Over 150 LGBT people and their friends have braved homophobic and transphobic thugs to demand their rights at a protest in St Petersburg, Russia.

The protest for International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) today (17 May) was in the city’s main park, Marsovo Pole.

Trans people are still suffering from discrimination,  prejudice and persecution in Europe, a new report has found.

Published on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (17 May), it will expose the 'bleak' legal challenges trans people face across 49 countries in Europe.

Transgender Europe (TGEU) will show which of the countries require sterilization in legal gender recognition and which do not provide for any procedures.

The index will present an in-depth overview of the legal human rights situation for trans people.

Eight out of ten Northern Irish lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people who experienced discrimination did not report it, a study from the Equalities Commission found.

Northern Ireland Equality Commission (NIEC) surveyed LGB people last year and found that half experienced discrimination, but only 20% reported it.

'We have already recognized the need to take special measures to address under-reporting of sexual orientation discrimination,' said equality commissioner Michael Wardlow, speaking at the start of Northern Ireland's Anti-Homophobia Week this week.

Gay and lesbian in Washington State should grow their own food, when faced with discrimination, suggested a staff member at Senator Mike Hewitt's office.

The leaders of an Idaho town narrowly defeated an anti-gay discrimination ordinance.

On 18 April the Pocatello City Council voted on a bill that would have prohibited LGBT discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. The 3-3 tie was broken by the mayor, who voted no.

English footballer Joey Barton is being accused of transphobia after calling a fellow footballer a ‘transsexual ladyboy’.

The 30-year-old was talking about soccer player Thiago Silva, who said Barton was not respecting ‘Brazilian football’ in a press conference before the Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain game yesterday (2 April).

On Twitter today (3 April), he said: ‘2 questions for Thiago Silva. Firstly, Why are YOU talking about ME, in your press conference before PSG v Barca? Very strange.

A new Sex Discrimination Act will be introduced to parliament in Australia this week and the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is confident it will go through.

If passed into law the Act will give particularly intersex people greater protection from discrimination, as they will be named as a separate group in the legislation for the first time.

The Act also will mean that same-sex couples are treated the same as straight couples in domestic relationships and will be entitled to the same benefits.

A report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) currently debated by the UN Human Rights Council found that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity remains widespread and persistent throughout the world.

The council is due to pass a resolution on the matter next week, and human rights groups have urged it to take a strong stand against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

'Gender identity' has been named for the first time in the Greek legal system, as a protected group in hate crime legislation.

The change to Article 66 of the Penal Code Amendments was introduced by opposition MP Vassiliki Katrivanou and Aphrodite Stabouli, spokesperson for Syriza, the coalition for the radical left.

Minister for Justice, Antonis Roupakiotis, accepted the amendment so that the legislation now reads:

A group of transgender rights activists held a protest against police transphobia and alleged brutality, in London.

Some 25 to 30 people gathered outside Charing Cross police station, in London, this past Saturday (2 March) to protest against transphobic actions by the London police force.

The employee of a wedding venue in Texas used God as her excuse for refusing to host a gay couple's wedding.

'It is because of God that I will not be a part in your reception, and I know he loves you, but not what you are doing', wrote All Occassion Party Place employee Robin Hearne in an email to Ben Allen and Justin Hudgins. Allen, 26, and Hudgins, 29, were looking for a venue to host 150 guests for their wedding.

Following calls from LGBTI rights groups and legal experts, the Australian Senate committee drafting the new Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill has recommended that 'intersex' be included as a category in its own right in the proposed law.