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Gay marriage in Britain 'could lead to lesbian queen'

Agence France-PresseMay 21, 2013 08:15
The debate in Britain over legalising gay marriage took a surreal turn on Tuesday after a senior politician said it could result in a lesbian queen giving birth to an heir by artificial insemination. Norman Tebbit, a member of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party who sits in the House of the Lords, also joked that it could see him marry his own son to escape inheritance tax. Tebbit's intervention comes amid fevered debate in parliament over a bill to legalise same sex marriage, which is opposed by many of Cameron's Conservative lawmakers.

Most gays in Europe still afraid to show sexuality

Agence France-PresseMay 17, 2013 06:15
Two-thirds of Europe's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are still afraid to show their sexuality in public and a quarter have been victims of physical or verbal attacks, an EU report said Friday, the International Day Against Homophobia. "Fear, isolation and discrimination are everyday phenomena for the LGBT community in Europe," the director of the European Union's Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Morten Kjaerum, wrote in the report.

Most European gays still afraid and threatened

Agence France-PresseMay 17, 2013 02:15
Almost two-thirds of Europe's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are still afraid to show their sexuality in public and most feel discriminated against, an EU report said Friday, the International Day Against Homophobia. "Fear, isolation and discrimination are everyday phenomena for the LGBT community in Europe," the director of the European Union's Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Morten Kjaerum, wrote in the report.

FBI finds images of 'dead infant' amid child porn

Agence France-PresseMay 16, 2013 13:45
The FBI found images of what appears to be a dead infant with the words "nepi-rape" scrawled on her bare belly during a child pornography investigation, US court records show. An FBI spokesman declined to say whether the agency believes the infant portrayed in the image is actually dead or if the photo was staged. He was also unable to say whether the agency had managed to find any of the victims portrayed in more than 1,000 pieces of child pornography discovered in April.

French watchdog says homophobia spiked in 2012

Agence France-PresseMay 14, 2013 09:04
Attacks on gays and homophobic speech spiked last year in the run-up to the French parliament's approval of a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, a leading gay rights watchdog said Tuesday. In its annual report, SOS Homophobie said it recorded 1,977 calls on its helpline in 2012, a 27 percent increase over the previous year. The group's head Elisabeth Ronzier said the last few months of 2012 and the start of this year were "intense" with hate speech increasing sharply, especially on the Internet.

Russian man tortured to death for 'being gay'

Agence France-PresseMay 12, 2013 07:15
A 23-year-old man has been tortured to death in Russia in an apparent homophobic attack, investigators said Sunday, amid growing fears by rights groups that anti-gay sentiments are on the rise in the country. The victim's battered and naked body was found in the courtyard of an apartment building in the southern city of Volgograd on Friday morning, said a spokeswoman for regional investigators. The young man had suffered numerous injuries, including to the genitalia, and had been sodomised with several beer bottles.

Defense chief says sex assault prosecution should stay with military

May 11, 2013 17:08
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday the Pentagon was "outraged and disgusted" over an alleged groping incident by the head of the Air Force's anti-sex assault office. But Hagel rejected a call by lawmakers to remove sex assault crimes from the military's legal jurisdiction, saying such a move "would just weaken the system." (Reporting By David Alexander)

Coming out in Cameroon leaves gays at risk and isolated

Agence France-PresseMay 5, 2013 01:00
When Fabrice was brutally outed by his uncle, the young Cameroonian was immediately evicted from his rented room in the port city of Douala. "I had always managed to hide my homosexuality until the day my uncle beat me up in public," he said, after seeing Fabrice with his gay companion. "My landlady... told me to leave my room, saying she couldn't tolerate that kind of unhealthy behaviour in her home. She even threatened to evict other tenants if I didn't move."

Brazil prostitutes learn English for football fans

Agence France-PresseMay 2, 2013 21:45
"Good morning, girls!" Igor Fuchs exclaimed as he greeted his students at the start of English class in this southeastern Brazilian city. But this is no ordinary crowd and the curriculum, for the most part, is focused on sex props. Fuchs teaches English to prostitutes so they can give a warmer welcome to tens of thousands of football fans headed here for June's Confederations Cup, as well as next year's World Cup.

Vietnam gay sitcom becomes Internet smash

Agence France-PresseApril 30, 2013 23:30
Vietnam's first gay sitcom has become a YouTube sensation, racking up millions of views as support for legalising same-sex marriage strengthens within the communist government. Homosexuality was once seen as a social evil in Vietnam and the success of "My Best Gay Friends", a low-budget series about three people sharing an apartment in southern Ho Chi Minh City, has taken even its creator by surprise.
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