In January, IS provoked shock and anger after releasing photos purportedly showing gay men falling to their deaths after being thrown off a high building in Mosul, Iraq.Near the northern Nigerian city of Kano, a group of 12 men was arrested by Islamic law enforcement agency Hisbah for allegedly planning a gay wedding ceremony.Meanwhile in Ireland, a Catholic priest received a standing ovation from his congregation after announcing he was gay. Father Martin Dolan, the priest and administrator at Church of St Nicholas of Myra in Dublin for 15 years, was appealing for a positive vote in the approaching same-sex marriage referendum when he uttered the declaration: "I'm gay myself."Read more here:Gruesome Photos Allegedly Show Islamic State Throwing Gay Men Off a Tall BuildingNigerian Islamic Officials Arrest 12 People In Raid of Alleged Gay Wedding CeremonyIrish Priest Tells Congregation He's Gay, Receives Standing OvationFebruary
On February 7, largely Catholic Slovakia held a referendum in an attempt to pre-emptively ban any move towards allowing same-sex marriage. The initiators received the blessing of Pope Francis, but failed to motivate the majority of the population.While 94 percent of voters agreed that it should be banned, the referendum failed to receive a turnout large enough to render it valid, with only 21 percent of citizens casting a vote.
A woman passes by a billboard in Bratislava featuring the portrait of the Pope Francis with text encouraging people to vote at a referendum to maintain a ban on same-sex marriage in Slovakia. (Photo by Jakub Gavlak/EPA)
Utah's state senate voted to approve a bill which would ban employers and landlords from discriminating against LGBT people, making it the 19th US state to pass this sort of anti-discrimination legislation.Two months earlier the Mormon church had announced its support for the bill as long as religious institutions and individuals could also be allowed refrain from providing services that violated their beliefs.Read more here:Utah's LGBT Anti-Discrimination Bill May Become Law Thanks to the Mormon ChurchApril
Laurent Stefanini — a senior diplomat, advisor to the French president, and gay man — was nominated to be France's ambassador to the Vatican on January 5. Though the Vatican will normally accept a chosen nominee's credentials within weeks, on this occasion the Church remained silent and refused to provide a public explanation for the delay.This led to a nine-month deadlock that ended in October, when France abandoned the bid to appoint Stefanini. The ambassador's post has been vacant since 2012.Read more here:The Vatican Is Stonewalling France's Nomination of a Gay AmbassadorUganda's LGBT Community Is Fighting Back — With InformationChina's Attitude Toward Homosexuality Is Beginning to Shift, With Parents Leading the WayMay
On May 23, traditionally Catholic Ireland became the first country in the world to approve same-sex marriage by referendum. All but one constituency voted yes on the ballot, and 62 percent of voters nationwide — more than 1.2 million people — voted in favor of the change.
Ireland votes on gay marriage. (Photos by Sally Hayden/VICE News)
On June 26, the US Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to marry in all 50 states. The judges split 5-4 on the Obergefell v. Hodges case, which was based on suits filed by couples in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee — four of the 14 states that did not permit same-sex unions.
"This ruling is a victory for America," he said. "This decision affirms what millions of Americans already believed in their hearts. When all Americans are treated as equal we are all more free."Today is a big step in our march toward equality. Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else. — President Obama (@POTUS)June 26, 2015
Newly married couple Emma Foulkes (left) and Petrina Bloodworth (right) cut their wedding cake after becoming the first gay couple to be legally married in Georgia. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA)
Revelers at Istanbul's annual gay pride parade were knocked off their feet by water cannons, and hit with rubber bullets and tear gas after Turkish police moved in to disperse the crowd. (Photos by John Beck/VICE News)
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The Boy Scouts of America (BSA)'s 71-member board moved to remove the ban on gay men becoming scout leaders, though they said local troops still had the ability to maintain their own prohibitions.Scouts for Equality — a group of current and former boy scouts who had been pushing for the change — said the "historic" vote marked "the beginning of a new chapter" for the organization. Meanwhile, the Mormon Church, a sponsor of many BSA chapters, said it was "deeply troubled" by the move.
Scouts prepare to march during the 44th annual Gay Pride Parade in New York City on June 29. (Photo by Peter Foley/EPA)
In August, 16-year-old Shira Banki died after being stabbed by an ultra-Orthodox man, Yishai Schlissel, who had just been released from prison. He had been convicted of stabbing three people at the same parade in 2005. Five more people were wounded.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly called the attack a "despicable hate crime" and "an incident of the utmost gravity."
Mourners attend a memorial for 16-year-old Shira Banki, who died after being stabbed by an ultra-Orthodox man at Jerusalem's gay pride parade. (Photo by Abir Sultan/EPA)
In Tunisia, a university student was sentenced to a year in prison for sodomy after being subjected to an anal probe. The man was arrested in the Tunisian town of Hammam Sousse and was convicted under article 230 of the Tunisian penal code — which punishes sodomy with up to three years in prison.Later in September, UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said new videos showed IS militants shooting seven men in the province of Homs. The blindfolded men were accused of charges including "sodomy" and "drug addiction." Militants in Aleppo also reportedly executed two men and a boy, also accused of being gay.Read more here:Outrage After Tunisia Arrests and Anally Probes a Man for Being Gay
The Vatican fired Polish priest Krzysztof Charamsa after he came out as gay in the newspaper Corriere della Sera. "I would like the Church and my community to know who I am: a homosexual priest, happy and proud of my own identity," Charamsa told the Milan paper.He later told Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza: "I have to say who I am. I am a gay priest. I am a happy and proud gay priest."The Vatican claimed it was the timing they objected to, as it came one day before the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family. "The decision to make such a pointed statement on the eve of the opening of the synod appears very serious and irresponsible, since it aims to subject the synod assembly to undue media pressure," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a statement.
Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, second secretary of the Vatican's International Theological Commission, (left) and his partner Eduard at the end of a press conference in Rome on October 3. (Photo by Luciano del Castillo/EPA)
In November, as Pope Francis visited Kenya, Uganda, and the Central African Republic, African gay rights activists issued several pleas for him to be more forthright about his support for LGBT people. In Kenya, a group of young people printed t-shirts with his much quoted words "Who am I to judge?" which they wore to a mass given by the pontiff.The same month, Kenya's National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission filed a lawsuit against a judge and police station in the small coastal town of Msambweni, claiming authorities had forced two men to undergo HIV and anal testing to ascertain whether or not they were gay — a crime that carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.French Health Minister Marisol Touraine announced that France will lift its ban on gay men donating blood in the spring, following through on a promise made by President François Hollande during his presidential campaign. In April, the European Court of Justice had encouraged the French government to revise its rules on blood donation.More than 2,500 Mormons in Utah also moved to quit the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after it announced a new ban on baptizing the children of gay parents, according to a lawyer working against the change.Read more here:
A report by the UN's Committee Against Torture condemned China's reported use of private and state-run clinics providing so-called gay conversion therapy which claims to alter the sexual orientation of Chinese homosexuals. This reportedly includes "the administration of electroshocks and, sometimes, involuntary confinement in psychiatric and other facilities, which could result in physical and psychological harm."China responded, saying the report was based on "unverified information." Spokeswoman Hua Chunying added: "We hope they can scrupulously abide by their mandate, further improve their work style and view China's honoring of its agreements more fully and objectively."The same month, the US Food and Drug Administration reversed its 30-year ban on blood donations by gay men, saying they can now donate 12 months after their last sexual contact with another man. This brought the country in line with others such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, which also specify 12-month deferment periodsRead more here:UN Panel Slams the Use of 'Black Jails' and Electroshock Therapy for Gays in ChinaFDA Says Gay Men Can Give Blood But Only If They Don't Have Sex For a YearFollow Sally Hayden on Twitter: @sallyhayd