The Pope called us what?
Canada wants your sperm
Over at the Los Angeles Blade, I had a trio of stories go up this weekend. First, I took a look at the launch of the Southern California campaign to support the repeal of Prop 8. I also got a story up on Canada’s move to end its ban on gay sperm donations. Finally, I also wrote this week’s Out in the World, with news updates from The UK, Germany, Austria, and Albania.
Japan: For the first time, the city of Omuri in Nagasaki registered a same-sex couple using the same process normally used for heterosexual couples in a de facto marriage. It’s not yet clear if this will entitle the couple to more of the rights of married couples.
India: With national elections nearing the end of their six-week voting period, the BBC takes a look at what’s at stake for queer Indians.
Duly Noted
The Pope allegedly used an anti-gay slur when discussing gay men, asserting that there is already too much “frociaggine” – an Italian word for ‘faggotry,’ which for the curious is pronounced fro-chyah-JEE-nay – in some Catholic seminaries. The New York Times reports that he’s since apologized.
Meanwhile, in the States
Washington: Civil rights groups are suing to block a “forced outing” law that was passed by the Democratic-Party controlled legislature after a conservative group collected enough signatures to get it on the ballot in the fall. Dems were hoping to take the issue off the table and leave it to the courts to strike down.