He was running to be a member of the Italian parliament with conservative Mario Monti's party. But when the press discovered his gay dating websites and their pornographic and escort-advertising links, he was forced to pull out.

Now Alessio De Giorgi has spoken about the scandal in an exclusive interview with Gay Star News.

The founder and owner of LGBT magazine Gay.it was a candidate of Prime Minister Mario Monti’s party, a centrist movement accused by the Italian left of being 'very close to the Catholic church and very close to the bankers'.

An Italian gay man has obtained two weeks leave from his company to marry his husband in Brazil.

The news is making headlines in Italy, a country that does not recognize same-sex unions, partnerships or marriages.

Gioacchino Di Gioia from Prato, near Florence, married his partner at the end of September and, coming back to Italy, asked his company for time off work, which is given by law to every straight couple.

‘I tried but I did not expect to obtain it, because in Italy our marriage is not recognized,’ said Di Gioia.

Looking at the Ponte Vecchio, the old bridge, is worth the trip to Florence on its own.

This unique city is considered by many to be an open-air museum. And staring at the most famous bridge in Italy is an experience that pays you back for struggling through all the crowds and the confusion that characterize the ‘capital’ of Tuscany all around the year.

Florence’s palaces, churches and museums are home to some of the greatest artistic treasures in the world. 

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose messy split from an ex-boyfriend ended his campaign for US Congress, has easily fended off three challengers in the Republican primary in his bid to retain his current job.

Babeu received 61 percent of the 11,208 votes cast. He will next face Democrat Kevin Taylor of Maricopa and independent Ty Morgan of Florence in the November 6 general election.

Babeu was first elected sheriff in 2008 and was a rising Republican star on a national level and was even chairman the Mitt Romney's presidential effort in Arizona.

Three Italian Catholic cardinals have agreed to prayer vigils held by the religious group Gionata for the victims of gay hate and discrimination for the first time.

LGBT groups will pray for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Milan, Florence and Palermo, in Sicily as part of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) to be celebrated tomorrow (17 May) in an estimated 100 countries around the world.

The city of Bologna, northern Italy, is in the center of a struggle between the Church and the rights of its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens.

The next national Italian gay pride will be held in this medieval city, between Florence and Venice, on 9 June. But the Catholic hierarchy is trying to make the gay activists change the starting point of the march.