Former President Bill Clinton is using his still considerable political clout to try and get Illinois to become the 13th state in the US to make gay marriage legal.

Proposed marriage equality legislation, already passed by the State Senate, has been stalled for some time in the Illinois House of Representatives.

In a statement released Tuesday (21 May) Clinton urged members of the House to pass the bill before the legislature adjourns its spring session on 31 May.

The public coming out of NBA player Jason Collins has been such big news Monday (29 April) that it got the attention of President Barack Obama and led the evening newscasts on the US broadcast networks.

Collins is the first male player in one of the four major US sports - basketball, football, baseball and hockey - to come out as gay while still an active player.

Just three days after receiving the Advocate for Change prize at the GLAAD Media Award in Los Angeles, Bill Clinton turned up in New York to introduce the film Bridegroom at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The former president, close friends with the film's director Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, spoke highly of the documentary that shines a light on how a lack of marital rights can compound the grief of a surviving spouse when the other one dies.

As the recipient of the Advocate for Change Award, Bill Clinton was the star attraction at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday (20 April).

In a speech short by Clinton standards, the former US president gave much of the credit to his evolution on LGBT equality to his daughter, Chelsea Clinton who made a surprise appearance after his speech to present him the award.

He said his daughter 'had a profound impact on the way I see the world. Chelsea and her gay friends and her wonderful husband have modeled to me the way we all should treat each other.'

Former US President Bill Clinton will be presented with the Advocate for Change Award at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles later this month for his recent work on behalf of marriage equality.

The award, to be presented at a star-studded gala on 20 April, could be seen as controversial to some since it is Clinton who signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law in 1996. He has since called for the law to be struck down.

Sandy Rios of the anti-gay American Family Association warned that ‘homosexual advocacy’ is ‘raping children’ in school and that Bill and Hillary Clinton support gay marriage because they are either bi or even gay.

Speaking on American Family Radio on Friday (22 March) Rios reacted to recent polls showing young people support marriage equality.

She said this was due to the media brainwashing children to hear ‘nothing but positive things about homosexuality and its effects’.

Former Senator Chuck Hagel was approved today by the US Senate to be the new Secretary of Defense.

The narrow vote of 58 to 41 followed a bruising confirmation process that included the first-ever fillibuster to try and block a vote on the person nominated to lead the Pentagon.

In the weeks leading up to the Us presiential election last month, the Log Cabin Republicans endorsed Republican Mitt Romney despite the candidate's staunch views against gay marriage.

The daughter of former US President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is carving out a career for herself with NBC News and recently sat down with controversial pastor Rick Warren for a chat.

Among the topics was Warren's views against homosexuality and marriage equality. Clinton asked during an interview on NBC's Rock Center how those views square with his Christianity.

R&B and Hip-Hop singer Frank Ocean may have got the most attention of the openly gay Grammy nominees announced on Thursday (5 November) evening.

But he's not the only LGBT nominee this year.

Gay musician Dave Koz was nominated in the Best Pop Instrumental Album for his Live at the Blue Note Tokyo album and bisexual actress and comedienne Margaret Cho is a nominee in the Best Comedy Album category for Cho Dependent: Live in Concert.

Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former US President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had her ads in support of gay marriage pulled by NBC News.

Buzzfeed.com reports that because Clinton works as a special correspondent for NBC, the network scuttled plans by backers of Washington state's marriage equality bill R-74 to use an ad by Clinton.

Although gay troops can now serve openly in the  US military, their families are still invisible.

In 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) passed the Congress and was signed into law by then President Bill Clinton. The law keeps the government from recognizing same-sex marriages, even in states where gay marriage is legal. Couples cannot file joint federal tax returns or receive survivor benefits.