Supporters of a plan to allow humanists to conduct weddings, for gay and straight couples, in England and Wales have pulled their proposal after a debate in parliament.

British Members of Parliament (MPs) spent several hours debating the amendment put forward to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill for England and Wales today (21 May) in the House of Commons.

But now they have pulled it awaiting more information from the government on how to overcome legal challenges their amendment may face.

Gays marrying will lead to a lesbian queen giving birth to a future monarch by artificial insemination, a former Tory chairman has warned.

Lord Tebbit, 82, also told the Big Issue magazine the legislation in England and Wales could also allow him to marry his son to escape inheritance tax.

Conservative party in-fighting and an amendment giving straight couples civil partnerships could delay the England and Wales equal marriage bill for up to two years.

The bill, which returns to the House of Commons today (20 May), is the subject of fierce debate among members of parliament. It will be voted on after two days of discussion.

Members of parliament, led by Tory Tim Loughton, have tabled an amendment expanding civil partnerships to include heterosexual couples.

The Church of England has agreed the marriage equality law will protect it from legal challenges in the future.

In a briefing before the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill is discussed House of Commons on Monday (20 May), the Church said while they cannot support the bill, they do agree the government has ‘good intentions’.

A quadruple lock, which protects the Church of England as the state religion, states no religious organization or minister will be compelled to marry gay couples.

Veteran LGBT rights advocate, Peter Tatchell said that the UK Equalities Minister, Maria Miller, is wrong to reject heterosexual civil partnerships.

He stated that the ban on heterosexual couples amounts to discrimination and that the minister defies public consultation, which backed straight equality.

‘The government’s decision to oppose the legalization of civil partnerships for heterosexual couples is hugely disappointing.

The new Italian government has stopped new Equality Minister Josefa Idem from pushing forward a new law on same-sex civil unions.

The new Prime Minister Enrico Letta said: ‘This is not on the government’s agenda.’

Interviewed by the Italian newspaper la Repubblica, Idem, who’s a former Olympic champion, said: ‘We don’t want class B citizens.

‘All citizens should have the same rights and the same duties. We have to start from civil unions, then we will able to speak about something else.’

The Isle of Man Chief Minister, Allan Bell, has strongly condemned discrimination against a lesbian couple that was refused a home by an anti-gay landlord, calling it 'ugly' and 'outdated'.

Following a successful campaign by the couple, the LGBT Network charity, and Gay Star News, the minister also pledged to speed up equality legislation for LGBT people on the Isle of Man as to prohibit any such anti-gay acts in the future.

New South Wales roads minister Duncan Gay has won the dubious honor of a Golden Gloria on Wednesday night (8 May).

The Glorias (Gay & Lesbian Outrageous, Ridiculous and Ignorant comment Awards) have 'celebrated' the worst examples of homophobia in Australia and beyond annually since 2010.

Lebanese Minister of Interior, Marwan Charbel, declared publicly on TV that Lebanon is against ‘sodomy' and rhetorically wondered if married gay French couples should be allowed to enter Lebanon.

During an interview with Al Jadeed TV, Charbel referred to gays in an extremely derogatory religious term, ‘liwat’, referring to the cursed people of Lot, roughly translated as 'sodomy' and sometimes used to denote the meaning of ‘fags’.

Transgender people will have to wait another year before their real identity is recognized, after Ireland's Gender Recognition Bill was delayed.

The Republic of Ireland's bill has been pushed back to 2014 and the Transgender Eqaulity Network Ireland (TENI) is calling for supporters to take action.

The bill is awaiting approval from the Irish parliament’s Heads of Bill. Pushing it back down the legislative agenda has been branded a breach of human rights.

Sydney city councillor Christine Forster is suggesting a large rainbow flag to replace a rainbow road crossing that was taken away by the state government due to safety concerns.

Forster, who is the lesbian sister of Australia's opposition leader Tony Abbott, said to the Daily Telegraph:

A South African Christian arts academy in Bloemfontein has been found guilty of human rights violation against LGBT people, the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) stated.