NewsWrap for the week ending February 1, 2014

SUMMARY

Torture, Blackmail and Intimidation - Rampant police abuse with impunity is creating "nightmarish" conditions for gay and bisexual men in Kyrgyzstan …

Wrecking Crew - a homophobic mob breaks into and overruns the office of Alternative Cote d'Ivoire, the leading LGBT advocacy group in the Ivory Coast, seriously injuring a security guard and stealing most everything they didn't vandalize …

No Second Thoughts - India's Supreme Court refuses to reconsider its two-judge panel December ruling that recriminalized private consensual adult gay sex …

Don't Look At Us - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says it's not the government's responsibility to protect gay rights …

Last Straw - lawmakers in Northern Cyprus remove the last vestige of laws that banned gay sex in Europe …

Hide the Package - Islamic courts in Nigeria will resume in secret the prosecutions of 10 men charged with belonging to a gay group – now a criminal offense thanks to sweeping anti-gay legislation signed by President Goodluck Jonathan – to avoid repeats of the stone throwing execution-demanding assault on one of the courts in Bauchi last week …

Back to the Laboratory - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni now says he wants scientific proof that being gay "is not genetic, but a behavior that is acquired" before he'll sign the draconian "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" there …

No Armored Closets - Bulgarian lawmakers reject a bill that would have outlawed just being out, although one of the measure's backers worries about how his children would be affected by seeing what he calls "those half-naked buggers with psychotic abnormalities" ….

Complete NewsWrap text and this week's podcast to be posted February 4, 2014.

NewsWrap for the week ending October 12, 2013

SUMMARY

Victory in the Midst of Chaos - Cyprus adds sexual orientation and gender identity to its anti-vilification laws, while Northern Cyprus lawmakers promise repeal of their sodomy statute by year's end …

In Gandhi's Backyard - a first-ever Pride parade is held in Surat, the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat …

Those Gay Devils - Iran's religious militia arrest "a network of homosexuals and Satanists" during a raid of a birthday party in a private meeting hall near the Iraq border …

Out of the Closets and Into the Jails - four protestors of Russia's "no promo homo" law are roughly arrested in Moscow, and at least 67 LGBT activists trying to observe National Coming Out Day are attacked by homophobes and then arrested in St. Petersburg …

Just Like in the Movies - St. Petersburg's Side By Side film festival successfully appeals its conviction and heavy fine for being a "foreign agent," though an appeal by the group leader of his individual conviction and fine under that law is still pending …

Birth Control - the same lawmaker who co-sponsored Russia's "no promo homo" law wants to ban gay men from using surrogate mothers, and parliament is set to debate a bill in February to remove children from the homes of their lesbian or gay parents …

Let's Not and Say We Did - Moldova repeals its version of a "no promo homo" law in its quest for E.U. membership …

Need for Speed - the New Jersey Supreme Court expedites an appeal by GOP Governor Chris Christie of a state judge's order that civil marriage licenses be available to same-gender couples on October 21st after the judge rejects Christie's request for a stay …

Stamp of Approval - following several years of lobbying, the late San Francisco Supervisor and gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk will be smiling at U.S. postage stamp users next year ….

Read the complete NewsWrap text ... or listen to this week's podcast.