NewsWrap for the week ending November 12, 2011

SUMMARY

First Dates - Poland swears in its first gay and first transgender MPs …

One Makes a Difference - a Democrat's win in an Iowa Senate race virtually guarantees the safety of marriage equality in the Hawkeye state …

Majority Approves Equality - Traverse City, Michigan voters overwhelmingly uphold a local ordinance banning sexual orientation-based bias …

All Politics Is Local - an impressive number of "out" candidates win reelection and score several "firsts" in local off-year election victories across the U.S. …

Told You So - voters rebuff extremist right-wing Republican legislation in Mississippi, Maine, Arizona, and Ohio …

Case Closed - a U.S. appeals court formally shuts the door on the Log Cabin Republicans lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the now-repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell …

Can't Get No Respect - the Senate Judiciary Committee advances the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, the mid-1990s law that bans federal recognition of legally married same-gender couples – though there's little chance that the bill will even be considered by the GOP-controlled House, which is using taxpayer dollars to defend DOMA in federal lawsuits challenging its constitutionality …

Lesbians Held Captive - a coalition of women's and human rights groups in Ecuador demands the closure of some 200 so-called "ex-gay" facilities that some who've escaped have called "torture clinics" …

Too Bad He'll Only Be 52 - the man who confessed to brutally murdering Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato is sentenced to 30 years in prison …

Penguins Need Progeny - the "heart-breaking" forced separation by the Toronto Zoo of Buddy and Pedro, two "pair bonded" male African penguins, causes an international uproar ….

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Ryan Cassata & License to Bully

The halls of high school house the slammin' singing-songwriting trans-teen whose music and activism has been a beacon of hope to his struggling peers.

A caveat in an anti-bullying bill passed by Michigan's Senate protects the perpetrators more than it helps the victims.

And in NewsWrap: Poland christens gay and trans lawmakers, cornucopia of queer candidates win U.S. elections, DOMA repeal gets first green light, global petitioners challenge Ecuador's anti-lesbian "torture clinics," pair-bonded male penguins split up to propagate, and more news reported by Rick Watts and Michael LeBeau (produced by Steve Pride).

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Musto's Fork & Mormon Confessions

Veteran Village Voice columnist Michael Musto sets the table for celebrity gossip with his new book Fork on the Right, Knife in the Back, and our Steve Pride has an appetite for answers.

Playwright/actor/producer Steven Fales evolves from missionary to Latter-Gay Saint in his one-man show Confessions of a Mormon Boy, and Resonance FM's Rosie Wilby had him for tea during its London run.

And in NewsWrap: British Commonwealth confab exposes post-colonial rights conflicts, U.N. exposes Iran's abuses against LGBT people, Indonesia's sexual minorities get their first health clinic, lesbian Ruth Davidson leads Scottish Conservatives, and more news reported by Robert LeBlanc and Natalie Peoples (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending November 5, 2011

SUMMARY

Quid Pro Quo - The British government's intention to tie its financial aid to countries' human rights records, including the treatment of LGBT people, angers several African leaders, including those from Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Ghana at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, West Australia …

To Skin a Cat - Botswana's former president Festus Mogae calls for decriminalization of same-gender sex to help fight the continent's soaring HIV infection rates …

Proving What We Knew - the United Nations Human Rights Committee issues a report detailing and harshly criticizing human rights abuses, notably those against LGBT people, in the Islamic Republican of Iran …

To Your Health - the first health clinic specifically welcoming sexual minorities in Indonesia opens on the island of Bali …

Scathach to the Rescue - Ruth Davidson's election to lead the Scottish Tories makes her the first "out" lesbian to lead a major U.K. political party …

For Gay and the Empire - Manchester's former U.S. National Basketball Association star John Amaechi is honored with the Order of the British Empire …

Thin Ice & Fancy Footwork - former Australian hockey star Gus Johnston and current Welsh rugby team captain Jed Hopper each come out as gay men, while already "out" Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas announces his retirement ….

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"We Were Here" & "Riot Acts"

Filmmaker David Weissman previews his up-close-and-personal documentary on the generation that witnessed the advent of AIDS in San Francisco with Entertainment Correspondent Steve Pride.

Performer/filmmaker Madsen Minax tells Queer Music Heritage's JD Doyle how he tracked the travels of trans-musicians in the "rockumentary" he made with his Actor Slash Model partner Simon Strikeback.

And in NewsWrap: Taipei Pride parades for equality, Uganda's "kill the gays" bill sees renewed life, Brazil's top appeals court favors equal families, Queensland lawmakers consider civil unions, New Hampshire legislators attempt marriage equality repeal, and more news reported by Sarah Sweeney and Vash Boddie (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending October 29, 2011

SUMMARY

Made in Taiwan - A record crowd numbering as many as 50,000 colorfully march in Taipei in the Taiwanese capital's 9th annual Pride parade …

Like a Bad Penny - Uganda's infamous "Kill the Gays" bill is apparently back on the front burner …

Bad to Worse - Nigerian lawmakers consider harsher laws against homosexuality in their country …

Constitutional Conversion - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai does an about-face from his support last year of President Robert Mugabe's position and now favors the inclusion of sexual minority rights in the new constitution now being drafted …

Everybody Samba! - Brazil's top appeals court becomes the highest court in Latin America's most populous nation to rule in favor of marriage equality …

Elevation to Equality - Denmark's government announces a proposal to upgrade currently-available registered partnerships for gay and lesbian couples to full marriage equality, and to allow their wedding ceremonies in the Church of Denmark …

For Starters - a civil unions bill is introduced in the Australian state of Queensland's parliament …

Backward Motion - the Republican-controlled legislature in New Hampshire is on track to repeal the U.S. state's 2009 marriage equality law and revert to a form of inferior civil unions for same-gender couples that had been established in 2007, although Governor John Lynch, a Democrat, has vowed to veto any repeal measure …

Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash - leading Russian gay rights activist Nikolai Alekseev announces his resignation from the advocacy groups he's led since 2005 …

Bus Driver's Honeymoon - U.S. Freedom to Marry activist Evan Wolfson finally ties his own knot in New York ….

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