Sexual orientation

BELGRADE - LGBT organisations on Thursday signed a platform aimed at establishing unity in the fight for the rights of LGBT persons, as well as cooperation with other organisations focusing on protection of human rights.

LGBT and student organizations plan to stage a protest walk on Friday in the town of Niksic, protesting over a college ban on a gay rights meeting.

The organizers say the "walk of pride" will support the further development of freedom for the student LGBT community.

A ruling by a local court in Turkey has likely set a new precedent in the protection of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, one of the most vulnerable groups in Turkey.

BELGRADE - A total of seven physical and 12 verbal assaults on members of the LGBT community happened in Serbia in 2014, police intervened and filed 10 reports to the competent prosecutor's office, Serbian Minister of the Interior Nebojsa Stefanovic said on Wednesday.

During the same period, 66 threats against the LGBT community were made over social networks, he said.

In a ground-breaking move the United States on Feb. 23 appointed the first US special envoy for gay and lesbian rights in a bid to help eradicate discrimination around the world.
      

50 Shades of Grey, the most anticipated film of the year, had its wide theatrical release yesterday and so far it has received mixed reviews by both the critics and the audience.

Turkey?s media watchdog has fined two music channels for airing music videos with scenes of sexuality, citing Turkish Sexual Health Institute head Cem Keçe?s controversial recent remarks on homosexuality.

The Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK) fined Genç TV for the music video of Elliphant?s ?One More,? which features a scene of two women kissing.

New Russian road safety regulations bar transsexuals, transvestites and others with "sexual disorders" from driving.

The new regulations have been criticized by rights activists, who see them as unconstitutional and part of Russia's crackdown on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

U.S. health regulators will recommend that gay men be allowed to donate blood one year after their last sexual contact, easing a ban that has been in place since 1983.

Gay and lesbian employees in Greece have lower job satisfaction than heterosexual staff, a new study has found.