Scottish LGBT rights campaigners and leading politicians have called upon Scotland’s government to publish a timetable for the introduction of a marriage equality bill.

The move comes after the UK House of Commons have voted for marriage equality; with a final vote in the House of Lords expected soon, commentators say Edinburgh is falling behind England and Wales.

Speaking with Gay Star News, Colin McFarlane, director of Stonewall Scotland commented: 'The Commons overwhelmingly voted to extend the legal form of marriage to same-sex couples in England and Wales.

Australia's finance minister Penny Wong has slammed the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) for comparing the children of gay couples to the 'stolen generations' of aboriginal children who were taken from their families.

'Redefining marriage ignore[s] the consequence of robbing children of their biological identity through same-sex surrogacy and other assisted reproductive technologies,' said ACL's managing director Lyle Shelton yesterday.

Wong, who has a one-year-old daughter with her partner Sophie Allouache and is a practicing Christian, said:

A British bisexual Member of Parliament (MP) has caused controversy in the House of Commons by saying ‘marriage is between a man and a woman’.

Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrat MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, said during a discussion on humanist weddings that his religious beliefs influenced his decision on whether to vote for same-sex marriages.

He has tabled an amendment that would separate church and faith-based marriage to the England and Wales equal marriage bill.

Supporters of a plan to allow humanists to conduct weddings, for gay and straight couples, in England and Wales have pulled their proposal after a debate in parliament.

British Members of Parliament (MPs) spent several hours debating the amendment put forward to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill for England and Wales today (21 May) in the House of Commons.

But now they have pulled it awaiting more information from the government on how to overcome legal challenges their amendment may face.

Gay Star News yesterday (19 May) reported Muslim leaders representing tens of thousands worshippers in the UK have banded together against gay marriage.

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

The current same-sex marriage bill going through the UK Parliament should be changed to allow for heterosexuals to have civil partnerships, veteran gay activist Peter Tatchell has said.

He is urging Members of Parliament (MPs) to vote for an amendment making the change to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill for England and Wales which is coming before the House of Commons again today (20 May).

International rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its 2013 Hall of Shame for IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia) today.

Gambian president Yahya Jammeh was named for his 'persistent' homophobia. He directly addressed LGBT people in parliament in March saying 'if you are convicted of homosexuality in this country, there will be no mercy for offenders'.

HRW report that 20 people were charged with committing 'unnatural offenses' in the Gambia in 2012, but were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The UK Independence Party has said it may back full gay marriage – but only if Britain pulled out of the European Court of Human Rights.

Unlike the three main political parties, UKIP is against the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government’s current plans for same-sex marriage.

Despite a quadruple legal lock protecting religious groups from being told to conduct marriages for gay couples, the right-wing political party led by Nigel Farage has said the safeguards are not strong enough.

A bed and breakfast travel lodge in New Zealand is facing a backlash after it turned away a lesbian couple for wanting to share a bed.

The Pilgrim Planet Lodge in Whangarei turned away Jane Collison, 30, and Paula Knight, 45, on Tuesday after telling them that only a room with single beds was available despite their having booked a room with a king-sized bed.

The couple offered to take the room but wanted to push the beds together but was told they would not be allowed to do that either.

Gay rights activists are demanding audits into British faith groups who’ve published homophobic materials.

According to British newspaper The Guardian, an investigation has revealed numerous church groups throughout the UK that receive grants from the Big Lottery Fund have published anti-gay lesson plans and sexist articles online.

Every year, the Big Lottery Fund awards millions of pounds to organizations for ‘good causes’.

The Minnesota House of Representatives on Thursday (9 May) passed a marriage equality bill 75-59 after more than three hours of debate.

The vote was largely split down party lines although four of the House's 61 Republicans voted for the bill while two of its 73 Democrats voted against it.

If also passed by the State Senate then signed into law, Minnesota would become the 12th state in the US to allow gay marriage.

Nitzan Horowitz announced his intention to run for election to Israel’s largest city, Tel Aviv, against the incumbent Ron Huldai.

Horowitz, of the left of centre Meretz party, is the country’s only openly gay Member of the Israeli Knesset (MK), a post he intends to resign if elected to the be the mayor of Tel-Aviv.

His annoncement yesterday (6 May) pits the 49 year-old Horowitz against Labor’s Huldai in the 22 October elections.

If he wins, he would become Tel Aviv’s first openly gay mayor, and the first in any Israeli city or the Middle East.