Manchester Pride has updated its weekend bill with performances from Kate Nash and Misha B, and regional talent from north-west England.

Pride has pledged support for the city’s local acts to bring a truly Big Weekend to the fans from 23 to 26 August.

Muslim leaders representing tens of thousands worshippers in the UK have banded together against gay marriage.

In what British newspaper The Telegraph calls ‘an unprecedented intervention from the British Muslim community,’ over 500 imams have signed a letter to express ‘serious misgivings’ about Cameron’s gay marriage bill.

It does not matter whether you are gay, bisexual or straight, there is a worldwide call to combat homophobia with a kiss this week.

Across the globe, there will be several 'kiss-ins' promoting the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

In the UK, Manchester's Lesbian & Gay Foundation will 'Kiss Hate Goodbye' with a flash mob on 18 May.

Grahame Robertson, a spokesman from the charity, told GSN: ‘The Kiss Hate Goodbye flash mob and campaign in general is a chance for everyone to make a big statement against LGBT hate crime.

Two men have been found guilty of sexual assault and rape of a 14-year-old boy in a Manchester toilet.

Alex Wilson-Fletcher, 41, and Abdelkader El-Janabi, 55, attacked the boy in a British department store in June last year.

The teen had told police he was marched by two men into a Debenhams where he was assaulted in the bathroom.

In court, the boy said the pair had approached in the Arndale Centre when El-Janabi grabbed his arm and told him to follow him, the BBC reports.

Excitement is starting to build for Manchester Pride 2013, one of the most popular LGBT celebrations in Britain, after the event's launch.

Patrons, friends, trustees and media supporters of the organisation gathered for an exclusive look at what can be expected from this year’s Manchester Pride, which begins on 16 August. 

It has been announced the theme for this year’s parade is Acceptable in the 80s. 

As a supporter of LGBT rights and a member of the heavy metal subculture, I think it is time both movements started working together around the world to end violence against us.

UK’s Greater Manchester Police (GMP) recently branded attacks on members of alternative subcultures as ‘hate crimes’. I am pleased with this classification – but it is only a small step on the road to equality.

Attacks on such people are not reported often. So every society has much work to do. This includes attacks carried out in and by anti-gay nations like Indonesia and Uzbekistan.

Jeremy Joseph of G-A-Y is best known as Britain’s leading gay nightclub owner. But on 21 April he’ll be putting on his sneakers to do the London Marathon for the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF).

It will be his fourth consecutive London Marathon – he has previously done two for EJAF and one for Amnesty International – and this year he has raised an incredible £195,000 ($300,000 $228,000), including from some celebrity sponsors.

This is the moment when gay-fronted pop band The Feeling went Supersonic in the Concorde hangar for Manchester Pride.

The band, whose lead singer Dan Guillespie-Sells has long been involved in gay rights, performed at a red-carpet fundraising dinner for the leading pride event in north-west England on Saturday (6 April).

Guests dined under the wings of the now-retired BA Concorde plane at Manchester Airport before taking part in a raffle and charity auction.

Few people have embraced Britain’s home baking revival more enthusiastically than gay men.

And one, gourmet French pastry chef Eric Lanlard, has been at the forefront of revolution – baking on TV with his own Channel 4 series and publishing books on cakes, tarts and now chocolate.

Meanwhile he’s made his name by baking for the stars. Madonna ordered his pile of profiteroles – a croquembouche – for her wedding to Guy Ritchie and he has made wedding cakes for Elizabeth Hurley and Claudia Schiffer.

UK’s Manchester Pride is gearing up for Supersonic – a luxurious evening of live music and a gourmet dinner.

The evening is to be held at Manchester Airport in north-west England on Saturday (6 April), and hosted by Concorde, the legendary supersonic plane, in its hangar.

Acts appearing include UK pop band The Feeling, and Manchester based Soul singer, Ren Harvieu.

A young man was robbed and raped in Manchester city center on 16 March.

The 21-year-old victim was walking home at around 3am when a man threatened him with a bottle, demanding his mobile phone and cash. 

After giving away his valuables, in the busy area near London Road, Piccadilly, the man was then raped.

Manchester Police Detective Inspector Damian Simpson said the 21-year-old was left ‘devastated’ by this attack.

The celebration of LGBT Pride takes all sorts of different forms around the world.

What began as a political movement, demanding equality and human rights for LGBT people, has evolved in many places into festivals, parades and parties of all shapes and sizes.

What’s undeniable is that the focus and character of a pride event is very much shaped by the city and people that it represents.