Benjamin Medrano was elected as Mayor of Fresnillo in June, 2013. Medrano said reducing gang related violence was his main priority for Fresnillo
The first openly gay mayor in Mexico's history has been sworn in at a ceremony in city of Fresnillo. Benjamin Medrano said his sexuality only became an issue in the electoral campaign when the opposition tried to use it against him in conservative Zacatecas state. The city has been caught up in a turf war between drug cartels operating in central and northern Mexico. Mr Medrano says he hopes to make a difference for the people of Fresnillo. He posted a message on his Twitter account soon after the ceremony: "The time has come to listen to your demands and address your problems. I have a commitment with you".
Journalist Lena Klimova helped create Deti-404, a Web site where gay and lesbian teenagers can share their stories. Deti means children and 404 refers to "page not found" on Internet searches.
The girl said she was in despair, feeling there was no way she could go on living, but when she happened to find Klimova's article, she realized that she was neither abnormal nor alone. "No one in Russia has ever looked at LGBT teenagers and their situation," Klimova said.
Russia has seen an outbreak of violence against gay rights advocates, with LGBT supporters facing beatings from anti-gay protesters. Violence against gay Russians has been a longstanding issue, with at least two murders seemingly motivated by anti-gay sentiment taking place so far in 2013.
Olympic sponsors are feeling the force of negative public opinion over the controversial anti-gay law in Russia. In a statement to Around the Rings, Coca-Cola rejected criticisms of its sponsorship of the Sochi Olympics.
Robbie Rogers becomes the second openly gay athlete in US Men's Professional Sports as he joins Galaxy, the US team with whom he has been training.
Rogers officially ended his retirement Friday and joined the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer, after the Chicago Fire traded his contractual rights to LA in exchange for midfielder Mike Magee, according to multiple reports. Rogers announced he was gay in February, at which time he also said he was retiring.
In the New Zealand Parliament, they were singing. Yes, singing in celebration of the vote to legalise same-sex marriage. A century-old Maori love song, no less. Can you picture anything like that happening in Canberra? My boyfriend of 14 years and I sat on the couch with our dog Oscar in our apartment on Wednesday night and watched the news. We could only imagine. Pokarekare Ane is thought to have been composed some time around World War I. It's been translated into English and is often played at ceremonies involving both New Zealand and Australia: My poor pen is broken, my paper is spent / But my love for you endures, and remains forever more. / Oh my beloved, come back to me, my heart is breaking of love for you.
Around the same time as the New Zealand Parliament super-sized its legalised civil unions to same-sex marriage, they were burying the former British prime minister royally in London. In the late 1980s, Thatcher's Conservative Party introduced Section 28, which forbid the "promotion" of homosexuality. She danced an oppressive pas de deux with US president Ronald Reagan across the Atlantic. He couldn't even mention the words AIDS.