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May 22, 2013

SaveCalifornia, a conservative family values advocacy group have told parents to boycott celebrations honouring gay activist Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk Day (22 May), celebrating the state’s first openly gay man elected to US office, is being met by protests.

SaveCalifornia, a family values group, have called for parents to boycott Harvey Milk Day.

They have described Milk as a ‘predator of teens’ and have advised California parents to ‘protect your child from Harvey Milk Gay Day.’

May 22, 2013

The death of veteran Indian gay rights activist Shivananda Kahn prompts outpouring of appreciation for his achievements

Gay rights advocates in India and around the world are mourning the death of 'committed, passionate, inspiring, nurturing, visionary' activist Shivananda Khan, who passed away on Monday (20 May).

'[Khan] forged a pioneering path across the decades in helping achieve rights and equality for LGBT individuals and communities in diverse geographies and sociocultural environments from Europe to Asia and the Pacific,' said a statement from the organization he helped found, Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM).

May 21, 2013

Spokesman Wilson Cruz tells GSN: 'GLAAD has been here for 28 years and we're not going anywhere'

There was surprise and some raised eyebrows when Herndon Graddick resigned last week as president of the media monitoring organization GLAAD after just over a year.

But GLAAD's national spokesman, Wilson Cruz, tells Gay Star News that there is no scandal connected to Graddick's departure.

May 21, 2013

The leading African American DJ and how he dismissed gay, black NBA star Jason Collins which reporting a totally separate black issue – a rape by three athletes

On 1 May Jason Collins, the 7’0” center for the Washington Wizards, and a former Boston Celtics, came out. His statement ‘I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay’ made the cover story for Sports Illustrated.

On 2 May, three Morehouse College basketball athletes were accused of raping an 18-year-old Spelman College student. The story didn’t hit the airwaves in the same way as the Collins story.

Many in the African American community were silent on both incidents because they view both as poxes on the community.

May 20, 2013

Morehouse College speech calls on grads to have empathy for all minority groups

During a commencement speech at the all-male Morehouse College on Sunday (19 May), President Barack Obama encouraged students - straight or gay - to be good spouses and parents.

'... That’s what I’m asking all of you to do: Keep setting an example for what it means to be a man. Be the best husband to your wife, or your boyfriend, or your partner. Be the best father you can be to your children. Because nothing is more important.'

May 20, 2013

Straight starlets shared a quick lesbian kiss on ITV2 panel show Celebrity Juice

TV straight starlets Kelly Brook and Holly Willoughby shared a steamy kiss on Celebrity Juice last week.

The team captains on the ITV2 panel show were demonstrating how to play Read My Lips – a game involving contestants passing pieces of paper to each other using only their mouths.

Despite a valiant effort, the paper dropped, leaving the two models and television presenters locking lips.

Host Keith Lemon, known for his lewd comedy, pleaded with the girls for an encore - especially as it was Brook's last show.

May 20, 2013

As members of parliament vote on the bill, the case for gay marriage gains support via twitter

Same-sex marriage advocates in England and Wales are gearing up for another debate in the House of Commons today and tomorrow (19-20 May).

But while members of parliament lock horns, members of the public have taken to Twitter to make their voices heard.

Whether it's satirical, funny, or just making a great point, we've gathered 18 amazing tweets in support of marriage equality. Check them out here:

May 19, 2013

In an interview with Gay Star News, writer Jeff Chu takes on Dan Savage and gays who hate gay Christians

Jeff Chu's Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America has earned the type of press writers dreams of. Positive reviews for a work that searches for grace and humility when there is usually fire and brimstone. However, liberals and conservatives have found fault with the work for that exact reason. What can be expected when tackling the third rail of US politics and culture: gay sexuality and Christianity.

May 19, 2013

18 year old Florida schoolgirl Kaitlyn Hunt was kicked off her basketball team, expelled from school and is now being prosecuted after her 15 year old girlfriend’s parents complained about their relationship

An 18 year old Florida schoolgirl is being treated like a pedophile after the parents of her 15 year old girlfriend went to school authorities and the police.

Sebastian River High School student Kaitlyn Hunt was charged with two felony counts of ‘lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12 – 16 years of age’ in February over her consensual relationship with her unnamed girlfriend who was a member of the same school basketball team.

May 18, 2013

The first former NBA player to come out publicly thinks sports leaders should be held more accountable for homophobia in sport

John Amaechi, the first former NBA player to ever come out, had some good and bad things to say about being gay in professional sport.

In an interview with UK-based online radio station Gaydio, Amaechi first gave his opinion on the importance of International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), a global day of awareness of anti-gay hate.

May 17, 2013

Assistant Chief Constable Steph Morgan says the British police have changed and now want to encourage LGBT teens to trust them

The culture of the Police Service in Britain is developing into one where you can be as comfortable at work as you are at home – that is the strategic aim. It is worth noting that there are eight local police forces listed in the Stonewall Top 100 Index of gay-friendly employers and LGBT officers are included in the majority of UK police forces. It hasn’t always been this way.

May 17, 2013

Gay dating site’s co-founder Henry Badenhorst exits business. New management team pledge to ‘reinvigorate the global dating scene’

Henry Badenhorst, co-founder of Gaydar, the website which revolutionized gay dating, has sold his shares and left the business after 14 years.

A new investment partner has been brought in to allow a management buy-out of the company. Gaydar will now be headed by former manager Trevor Martin who becomes chief executive officer.

Badenhorst set up Gaydar with his boyfriend Gary Frisch in 1999 after a friend complained he was too busy to look for dates.

May 17, 2013

USA's first openly gay congressman and an 11-year-old transgender girl are among the award winners honored in this year's pride parade

Los Angeles Pride has announced 2013’s honor award winners and Grand Marshal for this year’s pride march.

Straight allies of the LA gay community have been honoured along with several LGBT organisations for their community service, pride organizers Christopher Street West told GSN.

Among the honourees are a Super Bowl champion, USA’s first openly gay congressman and an 11-year-old transgender girl who fought for identity in school.

May 17, 2013

‘The Times of Harvey Milk’ director Rob Epstein will co-direct biopic ‘Anita’, with plans for the film being shown at Cannes

Hollywood actress Uma Thurman is set to play anti-gay rights activist Anita Bryant in a biopic.

Bryant was a 70’s singer, beauty queen and celebrity spokesperson for orange juice. She was named Good Housekeeping’s ‘Most Admired Woman in America’ three years in a row.

In 1997, Bryant’s celebrity career collapsed when her anti-gay activist past was revealed. The mother from Florida successfully campaigned to stop gays from teaching or adopting a child in the state.

May 17, 2013

Ban Ki-moon speech delivered at The Hague as part of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO)

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said ending homophobia is ‘critical’ to the UN’s work and called for an end to anti-gay laws and better education.

His comments were delivered today (17 May) at an event in The Hague, The Netherlands, to mark International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).

The speech was delivered on his behalf by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in the presence of the new Queen of the Netherlands, Máxima.

May 16, 2013

Homophobia’s cruel Mothers’ Day: why one young lesbian took her life and sent her mom into such a spiral of depression that she also killed herself

May 16, 2013

Punter was let go by the Minnesota Vikings after more than eight years to the disappointment of even the governor of the state

Chris Kluwe, the NFL punter who has become a hero in the fight for LGBT equality, will be playing for the Oakland Raiders next season.

Kluwe was cut by the Minnesota Vikings this month after more than eight years on the team. His departure came after he rose to fame as an outspoken ally of marriage equality.

Kluwe, always very active on Twitter, has not yet commented about his hiring which was to be formally announced later today. He will have a one-year contract.

May 16, 2013

YouTube video released for IDAHO (International Day Against homophobia and transphobia)

Over 100 South Korean LGBT people and allies star in a YouTube video in support of gay rights released this week (Monday 13 May).

Korean Gay Men's Human Rights Group Chingusai organized the recording of You Make me Proud, a song created by Sydney Gay and Lesbian choir to mark IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) in 2012.

May 16, 2013

Gay X Factor star hopes for romance with the bisexual boy band singer, but says 'he can have any man he wants'

Romance could be brewing among British singers as Rylan Clark has revealed he has sent naked pics to bisexual boy band member Duncan James.

The gay star, who first came to fame on UK reality competition show The X Factor, said he has had a crush on the Blue singer for a long time.

Speaking to Now magazine, Clark said: ‘I’m too embarrassed to tell him [I fancy him], although I did send him a naked picture of myself.

‘He texted me saying it made his day.’

May 15, 2013

Italian Divergenti festival shows trans people are no longer freaks on film but serious subjects with real lives; through debates, cinema and a photo exhibition

Transgender people in film have been much in focus this month, with festivals taking place in Bologna, Italy over the first weekend – and Amsterdam a week later.

The Italian Festival, Divergenti, billed itself as an international festival of transsexual film, and was organized by the Italian Transsexual Movement (Movimento Identitita Transessuale – or MIT, for short).

May 15, 2013

We meet a Harley Medical Group nurse to learn more about the most popular surgical procedures and why they are a life-changer, not a quick fix

There are more myths and misconceptions about cosmetic surgery than about almost anything else you can do to get the body you want.

Harley Medical Group helps clients, gay and straight, male and female, to work through the issues and to have surgery which can often be life-changing.

Patients are guided through it all by a professional nurse – we caught up with Debbie Griffith from the group’s clinic in Leeds, north east England, to find out more about cosmetic surgery for men.

May 14, 2013

Eight episodes of untitled dramatic comedy ordered by HBO

Jonathan Groff, most recently a regular on the Kelsey Grammer series Boss that was set in Chicago, is returning to television in a new series set in San Francisco.

Groff, openly gay in real life, heads the cast in the new untitled HBO series about a group of gay friends who live in The City By the Bay.

Also starring in the series will be Frankie J. Alvarez and Murray Bartlett.

May 14, 2013

'My goal is to try to represent both myself and my community proudly'

Grammy-nominated singer Adam Lambert was the star attraction at the GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco over the weekend where Spice Girls member Mel B presented him with the Davidson/Valentini Award.

'We are right in the middle of two generations with two different perspectives but one common thread – love,' Lambert told the crowd at the Hilton Hotel in Union Square.

'With all the differences of opinion both within the LGBT community and elsewhere, the best we can do is to keep it real and to spread a message of acceptance.'

May 14, 2013

Iron Man 3 actress compares herself to drag queen icon RuPaul when she says she is not the 'world's most beautiful woman'

Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow has said she wears so much makeup, she is ‘literally a transvestite’.

The World’s Most Beautiful Woman (according to People magazine) compared herself to drag queen icon RuPaul.

Speaking to USA Today, she was asked how she could look so fresh after partying the night away for the punk-themed Met Gala.