The United Nations Free & Equal campaign presents the first-ever Bollywood music video for gay rights, featuring Bollywood star and Miss India winner Celina Jaitly.

The post Bollywood comes out for LGBT rights first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger were among the first to have their marriage legally recognized in England after
previously marrying overseas.

BY CANDY PARKER
Lesbian.com

Same-sex couples across England and Wales were celebrating at the stroke of midnight Friday as gay marriage became legal.

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said the reform was necessary because “when people’s love is divided by law, it is that law that needs to change,” adding that the change sent a “powerful message” about equality in Britain.

While many rushed to secure the title as first couple to wed after the law took effect on March 29, others saw their previously performed overseas marriages become legally binding earlier in the month when the new law enabled couples to register their intent to marry under the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act.

Among those who saw their overseas marriages legalized on March 13 were Sue Wilkinson, 60, and Celia Kitzinger, 57, who were married in Canada in 2003 and fought for eight years to have their union recognized at home.

In celebration, the couple cracked open champagne and put on the wedding rings they had not worn in England since losing their high court battle for recognition eight years ago.

“At midnight (on March 13) we were just by ourselves at a secret romantic hideaway deep in the country, and we actually opened the window of our room and we heard the bells of the local church ringing midnight,” said Wilkinson. “And when the church clock went ‘bong’ we put on our rings and opened a bottle of champagne. It was just magical, special, lovely.”

The post Cheers, England, Wales toast equal marriage first appeared on Lesbian.com.

In the wake of Uganda making law its “Jail the Gays” legislation, it’d be easy to be alarmist about the situation. That said, there really is reason to believe that Uganda’s attack on the LGBT rights is turning deadly. Just hours after President Yoweri Museveni signed Uganda’s Jail the Gays bill into law, Ugandan tabloid the Red Pepper published a front page completed by the headline:

“EXPOSED! Uganda’s 200 Top Homos Named”

This headline appeared alongside head shots of some of the “homos” the paper aimed to out, including two well known LGBT rights activists.  Reports say that since Museveni signed the bill into law, there have been at least two confirmed arrests, with several more remaining unconfirmed but highly likely. In tragic addition to that, there are stories that people have in fact taken their own lives rather than risk being mercilessly oppressed under Uganda’s new anti-gay law.

Read more at Care2.com

Care2 is the largest online community of people passionate about making a difference.

The post High stakes: Gay Ugandans suffer tabloid fall-out first appeared on Lesbian.com.

BY MORGAN WELCH

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has announced at his daughter’s wedding that, as he was just informed that there are LGBT people in his country, he wants to “check on who is in that group.” According to Towleroad, he “has an extensive history of fiercely anti-gay remarks”—including a statement that since two men cannot make a baby, they should be decapitated.

Adding to the unlikelihood that Mugabe was genuinely ignorant of the existence of the local LGBT community, the Gays and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ) has been active in the country for years—and a case brought against it by the Zimbabwean government itself was thrown out only days before his speech.

Mugabe also marked his eighty-eighth birthday party with a speech telling LGBT people to “go to hell,” and his ninetieth urging citizens to reject homosexuality.

Read more at dot429.com

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Kenyan supporters of LGBT rights protest Uganda’s anti-gay laws in Nairobi, Kenya (Photo: Dai Kurokawa / EPA)

BY CATHERINE MORPETH
dot429

On Monday, February 24, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed the country’s Anti-Homosexual Bill, also known as the “Jail All the Gays” bill, into law on live television.

The bill, which previously included the death penalty for those convicted of “aggravated” homosexuality, was passed in an attempt to toughen up on current anti-LGBT legislation. The new law includes jail time for first time offenders, those who “promote” homosexuality and those who fail to report homosexuals to the police; repeat offenders can be sentenced to life imprisonment.

According to South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Museveni had previously promised him he would not sign the bill into effect. “I was […] very disheartened to hear.”

Read more at dot429.com

The post Ugandan President signs ‘Jail All the Gays’ bill into law first appeared on Lesbian.com.

U.S. President Barack Obama made an official statement on Sunday, Feb. 16, following the passage of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill. It is below in its entirety.

“As a country and a people, the United States has consistently stood for the protection of fundamental freedoms and universal human rights. We believe that people everywhere should be treated equally, with dignity and respect, and that they should have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential, no matter who they are or whom they love.

Read the rest of President Obama’s statement at TheSeattleLesbian.com

The Seattle Lesbian online magazine reaches more than 188,000 readers per week globally.

The post Obama issues statement in response to Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Rihanna took to Instagram over the weekend in order to make a statement of solidarity with members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community living in Russia.

The singer posted a picture of herself wearing a beanie from the “Principle 6” clothing campaign, the proceeds of which go to advocacy groups actively fighting Russia’s anti-gay discrimination and legislation.

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

The post Rihanna shows solidarity with Russian LGBT community first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Rhianna and Shakira in new “Can’t Remember to Forget About You” video.

BY CAVAN SIECZKOWSKI
Huffington Post Gay Voices

A Colombian councilman is slamming Shakira for promoting “lesbianism” in her new music video.

Marco Fidel Ramirez, a conservative Christian councilman from Bogota, denounced Shakira’s recent music video for “Can’t Remember to Forget You,” which features Rihanna. In the video, the two scantily clad singers caress each other while crooning about a lover who is hard to shake.

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

The post Does the new Shakira video promote lesbianism? first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Jaye (left) and Ruth Richard-Hill from Glasgow, in a mock marriage ceremony outside Scottish parliament in Edinburgh (Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA)

Scotland legalized gay marriage on Tuesday, becoming the 17th country to do so.

The Scottish Parliament passed The Marriage and Civil Partnership Bill by a whopping 105-18 margin, according to multiple sources. Scotland’s first same-sex marriages could happen this year.

“We’re doing a remarkable thing today, we are saying on behalf of Scotland to the world, loud and clear that we believe in [recognizing] love between same sex couples as we do between opposite sex couples,” Scotland’s Health Secretary Alex Neil said, according to the Daily Record.

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

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People march in ”La Manif pour Tous” (Demonstration for All) against France’s legalization of same-sex marriage. Visible signs read “a child is not a right.”
(Photo: Reuters/Benoit Tessier)

BY CATHERINE MORPETH
dot429

On Sunday, February 2, over 100,000 protesters gathered in Paris and Lyon to accuse the government of “family-phobia,” due to recent planned policies to introduce gender equality lessons in schools as well as the recent legalization of same-sex marriage.

Anger has been increasing recently due to newspaper speculation that the French government intends to teach gender theory to primary school children. Many newspapers’ claims spiraled out of control, with some reporting that the government intends to teach children how to masturbate and reject their own sexual identity. The government has denied that any of this speculation is true. Many conservatives in France have struggled to accept the legalization of equal marriage since the law was passed on May 18, 2013, leading to a variety of protests

Read more at dot429.com

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