A Canadian Muslim gay activist launched the Malay version of her controversial book on liberal Islam in Malaysia, despite official efforts to ban all her public events.

Irshad Manji and her local publisher ZI Publications eventually managed to pulled off the launch for ‘Allah, Liberty and Love’ (Allah, Kebebasan dan Cinta in Malay) in front of a 50-odd crowd yesterday (19 May), after two other venues pulled out of hosting her.

Raven Symone, the television, recording, stage and film star who first came to fame as a child on The Cosby Show, is saying that her sexuality isn't anybody's  business.

Symone, 26, took to Twitter to respond to tabloid reports that she is in a lesbian relationship.

'My sexual orientation is mine, and the person I'm dating to know,' she tweeted. 'I'm not one for a public display of my life.'

A new survey released for IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia) has shown that over three-quarters of gay students in China were victims of bullying at school.

The survey with 421 gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight students found that 77% were the victim of one of 17 types of school bullying based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In response to the bullying, 42% reported depression, 23% reported a loss of interest in learning and 26% said they were driven to binge drinking, self-harm, thoughts of suicide or sex with strangers.

A woman who was part of a group which attacked a lesbian teenager on a train after spotting her kissing her girlfriend has been jailed.

April James, 20, of Carfax Close in Bexhill, Sussex, England, was sentenced to six weeks in prison at Hastings Magistrates’ Court yesterday (14 May) after pleading guilty to assault by beating.

The 16-year-old victim was attacked on 15 October last year while travelling by train to Bexhill with her girlfriend, also 16, after attending the Hastings Bonfire celebrations.

A former altar boy leapt out of the dock today (11 May) after being convicted of murdering his gay lover he falsely suspected was a paedophile.

A court in London heard how 28-year-old Christopher Hunnisett from Hastings, Southern England, claimed he had been the victim of sex abuse and wanted to rid the world of sex offenders.

So he beat Peter Bick, 57, over the head with a hammer even though there was no evidence at all he was a paedophile. He then went to the nearby police station to confess to the killing.

Sir Ian McKellen is lending his support to an earthquake-struck theatre in Christchurch.

Isaac Theatre Royal, in which McKellen performed in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot in 2010, was damaged when a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struct Christchurch in February 2011.

In order to fund the theatre’s restoration McKellen is taking a solo show around New Zealand with a bit of Shakespeare, a bit of Gandalf and the chance for the audience shout out any questions to the veteran gay actor.

Writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak had died at age 83 from complications of a recent stroke.

The gay Jewish author born in Brooklyn, New York is best-known for his darker children's book Where The Wild Things Are, which published in 1963. The book was adapted into a film version for the silver screen in 2009.

Sendak is credited with revolutionizing the children's book industry with tales of mischief and mature emotions. Some of is children's book were banned in several states in America because of the gown-up themes the work explored.

Joining his daughter Chelsea Clinton in speaking out against North Carolina’s Amendment One, former President Bill Clinton has released an audio statement sharing his thoughts about why he is against the controversial measure which goes before voters on Tuesday (8 May).

An Anglican priest was suspended for preaching against gay marriage yesterday (4 April), when he asked his congregation to sign a petition opposing UK government plans.

The 78-year-old Peter Gowlland invited the worshippers at All Saints Church in Sanderstead, Surrey, to be ‘bold like the apostles’ and sign the anti-civil gay marriage petition.

Escorts at the UK’s most secure Border Agency removal centre did not follow through with plans to deport a gay Ugandan asylum seeker today.

As previously reported by Gay Star News 41-year-old Felix Wamala had been booked on a Virgin flight back to Uganda today

But escorts at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre told him that they would not put him on the plane as they knew he didn’t want to go.

Oscar winner Anna Paquin, who plays a telepathic vampire lover on HBO’s True Blood, surprised many when she came out as bisexual in 2010.

Paquin, 29, made the announcement in a PSA video promoting the Give a Damn campaign, which features celebrities speaking out for equality. She says she has no regrets about being honest - especially in the context in which she did it.

Five months after Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion Jr. died following a pummeling by fellow members of the marching band, 13 people have been charged in his death.

The death of the 26-year-old Champion, who was gay, has brought about a focus on college hazing rituals. The beating took place aboard a chartered bus parked outside of a Orlando hotel after a performance.