Saudi Man Arrested For Allegedly Arranging Dates With Other Men Online, Attempt To Overturn Sweden Law Forcing Those Undergoing Gender Reassignment Surgery To Undergo Sterilization Fails In Parliament, Outgoing German Soccer Head Calls For Gay Players To Come Out While Philipp Lahm Tells Them To Remain Closeted, Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine Sunday Morning Toiletries Run, Matt Bomer Apple Store Sexiness

A Saudi Arabia man has been arrested by the country’s religious police for allegedly using Facebook to arrange dates with other men, Gay Middle East reported. The man was reportedly arrested on December 23 and has been held by police since then in the city of Damman on the country’s Eastern coast. According to the website, the man confessed to arranging “obscenity acts” with members of his own gender, after what the website said was “assumed to have been harsh interrogations.” If charged with being gay, the man could face massive fines, flogging, jail or even death. The punishment of such crime is left by the central government to local religious authorities and can vary depending on the person’s identity, GME said, adding that, “Conviction and severity of punishments depends on the social class, religion and citizenship of the accused, whereby non-western migrant workers receive usually harsher treatment than upper class Saudi citizens.” Sami Hamwi, Syria Editor of Gay Middle East, and former Saudi resident said that “native born Saudi citizens who are Suni or from the Bedouin tribes in the country are often let off, while punishment are severely executed against minorities like Shiites and or newly naturalized citizens. “Punishments regarding homosexuality are also held against expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, especially those coming from Asian, African and Arab countries. Dammam is a largely Shiite area and if the 30 year old aforementioned man is a Shiite, he is likely to be trialed and sentenced harshly.” The LGBT community in the Middle East continues to face horrifying conditions, said Egyptian lesbian “Sarah” who asked for her name to remain anonymous. “We have long tried to fit into society and not demand our rights, but it doesn’t matter,” she told Bikyamasr.com. “We are targeted if we look any different that others on the street and are beaten and abused. It is horrifying.” There are limited statistics available on the number of homosexuals in the Middle East, and in many countries, it is illegal to be gay and punishable with harsh jail sentences. The British government has spoken out against Saudi’s treatment of the LGBT community and has recently linked its foreign policy to the well-being of the global gay community. An official of the British Foreign Ministry said in a letter to GME that they are currently looking for more information from Riyadh over the matter. “The UK opposes all discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people in all circumstances,” the letter began. “We are committed to combating violence and discrimination against LGBT people as an integral part of our international human rights work. We believe that human rights are universal and that LGBT people should be free to enjoy the rights and freedoms to which people of all nations are entitled,” it added.

An attempt to overturn laws requiring compulsory sterilization for people undergoing gender reassignment surgery has been blocked in Sweden's parliament. UPI reports that the country's Christian Democrats, with support of other center-right parties, blocked a legislative proposal that would have thrown out the law, arguing the issued is legally complex and needs further consideration, the Swedish news agency TT and The Local reported last Thursday. Other parties in the Riksdag parliament decried the move, saying a majority of members support efforts to drop the requirement. "It's too bad that the government and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt haven't taken into account that there is wide support in the Riksdag to scrap the [sterilization] requirement," Social Democrat Member of Parliament Lena Hallengren said. Under the existing law passed in 1972, a person undergoing a sex change operation must be more than 18 years old, a Swedish citizen, unmarried, and agree to be sterilized. The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights criticized the parliamentary decision, saying "government stability" had won out over respect for human rights. "It's extremely remarkable that a democracy like Sweden now believes that this must be examined further," federation chairwoman Ulrika Westerlund said in a statement.

The outgoing German soccer federation president says it is time for gay players to come out. According to a report by The Associated Press, Theo Zwanziger called on gay players "to have the courage to declare themselves," although he conceded it was surely difficult to acknowledge one's homosexuality within a team. He pointed to the example of Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, who came out years ago. Speaking at a discussion on the subject organized by the federation, Zwanziger said Tuesday that society was more understanding than a few years ago. Germany captain Philipp Lahm, however, disagrees as far as soccer goes. "Football is like being the gladiators in the old times," Lahm said in an interview published Monday. "The politicians can come out these days, for sure, but they don't have to play in front of 60,000 people every week," adding, "I don't think that the society is that far ahead that it can accept homosexual players as something normal as in other areas." Zwanziger, who will leave his job in March, said Lahm is a tolerant person "and if that's how he sees the situation, I am not going to be the one to criticize him." No player in Germany's professional leagues has so far acknowledged his homosexuality.

8, the Dustin Lance Black-authored play about same sex marriage, will follow its 2011 Broadway debut and the announcement of an upcoming Los Angeles production with dozens of productions of the play across the country, starring local actors. Broadway Impact and the American Foundation for Equal Rights are partnering to sponsor the readings, which will take place in states where gay marriage legal issues are in play, including New Hampshire, North Carolina, Maryland and Maine. 8 will be performed at the University of New Hampshire on February 7 and at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, New Hampshire, on February 10, followed by more than 40 scheduled productions across 17 states throughout the rest of 2012, The Associated Press reports. Other readings are scheduled for Stanford University, the University of Toledo, the University of North Carolina, Towson University in Maryland, the Uptown Players theatre company in Dallas and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The play debuted in a one-night-only benefit performance on Broadway last September with Morgan Freeman, Ellen Barkin, Bob Balaban, Bradley Whitford, John Lithgow, Matthew Bomer, Yeardley Smith, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Lahti and Rob Reiner in the cast, and raised more than a $1 million for AFER. George Clooney will lead another celeb-laden cast (under Reiner's direction) in a Los Angeles production of 8 on March 3. The play revolves around the federal trial that overturned Proposition 8 (the judge in the case ruled Proposition 8 was unconstitutional, though his decision is under appeal), and utilizes the original transcripts from the 2010 Perry v. Schwarzenegger case.

The dreamy Michael Fassbender profiled in Interview Magazine by Josh Brolin.

Sunday, the very fine Chris Pine spotted in Gelson’s grocery stocking up on some toiletries, including contact lenses cleaning kit, deodorant, and mouthwash, Pine appearing to have just gotten out of bed.

Matt Bomer stops by the Apple Store in New York City Monday evening, edible as always.