9-11 April 2015

Weekend
GAY BUSINESS Aetna insurance targets LGBT community
	as insurers seek ways to market more to individual customers usnews.com  11 Apr 15
O-M-G Vatican silent over French gay ambassador
	The Vatican has declined to comment on reports that it has not accepted a new French ambassador because he is gay bbc.co.uk  11 Apr 15
GAY HISTORY Were Lincoln and Nixon gay? The 'history' book that is dividing America
	Award-winning author and gay-rights activist Larry Kramer's new book, The American People: Volume 1, aims to counter the exclusion of homosexuality from history theguardian.com  11 Apr 15 Buy Book

Friday
UK The Conservative Party is winning over some gay voters
	Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron decided to champion same-sex marriage in 2011 ... When, in 2014, the act passed into law, 133 Conservatives voted against it and many disgruntled activists left the party. But, as he seeks re-election, Mr Cameron's gamble may gradually be paying off economist.com  9 Apr 15
SHOW BIZ Sue Perkins denies she will replace Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear
	Despite being 2nd favourite the 45-year-old TV presenter - who fronts The Great British Bake Off alongside Mel Giedroyc - took to Twitter to shoot down speculation she is in line to takeover from the sacked former host mirror.co.uk  9 Apr 15

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Friday 20 March 2015

O-M-G Cardinal O'Brien renounces all 'rights and privileges' of being a cardinal
	Cardinal O'Brien resigned as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh two years ago following allegations of sexual misconduct catholicherald.co.uk  20 Mar 15 Sex attack victim slams Catholic Church for delaying probe into shamed Cardinal Keith O'Brien dailyrecord.co.uk  20 Mar 15
GAY RESEARCH Churchgoers keeping liberal views on homosexuality 'secret'
	Four in 10 regular churchgoers no longer see same-sex relationships as a 'sin' but are unwilling or afraid to say so, says Rev Steve Chalke about a UK survey by Oasis Trust  telegraph.co.uk  20 Mar 15
San Francisco has highest percentage of LGBT population
	Gallup research into the 50 largest metro areas in the USA finds 6.2% of San Francisco residents identify as LGBT. Birmingham Alabama has the lowest at 2.6% gallup.com  20 Mar 15

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Saturday 7 March 2015

UK Broken Rainbow gets stay of execution from the Home Office
	LGBT Domestic violence charity Broken Rainbow has received over £25,000 for the campaign 'There is no Pride in Domestic Abuse', and the funding for their helpline is secure for another 12 months brokenrainbow.org.uk
GAY PARENTS Surrogate mum speaks of joy after giving birth to gay son's baby
	Anne-Marie Casson, 46, fell pregnant after a donor egg was fertilised with sperm from her supermarket worker son, Kyle Casson. The baby she gave birth to via C-section - her grandson Miles - is now eight months old and has been adopted by Kyle, his biological father mirror.co.uk  7 Mar 15 I've had a surrogate baby! Gay radio tycoon emails staff his happy news dailymail.co.uk  7 Mar 15
GAY BUSINESS Irish printers refuse to print gay couple's wedding invites
	Jonathon Brennan is set to wed John Kierans this August. Beulah Print came to the decision that they could not do business with him because of his sexual orientation. Brennan has been a customer of the printing firm for the past four years irishcentral.com  7 Mar 15
GAY PRIDE Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras floods the streets with colour
	After an imitation Kim Jong Un, complete with new hair cut, waved the crowd goodnight atop a fabulous tank equipped with a phallic gun, the 37th Mardi Gras came to a close smh.com.au  7 Mar 15
GAY MARRIAGE Apple asks Supreme Court for marriage equality across the U.S.
	While the filing made a predominantly business case for LGBT rights, there's no doubt that it is a human rights issue that has been particularly close to Apple's heart over the past few years cultofmac.com  7 Mar 15

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Tuesday 24 February 2015

GAY BUSINESS 'Intolerant activists' vandalise Auckland police stations, ANZ branches
	Queers Against Injustice has accused ANZ of commercialising gay rights after it renamed its ATM machines to 'GAY TMs' and decorated them with multi-coloured rhinestones. "Pinkwashing... describes the way that institutions co-opt LGBT struggles to distract from and disguise unethical behaviour." an anonymous post on the website hashtag500words.com said tvnz.co.nz  24 Feb 15
U.S. appoints first-ever Special Envoy for LGBT Rights
	Secretary of State John Kerry said Randy Berry's job will be to "reaffirm the universal human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity." npr.org  24 Feb 15
O-M-G Father Anthony McSweeney breaks down over gay and sadomasochistic porn collection
	The Catholic priest, 68, denies molesting three teenage boys at Grafton Close children's home in Hounslow, west London, between 1979 and 1981. But he admitted being shown a child sex porn film by his close friend, the care home manager John Stingemore bbc.co.uk  24 Feb 15
GAY MARRIAGE Heterosexual couple given green light to challenge civil partnership rule
	A Jewish couple who launched a legal challenge against the ban on heterosexual civil partnerships has been granted permission to continue with their claim by a High Court judge thejc.com  24 Feb 15
GAY HISTORY Dirtiest, most violent and homophobic election in Britain
	32 years ago, a now top Liberal Democrat politician was involved in a secret Liberal Party dirty tricks unit that organised an anonymous, illegal smear campaign against the Labour candidate in the 1983 Bermondsey by-election, Peter Tatchell petertatchell.net  24 Feb 15 LGBT History Month UK

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Friday 13 February 2015

UK Dover Health Centre displays 'offensive' sign turning away gay men
	An NHS trust has apologised after Jayce Carberry, 24, from Ramsgate, was made aware of the issue by a friend who was waiting to be seen in Dover Health Centre. The clinic had a sign stating that patients who had been sexually assaulted, who are male and have sex with men, or sex workers could not be tested there kentonline.co.uk  13 Feb 15
Steve Strange of Visage dies aged 55: The custodian of New Romantic pop
	He ran the most sought-after clubs in London - Billy's, Blitz and the Camden Palace, booking the likes of Spandau Ballet and Culture Club at the start of their careers. What set the clientele apart was Steve Strange's rigorous door policy. Outrage guaranteed entry bbc.co.uk  13 Feb 15
Michael Mason: Journalist and activist dies aged 67
	Michael helped make the paper Capital Gay a fun read, but with a serious side in the era of Aids Mason's finest hour was being asked, in 1979, to lead the Pride parade in San Francisco on the 10th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots independent.co.uk  13 Feb 15
Weatherman Fred Talbot guilty of abusing teenage boys
	Ex-TV weatherman Fred Talbot has been found guilty of indecently assaulting two teenage boys when he was a teacher. The 65-year-old was cleared of eight other indecent assault charges bbc.co.uk  13 Feb 15
Former Irish equality minister comes out
	Pat Carey says speaking out as gay man may help others of his generation. "The part of the country I came from the word gay wasn't even heard of," the ex-Minister says irishtimes.com  13 Feb 15
GAY MARRIAGE Alabama official ordered to issue marriage licenses to gay couples
	U.S. District Judge Callie Granade's order clarified that Mobile County Probate Court Judge Don Davis was compelled to adhere to her previous ruling striking down the state's gay marriage ban despite a contravening order from Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore that led many state judges to refrain from issuing licenses to gay couples reuters.com  13 Feb 15 Fudge packers are in shock says Klu Klux Klan splcenter.org  13 Feb 15
WORLD North Korea calls Michael Kirby 'disgusting old lecher'
	North Korea state media has launched an anti-gay attack on former High Court judge Michael Kirby, who is now the current chairperson of a UN agency that published a report criticising human rights in the isolated communist nation starobserver.com.au  13 Feb 15
O-M-G Pope Francis scolds childless families as selfish
	After saying in a press conference several weeks ago that Catholics should not breed "like rabbits," Francis scolded childless families this week as selfish bustle.com  13 Feb 15

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