pdimaso

Italian gay rights groups on Tuesday vehemently denounced the "censorship" imposed by state television channel RAI, which cut two scenes from the movie Brokeback Mountain when it aired Monday night, news outlets report.

One of the scenes deleted showed the gay cowboys kissing, while the other depicted them having sex in a tent. Leading Italian press agency ANSA reports that scenes showing explicit heterosexual sex and violence remained intact.

According to the Associated Press, RAI claimed to have cut the scenes by mistake and pledged to air the full version of the movie soon.

On its release in 2005 the Western, directed by Ang Lee and starring the late Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, received many honors, including three Academy Awards and four Golden Globe awards. (Thibault Chareton, Advocate.com)

As four fundamentalist protesters gathered outside of Silverton, Ore.'s City Hall Monday to protest its transgender mayor, residents of the city came out to counterdemonstrate in support of their mayor, Stu Rasmussen.

Lawmakers in Indonesia's Papua province are supporting a bill that would mandate implantation of microchip tracking devices into some people with HIV. Supporting legislator John Manasang said Saturday that implanting the chips beneath the skin of "sexually aggressive" HIV-positive people would help authorities monitor those with the virus and punish those who transmit it, according to the Associated Press.

Gay rights advocates in New York thought same-sex marriage was a done deal after the Democrats captured a majority in the state legislature November 4, with Gov. David Paterson already having said he would sign gay marriage legislation if it landed on his desk. But that may be wishful thinking.