Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said ending homophobia is ‘critical’ to the UN’s work and called for an end to anti-gay laws and better education.

His comments were delivered today (17 May) at an event in The Hague, The Netherlands, to mark International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).

The speech was delivered on his behalf by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in the presence of the new Queen of the Netherlands, Máxima.

The audience award winners from Amsterdam Transgender Film Festival, TranScreen were announced earlier this week with a documentary/artfilm about 'the smallest drag queen in the world' taking the top slot.

The German film called One Zero One - the story of Cybersissy & BayBjane directed by Tim Lienhard tells the story of Morrocan-German Mourad 'the smallest drag queen in the world' and his partner Antoine. It's described as 'part documentary, part camp-style visual fairy tale'.

Krista Siegfrids may appear to be all sugar, sweetness, sunshine, but she is causing shockwaves.

Finland is used to sending ballad after ballad to the annual popfest extravaganza that is the Eurovision Song Contest.

They have broken the mold two times. The first, when they sent a band called Lordi wearing monster costumes and playing heavy rock, and now, when they have sent a pop princess fighting for equal marriage.

RuPaul may have crowned his latest queen (no spoilers here!) but it is Willam and Detox who are showing they are cosmetically made to last.

The Drag Race stars are back with Vicky Vox to show off their latest viral parody video.

After reworking Alicia Keys’ Girl On Fire to ‘This Boy Is A Bottom’ and Wilson Philips’ Hold On (For One More Day) to ‘Chow Down on Chick Fil-A’, it is Robyn’s ‘Dancing On My Own’'s time to get the gay satirical treatment.

Check out the video below:

A number of As One in the Park festival drummers were informed by Dame Helen Mirren, dressed up as Queen Elizabeth II, to take their joyful noise away from her theater.

Gay chat show host and author Paul O'Grady has likened David Cameron to the 'Sheriff of Nottingham', as he robs from the poor to give to the rich.

The English comic said the British government was bleeding the people dry, attacking the much lambasted 'bedroom tax'.

The tax, aimed at cutting housing benefits for people with one spare bedroom in their property, has already triggered mass demonstrations across the country.

An 18-year-old drag queen has sashayed her way to global fame on New Zealand’s version of The X Factor.

With a vivacious personality and a voice to back it up, Ashley Tonga impressed in her first audition.

Singing ‘Proud Mary’, she sold it all the way down the river and had the judges clamoring for more.

Looking at the 200,000 plus views in just two days, it’s clear that while she may not be the most polished singer, she’s a great entertainer.

New Zealand has shown recently it is no stranger to viral videos.

When Tanner becomes the school’s first openly gay student, the three most popular girls, who are also running for prom queen, will stop at nothing to become his new best friend.

So is the plot of G.B.F., the latest film to explore the social nuances of coming out in high school, premiering next week at the New York Tribeca Film Festival.

The film is directed by Darren Stein, who directed teen flick Jawbreaker, and also casts Megan Mullaly from Will & Grace who stars as the gay teen’s accepting mother with an affinity for poppers.

A former Philippines dictator forced his generals to perform a drag queen show during a birthday party, according to Wikileaks.

Ferdinand Marcos, who was in office from 1965 to 1986 and died in 1989, allegedly had a ‘two-day blast’ party in the early 70s.

US ambassador William Sullivan wrote a series of criticisms of the dictator and his wife Imelda Marcos in secret cables that have since been declassified, Agence France Presse reports.

Love them or loathe them, ABBA remain one of Sweden’s most successful exports with a special place in the heart of many a dancing queen. And ABBA fans are again beating a path to the new ABBA museum opening in May in Stockholm.

But there is a lot more you can do in what they call ‘the world’s most gay-friendly city’.

Movie icons Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift played lovers in the classic 1951 film A Place in the Sun.

The film was the beginning of a close off-screen friendship between the closeted gay man and the movie queen that may have been closer than people realized.

'Even though Monty had boyfriends as well as girlfriends, it was obvious that he and Elizabeth had been intimate,' actress Debbie Reynolds writes in her new memoir Unsinkable.

London cabaret acts, Amy Lamé and Scottee, have responded to a world where fat is under attack, mocking Miss America-style pageants with entertainment show, Hamburger Queen.

The gay duo explained in an interview with Beige Magazine, they were ‘sick of the negative portrayal of larger people’ and decided it was ‘time to celebrate more healthy role models in chub culture’.