A woman who was part of a group which attacked a lesbian teenager on a train after spotting her kissing her girlfriend has been jailed.

April James, 20, of Carfax Close in Bexhill, Sussex, England, was sentenced to six weeks in prison at Hastings Magistrates’ Court yesterday (14 May) after pleading guilty to assault by beating.

The 16-year-old victim was attacked on 15 October last year while travelling by train to Bexhill with her girlfriend, also 16, after attending the Hastings Bonfire celebrations.

Darnell Young's mother gave him a stun gun for protection at school in Indiana, USA after months of bullying.

Now, Young faces expulsion for firing the stun gun in the air when he was surrounded and taunted by fellow students on campus last month.

Young's mother Chelisa Grimes said in a CNN interview yesterday: 'I do not promote violence- not at all- but what is a parent to do when she has done everything that she felt was supposed to do? I did feel like there was nothing else left for me to do, but protect my child.'

Five months after Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion Jr. died following a pummeling by fellow members of the marching band, 13 people have been charged in his death.

The death of the 26-year-old Champion, who was gay, has brought about a focus on college hazing rituals. The beating took place aboard a chartered bus parked outside of a Orlando hotel after a performance.

A young man known by the initials CH M was hanged publicly in Marwdasht, Fars Province, Iran, for allegedly engaging in 'sodomy' with another man.

Speaking with the Iranian Fars News Agency, Gholamhossein Chamansara, the Attorney General of Marwdasht, reported that the death penalty was given to the man - whose exact age is not known - due to his 'despicable act' that contradicted Sharia Muslim laws.

LGBT people of all faiths and none will gather in London this weekend to unravel the confusion on equal marriage.

Cutting Edge Consortium, a group that calls on religious and non-religious people to eliminate faith-based homophobia and transphobia, will host their third national conference on Saturday (21 April) at Conway Hall in Camden, London. It will run from 9am to 5pm.

The event is titled ‘LGBT Lives – Achieving our Equality: Challenging Faith-Based Homophobia and Transphobia’ will feature a range of workshops and speakers.

Lesbian comedian Amy Lamé has received racist death threats on Twitter after taking part in a British TV debate about obesity.

The outspoken broadcaster appeared on Channel 4's irreverant current affairs program 10 O'clock Live last Wednesday (28 March), alongside Embarrassing Bodies' Dr Dawn Harper and Supersize Me documentary maker Morgan Spurlock.

It's been a difficult end of the month for John Hart and Dennis Mayer.

The Palm Springs couple were arrested last week in a port in the Caribbean island of Dominica. They were  on a Celebrity Summit cruise ship organized by West Hollywood-based Atlantis Event. Military police put the pair in handcuffs on suspicion of indecent exposure and sodomy.

Kathy Griffin has spoken out against bullying in a public service announcement inspired by the documentary Bully.

The gay friendly comic created the PSA in response to the film that explores children’s stories as they face being bullied every day.

The film released tomorrow (30 March) in select US cinemas has drawn controversy over the Motion Picture Association of America’s initial decision to award it an ‘R’ rating, meaning people under 17 years old must be accompanied by an adult to see it.

A state hearing officer in Michigan ruled on Tuesday (27 March) that Andrew Shirvell, a one-time assistant attorney general for the state, was justly fired in 2010 for his harassment of a gay student leader.

William Hutchens of the Michigan Civil Service Commission said Shirvell engaged in 'hate speech' on a blog and 'physical and mental harassment' of then University of Michigan Student Body President Christopher Armstrong.

A man has been jailed for hurling homophobic abuse at cabin crew on a flight from Tenerife to the UK.

John Hawkins, from Merseyside, England, was returning home from the Canary Islands on a Thomas Cook flight when he began hurling anti-gay abuse at the male cabin crew.

Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard how the 32-year-old, of Maple Avenue, Newton le Willows, flew into a rage after he was asked by a nearby passenger to mind his language in front of children on the plane.

Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers student accused of spying on his roommate Tyler Clementi, was found guilty Friday (16 March) of some charges of bias intimidation, invasion of privacy, and tampering with evidence.

Bias intimindation is a hate crime based on the fact that Clementi was gay.

Clementi committed suicide by jumping off of the George Washington Bridge in the days after he discovered that his private dorm room encounters with another man had been secretly recorded by Ravi via web cam and discussed it on Twitter with other students.

Smoking – everyone knows it’s bad for them and a habit that fast becomes a potential life-time addiction. Smoking a cigarette isn't just about that addictive nicotine hit, it’s a tactile experience, bound up with emotions and surroundings.

Studies show that gay men and women are particularly at risk of smoking. So we are keen to highlight ways of cutting down smoking or quitting the habit altogether.