Wyoming House Passes Legislation Designed To End Recognition Of Same Sex Marriages And Civil Unions Performed Out-Of-State, Long Beach California Police Arrest 23 Year Old For Hate Crimes Against Gay Establishments, Historically Homophobic Montenegro Establishes First Gay Rights NGO, One In Five Adults Surveyed In United Kingdom Fail To Identify Manner By Which HIV Is Transmitted

The Wyoming Senate Friday narrowly voted to approve House Bill 74 16-14, the legislation designed to stop the recognition of same sex marriages and civil unions performed out-of-state, reports the Casper Star-Tribune. An amendment guaranteeing out-of-state couples in civil unions access to Wyoming courts was added Friday, and because of the amendment, the bill will now head back to the House to approve the changes. The House passed the legislation late last month 32-27.Proponents of the bill said the legislation is needed to resolve a conflict in Wyoming law, which defines marriage as a contract "between a male and a female person" but also recognizes any valid marriage performed outside the state. Opponents held that the bill is unneeded, unconstitutional, and discriminatory against gay and lesbian couples. Sickeningly, following the final vote, a few dozen people held prayer circles outside the Senate chambers in thanks for the bill's passage.

Police in Long Beach, California have arrested 23 year old Ranchos Palos Verdes resident in connection with two vandalism incidents that damaged Long Beach establishments that cater to the gay and lesbian community in December, 2010, reports the Long Beach Post. Olivier Rodrich Saintvictor has been charged with felony vandalism with a special allegation for hate crimes. He allegedly threw something through windows at both The Center Long Beach on 4th Street and Club Ripples on Ocean Boulevard on the night of December 17, 2010. A press released from the Long Beach Police Department reads in part that "Detectives assigned to the cases were immediately concerned about the fact that both businesses targeted in the vandalisms were establishments that cater to the gay and lesbian community. The investigation led them to a third vandalism reported from a similar type of business in the city of Redondo Beach with similar circumstances. Detectives discovered that the crime occurred on the same date and matched the suspect and vehicle descriptions from the Long Beach incidents." Witnesses provided matching descriptions of a six-foot tall black man with long dreadlocks, driving a white Toyota Prius. These details were provided to the Violent Crimes Detail, and the connections in the three cases led detectives to investigate them as hate crimes. Detectives believe there may be additional victims and urge them and anyone who may have additional information about these crimes to Long Beach Police Department Violent Crimes Unit.

The AFP reports that the tiny Balkans country of Montenegro established its first non-governmental organization dealing specifically with gay rights. Zdravko Cimbaljevic, director of the new LGBT Forum Progres, told the AFP that "The gay population in Montenegro is marginalised and stigmatised. Members of this sexual minority live isolated and in fear," Cimbaljevic said, explaining the motives for establishing the NGO, whose goal is to protect and fight for equal rights for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) population, he said, adding that so far there were only a dozen members, a mix of gays and straight people. Montenegrin society remains highly patriarchal and homophobic, recent surveys revealing that 70 percent of Montenegrins still consider homosexuality an illness. Montenegro's Minister for Minority Rights Ferhat Dinosa has said in the past that he would be "unhappy if there is a single gay person" in the country, and also insisted that "equalling national and sexual minorities is an insult for national minorities". Although Montenegro has a law against discrimination it has not been implemented in practice when related to gay rights, according to local human right activists.

A survey sponsored by the United Kingdom’s National AIDS Trust conducted by Ipsos MORI among adults aged 16 year olds and older reveals some spectacular stupidity, hc2d.com reporting that one in five adults not releasing that HIV is transmitted through unsafe sex. Among the other findings, only three in ten adults (30%) can correctly identify, from a list of possible routes, all of the ways HIV is and is not transmitted, an increasing proportion of adults incorrectly believe HIV can be transmitted by impossible routes such as kissing and spitting, nearly a fifth of adults (19%) believe if a family member was HIV positive it would damage their relationship with them, and more than two thirds of British adults (68%) agree more needs to be done to tackle prejudice against people living with HIV in the United Kingdom.