Gay Nigerians Face Death by Stoning

(NEWSER) - Five Nigerian lesbians are running for their love after a weekend wedding put them in direct violation of the local Islamic law. Police have issued arrest warrants against Aunty Maiduguri and her four wives, charging them with violating the Sharia law that governs much of northern Nigeria. More»

Pursued by police after 'gay' wedding, woman says she's straight

(NEWSER) - The Nigerian woman whose story of lesbian love on the run made international headlines yesterday has news for the authorities who hoped to arrest her: she's not a lesbian. "I have never practiced— never heard the word 'lesbian'—truly," says Aunty Madiguri, who was accused of violating Sharia law after she allegedly married four women last weekend. More»

North Carolina preacher gives an, er, colorful sermon

(NEWSER) - North Carolina pastor Charles Worley has an, er, unorthodox suggestion for how to spread God's love to gay people. "Build a great, big, large fence—150 or 100 miles long—put all the lesbians in there. Do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals, and have that fence electrified so they can't get out," he suggested in a sermon last week, which was posted to YouTube today and spotted by the Huffington Post and other blogs. More»

'Conversion therapy' is dangerous, bill's sponsor says

(NEWSER) - Psychotherapists who claim they can "cure" gay teenagers may soon be out of business in California. A bill before the state Senate would ban so-called "conversion therapy" for minors and require adults to sign a release form stating that the counseling is ineffective and possibly dangerous, reports AP . Such treatments can "cause extreme depression and guilt" that sometimes lead to suicide, says the bill's sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ted Lieu. More»

Seeks to remedy apparently soaring divorce rate

(NEWSER) - Nigeria's Kano state is worried: The number of divorces appears to be skyrocketing. And a divorced woman there faces a raft of problems—she may be shunned, in some cases forced to beg or prostitute herself to support her family. So the state government is taking the matter into its own hands: It's working to find husbands for 1,000 divorcees and widows, the Los Angeles Times reports. Some 2,000 men have applied for the program, which covers wedding expenses and provides a way around negotiating with future in-laws. More»