ELLEN AND PORTIA WED – Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi married in California last month in the presence of 30 guests. The marriage would not be recognized if the couple returned to de Rossi’s family home in Australia and Australian Marriage Equality has used the wedding to call on the government to review its stance toward same-sex marriage.
BALI DIE – Indonesia has been caught in a national debate about the correlation between homosexuality and a tendency toward sadistic killings, with many ‘experts’ saying gay people are more likely to be serial killers, after Jakarta’s Verry Idan Henyansyah, a gay man, confessed to the murders of 11 people.
MEMORIAL VANDALISED – A Berlin memorial to gay and lesbian victims of Nazi rule, which opened in May and portrays two men kissing, was vandalized in early August. Klaus Wowereit, Berlin’s first openly-gay mayor, has condemned the attack, stating that it was directed against homosexuals.
NEW PACIFIC HIV ALLIANCE – The Pacific Global Alliance on HIV has been formed to address the challenges present in Pacific region in regards to the spread of HIV. Doctor Mukesh Kapila, co-chair of the steering committee on the HIV Global Alliance, said the Alliance hoped to help remove stigmas associated with HIV.