Priests can now bless same-sex couples, the Vatican announced yesterday. The development makes the Roman Catholic Church more welcoming to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (L.G.B.T.Q.) members. The Vatican had long said it could not bless same-sex couples because it would undermine the church doctrine that marriage is only between a man and a woman. The new rule was issued …

For the first time, a South Korean Court has recognized the legal rights of same-sex couples in the country. The case was brought by a gay couple,  Seong-wook and Kim Yong-min who sued South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) in 2021 because it had terminated benefits for his partner, Kim, whom he had registered as a dependent, after the …