Two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, in part to stop the expansion of NATO, Sweden has formally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, becoming the 32nd member of the military collective. Continue reading “Sweden Becomes 32nd Member Of NATO”
Karine Jean-Pierre (photo via White House – public domain) Some news stories you might have missed: • The Advocate: Karine Jean-Pierre held her first briefing as White House press secretary on Monday. Jean-Pierre, a lesbian and longtime political activist, is the first out member of the LGBTQ+ community to be White House press secretary. She is also the first Black person in the job. Continue reading “News Round-Up: May 16, 2022”
(image via Depositphotos) Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear in failed negotiations with leaders in Ukraine he did not want Ukraine to join NATO. According to reports, he didn’t want the military alliance that includes the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Poland and more, to get closer to Russian borders. But now, it seems Putin is going to get exactly what he didn’t want. Continue reading “Finland Announces Plan To Join NATO, Sweden Expected To Follow”
Swedish pop star Darin (image via Instagram) Darin Zanyar, one of Sweden’s best-known pop stars with seven #1 albums since he came to fame on Swedish Idol in 2004, has come out as gay in a post on Instagram. The singer/songwriter, who generally goes by the single name moniker Darin, shared his post during Stockholm’s annual Pride celebration. “Everyone in the world should be able to be proud and accepted for who they are,” wrote Darin on Instagram. “I know how difficult it can be. Took me a while, but I am proud to be gay. Happy pride!”
Francisco José Alvarado (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • Washington Post: Costa Rica became the latest country to legalize same-sex marriage early Tuesday when a ruling from its supreme court went into effect ending the country’s ban. Costa Rica is the first country in Central America to make marriage equality the law of the land. • 13WMAZ: A married youth pastor in Georgia created a wild story about being kidnapped to cover up his family learning he’d hired a male prostitute to meet him at a local motel. • Reuters: The AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. coalition of labor unions, endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president on Tuesday, promising to launch an effort to beat Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election. The group represents 55 unions and 12.5 million workers. • Instinct Magazine: Francisco José Alvarado (top photo), a 30-year-old doctor from Spain, beat COVID-19 and became Mr. Gay World 2020. This year’s competition was canceled, but the organizers decided Alvarado – who was the runner-up in 2019 – should be given the title for as this year’s global ambassador for LGBTQ rights.
• AlterNet: In late March, when every other European country was in lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Sweden’s officials decided that Swedes could be relied upon to follow sanitation guidelines themselves. Restaurants, shops, and recreational spots were allowed to stay open. As of May 19, Sweden had more coronavirus deaths per capita than any other country in Europe. • The Daily Beast: The Justice Department informed lawyers for Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) there will be no insider trading charges filed against Loeffler. The senator and her husband, New York Stock Exchange chairman Jeffrey Sprecher, have denied that their sales of millions of dollars in stock – made shortly after a closed-door Senate intelligence briefing on the coronavirus in early January – had anything to do with that information. • Talking Points Memo: A new study produced by business school profs at Columbia and University of Chicago suggests that viewing Fox News is strongly correlated with ignoring social distancing guidance during the first weeks of the COVID19 epidemic and is in fact driving that non-compliance. • Social Media: The Bidens paid tribute to the nation’s veterans on Memorial Day, appearing in public at a wreath-laying ceremony near his Delaware home. Over the weekend, Biden took a swipe at Donald Trump’s golf habit tweeting, “The presidency is about a lot more than tweeting from your golf cart. It requires taking on the ultimate responsibility for the biggest decisions in the world. Donald Trump simply wasn’t prepared for that. I promise you I will be.”
A new study shows suicide rates among LGBTQ people in Sweden and Denmark fell significantly after same-sex marriage was legalized in the Scandinavian countries.
The joint study by the Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention and researchers from Stockholm University compared suicide rates for people in same-sex and heterosexual relationships in the periods 1989-2002 and 2003-16.
Denmark became the first country in the world to allow same-sex civil partnerships in 1989, with neighbouring Sweden following six years later. Same-sex marriage, now authorised in 28 countries, became legal in Sweden in 2009 and Denmark in 2012.
The researchers found that between the two periods, the number of suicides among people in same-sex unions fell by 46%, compared to a decline of about 28% in the number of suicides by people in heterosexual relationships.
Annette Erlangsen, the lead author, suggested that along with other gay rights legislation, same-sex marriage may have reduced feelings of social stigmatisation among some homosexual people. “Being married is protective against suicide,” she told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
While the decline is certainly welcome news, the researchers noted that the suicide rate for people in same-sex relationships is still more than twice that of people in opposite-sex marriages.
A 2018 report that compared data from 35 studies across 10 countries showed LGBTQ people are at least three times more likely to attempt suicide than straight people of the same age.
