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 UN Human Rights office has released a new video telling LGBT people they are not alone and promising to work for their protection and freedom.

It reminds viewers that 76 countries still criminalize consensual same-sex relationships and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people everywhere continue to suffer violent attacks and discriminatory treatment.

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.

Over three-thousand flyers displaying statistics showing that gay people have a lower life expectancy than straight people have been distributed in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart ahead of a key gay marriage vote this Saturday.

State electoral commissioner Julian Type described the flyers as 'hateful and scurrilous' and said they could be a breach of the Electoral Act because they are not authorized.

The flyers are not attributed to any particular group or political party, and only have a cryptic email address as a clue to who made them.

Tweets described as anti-gay, racist and violent, posted by Britain’s first youth police and crime commissioner, will be investigated by the police.

Paris Brown, 17, appointed to the £15,000 ($23k, €18k) position last week, has already apologized for posting ‘inappropriate’ messages between the ages of 14 and 16.

While Kent police and crime commissioner Ann Barnes has defended Brown, the force said they had received several complaints about the messages.

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.

A report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) currently debated by the UN Human Rights Council found that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity remains widespread and persistent throughout the world.

The council is due to pass a resolution on the matter next week, and human rights groups have urged it to take a strong stand against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Do you want your chance to serve a ball or two on the same tennis courts that host the US Open? Or perhaps you just fancy a knockabout with some friends. Wherever you are in the world, there is a good chance there will be a Gay and Lesbian Tennis Association (GLTA) club for you.

We met up with Daniel Merrithew, commissioner of the (GLTA) to find out more about the association and the opportunities it gives its members.

What is GLTA's background?

The world's only political party solely dedicated to LGBT issues, Ladlad in the Philippines, launched its election campaign yesterday.

The first day of campaigning started with a blessing at 7am from Rev Ceejay Agbayani from LGBTS community church and continued with canvassing in two markets in Manila and visits to the Home for the Golden Gays elderly care home for LGBT people and beauty salons where many Filipino trans women work.

The Albanian office of the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination (CPD) has announced that it will take of the market all academic texts which discriminate against the LGBT community and update any others where same-sex relations and identities are discussed.

The announcement (24 December) followed a complaint by The Pink Embassy/LGBT Pro Albania rights group complained to the CPD on this matter.

The party-list system in the Philippines aims to give marginalized people a voice in government. LGBT people are certainly marginalized in the Catholic-dominated country - where transgender women are routinely denied service in restaurants and over-qualified gay men are denied jobs - but they are not represented in government.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed its displeasure over the treatment of LGBT people by the West African nation of Cameroon where people are being convicted under the country’s sodomy law without any evidence of them having had sex.