Policeman and former Mr. Gay UK Mart Carter, 28, has been cleared of rape and sexual-assault charges, according to Pink News. Carter was charged with sexually assaulting three men and raping a fourth in December 2009 while out working one night. Carter said, “I’m not a violent person. We had gone back for mutual pleasure, a sexual encounter. I didn’t take him back to beat him up.” Incidentally, there may be a retrial on one of the sexual-assault counts.
In New Zealand, The Gay Auckland Business Association is helping out speedskater Blake Skjellerup financially in his bid to go to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, according to Advocate.com. The association heard an appeal for help from Skjellerup during its June meeting and decided to launch a fundraising campaign through its charitable trust. Skjellerup came out after the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
In France, the National Assembly has rejected a Socialist Party-backed measure that would have legalized marriage equality, according to Advocate.com. The measure was defeated June 14 by a 293-222 vote, led by President Nicholas Sarkozy’s conservative party, UMP. Earlier this year, France’s highest court ruled that prohibiting same-sex marriages did not violate the constitution.
The Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transsexuals has confirmed that a female couple who married last April is the first same-sex couple in Argentina to divorce, according to Mercopress.com. It’s the the first divorce since July 2010, when Argentina became the first Latin American nation to authorize same-sex marriage. Reportedly, infidelity is the cause of the divorce.
In Scotland, two members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)—Green MSP Patrick Harvie, who is gay, and Independent MSP Margo MacDonald—have criticized an invitation sent to Cecil Samuelson, president of the U.S.’ Brigham Young University, according to Pink News. Samuelson has been invited to address Parliament. Brigham Young University, a Mormon institution, bans same-sex relationships and says that homosexuality is “inappropriate.”
In the Czech Republic, a court has ruled that the tabloid Pestry svet must pay actor Lukas Vaculik, 49, Kc 300,000 (about $17,765) for a 2006 article in which it falsely reported that he had “homosexual tendencies.” It must also pay his legal fees and publish a full-page apology. Other celebrities, including Czech pop singer Helena Vondrácková, have tangled with the publication over its reporting.