What are the queer communities like in South America compared to Australia? Singapore compared to India? South Korea to Turkey? Recent college graduate Miyuki Baker is finding out by traveling the world in search of queer artists and activists, like herself.

After graduating from Pennsylvania-based liberal arts college Swarthmore, Baker won a $25,000 (US dollars, €19,000) Watson Fellowship that allows her to travel the world pursuing a particular project.

When we told fellow travelers about our plan to find LGBT people in the northern, frosty reaches of the Mongolian steppe, many of them expressed their doubts about our mission.

A few months back my partner and I set off on a trip in search of LGBT communities around the globe. We were curious about the range of experiences for our LGBT brothers and sisters, and we simply wanted to educate ourselves – and those following our journey – about gay, bi and trans lives around the world.

A Muslim scholar who was accused of speaking out against hijras has clarified his views to say they are ‘human beings with equal rights’.

Faiz Syed, founder and president of India's Islamic Research Center (IRC), was featured on a YouTube video talking about hijras, part of an intersex and transgender subculture in India.

Differing English translations of his video sparked controversy. Some said he was attacking hijras while others claimed he was being progressive.

But in a set of clarifications, Syed insists he is supportive to the hijra community.

India hosts thousands of matrimonial websites dedicated to arranging introductions for marriages between men and women, but now the service is available to gay men.

Same-sex couples cannot legally marry in India, but LGBT rights group Chennai Dost has launched Groom Wanted, a web service to help gay men find a life partner.

'Lot of GB [gay and bi] men expressed that finding a life partner is taxing,' said a statement on the website.

A gay man who was raped by several men in India has spoken out about his ordeal hoping to break the silent suffering of male sexual assault victims.

The recent horrific news about the 23-year-old woman who was gang raped on a bus in Delhi triggered Vinodhan to open-up about his experiences on the blog of Chennai-based LGBT support group Orinam.

Two of the world's leading human rights watchdogs have demanded India scraps its 'archaic and discriminatory' laws against gay sex today (12 February).

Amnesty International and Humans Rights Watch today urged the Indian government to repeal laws including section 377 of the penal code which criminalizes same-sex relations.

Indian president Pranab Mukherjee signed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2013 on 3 February, reforming many of India's old colonial-era laws on sexual violence, but did not repeal section 377.

Handwritten letters between Gandhi and close friend Hermann Kallenbach, which some believe points to a romantic relationship between the two, has gone on display in India.

Although these suggestions have never been proven, they have stirred up a huge controversy in India where many people deny the possibility Gandhi could have been gay.

The letters went on show today (30 January), the 65^th anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination, the AP reports.

India's home ministry has issued guidelines that will end many gay couples' hopes of parenthood via surrogates.

The guidelines say that only men and women who have been married for two years will be granted visas for the purpose of surrogacy, Times of India reports.

Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit secretly flew to India to care for a gay palace employee's twin babies, born to a surrogate mother in the subcontinent.

The royal made the trip in late October after the worker and his husband, who are also her friends, couldn't get a visa for the journey.

Police in the Indian city of Pune are working to develop guidelines around how officers deal with LGBT people only a year after the city held its first pride march.

Officers from all of the city’s 32 police stations were to have attended a workshop today aimed at creating awareness of the needs and issues faced by LGBT individuals in India.

India’s longest running LGBT film festival will be celebrating its sixth year tomorrow (23 November).

The three-day 'Dialogues' festival in Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, will showcase more than 40 films of differing genres from coming-of-age dramas and experimental films to documentaries.

Nil, an Indian designer closely associated with the festival, believes it will offer something for everyone.

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.