If you were academically inclined, the evolution of LGBT ‘Pride’ events around the world would make an interesting dissertation subject.

What began in cities such as San Francisco and New York as small angry protests, demanding equality and an end to discrimination, has now become a fixture on the calendar of most major urban centers around the world.

Manchester Pride, one of the UK’s biggest and best gay festivals, is to donate £52,000 ($84,000, €64,000) to charity – but its profits have been halved by bad weather.

The event charges for entry to the streets of Manchester’s gay Village during the pride weekend but always spreads its profits around the north west’s LGBT and HIV charities.

But this year’s festival in August in the gay capital of northern England faced a perfect storm of wet weather and a UK-wide decline of 20% in charitable giving.

Serbia's Ministry of Interior has banned Belgrade Pride today, just three days before it was due to take place.

The Serbian authorities also banned the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender event in 2009 and 2011, claiming they were worried about public safety.

The National Security Council chose to outlaw the march, as well as the three other large public gatherings on 6 October, shattering any hope of the organizers even marching a few meters at the center of the city with their private security service.

London's taxis will go from black to rainbow in a bid to bring the UK capital's gay community to Toronto for the next World Pride in 2014.

The city in Canada won the bid against Stockholm to host the global LGBT event and the colorful adverts will be printed on the taxis, complete with studded leather seats mimicking fetish wear and one with a fur effect. The tagline for the taxis is: ‘Ride with Toronto Pride’.

For four weeks the taxis will run through the UK capital, with Soho becoming a target spot.

World Pride in London this weekend may have been scaled back, but that's not stopping one hotel from joining in the party and showing their true colors.

W Hotel, in Leicester Square, the heart of London's entertainment district, is lighting up its façade in the rainbow colors of the gay flag from 6 to 8 July and raising money for the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) into the bargain.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa welcomed thousands of LGBT people and their allies to his official residence Sunday afternoon for a star-studded garden party kicking off a week of Pride events that culminates in a two-day festival next weekend.

Chaz Bono, one of this year's LA Pride honorees, was at the party as was actress Molly Ringwald who will be grand marshal of next Sunday's Pride Parade in West Hollywood.

Villaraigosa, mayor since 2005, took some time during the event to speak with Gay Star News about his longtime commitment to LGBT equality.

Phuket Pride, the only LGBT Pride festival in Thailand this year, starts on Sunday and continues for a week of out and proud festivities.

This year the festival is coming out of the 'gay ghetto' area of Patong Beach, the Paradise Complex, and into a more mainstream public area of the Thai beach resort town. That meant securing the support of the local government, Patong municipality.