NewsWrap for the week ending May 4, 2013

SUMMARY

Lindo Maravilhoso! - Santa Catarina and Paraiba become the thirteenth and fourteenth states in Brazil to open civil marriage to lesbian and gay couples …

Not So Lucky - lawmakers in Northern Ireland reject a marriage equality proposal for the second time …

Jesus Wept - Cook Islands P.M. Henry Puna says his self-governing nation's "Christian values" prevent opening civil marriage to same-gender couples there …

Three's Company - a new penal code that took effect on May 1st in Samoa literally legalizes the lives of the fa'afafine, a third gender culture native to that island nation …

Lotus Flowers - LGBT rights appear to be blossoming in Vietnam, with government officials signaling that marriage equality may be on the horizon, and Youtube sensation "My Best Gay Friends," the nation's first gay sitcom, surpassing a million views (and counting) …

A Color A Day - about 12,000 people kick off "Tokyo Rainbow Week" with a parade through the capital city's upscale Harajuku shopping district …

Leave No Spaces Blank - the Supreme Court of the U.S. state of Iowa, which ordered marriage equality in 2009, unanimously rules that married same-gender couples can have both parents listed on the birth certificates of their newborn children …

Embargo Lifted - the U.S. State Department reverses itself and grants a visa to Cuban President Raul Castro's daughter Mariela to travel to Philadelphia to accept an LGBT "ally" award …

Bless Bless - the first open gay or lesbian to lead a national government, Iceland's now former Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, officially retires from politics after what she calls a "long and eventful" career ….

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