I was surprised to find out, via Slap Upside the Head, about the horror story experienced by a Canadian gay couple in Dubai. Xtra has it.

A gay Toronto couple was detained for 28 days in Dubai for carrying the prescription arthritis drug Celebrex, which is banned in the United Arab Emirates (UAE ( Read more... )

In my final post on Guido Westerwelle, the out leader of Germany's successful Free Democratic Party ( 1, 2), I'd like to note James Kirchick's suggestion in Newsweek that Westerwelle, if he becomes Foreign Minister as per German political tradition, could help normalize of homosexuality in any number of homophobic countries by his very presence.

( Read more... )

Who would have thought that Foreign Policy would ever publish an article describing the progress of gay rights in Germany? It did, though, and Cameron Abadi wrote it. Naturally the article began by tying the issue into German politics.

For more than 50 years, the tabloid daily Bild -- currently Europe's best-selling newspaper -- has served as both ( Read more... )

The first time that I heard of Meshell Ndegeocello was in 1996, when there was a to-do about single off of her 1996 album Peace Beyond Passion and its associated music video.

Click to view

I've copied out some of the lyrics of "Leviticus: Faggot" below.

Faggot better run learn to run 'cuz daddy's home ( Read more... )

The English Eclectic's Paul Halsall recently pointed to an article taken from Time in 1966, a piece representing the state of opinion in the States at this time. They're coming out, see. They're even influencing Rock Hudson!

Homosexuality is more in evidence in the U.S. than ever before-as an almost inevitable subject matter in fiction, a ( Read more... )

Readers might notice that instead of posting my weekly links aggregation in the morning, I chose to post in the evening. What do you think of this choice?

Anyway, let's get down to business.

• 3 Quarks Daily blogs about a worrying rumour that the founder of mercenary company Blackwater has been killing witnesses against him.
• Andrew Barton at Acts of ( Read more... )

This news story has gotten a fair bit of coverage, both among m blogospheric friends and by the mainstream newsmedia.

When Tim Hortons decided to peddle its coffee and sugary treats in the northern U.S., the chain was betting that no one ever went broke overestimating the appetite of the American public. But in its cross-border expansion, Tims was ( Read more... )

• 3 Quarks Daily's Robin Varghese wonders if Google is killing individuals' ability to recognize even basic things.
• Andrew Barton at Acts of Minor Treason photographs the busiest highway in Canada, the 401, at its busiest.
• 'Aqoul notes that Algeria's latest economic policies look very bad and that there were recently riots between Chinese migrants and ( Read more... )

Slap Upside the Head commemorates the fact that Sunday was the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City that helped galvanize the American, thus international, gay movement. There had been increasing militancy following the 1950 foundation of the Mattachine Society and the rise of 1960s student radicalism, but the protest of patrons ( Read more... )

In the Sunday Star, Isabel Teotonio and Patrick Cain wrote about the ways in which Toronto's GLBT community was diffusing beyond the urban core, as judged by the number of same-sex marriages.

Date, sex and partial postal code data for same-sex couples married in Toronto was released to the Star recently under access-to-information laws. The ( Read more... )