Pope Francis has surprised in gay marriage talks by proving he is a more diplomatic figure than his predecessors.

The leader of the Catholic Church deftly avoided speaking against gay rights while speaking to the head of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

Francis, the only pope in history to become leader when he was the cardinal of a country with same-sex marriage, said he wanted to work with Welby to promote family values ‘based on marriage’.

The Church of England has accepted it is the will of parliament that gay and lesbian couples can marry – and will stop fighting it.

The Bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens, who leads the bishops in the House of Lords, Britain’s upper chamber of parliament, has made the statement today (5 June).

He said they will now try to ‘improve’ the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill for England and Wales, rather than trying to block it.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Dominica, Bishop Gabriel Malzaire, has said gay sex should be made legal.

But he has also likened it to ‘adultery, fornication, orgies, calumny, deep-seated hatred’ saying it can lead to ‘spiritual death’.

Despite this he wants to see an end to ‘all forms of violence’ against LGBT people in the island nation which still criminalizes gay male sex with 10 years jail. Lesbian sex can earn five years prison.

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.

Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir retired from politics yesterday ahead of general elections today.

Sigurdardottir became the world’s first openly gay or lesbian head of state in February of 2009 when she was appointed Prime Minister of Iceland after Independence Party leader Geir Haarde resigned over his handling of the country’s then financial crisis.

Iceland’s voters gave her appointment the seal of approval two month later, giving her the task of fixing the country’s financial crisis.

France’s National Assembly has voted for the last time to make same-sex marriage and adoption legal today (23 April).

The ‘Marriage for All’ bill has divided the nation, with several large protests being held for and against equality.

In recent weeks, homophobic attacks have spiked and some legislators have received threats.

The ‘Marriage for All’ bill will now be sent to President François Hollande, who has 15 days to sign it into law.

The head of the Catholic church in New Zealand has responded to the legalization of same-sex marriage in the country last week.

Archbishop John Dew of Wellington said:

'We find it bizarre that what has been discarded is an understanding of marriage that has its origin in human nature and is common to every culture.'

The Archbishop added 'we know many New Zealanders stand with us in this', Catholic News Agency reports.

Michelle Bachelet has reaffirmed her support for same-sex marriage in Chile as she runs for president for the second time.

In an interview Sunday with Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN), Bachelet was asked: ‘In your previous campaign, you promised equal rights for homosexuals but you did not talk about gay marriage.

‘Now, eight years later, same-sex marriage, yes or no?’

The head of Russian Railways, Valdimir Yakunin, said that the civil rights of LGBT people should be limited to ‘public morals’ and ‘common sense’.

He further said that the extent of ‘civil rights’ for gay people should limited so that they are not beaten with sticks to death, reported the portal GayRussia.

Otherwise, the company director called for ban the freedom of expression and family rights for gays and lesbians.

The world's first openly gay national leader, Icelandic prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir is to visit China next week with her wife of 13 years, Jonina Leosdottir.

Sigurdardottir will meet President Xi Jinping and LGBT activists in China are watching out for how the state and the media react to the lesbian couple.

Anti-gay bigots decided to film themselves vandalizing and wrecking the outside of a LGBT center in Paris, as seen in a video posted on 7 April.

It shows ‘Le Printemps Francais’ (French spring), a collective made up of hard line Catholics and royalists who have split from the mainstream ‘Manif Pour Tous’ anti-marriage equality movement.

The group published the video showing them vandalizing the annual Inter-LGBT fair in the gay district of Marais, but later deleted it. A pro-gay activist republished it on YouTube later.  

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.