A report launched in Kiev a day before the International Day Against Homophobia, shows that homophobia and anti LGBT discrimination is spiraling out of control in the Ukraine.

The 17 page report launched today (16 May), entitled ‘Nothing to be proud of: Discrimination against LGBTI people in Ukraine’, highlights a number of violent attacks on individuals.

The brutal killing of a young gay Russian has sparked international outrage.

The previously unidentified Vladislav Tornovoi, a 23 year-old gay rights activist, was found dead in an apartment complex in the southern city of Volgograd on Friday (10 May).

He was viciously tortured and then killed for coming out to his friends.

Lebanese Minister of Interior, Marwan Charbel, declared publicly on TV that Lebanon is against ‘sodomy' and rhetorically wondered if married gay French couples should be allowed to enter Lebanon.

During an interview with Al Jadeed TV, Charbel referred to gays in an extremely derogatory religious term, ‘liwat’, referring to the cursed people of Lot, roughly translated as 'sodomy' and sometimes used to denote the meaning of ‘fags’.

Otgonbaatar Tsedendemberel, executive director of Mongolia LGBT Centre talks to Gay Star News about the struggle to get the organization established, achievements and plans for the first ever Mongolian Pride this year.

When did Mongolian LGBT Centre open? How did it come about? 

In 2007, the mandate to register non-governmental organizations (NGOs) belonged to the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs (MoJHA). At the time, MoJHA refused to register LGBT Centre, given the name of the organization was not recognized.

The European Parliament have told five Balkan countries how they should improve gay and trans rights if they are to join the EU.

Members of the parliament (MEPs) recommended the EU looks at how LGBT rights are received in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey and Kosovo.

The MEPs have to vote on the reports on each country, to make them parliamentary resolutions. In the past, right-wing parliamentarians have asked to remove paragraphs on LGBT issues from the reports but this was the first time no such request was made.

Students are staying silent to raise awareness of homophobia in schools today (19 April).

The National Day of Silence has over 8,000 schools and universities in the US, and many more across the world, participating by not saying a word.

Organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), many students are posting pictures of themselves on the National Day of Silence Facebook.

The head of Russian Railways, Valdimir Yakunin, said that the civil rights of LGBT people should be limited to ‘public morals’ and ‘common sense’.

He further said that the extent of ‘civil rights’ for gay people should limited so that they are not beaten with sticks to death, reported the portal GayRussia.

Otherwise, the company director called for ban the freedom of expression and family rights for gays and lesbians.

Gay teachers in Ireland have said their students are bullying them, and they fear they cannot do anything about it in case they lose their jobs.

At the Teachers’ Union of Ireland annual conference, Patrick Hogan, from Limerick City Council, said action was needed immediately to stop ‘the fear being suffered by so many of our colleagues.

‘Our LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) colleagues fight to overcome the huge fears they face in their schools every day,’ he told the conference.

Former US President Bill Clinton will be presented with the Advocate for Change Award at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles later this month for his recent work on behalf of marriage equality.

The award, to be presented at a star-studded gala on 20 April, could be seen as controversial to some since it is Clinton who signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law in 1996. He has since called for the law to be struck down.

LGBT activists in Nepal are reporting increased public and police harassment in recent months.

According to international rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW), attacks on Nepal’s LGBT activists have escalated from threatening text messages and being followed by people wearing masks to abductions and arrests.

‘The LGBT rights movement in Nepal is a regional and international leader but is under serious threat,’ said Graeme Reid, director of the LGBT Rights Program at HRW.

LGBT rights activists from across Asia gathered in Kathmandu, Nepal last week for a UN seminar to discuss strategies in the region.

'I laud the courage you have shown despite the circumstances you live and work in, said Nepal's Minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare, Riddhi Baba Pradham, AFP reports.

'This conference in Kathmandu proves that the common assertion that LGBT rights are incompatible with Asian values is false.'