Self-described “missionaries” are now approved to perform a widely discredited psychological treatment meant to make people heterosexual, angering Brazil's health and rights communities who pushed to ban it.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act passed in December in Uganda criminalized being gay or even promoting gay rights. Now a case that might repeal the law is working through the Ugandan Constitutional Court.
In many German museums, curators obscure the last names of those killed or persecuted by the Nazis for allegedly being homosexual. They say it is for privacy, but shame still persists for victims and their families.
A lesbian couple left Cameroon after they faced discrimination and death threats at home. But when they arrived in San Francisco with their daughter, they realized there were many more hurdles to overcome.
Googoosh is a well-know Iranian singer whose career in her country ended with the Islamic revolution in Iran. Now recording in the US, she has stirred controversy among Iranians around the world by releasing a music video on Valentine's Day that portrays a lesbian couple.
Anti-gay sentiment is reaching a fever pitch in one state in northern Nigeria. Local authorities in Bauchi State are asking citizens to help find and jail men suspected of being gay. And the practice has the enthusiastic support of local residents.
The Winter Olympics in Sochi have put a spotlight on Russian practices that don't comport with the rights and freedoms generally accepted in the west. But a Russian-born educator, who spent a long time living and working in the US after being forced out by the Soviet government, says we're not really helping move Russia forward.
Homophobia in Russia is growing more violent, in part because American evangelists have turned their attention to combating gay rights overseas, says Christopher Dickey, the Paris bureau chief for The Daily Beast.
China's notorious air pollution makes this photo of a digitally-presented sunrise in an ad seem very eerie. Uganda's president is reconsidering a widely-criticized anti-gay law that the country's parliament passed last month. And India's Olympic team just got the nod to head to Sochi, but can't represent the country. All that and more, in this special weekend edition of the Global Scan.
Technically, it's been illegal to be gay in Nigeria since the country's independence from Britain in 1960. But the wording was vague and the law was hard to enforce. Now a new law just signed by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan creates an effective dragnet with the ability to arrest any Nigerian who is gay or who supports or advocates on any issues related to homosexuality.
There are few openly-gay male players in professional sports leagues around the world. German star Thomas Hitzlsperger retired a few months ago and decided to come out.