News (World)

VIENNA — Austria’s parliament approved legalizing civil unions in the country Thursday, an move considered a historic victory for gay rights in the central European country. Out of 174 lawmakers present, 110 voted in favor and 64 voted against, Associated Press reports. The law is due to come into force on January 1st. It will […]

Uganda will drop the death penalty and life imprisonment for gays in a refined version of an anti- gay bill expected to be ready for presentation to Parliament in two weeks, according to James Nsaba Buturo, the minister of ethics and integrity, reports Bloomberg. The draft bill, which is under consideration by a parliamentary committee, […]

This video appeared on the website LiveLeak.com this week with the title “Gay Pakistanis Flogged by Police on Street in Punjab.” The video description: “Homosexual Pakistanis receiving their punishment. You can see two lovers kiss at 0:15 before their flogging.” The men are then flogged by at a least two different men. one of whom […]

A man in eastern Spain has become the first to receive an official letter apologizing for his imprisonment for being homosexual in the 1970s, the BBC reports. Antoni Ruiz spent three months in prison under a law introduced during General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship. In addition to the letter, he has received 4,000 euros ($5,900) in […]

The Roman Catholic Church still regards homosexuality as an “insult to God” and homosexuals and transsexuals will never go to Heaven, a leading cardinal said on Wednesday, prompting a rebuke from the Vatican. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, the retired head of the Vatican’s Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, made the comments Wednesday […]

Uganda is likely to pass a bill criminalizing homosexuality in the east African nation and deal a blow to rights activists, but the act will have some changes to appease donors who fund about a third of the budget, reports Reuters. While Uganda has been lauded for its reforms and economic growth since 1986, rights […]

Austria’s government agreed a new law Tuesday allowing civil partnerships for homosexual couples, although ceremonies at the civil registry’s office will still be banned, AFP reports. The compromise, achieved after weeks of wrangling between the ruling Social Democrats and their conservative coalition partner in government, will give gay couples equal rights to heterosexuals with regards […]

Seventeen human rights groups have called for proposed new laws on homosexuality in Uganda to be scrapped immediately, reports Pink News. This week, Ndorwa West MP David Bahati, of the ruling party, tabled the private member’s bill in parliament to create a new crime of “aggravated homosexuality”. Introduced by MP David Bahati, the bill would […]

The Ugandan Parliament is now considering a homophobic law that would reaffirm penalties for homosexuality and criminalize the “promotion of homosexuality.” The Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 targets lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Ugandans, their defenders and anyone else who fails to report them to the authorities whether they are inside or outside of Uganda. The […]

Deliberate attacks against gay men in Iraq has risen significantly this year at the hands of Iraqi militias and death squads, and authorities in Baghdad are doing nothing to stop the violence, according to a report released Monday by an international human rights organization. The 67-page report by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) , […]