ceremony. The mayor and officials at Mexicali City Hall cited paperwork problems and came up with excuses to avoid marrying the couple four times. Daily Show–style Mexican comedy show El Pulso de la República weighed in on the stupidity of the officials and the impressiveness of the plaintiffs’ balls.

US Supreme Court to hear gay marriage case

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case on whether states can ban gay marriage, opening up the possibility of ending the American gay-marriage fight for good. The case will review decisions in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee that upheld the right to same-sex marriage. Given the past year’s developments in equal-marriage rights, writes Chris Geidner at BuzzFeed, the outcome will almost certainly be victory for gay couples.

ISIS kills two men for homosexuality

ISIS has released graphic photos of the execution of two men for alleged homosexuality, this time by being thrown from a roof. The photos also show a woman stoned to death for alleged adultery. ISIS has made the death penalty for homosexuality common practice, though many suspect it is used as an excuse for political murders.

Read more on BuzzFeed (graphic content).

Michael Sam is engaged

Michael Sam, the first openly gay man drafted into the NFL, has announced he is engaged to his boyfriend, Vito Cammisano. Best of all, Sam tweeted out a picture of himself proposing on top of St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Women’s college ditches Vagina Monologues

Mount Holyoke, a women’s college in Massachusetts, has decided to end a yearly tradition of performing Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, because organizers say it is insensitive to trans people. “Gender is a wide and varied experience, one that cannot simply be reduced to biological or anatomical distinctions, and many of us who have participated in the show have grown increasingly uncomfortable presenting material that is inherently reductionist and exclusive,” a representative of the college’s theatre board wrote in an email. Some students were displeased, complaining online that “female-validating talk about vaginas is now forbidden.”

 

Read more at Campus Reform.

UK group considers gay school

An LGBT youth group in the North of England is considering founding a dedicated school for young gay people. Advocates for the group say mainstream schools are not equipped to handle anti-gay bullying, and a protected environment could prevent gay youth suicides. A senior Conservative MP, however, says the plan amounts to “segregation” and would be a step backward in promoting tolerance.

Read more at the Telegraph.

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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