If you think there's a formula for Eurovision – the world's campest gay singing tournament – then this batch of semi-finalists may hold some suprises.

From leaping around the stage in sparkly suits to a laid back tune and from the oldest contestant in the European contest ever – a 95-year-old – to, possibly, the first lesbian kiss, there is plenty of variety.

Twenty-nine countries in Europe are insisting transgender people are sterilized before their true gender is recognized in law.

That represents a major abuse of human rights and must stop, says a new report from the Council of Europe.

In many European countries, sterilization or sex reassignment surgery or both are a requirement for the country to legally recognize a transgender person in his or her new gender.

While gender reassignment surgery may incidentally cause someone to become sterile, some countries also insist on sterilization.

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.

Acclaimed Polish film director Agnieszka Holland is speaking out against a member of parliament who said she was only concerned about civil partnerships because of her 'lesbian daughter'.

Before Civic Platform, the leading centre-right political party in Poland, got into power the party leader said they would legalize civil partnerships for same-sex couples.

But when the party became the leading force in government, the party was split and the prime minister backtracked on the promise.

The president of America’s Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has claimed that a dog being saved from being put down after its owner refused to care for him because he thought he was gay is evidence of pro-gay and anti-straight bias.

Writing in the weekly British conservative magazine, The Spectator, Fraser Nelson lamented the gay marriage issue had ignited a ‘culture war’ in the UK.

He said the heated language and activism over LGBT rights, that have been part of the American political discourse for decades, have now being transported to the UK.

A former MP who helped the Netherlands to become the first country in the world to allow gay people to marry in 2001 is visiting New Zealand to witness the passage of same-sex marriage legislation through parliament there.

Why not step out of the closet? The team is on your side, a video sponsored by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) urges.

And the YouTube clip featuring a player trapped inside a real life closet was commissioned by Dutch broadcaster BNN, and is now going viral.

Soccer is not a gay-friendly environment, this is true. But in the Netherlands the main football association is trying to make footballers come out of the closet.

It may sound slightly trivial, but I’m always fascinated by what people eat, how they make decisions about food and what are some of the assumptions that people are making about the food that they’re eating.

This week I’ve surveyed 100 gay men around the world to find our what they have for breakfast. It may not be the most rigorous of studies, but it’s a pretty strong sample of gay men primarily in the 25 to 45 age bracket and a good mix of global locations including the US, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium.