A football star marries her girlfriend in Vietnam, universities in the United Kingdom fly Pride flags, and Russia issues convictions in accordance to an anti-LGBTQ law.
Football Star Marries Girlfriend In Vietnam
Tran Thi Thu, a member of Vietnam’s women’s national football team who competed in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, kicked off 2024 by marrying her partner, Nguyen Thi Thuong.
According to VN Express International, this is the first time a female Vietnamese football player has publicly married a partner of the same sex.
“I would like to send my sincere thanks to relatives on both sides of the family, friends near and far, and colleagues who took some time to come celebrate and give congratulations,” wrote Thu on Facebook. “Best wishes to us. The wedding was a great success.”
Pink News reports that while Vietnam does not recognize same-sex marriages, symbolic same-sex weddings are permitted.
Pride Flags Fly In UK For LGBTQ History Month
Photo via UK Parliament, X (formerly Twitter).
LGBTQ History Month is underway in the United Kingdom.
According to Pink News, this year’s theme, medicine, aims to recognize LGBTQ people’s contribution to the field of medicine and healthcare, both historically and today.
University College London, The University of Oxford’s Christ Church college, and the University of Cambridge’s Corpus Christi college are just a few entities that are flying Pride flags and recognizing the month.
“LGBT+ History Month starts today, offering us a chance to reflect on the contribution of LGBTQ+ peoples to our college in its past, present and future. We are so proud to celebrate our inclusive history, our friends and loved ones and our shared future,” wrote the University of Oxford’s Somerville College on X.
Convictions Issued In Connection With Anti-LGBTQ Law
Photo via Unsplash.
Two convictions were handed out by courts in Russia, marking the first use of the government’s ban of the “international LGBT social movement.”
According to The Guardian, a court in Volgograd found a man guilty of “displaying the symbols of an extremist organization” after he posted a photograph of an LGBTQ flag online. He was ordered to pay a fine of 1,000 roubles, admit guilt, and repent.
The second ruling came a few days later after a court in Nizhny Novgorod sentenced a woman to five days in administrative detention for wearing frog-shaped earrings displaying an image of a rainbow.
She was sent to the police after a man filmed himself and posted a video of him approaching her in a café and demanding she remove her earrings.
This law, passed in November, has been labeled as extremist as it criminalizes any gesture done in support of LGBTQ rights. This followed a law passed in July that outlawed legal or medical changes of gender for transgender Russians.
