Former President Bill Clinton is using his still considerable political clout to try and get Illinois to become the 13th state in the US to make gay marriage legal.

Proposed marriage equality legislation, already passed by the State Senate, has been stalled for some time in the Illinois House of Representatives.

In a statement released Tuesday (21 May) Clinton urged members of the House to pass the bill before the legislature adjourns its spring session on 31 May.

After more than four hours of debate, the Minnesota State Senate passed a bill that will make their state the 12th in the US to make gay marriage legal.

The bill passed by a margin of 37-30.

Minnesota is the first state legislature in the Midwest to pass marriage equality as gay marriages became legal in Iowa through the courts. Governor Mark Dayton will sign the bill into law on the steps of the capitol on Tuesday (14 May).

The Minnesota House of Representatives on Thursday (9 May) passed a marriage equality bill 75-59 after more than three hours of debate.

The vote was largely split down party lines although four of the House's 61 Republicans voted for the bill while two of its 73 Democrats voted against it.

If also passed by the State Senate then signed into law, Minnesota would become the 12th state in the US to allow gay marriage.

Delaware is to vote on whether they wish to become the 11th US state to pass same-sex marriage today (7 May).

The US state's Democrat-controlled Senate is expected to pass the bill after the General Assembly approved it several weeks ago.

Governor Jack Markell is an outspoken supporter of gay marriage and has vowed to sign the bill into law if it is cleared by the US senate.

Minnesota state representatives may vote on a gay marriage bill as early as next week.

Though no votes have been scheduled in either the House or Senate, according to The Associated Press, if the bill passes, gay marriage in Minnesota could come as quickly as 1 August.

As state representatives continue to debate their vote, one more Minnesota swing vote representative announced his support for the gay marriage bill.

Rhode Island is set to become the 10th state to legalize same-sex marriage today (2 May).

While it is the last holdout among the other five New England states, the heavily Catholic state will join its neighbors when Governor Lincoln Chafee signs the bill into law at 6pm EDT.

The first weddings could occur on 1 August when the new law will take effect.

Same-sex marriage supporters renewed their fight to get it legalized this year, and the recent Senate vote was seen as the final test after the House easily passed the bill.

Colombia’s Senate has once again postponed its vote on marriage equality after an impassioned all night debate.

The Senate’s vice president, Guillermo Garcia Realpe, said the voting would resume later today (24 April) as yesterday’s session did not manage to accommodate the arguments of 20 senators.

The state senate in Rhode Island has passed a bill that will make their state the 10th in the US to allow gay marriage.

In a 26-12 vote Wednesday (24 April), the Democratic controlled senate passed a bill that had made it out of the judiciary committee just a day earlier.

Rhode Island had been the only New England state where gay marriage is not yet legal. Governor Lincoln Chafee says he plans to sign the bill into law.

In a statement after the vote, Chafee said the senators has chosen 'tolerance and fairness over division and discrimination.'

As the Colombian Senate prepares its second attempt to vote on marriage equality bill shortly today, we speak to Green Party senator John Sudarsky, an ardent supporter of LGBT rights in Colombia.

Last week Colombia’s Senate decided to postpone the debate on same sex marriage until today (23 April).

However most commentators are pessimistic, after an agreement was allegedly reached between Colombia’s two largest parties, the Conservative and the ‘U’, to not allow the bill to become law.

The Rhode Island Senate's judiciary committee voted 7-4 today to send a marriage equality vote forward to the full senate for a vote that could happen as early as Wednesday (24 April).

Rhode Island is the only New England state where gay marriage is not yet legal. Governor Lincoln Chafee has made clear he will sign the bill into law if it passes the senate.

Eric Fanning is about to be the new Undersecretary of the US Air Force. The out gay man will hold the second highest civilian position in that armed forces branch.

Dennis Guth, a Republican state senator in Iowa, blames the media for the increased acceptance of gay relationships in the US - relationships which he claims are a health hazard.