Category: Around the World

Aug 09
HIV Testing Comes Direct to UK Sauna

A gay sauna in the UK is doing its bit to reduce the transmission rate of HIV and has installed a vending machine filled with free, self-use home testing kits. Now men at The Brighton Sauna can enter a few personal details on a touch screen before they receive a code via text message and […]

Aug 08
Liberal Bill Paves the Way for Marriage Equality in Australia

 Anna Brown. Starobserver.com All Australians should have the same opportunities for love, commitment and happiness and Australian Parliament has the opportunity to make this a reality with a new marriage equality Bill released by five Liberal MPs yesterday. In a debate too often mired in seemingly intractable positions and wedge politics, this Bill is a […]

Aug 08
‘Only a Matter of Time’ Before Northern Ireland Legalises Gay Marriage

Ireland’s first openly gay leader, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, made a comment at Belfast’s gay pride event on Saturday 6 August, stating that it is “only a matter of time” before gay marriage is legalised in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland currently remains as the only place within the British Isles when gay marriage is still […]

Aug 07
Same-Sex Weddings Offered at Sea

Following a recent court ruling that legalised same-sex marriages in Bermuda, Carnival Corporation announced on Tuesday 1 August that it will be offering same-sex wedding deals on all Princess, P & O, and Curnard Line cruises. The marriage licences will be legally issues by the Bermudan government and the wedding ceremonies will be taken out […]

Aug 07
UN: Australian Marriage Law Breaches Human Rights

The UN has ruled that our neighbours across the ditch are breaching their Human Rights obligations by not allowing couples who have married overseas to divorce. As a result, they have been ordered pay reparations. Australian law does not recognise overseas same-sex marriages, with section 88EA of the Marriage Act 1961 stating “Certain unions are […]

Aug 07
Celebrities Take a Stand for Trans Equality

Article written by Jess Jones. Starobserver.com Kesha and George Takei have joined forces with GLAAD to speak out for trans rights in the wake of Donald Trump’s tweet promising to ban trans people from the military. The celebrities each posted photos on social media wearing a shirt with the trans flag that reads “They make U.S. stronger”,SBS […]

Aug 05
Journalist who worked on Chechnya story faces deportation

The journalist who helped to break the news of the persecution of gay men in Chechnya is facing deportation. When Novaya Gazeta broke the news that gay men in Chechnya are being arrested and sent to camps, journalist Khudoberdi Nurmatov, working under the alias Ali Feruz, was among those working on the story. Now, Russian […]

Aug 04
Cook Islands set to decriminalise homosexuality

The Cook Islands government is currently drafting a bill that will overhaul the Crimes Act of 1969 and remove the sections that outlaw “indecent acts” between two men. Currently, an “indecent act” between two men can see them punished with up to five years’ imprisonment, while consensual sodomy is punishable by up to seven years […]