The Australian Labor Party candidate for the seat of Hume, Michael Pilbrow, has named legalizing same-sex marriage as one of his top priorities if elected.

Pilbrow, a Pentecostal Christian, told the Goulburn Post that he saw no problem with allowing same-sex couples to marry and said the current law interfered with the separation of church and state.

New Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby admits gay relationships have value but won’t shift on same-sex marriage, activist Peter Tatchell has said after meeting with him.

Tatchell urged Welby to reconsider gay marriage equality, apologize for past church persecution of LGBT people and engage with activists in Africa where parts of the Anglican church are leading a wave of homophobic hate.

But Tatchell emerged from meeting Archbishop Welby this afternoon (18 April) with an agreement to further dialogue as the biggest concession he could secure.

A leading Estonian intellectual has called for the legal recognition of same-sex relationship and says it could even be useful to recognize non-sexual dependent relationships between heterosexual friends.

Chairman of the Estonian Writers’ Union and poet Karl Martin Sinijärv made the call in response to comments from IRL party MP Erki Nool that homosexuals should be avoided and given medical treatment.

Israel’s Health ministry's Implementation Committee adopted a recommendation to recognize surrogacy procedures undertaken overseas, including those of same-sex couples.

The committee a decreed that  a non-biological parent in a same-sex parent couple should be legally recognized as a parent, without undergoing the complex procedure of adoption, as is currently required.

A clear majority of Americans now believe that same-sex marriage throughout the United States is an inevitability with almost as many believing the issue to be one of civil rights.

Christian polling company LifeWay found that 64 percent of Americans thought that same-sex marriage would become legal throughout the nation whether they agreed with it or not, while 58 percent agreed that it was a civil rights issue.

As a new study shows adopted children of same-sex parents are thriving, the UK government is urging more gay couples to adopt.

The report released by the British Association of Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) details the experiences of 130 adoptive families, 49 of which are run by heterosexual couples, 41 by gay men and 40 by lesbian parents.

Carried out by Cambridge University’s Center for Family Research into adoptive parenting, its release today (4 March) coincides with LGBT Adoption and Fostering week.

Parents of gay children in China have written an open letter to the National People's Congress asking the government to legalize gay marriage.

An Austrian lesbian couple have won a court case which allows one partner to legally become a parent to the other's son.

This comes after an eight year campaign to prove that Austrian law discriminates against gay couples.

The application was submitted in 2005 and was initially turned down because adoption in this case was considered 'legally impossible'. However a second application, submitted in 2007 to the European Court of Human Rights, received more serious appraisal.

Same-sex marriage may be legal in nine US states and the District of Columbia but to the Associated Press, the people in those marriages are 'partners' not a 'husband' or a 'wife.'

The news agency, owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, recently revealed a style policy in regards to same-sex couples that is different from how heterosexual couples are described.

The first study into LGBT parents in Ireland revealed legal vulnerability which adversely affects gay families.

The study, published yesterday (13 February), examined the experiences of 153 LGBT people who are already parents to 272 children and 170 people who are actively attempting to become parents.

The UK culture secretary and equalities minister has said there is no risk of European courts interfering in the gay marriage law in England and Wales.

On 5 February. Maria Miller took questions from members of parliament who oppose same-sex marriage.

She said the argument which states the European Court of Human Rights would overturn the legal lock ensuring no gay couple would be able to sue the Church of England and the Church in Wales for not performing same-sex marriages.

The shadow women and equalities minister has told members of parliament to be on the ‘right side of history’ when voting on marriage equality today (5 February).

Yvette Cooper, for Labour, asked her colleagues to not discriminate against same-sex couples when considering their vote.

She said: ‘In marriage, let us celebrate, not discriminate. Let’s be on the right side of history.’

Cooper also suggested same-sex marriage could put more than £14 million ($22m, €16m) into the economy.