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May 11, 2013
Killing, burning and shooting threats directed at campaigner fighting Belize sodomy laws

Caleb Orozco is fighting to overturn Belize’s anti-sodomy law that punishes gay sex with 10 years in prison

Caleb Orozco has reported an increase in violent threats during a four-day court case that debated Belize's sodomy laws.

Orozco, chair of United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM), is campaigning to amend Section 53 of the Laws of Belize, which states ‘every person who has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any person or animal shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years.’

May 10, 2013
Veteran activist to lead Birmingham Pride gay marriage parade

Support same-sex marriage at Birmingham’s equal love-themed parade in the Midlands of England

Veteran LGBT human rights activist and gay marriage campaigner Peter Tatchell will be leading Britain's Birmingham Pride Parade on 25 May.

The parade is supporting the pending same-sex marriage bill, to legalize gay marriage in England and Wales, due to resume its progress through parliament on 20 May.

May 7, 2013
Facebook hate page: ‘Nazis were right’ about gays

Heterosexual Awareness Month page says gay men’s mouths smell of ‘poo poo’ and implies NBA player Jason Collins will give people who tackle him a sex infection

Facebook is investigating a hate page where organizers oppose gay marriage and one supporter says the Nazis were right to put gays in concentration camps.

The Heterosexual Awareness Month (HAM) group was ‘established in June 2012 by heteros, for heteros’ and aims to hold a month-long ‘observance of straight people and our growing struggle’ each July.

April 29, 2013
UKIP politician changes Facebook name to hide gay slurs

John Sullivan changes Facebook name after mounting criticism of his anti-gay remarks. UK Independence Party accuses Conservatives of ‘smear campaign

John Sullivan, a UK Independence Party candidate in the upcoming council elections, has changed his Facebook name after GSN revealed anti-gay comments he made online.

Two days after Gay Star News broke the news he appears to have changed his name to ‘Lyndon Sullivan’ and seems to have deleted the homophobic remarks.

April 27, 2013
Physical excercise prevents you becoming gay, claims UK councillor candidate

John Sullivan, a UKIP party candidate, up for election next week, has made a series of anti-gay Facebook comments, including congratulating Russia for banning gay Pride, and comparing gays to termites

John Sullivan, a UK councillor candidate congratulated Russia on banning gay Pride marches and claimed regular exercise in schools can prevent homosexuality.

In a series of Facebook posts, Sullivan, who is a member of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) likened gay activists to termites and stated that feminism is evil and being gay is even worse.

April 25, 2013
Sydney MP objects to 'hateful extremists' speaking at 'family' conference

Alex Greenwich fights to ensure right-wing 'family values' conference in Sydney next month is hate-speech-free

Sydney MP Alex Greenwich has written a letter to the New South Wales tourism minister asking him to ensure that the 7th World Congress of Families, being held in Sydney next month, does not include hate speech.

The 'family values' conference includes presentations from New Zealand anti-gay marriage campaigner Bob McCoskrie and Dr Miriam Grossman, who believes it is possible to change someone's sexual orientation through therapy.

March 25, 2013
Ellen DeGeneres’ mom: People against gay marriage are bullies

Betty DeGeneres may be 82, but as the mother of one of the most famous lesbians is still campaigning for gay rights across the world

She may be 82 years old, but Betty DeGeneres is a gay rights campaigner who can be extremely outspoken.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, the mother of Ellen has called people who are against gay marriage bullies.

She said politicians who fail to support marriage equality are just ‘bullying’, and said she would love to get a message to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is against same-sex marriage.

March 25, 2013
Kerry McCarthy: A friend for trans people in parliament

Transgender people need as many political allies as possible. Sophia Botha explains how she has developed a relationship with UK politician Kerry McCarthy

Kerry McCarthy, is not just an ordinary Labour Member of Parliament (MP). She is already established as an outspoken campaigner against the English Defence League. She has fought for the jailed all-female Russian punk band Pussy Riot and is now a willing advocate in parliament for people who are transgender.

March 25, 2013
UK medical council to investigate doctors' treatment of transgender patients, after dozens of complaints

Trans rights campaigner Helen Belcher collected dozens of complaints against GPs after conducting a survey with transgender people

General Practitioner doctors (GPs) in the UK are facing an investigation over their treatment of transgender patients from the healthcare regulation body the General Medical Council (GMC).

Campaigner Helen Belcher presented the GMC with a dossier of 39 complaints from transgender patients, GP trade magazine Pulse reports.

March 20, 2013
Archbishop Justin Welby to meet gay activist Peter Tatchell

Head of the Anglican church worldwide says Tatchell’s letter to him urging better LGBT rights ‘requires much thought’ and raises ‘powerful’ points

The head of the Church of England Justin Welby will meet with gay activist Peter Tatchell to discuss gay marriage and LGBT rights in Africa.

Welby, who became Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican church worldwide this year, pledged to meet Tatchell today after the veteran campaigner sent him an open letter questioning the church’s attitudes on LGBT issues.

Welby described Tatchell’s letter as ‘thoughtful’ and said he would meet him after Easter.

March 6, 2013
Superman artist quits over anti-gay Orson Scott Card controversy

Award-winning artist Chris Sprouse said he will no longer be involved in the project written by a man who believes marriage equality will end civilization

The comic book artist due to work on the latest Superman series has decided to quit over the controversy of hiring an anti-gay campaigner to write the stories.

Chris Sprouse, who made the appointment yesterday (5 March), said he ‘wasn’t comfortable’ with the backlash following the appointment of Orson Scott Card.

Superman fans and gay rights groups blasted DC Comics’ decision to hire the Card, author of the Ender’s Game series and has said marriage equality would lead to the end of civilization.

February 4, 2013
Ian McKellen delivers powerful gay rights lecture

Actor awarded honorary degree by the University of Ulster and speaks about the achievements of the gay rights movement in Britain to an invited audience

Wizardly actor and dedicated gay rights campaigner Ian McKellen was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Ulster yesterday. He was asked to deliver a lecture to an invited audience to mark the occasion, and he spoke about the achievements of the gay rights movement in Britain.

'Thanks to every gay person in public and non-public life who has come out,' McKellen said, BBC News reports.

January 31, 2013
Scottish campaigner: gay marriage will force children into 'homosexual school lessons'

Scotland anti-gay marriage campaigner warns marriage equality may force school children into ‘homosexual lessons’ and damage freedom of speech

Rosemary Cameron, a campaigner against marriage equality said that people who object to gay marriage risk being discriminated against if new legislation goes ahead.

Speaking today (31 January) to the daily Dunfermline Press Cameron said she felt that ‘pro-gay people are trying to impose their views’ on her.

January 31, 2013
UK parliament opens its doors for gay cure debates

Core Issues, an organization advocating discredited and dangerous ‘gay cures’, was given space in Britain’s parliament for an informal debate to push its views

A Christian group was given a committee room in Britain’s Houses of Parliament yesterday (31 January) to debate therapy to ‘cure’ gay people.

The event, which took place in Committee Room 11 of the Houses of Parliament yesterday was set up and promoted by Core Issues, a Christian group that has previously written disparagingly on LGBT issues.

January 15, 2013
Police deny DNA 'witch hunt' against gay men

Gay man in Salford left 'depressed and suicidal' after police demand DNA for archaic gross indecency offences

British police deny they are targeting the LGBT community by demanding DNA samples from gay men who were convicted of 'victimless' sexual offences.

Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell is calling on the Home Secretary and Chief Constables to halt the police's 'homophobic witch hunt' of gay men convicted under the UK's gross indecency law, despite the legislation being repealed in 2003.

The veteran campaigner claims forces in Greater Manchester and Northumbria have threatened to arrest the men if they fail to comply with their demands.

December 25, 2012
Queen urged to break her silence on gay Brits during Christmas message

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell calls the British monarchy is homophobic for never mentioning the word gay or lesbian

Veteran activist Peter Tatchell is calling on Britain’s Queen to mention gays for the first time in her Christmas message.

Writing exclusively for Gay Star News, the gay rights campaigner accuses the monarchy of homophobia ‘by default’ for never using the word gay in Elizabeth II’s 60-year reign.

December 19, 2012
Uganda trans activist calls anti-gay preacher 'hooligan'

Anti-gay preacher Reverend Martin Ssempa launches hate-filled attack on transgender LGBT campaigner Pepe Onziema during TV talk show

A Ugandan transgender activist hit back at an extremist anti-gay preacher during a television debate, calling him a 'hooligan'.

LGBT campaigner Pepe Onziema was joined on Ugandan talk show Morning Breeze by Reverend Martin Ssempa - a pastor known for his Bible-thumping sermons against homosexuality in which he shows pornography in churches.

During the interview on the African nation's NBS TV channel, Ssempa launched into a furious rant about why gay sex is unnatural, using a banana to prove why the anus is for 'exit only'.

December 18, 2012
Trinidad and Tobago PM says she will end gay hate

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar promises to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people

Trinidad and Tobago's prime minister has promised to put an end to gay hate in the country's proposed national gender policy.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar revealed her plan to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people against discrimination in a private letter to gay rights campaigner Lance Price, obtained by the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian.

Price, who is the executive director of UK-based LGBT group Kaleidoscope Trust, confirmed he received the letter but refused to comment on its contents.

December 11, 2012
‘Church gay marriage ban open to legal challenge,’ says Peter Tatchell

Veteran gay rights campaigner says the Church of England and Wales ban on performing same-sex unions is illegal according to European law

Veteran gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has said UK government proposals for marriage equality are open to legal challenges.

In the Culture Secretary Maria Miller’s statement to the House of Commons on 11 December, she said the Church of England and Wales will be banned from performing same-sex marriages.

If other religious organizations opt out, all ministers will be unable to perform same-sex marriages, and if they opt in, all ministers will have a choice whether to opt in or out of ordaining gay unions.

November 30, 2012
Tatchell says Leveson Report will help protect gay private lives

Gay campaigner Peter Tatchell says tougher rules are needed on British press to stop LGBT hate and give right to reply for false allegations

Veteran gay activist Peter Tatchell has said the Leveson Report into British press standards will help protect the private lives of LGBT people.

And the Australian-born, UK-based human rights campaigner has called for new rights for people to be able to reply to false allegations in the media.

Lord Leveson published his report yesterday after a year-long inquiry sparked by a series of tabloid newspaper standards.

November 19, 2012
Black support for US gay marriage down to 'civil rights'

Majority of African-Americans favor same-sex marriage rights in the US, claims prominent black campaigner

The majority of African Americans now support gay marriage because they see it as a civil rights issue, claims a prominent black campaigner in the US.

Ben Jealous, head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), says surveys show that most black Americans favor the legislation which has already been passed in several states.

November 19, 2012
Dutch gay marriage campaigner visits New Zealand

Former Dutch MP Borris Dittrich, who brought marriage equality to the Netherlands in 2001, visits New Zealand to see the path of same-sex marriage legislation there

A former MP who helped the Netherlands to become the first country in the world to allow gay people to marry in 2001 is visiting New Zealand to witness the passage of same-sex marriage legislation through parliament there.

November 9, 2012
Gays can't be 'heroes and wizards' says fan page

Russian firm Expedition's Facebook fan page claims homosexuality will lead to extinction of human race after quizzed on retailer's ban on gay applicants

An employee at a Russian global retail company says it only allows straight applicants to its business course because gays can't be 'heroes and wizards'.

Outdoor goods retailer Expedition came under fire after it stated on its website that gay people are not allowed to apply for a place on its Academy for Entrepreneurship in Russia.

November 2, 2012
Gay campaign group wins Scotland Herald society campaigner of the year award

The Equality Network charity won Scotland's Herald society campaigner of the year award for their campaign on marriage equality

In a ceremony at Glasgow’s Crowne Plaza hotel today (2 October) the Equality Network won Scotland’s Herald Society Campaigner of the Year award for their equal marriage campaign.

The Equality Network, a Scottish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality charity, competed alongside fellow nominees Shelter Scotland and Oxfam Scotland, to win the honour of recognition of their efforts to secure equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in Scotland.

November 1, 2012
Veteran UK gay rights campaigner arrested for unfurling a flag

Police arrested UK gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell when he unfurled a West Papuan flag as the Indonesian president drove past him in London

Police arrested veteran gay activist and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell when he unfurled a West Papuan flag as the Indonesian president’s limousine departed Westminster Abbey, London.

Tatchell was wrestled to the ground by the president’s bodyguards and then arrested by Metropolitan Police officers, on Wednesday afternoon (31 October).