A rift between marriage-equality supporting members and social conservative leaders has erupted in Australia's largest trade union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA).

The conflict has potentially far-reaching consequences as the national leader of the SDA is Joe de Bruyn who is hugely influential in the Labor Party and rumored to be the reason Prime Minister Julia Gillard is so stubbornly opposed to marriage equality.

In a blog post, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and leadership rival for current leader Julia Gillard, has declared his support for same-sex marriage.

Rudd, who is a current Australian Labor Party backbencher said: ‘I have come to the conclusion that church and state can have different positions and practices on the question of same sex marriage. I believe the secular Australian state should be able to recognize same sex marriage.’

Gay chat show host and author Paul O'Grady has likened David Cameron to the 'Sheriff of Nottingham', as he robs from the poor to give to the rich.

The English comic said the British government was bleeding the people dry, attacking the much lambasted 'bedroom tax'.

The tax, aimed at cutting housing benefits for people with one spare bedroom in their property, has already triggered mass demonstrations across the country.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard refused to change her opposition to gay marriage after New Zealand passed it today (17 April).

The leader of the Labor party said she will not be moved from her stance despite her country having close ties to the Kiwi nation.

She was asked by a member of the public in Melbourne last night (16 April) on why Australia was lagging behind New Zealand when it comes to equality, the AAP reports.

‘I doubt we're going to end up agreeing,’ Gillard said.

Brazil's House of Representatives has elected a renowned racist and homophobic deputy and evangelical pastor, Marco Feliciano, to chair the house Committee on Human Rights and Minorities (CDHM) today.

The election should have taken place yesterday (6 March), but the session was adjourned due to uproar caused by Feliciano's nomination.

Feliciano was nominated and elected by his extreme right-wing Social Christian Party (PSC), with 11 of the 12 votes of the members of the CDHM.

The Australian Greens say a successful vote on marriage equality in the British House of Commons has inspired them to move forward with another bill on marriage equality despite previous bills being defeated in the Parliament when the Australian Opposition refused its members a conscience vote.

The House of Commons passed its bill on Tuesday in a vote of 400 to 175 votes.

Gay and lesbian couples in Malta are closer to achieving partnership rights after both the island nation’s leading parties backed the idea.

The Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM) told Gay Star News they now hope to have civil partnerships in the next five years and marriage equality within 10.

The Mediterranean archipelago is currently preparing for elections on 9 March with the ruling Nationalist Party (Partit Nazzjonalista or PN) going head to head with the Labour Party.

Conservative voters have defected to a right-wing and anti-European Union party after the government announced their proposal for gay marriage, polls have shown today (16 December).

The UK Independence Party (UKIP)’s leader, Nigel Farage, has pledged to exploit divisions in the Conservative party over the issue, hoping to woo people who are against marriage equality.

In three polls it showed support for the party has grown putting it in third place ahead of the Liberal Democrats.

Australian marriage equality campaigners have welcomed a renewed commitment from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government to legislate for same-sex marriages.

The ACT is the government jurisdiction that includes the Australian federal Parliament and capital city of Canberra.

ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury announced the commitment as part of a 100 point agreement he had reached with the ACT Labor Party in order to secure his support for Labor to form government in the territory after elections in October.

New Zealand’s Greens Party has announced it will seek to put its own bill to legalize same-sex couple adoption before the nation’s parliament after identifying deficiencies in a Labour Party bill before the parliament.

A bill on same-sex couple adoption by Labour MP Jacinda Ardern is set to be voted on as soon as next month.

However the bill itself would not legalize same-sex adoption, but merely instruct the country’s Law Commission to draft legislation, and then instruct the country’s Minister of Social Development to introduce the legislation.

One of the UK’s most important LGBT rights pioneers, Allan Horsfall has died at the age of 84.

Current campaigners and activists have paid tribute to Horsfall who helped set up the first grassroots, gay-led rights organization, the Homosexual Law Reform Committee in 1964.

This became the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, which is still in operation but is widely seen as a forerunner of modern gay rights groups like Stonewall.

Horsfall was also a Labour party politician.

Australia’s Northern Territory may become the country’s third jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage after the ruling Labor Party announced it would allow its members a conscience vote on the issue if such legislation came before the territory’s parliament.

Embarrassingly for opponents, the announcement was made by NT Labor to the main lobby group opposed to same-sex marriage in Australia.