NewsWrap for the week ending July 29, 2013

SUMMARY

Igniting a Fierstein - A scathing rebuke of President Vladimir Putin in the New York Times kicks off an LGBT week dominated by news in or about Russia …

Get Me to the Church End Times - the apoplectic leader of the Russian Orthodox Church warns that marriage equality is a "dangerous sign of the apocalypse" …

Not Worth the Price of Admission - St. Petersburg appeals court judge upholds a backbreaking fine against the "Side By Side" LGBT Film Festival for violating a new national "foreign agent" law …

Anti-Social Networking Brown Shirts - neo-Nazi group uses the Russian version of Facebook to lure young gay men to a supposed date that turns into videotaped torture, beatings, and humiliation …

Tourist Detraction - four Dutch nationals become the first non-Russians to be punished for violating the new national law against the "promotion of non-traditional sexual relations" …

Scoring the Truth & Field Event - the U.S. Human Rights Campaign asks NBC-TV to include coverage of the persecution of LGBT people -- including its impact on athletes and visitors -- during their broadcasts of the Winter Olympics in the Black Sea town of Sochi next year, and questions International Olympic Committee assurances that LGBT people will be safe at those Games …

Grey Goose, Anyone? - boycott of Russian vodka by gay nightspots to protest the treatment of LGBT people there spreads around the world, but a leading Russian activist questions its value …

You Don't Have To Be Russian - Moldova secretly enacts its own "no promo homo" law …

Target Practice - protestors chanting "kill the gays" and throwing stones and bottles greet Pride marchers in Montenegro, while eggs are the thrown objects of choice in Lithuania …

State of Frustration - marriage equality bill fails in the South Australia lower house …

Surprise! - New Mexico's Attorney General tells the U.S. state's high court that barring same-gender couples from civil marriage is unconstitutional …

Super Mythology - Luigi and Mario aren't Brothers, they're a gay couple!!

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