In a blog post, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and leadership rival for current leader Julia Gillard, has declared his support for same-sex marriage.

Rudd, who is a current Australian Labor Party backbencher said: ‘I have come to the conclusion that church and state can have different positions and practices on the question of same sex marriage. I believe the secular Australian state should be able to recognize same sex marriage.’

At the Washington DC screening of Star Trek Into the Darkness this week, Zachary Quinto said that he believes marriage equality is an 'unstoppable wave' in the US at this point.

The openly Quinto, who plays Mr. Spock in the popular film series, says he has no desire to become a politicians but he did campaign for President Barack Obama's reelection and is an outspoken advocate for gay marriage.

The documentary Bridegroom tells the story of Shane Bitney Crone and what happened after his partner of six years, Tom Bridegroom, was killed in an accidental fall off of a building in their Los Angeles neighborhood.

Crone shared with Gay Star News in a recent interview how his life has taken unexpected turns since he made a YouTube video about how his grief was compounded by the heartless actions of Tom’s homophobic family.

The brutal killing of a young gay Russian has sparked international outrage.

The previously unidentified Vladislav Tornovoi, a 23 year-old gay rights activist, was found dead in an apartment complex in the southern city of Volgograd on Friday (10 May).

He was viciously tortured and then killed for coming out to his friends.

New South Wales roads minister Duncan Gay has won the dubious honor of a Golden Gloria on Wednesday night (8 May).

The Glorias (Gay & Lesbian Outrageous, Ridiculous and Ignorant comment Awards) have 'celebrated' the worst examples of homophobia in Australia and beyond annually since 2010.

The Greens party in Australia are pushing for another vote on same-sex marriage before the general election in September.

Greens MP and deputy leader Adam Bandt is campaigning for his Marriage Equality Amendment Bill to be voted on in the House of Representative on 6 June.

Last September a similar bill was voted down by 98 MPs to 42 in the house.

Texas Governor Rick Perry is comparing keeping gays and lesbians out of the Boy Scouts of America to fighting against slavery.

With an organization's national executive board set to vote this month on a proposal that would drop a ban on gay members, Perry was among those who appeared on the anti-gay Family Research Council's program Stand With Scouting Sunday.

The proposal continues to ban gay and lesbian adults from being involved in the organization.

2012 Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan has said that he would vote in favor of the rights of same-sex couples to adopt despite voting against that right in the past.

Ryan made the comments while speaking to a town hall style audience in Wisconsin on Monday where he was challenged by a member of the public about his anti-gay voting record in the US House of Representatives.

Ryan had voted against adoption by same-sex couples in the District of Columbia in 1999 but said his thinking had evolved since then.

Two anti-gay politicians from the United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) have been defeated in their bid to be elected as councilors in England.

John Sullivan, a UKIP candidate, who stated regular physical exercise in schools can 'avoided homosexuality’ failed to be elected as a Gloucestershire councilor.

Will Windsor-Clive of the Conservative party was elected on 988 votes with Sullivan 391 votes behind.

The US State Department has changed course and will now allow the daughter of Cuban leader Raul Castro to travel to Philadelphia this week to accept an award from The Equality Forum for her work on behalf of gay rights.

Mariela Castro, already in the US attending meetings in New York, is prevented as a Cuban diplomat from traveling more than 25 miles from the United Nations without permission.

Kinky Boots, an inspirational musical about a struggling shoemaker and his drag queen business partner, is leading the Tony nominations.

The show has received 13 nominations for the US theater awards including Best Musical, Book and Musical Score.

Among the highly praised this year is Matilda the Musical with 12 nominations and Pippin received 10.

Check out the full list of nominations below:

Philip Rose, a UK councillor candidate says ‘gay folk’ are ‘being used by forces of evil’ to halt the UK Independence Party's progress.

And Henry Reilly a Northern Ireland UKIP councillor warned that a well-financed, militant gay lobby is seeking to impose itself on Christian establishments.