NewsWrap for the week ending March 1, 2014

SUMMARY

Off the Hook - LGBT rights activists are acquitted on bogus charges in Zimbabwe and Zambia …

Laws of Mobs Rule - the war on sexual minorities continues unabated in Nigeria and Uganda …

How to Make Friends - Kenyan leaders call for their own similarly harsh anti-gay legislation …

Acquaintance Raid - ten lesbians and gay men at a "getting to know each other" gathering at a party hall in Amman, Jordan are arrested in a prophylactic prevention of "disturbing the peace" …

High Hurdles - more than 200 athletes from 11 countries endure bomb threats, cancelled-at-the-last-minute venues and hotels, smoke bombs, and "technical problems" at an ice skating rink to compete in the inaugural Russian LGBT Sports Federation's Open Games in Moscow …

Hellish Law Burned - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoes a so-called "religious freedom" bill …

No Legitimate Governmental Purpose - a federal judge declares the Texas law defining civil marriage as exclusively heterosexual to be a violation of the U.S. Constitution …

Clearly Demeaning - a federal judge makes final his ruling declaring as unconstitutional Kentucky's refusal to recognize the civil marriages of same-gender couples performed elsewhere …

Reality Check - retired National Football League Hall of Famer and TV sports commentator Deion Sanders tells "The Arsenio Hall Show" that there were gay players on all five teams he played on during his career, and says of out pro prospect Michael Sam "if he can make plays, he can play the game" ….

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