RIO DE JANEIRO — A judge in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro on Friday published a legal ruling authorizing marriage equality for same-sex couples.

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay — Tobacco magnate Horacio Cartes, Paraguay’s leading presidential candidate, has come under fire for comments he made comparing gay people to “monkeys” and threatening to remove his genitals if his son married another man.

In a recent radio interview, Cartes also said support of same-sex marriage is like believing in “the end of the world,” reported The New York Times.

WASHINGTON – The Senate’s so-called Gang of Eight today introduced its new immigration bill, and LGBT binational couples are not mentioned.

LGBT groups and allies said they are hoping that the bill will be amended to include protections for binational couples who are gay and lesbian.
Of the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States, about 267,000 identify as LGBT. Of that total, about 40,000 are binational couples.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – MPs overwhelmingly voted, 77-44, on Wednesday to approve marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples in New Zealand.

The third and final vote was largely ceremonial, since MPs had easily passed the first two readings. The bill now goes to the governor-general for royal assent, which is a mere formality.

Same-sex marriages will begin in August.