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May 6, 2013

Prime Minister David Cameron is urged his own Tory MPs to drop the gay marriage bill to secure Conservative seats in next year’s elections

British Prime Minister David Cameron has been told by his own party members to scrap the gay marriage bill.

According to According to British newspaper The Telegraph, former defense minister Sir Gerald Howarth urged Cameron to drop the gay marriage bill in order to appease Tory members considered at risk of switching support to leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage.

April 24, 2013

Members of Parliament attend Trans Media Watch session on harassment and inaccurate reporting in the British press

Transgender people have told top politicians of their bad experiences at the hands of the British press at a meeting in parliament.

The discussion was organized after the death of Lucy Meadows, a transgender school teacher who had been the subject of a critical news story and comment piece by columnist Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail, a leading UK tabloid.

April 22, 2013

'Wonderful teacher' Lucy Meadows was found dead in Lancashire, England after a tabloid revealed her ‘shock’ story

A seven-year-old girl has written a poem for her transgender teacher who is believed to have killed herself.

Daisy Moreton read out the poem at a march celebrating the life of Lucy Meadows in Accrington in Lancashire, England.

It reads:

‘Makes you happy
in high spirits
smiles
said kind things

April 15, 2013

Andrew Cooper, who made gay marriage a top issue for the British government has resigned over a power dispute

The British government’s advisor on gay marriage has left his job after losing a power battle with a fellow strategist.

Andrew Cooper, founder of UK polling company Populus Ltd, resigned from his position as director of government strategy yesterday (14 April), the Daily Mail reports.

April 7, 2013

Politicians are calling for Paris Brown, the country’s first youth police and crime commissioner, to resign from her post after her offensive tweets have gone viral

A 17 year-old police commissioner from Kent is being taken to task for inappropriate tweeting.

Paris Brown, who according to the Daily Mail: ‘was appointed last week to the £15,000 taxpayer-funded post to represent young people’s views on policing’ is now facing calls to quit her role for tweets where she calls people 'fags' and 'illegals'.

Though the teenager's Twitter account @vilulabelle has been cancelled, the Daily Mail published several of her unsavory Tweets.

April 5, 2013

Even in the UK, LGBT people still risk hatred that can kill – after the death of a trans teacher and a gay autistic teen, we need to stand together

A female teacher was found dead last month at her home in Accrington, Lancashire, north-west England. The police have said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death. Although the coroner is yet to release the cause of death Twitter and Facebook are awash with allegations of transphobic bullying from the mainstream press with the suggestion that led Lucy Meadows to take her own life.

April 4, 2013

Britain’s former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, claims Christians are marginalized and persecuted because they can’t attack LGBT people

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, had an article published in the Daily Mail in which he essentially said Christians are being marginalized and persecuted because they weren’t able to marginalized and persecute the LGBT community.

April 2, 2013

Members of the UK parliament from all political backgrounds now seem to be waking up to the issues facing transgender voters

I’m a political commentator and activist who has been around a while. Let’s just say I’ve built up a fair amount of cynicism towards politics and politicians. But even a politico as cynical as me has to admit that, of late, it seems British politicians are genuinely wanting to take transgender people far more seriously. In our quest for social justice for transgender people we are finally being heard.

March 30, 2013

The former Bishop of Canterbury has published an article saying British Prime Minister David Cameron's support of same-sex marriage threatens children, jobs and Christians

Lord Carey says gay marriage is an example of PM David Cameron’s ‘aggressive secularisation’.

In an article written for British newspaper The Daily Mail, the former Bishop of Canterbury, who has previously said that gay marriage will lead to polygamy and could turn Britain into Nazi Germany, went on to liken the PM’s religious persecution to the government’s support of same-sex marriage.

March 27, 2013

Over 200,000 people have signed a petition urging the Daily Mail to sack columnist Richard Littlejohn for his anti-trans remarks

A parliamentary debate is being planned in order to learn lessons from the treatment of transgender teacher Lucy Meadows, who died last week.

Her MP Graham Jones, Labour backbencher, is seeking to debate in parliament about the circumstances leading to Meadows’ death.

After a local newspaper ‘outed’ her last December, the Daily Mail also reported on her transition and columnist Richard Littlejohn wrote an opinion piece stating she was ‘in the wrong job’.

March 26, 2013

Transgender primary school teacher who was hounded by the press is remembered at a vigil outside the office of the Daily Mail in London

Around three hundred people attended a candle-lit vigil outside the office of the Daily Mail in London last night, to protest the newspaper's hounding of transgender primary school teacher Lucy Meadows, who was found dead a week ago today.

Campaigners Paris Lees, Jane Fae and Josephine Shaw and Labour MP for Bristol East Kerry McCarthy were at the vigil.

March 22, 2013

Primary school transgender teacher Lucy Meadows was found dead in Lancashire, England after a tabloid revealed her ‘shock’ story

British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mail is being urged to fire columnist Richard Littlejohn over the untimely death of a transgender primary school teacher.

Lucy Meadows, who died at the young age of 32, was the subject of a ‘shock’ story about her transition last year.

While some commentators are claiming the death was a suicide, it is important to note a coroner has not verified this.

It is also a possibility Meadows’ death had nothing to do with the tabloid press reporting on her transition.

March 22, 2013

The death of transgender teacher Lucy Meadows, who had her story revealed by the tabloid press, has provoked more bad coverage and again raised questions about press ethics

When confronted with Trans Media Watch’s evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into standards in the British press, Dominic Mohan (the editor of the Sun) said on oath to the inquiry: ‘I think we have improved our reporting in these matters ... we’ve raised our game in terms of transgender reporting.’

March 21, 2013

Primary school transgender teacher Lucy Meadows found dead in Lancashire, England after tabloid the Daily Mail reveals her ‘shock’ story

A primary school transgender teacher – who was subject of a ‘shock’ story about her transition in British tabloid newspaper the Daily Mail – has been found dead.

Some commentators are claiming the death was a suicide, although this has not yet been verified.

The death of Lucy Meadows, 32, was announced to pupils and staff at St Mary Magdalen’s School, in Accrington, Lancashire, north west England where she taught.

March 11, 2013

Iconic actress Angela Lansbury said that many women have 'given up' on men and turn lesbians because of a lack of good men

Actress Angela Lansbury, famous for her role in the Murder She Wrote TV show, said that some women have been so frustrated with men's sex obsession that they turn to women instead and become lesbians.

The American TV show, Murder She Wrote, was a hit  from 1984 to 1996 landing Lansbury with many awards for her role, including Member of British Empire (CBE).

March 10, 2013

The reigning British monarch scheduled to make a pledge for ‘gender equality’ on live television

Queen Elizabeth will go before the world tomorrow and speak in support of LGBT rights.

According to the Daily Mail, she will sign a new Commonwealth Charter meant to stop discrimination against gay and lesbian people and promote the ‘empowerment’ of women.

Part of the charter will read: ‘We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds’.

March 5, 2013

Cardinal O'Brien, who has admitted to sexual misconduct, has been told by the Church to live as a hidden hermit and may face police investigation

The Catholic Church has told Cardinal Keith O'Brien that he is not to set foot in Scotland again and live the rest of his life as a hermit in a hidden address in England.

The cleric also faces a potential police investigation and a Vatican inquiry after admitting that his 'sexual conduct fell well below the standards expected of a priest and archbishop', throwing the Catholic Church in Scotland into crisis.

February 5, 2013

Two members of the National Assembly of France were caught on camera playing scrabble during a debate on gay marriage

Two French legislators (known as deputies) were caught playing Scrabble during the National Assembly of France’s debate on gay marriage bill.

The two socialist deputies were caught on camera playing the game on iPads although it is unclear whether the pictures were taken during a break in the proceedings or while the debate itself was under way, reported the Daily Mail.

January 17, 2013

A British woman has said her partner confessed the brutal attack to her while they were in a prison gym

A lesbian on trial for the torture and murder of a retired bus driver for his bank details has admitted to the attack.

Kelly Barnes, 32, testified against her partner, Jodie Barnes, 31, over the attack of 67-year-old Barry Reeves in his Norwich bungalow.

The couple are accused of targeting the pensioner because they believed the pensioner possessed large sums of money they could steal, the Daily Mail reports.

The 32-year-old blonde said her civil partner had confessed the crime to her while they were in a prison gym.

December 24, 2012

Shrewsbury Bishop Mark Davies will say in his Christmas sermon that people who are pushing for marriage rights for same-sex couples think that they are pushing progress – but he says so did the Nazis and the Communists and look what they did

The Bishop of Shrewsbury is expected to use his Christmas sermon to attack plans to introduce marriage equality in the UK early next year.

December 21, 2012

Sir Ian McKellen wondered if he'd still be able to play Romeo if he came out as gay

Hobbit star Sir Ian McKellen says coming out is the 'best thing I ever did'.

The veteran gay actor is currently reprising his role as wizard Gandalf for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequel.

‘When I came out, I told my stepmother Gladys, and she just said she had known for years and was glad I wasn’t lying any more,’ he told The Daily Mail.

‘Before that, I presumed it would be bad for my career.

December 18, 2012

Country western star laughs off gay rumors and adds if she was a lesbian, she would 'come flying out of the closet'

Dolly Parton says she has received death threats from the Ku Klux Klan over her 'Gay Day' at theme park Dollywood in Tennessee.

Rumors about the relationship between the gay icon and her female best friend Judy Ogle have followed her throughout her career.

'Judy and I have been best friends since we were like in the third and fourth grade,' she said in the interview with the Daily Mail.

Fortunately the country western singer feels secure enough in her 46-year long marriage with Carl Dean that she is able to laugh off such claims.

December 6, 2012

English man jailed for two and a half years for stabbing a man who taunted and physically attacked him

A gay hairdresser will be jailed for two and a half years for stabbing a man with scissors after he taunted him over his sexuality.

Lee Howett, 26, who lives in Essex, England, stabbed the man in the shoulder with his hairdressing scissors at Basildon train station.

The incident took place at around 11.15pm on 24 June, The Daily Mail reports.

Addressing the defendant, Judge David Owen Jones said: 'It may be and I accept it probably was the case that one of the young men made a homophobic comment towards you.

December 5, 2012

British soccer player slams 'shocking' Daily Mail piece which suggests he should be the sport's 'gay hero'

British footballer Joey Barton has threatened to sue a tabloid newspaper which suggested he come out as gay.

The Daily Mail article refers to comments made by Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard who said the sport needed a 'gay hero'.