How can gay and trans equality boost our economies and help towards everyone’s future and why should companies be advocating for it?

Those are some of the bigger questions delegates discussed at Out & Equal’s Workplace Summit in Baltimore, Maryland which finished yesterday (1 November).

Claudia Brind-Woody is a vice president at IBM and a board member of Out & Equal – the organization which campaigns for workplace equality in the US.

Planning holidays is definitely one of my top three hobbies, so I was excited to learn that the ninth Gay Games had been awarded to the US city of Cleveland in the state of Ohio.

Excited or intrigued? To be honest Cleveland hasn't really been featuring in my list of holiday hotspots (making lists is also one of my top three hobbies), so I caught up with Tom Nobbe - executive director of the 2014 Gay Games - to get the low-down on Cleveland.

Football fans at a Dutch versus Germany match put on a show of solidarity with the Ukraine's gay and trans population by supporting a lesbian activist during Euro 2012 celebrations in Kharkiv.

Human rights campaigners had raised concerns about the safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender fans attending the European Football Championships in Poland and Ukraine, which both have poor records on LGBT rights, with Amnesty International even suggesting gay fans should stay away.

Gay activists are tackling homophobia in Ukraine during Euro 2012 by providing rainbow wristbands and a safe space for gay soccer fans.

The European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF) has teamed up with the Pride Solidarity Campaign to promote the two new campaigns to run throughout the period of the European Football Championship being hosted in Poland and Ukraine from today (8 June).

Authorities in the Croatian city of Split should allow the local gay pride march to stick to its route and make sure it is properly protected, Human Rights Watch has said today (31 May).

Last year’s pride in the coastal town of Split turned to violence when an estimated 10,000 anti-gay protestors turned up and some attacked the 200 participants with rocks, bottles and firecrackers.

Several people were injured and riot police held the two sides apart – they were also separated by iron fences.

Authorities in Latvia say they will not ban Baltic Pride, despite a crackdown on LGBT rights and attacks on marches across eastern Europe.

Riga City Council has told organizers that the Mozaika pride march on 2 June poses no threat to public safety and there is, therefore, no reason not to allow it.

The pride event has been banned almost every year, with organizers having to use the courts to fight the decision.

Angry homophobes took to the streets of two Iranian cities on Friday (11 May) to protest rumors of a gay pride event during next week's Eurovision Song Contest in neighboring Azerbaijan.

The kitsch European pop tournament will begin in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan in the Caucasus, on 22 May, with the grand final held on 26 May.

In January, gay scene website nighttours.com suggested that a gay pride could take place in the city during the lead-up to Eurovision, but removed the article a few days later.