THE MONTH IN A MINUTE.
THE GAY PORN POLITICIAN
US politician Roger Montoya reveals he used to star in gay porn films in the 1980s when he was living in New York City. The 60-year-old Democrat, who’s running for the House Of Representatives in New Mexico, came out about his XXX-past after being tipped off that journalists had discovered his saucy secret. He excused his behaviour by saying he was “young and naïve” and needed the money. It’s unclear how it will affect his chance of election.
‘HERO’ PASTOR DIES
Activists mourn the death of a ‘hero’ pastor who officiated at his son’s gay wedding despite knowing that his church would fire him and strip him of his pastoral credentials. Chester Wenger, from Pennsylvania, was 96 years old when he agreed to oversee the vows as his son married his boyfriend, saying he believed Jesus would have done the same. As expected, he was excommunicated from his Church. Wenger died in October aged 102.
HUNGARIAN HATRED
Hungary’s PM, Viktor Orban demands that the LGBTIQ community “leaves our kids alone” as part of an anti-gay campaign sparked by a children’s book that features LGBTIQ characters. Orban has long opposed gay rights.
GRINDR EXPOSED
Security experts reveal that Grindr users have been vulnerable to hackers who could simply request a new password with an email address and take ownership of the related account – including all photos, conversations and personal details, including HIV status. Grindr says it has closed the hacker loophole and accounts are now protected.
TAIPEI PARTIES ON
Taiwan says its Pride parade will go ahead on October 31 (at the time of going to press) despite the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning that with more than 80,000 LGBTIQ people expected to march, it is likely to be one of the few large-scale gay parties to happen in 2020. Taiwan is a COVID-19 success story having notched up pver five months of zero locally transmitted cases.
COOKING UP A STORM
The Cook Islands delays plans to make gay sex legal, causing uproar among the LGBTIQ community. More than 5,000 people from the Islands, which lie in the Pacific east of New Zealand, signed a petition to decriminalise gay sex, but MPs continue to defer any change in the law.
ARDERN’S PRO-GAY PLEDGE
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promises to ban gay conversion therapy if she continues in her role after up-coming elections. Ardern says the barbaric process is damaging, has no place in modern NZ and pledges to work harder to make it illegal. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau echoes her calls by calling on MPs to ban it in Canada, too.
COVID IMPACTS YOUNG GAYS
A new study of LGBTIQ youth reveals that lockdown has affected mental health and their ability to “express their identity” freely. The survey of 1,200 people aged 14-24 by Morning Consult and The Trevor Project suggests around 75 per cent think the current pandemic has had a negative impact on their mental health and around 40 per cent feel less free to be themselves.