Fridae

An Argentine judge has granted a gay couple permission to get married, setting a precedent that could pave the way for the Catholic country to become the first in Latin America to allow same-sex marriage.

It is a “provocation and an abuse”should gay and lesbian tourists visit the Vatican City, Bishop Janusz Kaleta of Holy tells a travel and tourism website.

President Barack Obama has signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act - named after victims of two brutal 1998 murders: Shepard, a 21-year-old gay Wyoming college student and Byrd, a black man dragged to his death - on Oct 28.

In an interview with The Edge Malaysia, Pang Khee Teik, co-organiser of Seksualiti Merdeka, confesses that he's most afraid of gay men - gay men who have given up exercising their rights to express their sexuality, and have urged others to do the same.

The politicisation of Islam is one of the main reasons why gays are increasingly persecuted in Islamic countries and secular ones such as Egypt or Morocco. In Iran, the persecution of gays has further led to a boom in demand for sex-change operations and where more operations are performed than any other country in the world besides Thailand.

Although homosexuality is not punishable by law in Indonesia, many gay Indonesians experience personal conflict and face condemnation from religious leaders. Hera Diani writes in The Jakarta Globe.