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May 21, 2013

China's biggest group deals website, Meituan, is offering a free trip to Canada for a gay couple to marry

Meituan, a Chinese version of Groupon, the group deals website, is offering gay couples the chance to marry in Canada for free.

'On 20 and 21 May, Meituan Rainbow Day, we support comrades [slang for gay people],' the deal site says, 'because we believe that marriage is not about similarities or differences, it's about true love, regardless of gender'.

May 8, 2013

Romantics Kacey Frierson and Chwanda Nixon complete an ‘I do’ marathon around America

Most people would be embarrassed to admit they had been married nine times. It usually implies a lot of failed relationships. But not for happy couple Kacey and Chwanda who decided to take all their seven children on an ‘I do’ marathon from Illinois to New York to Canada.

Kacey told Out: ‘Chwanda was like, "we gonna get married all them times?" And I’m like, "Yeah!" Once I started, I couldn’t stop: If I’m gonna do something, I’m gonna do it big!’

April 20, 2013

Canadian politicians want to cut funding from Edmonton Islamic Academy, where religious leader Mustafa Khattab likened homosexuality to a disease

A publicly funded Islamic school in Canada risks losing funding over a religious leader’s comments likening being gay to having cancer or AIDS.

Religious leader Mustafa Khattab sent an email to Canadian news channel CBC news saying that comments he made in a lecture for students from Edmonton Islamic Academy were taken out of context.

Last fall, a video posted to YouTube showed Khattab saying: ‘Personally, I do not like to be associated with this [homosexuality].’

‘For me someone who is homosexual is like someone who has diabetes, cancer or AIDS.

April 15, 2013

An attack on a 17-year-old teenager is being treated by police as a possible hate crime

A lesbian teenager was attacked and beaten by a group of  four teenage boys in the Canadian city of Calgary last week.

The attack, which happened late at night last Thursday (11 April), is being treated by police as a possible hate crime.  

The 17-year-old victim was approached by the group as she was on her way home from a friend’s house, CTV News reports.

April 15, 2013

The Harley Medical Group are offering you the chance to win the best cosmetics to keep you beautiful.

We all want to look our best every day of the year, and are always on the lookout for great deals on keeping ourselves beautiful.

GSN want you to look and feel fabulous as much as anyone, and because of this we have teamed up with the UK’s Harley Medical Group to offer you the chance to win a free goody bag of the top cosmetics available.

Lasting a fortnight, we have a female and male goody bag up for grabs each week. Anyone can enter from the UK to the Ukraine, Canada to Cameroon.

March 27, 2013

'I think the justices were gentle … I didn’t feel any hostility'

Edith Windsor emerged from the US Supreme Court building today to hear a crowd chanting 'Edie! Edie!'

The 83-year-old New York resident was the star attraction in the landmark challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act which was being heard by justices it appears may be ready to strke the law down.

As she stood on the steps of the court, Windsor took the opportunity to tell her story and how a $350,000-plus federal estate tax bill, received after the death of her spouse of 44 years, Thea Clara Spyer, got her to this historic day.

March 19, 2013

Luka Rocco Magnotta has been dubbed 'Canadian Psycho'

The bisexual porn star accused of killing and chopping up a Chinese student collapsed during a court hearing in Canada today.

Luka Rocco Magnotta first asked for a break during a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial. He then stood up and collapsed onto the floor of the Montreal courtroom.

He is accused of killing and dismembering Chinese foreign student Jun Lin, 33, last May. Authorities say he used an ice pick to kill Lin then carved up his body - filming it all and posting it online.

March 14, 2013

Says friend: 'They would both be alive today if America had gay marriage'

Before gay porn star Wilfred Knight committed suicide earlier this month, he wrote a blog post with the title: 'My partner's life and death and its lesson: US Gay Marriage Must Pass on a Federal Level.'

That partner, an American citizen named Jerry Enriquez, had killed himself two weeks earlier in Canada. The couple had left Oregon to live in Canada because Knight, a French citizen, had a student US visa that had expired.

March 8, 2013

Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs has funded several initiatives aiming to protect LGBT Ugandans from anti-gay hate

The Canadian government has spent thousands of dollars quietly fighting Uganda’s ‘Kill The Gays’ bill.

The government has spent more than $200,000 (US$194k, €150k) helping gay rights initiatives and projects in the African country.

Speaking to Canada’s National Post, a senior Department of Foreign Affairs official said: ‘Canadian officials have conveyed Canada’s concerns with the bill to Uganda’s Foreign Ministry’.

February 27, 2013

Canada's supreme court ruled that Saskatchewan anti-gay activist's flyers violated human rights rules and constitute hate speech

Canda's supreme court of ruled against anti-gay activist Bill Whatcott saying his flyers amounted to hate speech.

Today's (27 February) ruling came after years of legal wrangling over a case brought against anti-gay activist, Bill Whatcott, by Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission (SHRC), concerning flyers he distributed in 2001 and 2002.

The ruling found that two of the four flyers could be construed as hate speech against gays, and upheld previous damages of $7,500 levied against Whatcott.

February 11, 2013

Canada’s government has cut funding to an Evangelical group working in Uganda for promoting anti-gay views

The Canadian government has stopped funding to Crossroads, an Evangelical charity working in Uganda, for being homophobic.

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation the charity that describes homosexuality as a ‘perversion’ and a ‘sin’ will receive no further funding until officials will investigate the organization.

January 30, 2013

An amateur hockey goaltender from Canada, who is an open trans advocate, met his hero on the ice rink

A 16-year-old trans teenager from Canada always dreamed of meeting Vancouver Canucks hockey star Cory Schneider, but it always felt like he would never get there.

But for Cory Oskham, his dreams became reality when he met the star and shared the ice with his hero.

On 21 January, the teen and advocate was preparing to give one of his speeches on homophobia and transphobia in schools at the Dare to Stand Out Vancouver conference.

January 14, 2013

HIV support worker Dolan Badger killed in Alberta and 22-year-old man arrested for murder

A gay aboriginal HIV support and outreach worker was murdered in Alberta, Canada.

Officers found Dolan Badger, 49, at his Edmonton residence on Saturday (12 January) at 7.30am. He had suffered severe injuries.

January 14, 2013

Ontario court judges that gay couple with a British civil partnership qualified as married

A Canadian judge has decided that a gay couple with a UK civil partnership can be treated as married – and therefore get divorced.

The judgement in Ontario follows legal objections from the Canadian federal Crown.

In 2009 Wayne Hincks and Gerardo Gallardo entered into a civil partnership in London. Both obtained Canadian citizenship after emigrating to Toronto in 2010.

Unlike Canada, British law does not currently allow same-sex couples to marry although civil partnerships allow for similar rights and responsibilities.

January 9, 2013

Outspoken US right-wing radio show host has said the left wants to 'normalize' pedophilia after reading a left-wing British paper's article

Outspoken right-wing US pundit Rush Limbaugh has said the left wants to normalize pedophilia like they did with same-sex marriage.

On Monday (7 January), during the broadcast of his radio show Limbaugh discussed an article from left-wing British paper The Guardian titled ‘Pedophilia: Bringing Dark Desires to Light’.

January 7, 2013

The annual LGBT aquatics championships will be drenching the state of Washington in 2013

International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA) is the organization that brings the world’s LGBT aquatics clubs together, sharing information and knowledge as well as staging an annual championships for LGBT competitors in swimming, diving, open water, synchronized swimming, and water polo.

We caught up with Jason Stone, head of the organizing committee for IGLA2013 to take a look at plans for this year’s event which will be held in the US city of Seattle.

December 21, 2012

Tributes pour in for former controversial TV host Laurier LaPierre, who died suddenly on Monday (17 December)

Laurier LaPierre, Canada's first openly gay senator, has died aged 83.

The retired politician and host of TV's controversial 'This Hour has Seven Days' was pronounced dead on Monday (17 December), reported the Huffington Post.

LaPierre rose to fame presenting the notorious CBC program which saw him come under fire for interviewing white supremacists and cild-killer Nathan Leopold.

December 21, 2012

Tributes pour in for former controversial TV host Laurier LaPierre, who died suddenly on Monday (17 December)

Laurier LaPierre, Canada's first openly gay senator, has died aged 83.

The retired politician and host of TV's controversial 'This Hour has Seven Days' was pronounced dead on Monday (17 December), reported the Huffington Post.

LaPierre rose to fame presenting the notorious CBC program which saw him come under fire for interviewing white supremacists and cild-killer Nathan Leopold.

December 19, 2012

Ministry of Justice commission study to attitudes to same-sex marriage in Asia

Taiwan's Ministry of Justice will commission studies into attitudes towards same-sex marriage in Asian cultures as part of research looking into legalizing gay marriage on the island nation.

December 12, 2012

'It’s almost a deliriously joyous thing for an old lady'

The US Defense of Marriage Act prohibited the Internal Revenue Service from treating Edith Windsor as a surviving spouse after her longtime partner's death in 2009.

Windsor and Thea Spyer had gotten married in Canada two years earlier after 40 years together. But DOMA prevented the US government from recognizing this or any same-sex marriage.

As a result, Windsor was required to pay a $350,000 federal estate tax bill that she would not have had to pay if their marriage had been recognized.

December 8, 2012

GSN’s guide to gay ski weeks around the world in 2013

If you haven’t booked your 2013 ski holiday yet, why not go gay? You can find a gay ski week in pretty much all of the major ski fields, so pull on your thermal underwear and get ready for some serious après-ski action.

Arosa Gay Ski Week: 6 to 13 January 2013

We asked Alex Herkommer of Arosa Gay Ski Week to explain why we should be skiing in the Swiss Alps this winter:

December 6, 2012

The Prime Minister of Belgium has stated that anti-gay hate is on the rise setting the country on a backwards path from tolerance

Tolerance in Belgium towards LGBT people has been eroding  in the last three to four years, suggested Elio Di Rupo, the country's Prime Minister.

December 4, 2012

Uganda puts Anti-Homosexuality Bill on official parliamentary agenda despite international outcry

Uganda’s Parliament has resumed work today and a debate and vote on the so-called ‘Kill the Gays Bill’ could happen at any time.

The proposed law would give life in jail for gay sex and even the death penalty for ‘aggravated homosexuality’.

December 3, 2012

An Israeli court has granted a divorce of a gay couple for the first time in the country's history

A court has ordered the ministry of interior of Israel to register a gay couple as divorced after it continually rejected their requests.

Yesterday (2 November) a Ramat Gan family court approved the request of Uzi Even, a former Israeli member of parliament and professor at Tel Aviv University, and Amit Kama, who teaches communications at Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, to order Israel’s ministry of interior to register them as divorced.