UNITED KINGDOM – British prime minister and Conservative Party leader, David Cameron has urged reluctant Conservative Members of Parliament to support gay marriage. Cameron urged the party to back the move because of its Conservatism, not in spite of it, at his keynote speech at the party conference in Manchester. In his speech Cameron said,…
UNITED KINGDOM – The NBA basketball player-turned-social entrepreneur John Amaechi has been awarded the Order of the British Empire for his services to sport and to the voluntary sector, it was announced in the Queen’s Birthday Honors List, released earlier this week. The awards, which recognize outstanding merit and service, are published twice a year,…
IRELAND – Openly gay Irish Sen. David Norris has finally secured enough nominations to stand for president. With less than 24 hours to go to the close of nominations Sen. Norris secured a nomination with the endorsement of Dublin City Council with 30 councilors voting for his nomination, six against and 11 abstaining. This now…
CHINA – A famous Chinese dancer claims she was fired as a judge on a TV talent show because she is transgender. China Daily reported that Jin Xing was contracted to appear on eight episodes of Feitong Fanxiang, a contest for professional singers broadcast on Zhejiang TV. Despite being one of the few transgender women…
UNITED KINGDOM – Following the announcement by U.K. health ministers that the rules allowing gay and bisexual men to donate blood if they refrain from sex for 12 months, would be relaxed, Edwin Poots, Northern Ireland’s health minister, has refused to lift the lifetime ban in Northern Ireland. On Nov. 7 the ban will be…
AUSTRALIA – The Australian government has recently introduced new passport rules allowing citizens to nominate their official gender as male, female or indeterminate, without having to undergo surgery as proof of a sex change. The government had previously required a person whose gender was different from that of their birth to have reassignment surgery before…
BELGIUM – Jonathan De Falco, 26, a former soccer player with Belgian team Racing Mechelen, has made ??a surprising career change. The Brussels born star now acts under the stage name “Stany Falcone” in gay porn films. De Falco told the Antwerp Gazette, “It all went quite fast. I do large productions in France, England…
UNITED KINGDOM – The UK Department of Health has announced that the lifetime ban on blood donations by men who have had sex with men is to be lifted following an evidence-based review by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs. The recommendation, which has been accepted by the health ministers…
CANADA – The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) has amended an earlier ruling which said that radio stations must censor the song “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits which includes the homophobic slur “faggot.” The original decision was rendered Jan. 12, 2011. In it, the CBSC concluded that the broadcast of the original version of…
SCOTLAND – The Scottish government has launched their promised consultation on marriage equality for Scotland. The government’s initial view is to support the introduction of same-sex marriage. The introduction to the consultation paper by Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon states, “The Scottish government is choosing to make its initial views clear at the outset of…
