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May 23, 2013
New South Wales parliament votes to welcome gay bishop

Bishop Gene Robinson given warm welcome by New South Wales legislative assembly after motion is introduced by Sydney MP Alex Greenwich

New South Wales (NSW) legislative assembly has passed a motion introduced by Sydney MP Alex Greenwich to welcome American openly gay bishop Gene Robinson to the Australian state.

The legislative assembly unanimously passed the motion showing that Australian politicians can agree on one aspect of LGBT rights, as the same-sex marriage debate rages on.

May 22, 2013
UKIP will not kick out people who say gay sex is disgusting

Nigel Farage says UK Independence Party members who likened gay marriage to incest went 'too far' but making them leave the party will end debate in British politics

Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing UK Independence Party, says he will not expel ‘old-fashioned’ members who say gay sex is ‘disgusting’.

GSN recently reported on UKIP saying it might back gay marriage if UK leaves the European Union.

May 21, 2013
Humanist wedding plan fails but may return to gay marriage bill

Humanist supporters told England and Wales gay marriage bill was not the best way to change the law. Amendment shelved while waiting for new information from government

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.

May 21, 2013
Oklahoma tornado, killing up to 91, blamed on gay Jason Collins

Westboro Baptist Church is believed to be getting ready to protest the funerals of those killed by the 200mph winds

An Oklahoma tornado that has claimed the lives of up to 91 people is being blamed on Jason Collins.

Fred Phelps Jr, the son of the leader behind the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, has linked homosexuality to the destructive natural disaster.

He said Oklahoma sportsman Kevin Durant offended God by saying ‘no one has the right to judge’ the first openly gay basketball player.

Phelps tweeted: ‘OK Thunder’s Durant flips God by praising fag Collins. God smashed OK. You do the math. #GodH8sFags #FagsDoomNations #FearGod #GodH8sU’

May 20, 2013
A gay Muslim answers the imams trying to stop equal marriage

Muslim leaders in Britain have claimed introducing gay marriage would undermine traditional families and take away parents’ and teachers’ rights

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.

May 20, 2013
Church forces Archbishop Welby to abandon straight civil partnerships

Church 'unconvinced' there was a ‘genuine and widespread public need’ for change as gay marriage bill goes through UK parliament

Church of England bosses have forced their own leader – Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby – to pull support for straight civil partnerships.

It is part of their official response to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill for England and Wales which the government is currently pushing through the UK parliament and which will be debated again today.

The Church of England is the state religion of Britain and its bishops will have a vote on the legislation when it reaches the House of Lords.

May 20, 2013
England and Wales gay marriage bill could be delayed up to two years

Tory party in-fighting and an amendment giving straight couples civil partnerships could delay the equal marriage bill until after the next election

Conservative party in-fighting and an amendment giving straight couples civil partnerships could delay the England and Wales equal marriage bill for up to two years.

The bill, which returns to the House of Commons today (20 May), is the subject of fierce debate among members of parliament. It will be voted on after two days of discussion.

Members of parliament, led by Tory Tim Loughton, have tabled an amendment expanding civil partnerships to include heterosexual couples.

May 20, 2013
Gay soccer pro Robbie Rogers hopes to be back playing soon - in Los Angeles

Tells GSN: 'Hopefully it works out ... it should be sorted out in the next few weeks'

Looking dapper in a tuxedo, soccer pro Robbie Rogers greeted the crowd at the 2013 Voice Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday (19 May) and thanked them for their support which he said inspired him to return to his sport.

Rogers, 25, announced his retirement in February when he came out publicly as a gay man. But in recent weeks, he has been practicing with Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy.

Rogers spoke with Gay Star News about possible return which, at this point, is a bit out of his hands.

May 19, 2013
Gay marriage will ‘rob’ parents of their rights, say UK Muslim leaders

Hundreds of Muslim leaders throughout the UK have signed a letter in a unified protest against the government’s same-sex marriage bill

Muslim leaders representing tens of thousands worshippers in the UK have banded together against gay marriage.

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

May 19, 2013
GSN interview with the author of Does Jesus Really Love Me

In an interview with Gay Star News, writer Jeff Chu takes on Dan Savage and gays who hate gay Christians

Jeff Chu's Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America has earned the type of press writers dreams of. Positive reviews for a work that searches for grace and humility when there is usually fire and brimstone. However, liberals and conservatives have found fault with the work for that exact reason. What can be expected when tackling the third rail of US politics and culture: gay sexuality and Christianity.

May 18, 2013
Jason Collins' identical brother gets a 'I'm the straight one' t-shirt

Jarron Collins recounts how he now is mistaken for his identical brother, out National Basketball Association athlete Jason

Ever since Jason Collins announced he was a professional basketball player who happens to be gay, his identical brother has had to explain, to some, they have the wrong man.

May 16, 2013
US Embassy in Israel bans gay Palestinian speakers

Not a single Palestinian was invited to speak at a reception held by the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel in honor of IDAHO

The US Embassy in Tel-Aviv, Israel has reportedly excluded Palestinians from speaking at reception in honor of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).

Although Aswat, a Palestinian organization for Gay Women, was invited to attend, their representative was not allowed to make a speech at the Ambassador's Tel-Aviv residence tonight (16 May).

May 15, 2013
Vatican orders Cardinal Keith O’Brien to atone for ‘gay’ sins

Roman Catholic Church confirms the disgraced former archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh will leave Scotland for 'prayer and penance'

Cardinal Keith O’Brien is being ordered to leave Scotland for several months and atone for his sexual misconduct with his male priests.

The Vatican has confirmed he will be leaving the country for several months ‘for the purpose of spiritual, prayer and penance’.

In a statement from the Catholic Church, senior colleagues at the Vatican will decide his future.

May 14, 2013
Topless drummers and a leather-clad space vixen: it's Eurovision

Rapping astronauts, falling birds, disco balls and half-naked male dancers… it’s time for Eurovision Semi-Final One

From Ireland to Estonia, Eurovision hopefuls are wooing gay fans as they get ready for the first semi-final of the pan-European song contest.

The contestants and their faithful followers are all in Malmö, Sweden, ready to start the action. And tonight (14 May), for 16 of the countries represented, it will be first time they get to compete. The first semi-final will see them battle for 10 coveted places in the grand final on Saturday (18 May). A second semi on Thursday (16 May) will filter the remainder of the acts.

May 13, 2013
80% of homophobic discrimination not reported, Northern Ireland Equality Commissioner says

Anti-discrimination organization tries to reach out to LGBT Northern Irish through social media 

Eight out of ten Northern Irish lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people who experienced discrimination did not report it, a study from the Equalities Commission found.

Northern Ireland Equality Commission (NIEC) surveyed LGB people last year and found that half experienced discrimination, but only 20% reported it.

'We have already recognized the need to take special measures to address under-reporting of sexual orientation discrimination,' said equality commissioner Michael Wardlow, speaking at the start of Northern Ireland's Anti-Homophobia Week this week.

May 9, 2013
Victim of Westboro Baptist Church confronts former gay hate member

Libby Phelps-Alvarez, the granddaughter of the founder of the homophobic church, breaks down in tears when speaking to a fallen soldier's mother

A mother whose son’s funeral was picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church had the chance to tell a former member how she felt about the congregation.

Earlier this week, Libby Phelps-Alvarez appeared on Anderson Live to discuss growing up in the gay hate church and why she decided to leave.

The granddaughter of founder Fred Phelps, she said she thought she had been doing the right thing in spreading homophobia and picketing funerals by the age of eight.

May 6, 2013
Gay Catholic group threatened with arrest by NYPD for silent protest

'Dirty Hands Vigil' staged in response to a cardinal’s invite that gays ‘wash their hands’ to participate in the Catholic faith

A group of LGBT Catholics and allies were threatened with arrest for staging a silent protest in front of New York City's St. Patrick's Cathedral.

The group stood outside the Fifth Avenue landmark with ash-covered hands, staging what they called a Dirty Hands Vigil in response to a blogpost published by Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan where he invited LGBT individuals to participate in the Catholic faith, but with the ‘clear expectation’ that they must first ‘wash your hands!’ of sin.

May 6, 2013
New Zealand: gay man ‘humiliated’ and ‘disappointed’ over priesthood rejection

Eugene Sisneros is claiming he was not allowed to enter into priesthood training because he’s in a gay relationship

A New Zealand gay man is taking a bishop to a Human Rights Tribunal after being rejected from training as a priest.

Eugene Sisneros, an events coordinator at St. Matthew in the City church, is claiming the Anglican Bishop of Auckland, Ross Bay, won’t let him into the priesthood because he’s gay, and in a long-term relationship with a man.

May 6, 2013
Televangelist Pat Robertson: Gays can change just like murderers, rapists, and thieves

Claims anyone who ministers knows 'very well that the power of God can change people's orientation'

Televangelist Pat Robertson continued his pattern of anti-gay comments on his 700 Club show Monday when he claimed that gay people can change their orientation just as murderers, rapists and thieves can change.

Robertson was telling his viewers about a case in Ecuador where a politician made anti-gay remarks and was found to have violated his country’s electoral code’s prohibition on discrimination.

Robertson said speaking out against homosexuality is not 'hate speech.'

May 4, 2013
Anti-gay Cardinal Keith O’Brien to be forced into exile by Vatican

Cleric been told by the Vatican to leave the UK so as not to create further embarrassment for the Catholic Church

Friends of the disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien say he’s been ordered by the Vatican into exile and ditch his plans for retirement in Scotland.

The Herald commented that: ‘It is the clearest indication yet of the Vatican's unwillingness to let the matter drift’ of the Cardinal’s sexual assault on male priests when he run seminaries in the 1980s and during a drinks party in Rome.

May 4, 2013
Harvard professor apologizes for blaming dead gay economist for global financial crisis

Niall Ferguson, author and history professor at Harvard University, recants connecting John Maynard Keynes’ homosexuality to ‘destructive’ economic policies

Noted author and Harvard University history professor Niall Ferguson offered an apology for his recent comments about economist John Maynard Keynes.

'My colleagues, students, and friends – straight and gay – have every right to be disappointed in me, as I am in myself,' Ferguson wrote today (4 April) on his website. 'To them, and to everyone who heard my remarks at the conference or has read them since, I deeply and unreservedly apologize.'

May 3, 2013
Catholic priest says committed gay relationships should have 'not just recognition, but joy'

Canberra-based priest says he believes the church's attitude to gay relationships is changing

A Catholic priest in Australia said committed gay relationships should be met with 'not just recognition but joy... that's the least we can offer people'.

Canberra-based priest Michael Fallon said in an interview with Canberra Times he feared ordinary people were being repulsed from the Catholic church by its hardline views on gay relationships.

May 1, 2013
Christian right is losing on marriage but taking the gay hate battle to Africa

New film God Loves Uganda shows how well funded Christian evangelicals are trying to turn a continent towards gay hate

It has been over six months since I contributed an article for Gay Star News.

So much has happened but often we can only wait by the sideline and do little or nothing. Often when we intervene we make it worse. That’s the case in global LGBT rights, where we can do harm by saying the wrong thing or even playing the politics of power and money.

April 30, 2013
Brazil priest sacked over pro gay message

Brazilian Father Roberto Francisco Daniel was excommunicated from the Catholic Church who accused him of sin and hersey after he posted a pro-gay YouTube message

A Catholic priest in São Paulo state, Brazil was excommunicated after resigning from his duties to protest against the church's anti-gay stance.

‘Father Roberto Francisco Daniel can no longer celebrate the divine rite because he has been excommunicated,’ read a statement from the Bauru diocese in Sao Paulo state.

April 30, 2013
Freshly out himself, retired soccer pro Robbie Rogers reacts to NBA's Jason Collins coming out as gay

'I was happy that our society gave him such a positive response'

It turns out that Robbie Rogers, a former midfielder for the US national team who most recently played in England, was a bit of a warm-up act for the NBA's Jason Collins.

Collins came out publicly as a gay man on Monday (29 April) in a Sports Illustrated cover story and will be interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America Tuesday.