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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Tuesday 10 February 2015

SEX - LIFE B&Q alerts staff to potential increase in demand for rope and duck tape
	The bestselling novel Fifty Shades of Grey has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide the much anticipated movie is now set for release. DIY store B&Q sent a memo to staff alerting them to the potential increase in demand for rope and duck tape, while lingerie store Ann Summers says it has seen an increase in sales of particular products bbc.co.uk  10 Feb 15 Strauss-Kahn: Only 12 sex parties in three years bbc.co.uk  10 Feb 15
Can we listen to our LGBTQ elders without patronizing them?
	The truth is, the past wasn't all bad (based on what my friends tell me, far from it) and the present is hardly perfect slate.com  10 Feb 15
WORLD Malaysia's Opposition Leader gets five years on politically motivated sodomy charge
	In a major setback for human rights in Malaysia, the Federal Court of Malaysia upheld a lower court ruling and sentenced Anwar Ibrahim to five years in prison for violating Malaysia's sodomy law hrw.org 10 Feb 15
USA No state has fought harder against gay marriage ruling than Alabama
	Day one of gay marriage in Alabama did not exactly go smoothly. Monday began with a 7-2 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to let a federal judge's order striking down the same-sex marriage ban take effect and ended with many probate judges vowing to fight or professing confusion al.com  10 Feb 15
Obama's opposition to gay marriage was political BS
	In David Axelrod's new book, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics, he writes that when Obama stated his opposition to same-sex marriage in 2008, he may have been lying for political gain theweek.com  10 Feb 15 Buy Book

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Tuesday 3 February 2015

UK Tributes paid to pioneering gay journalist Michael Mason
	Michael Mason, who died at the weekend, was news editor at Gay News from 1972 until the early 1980s. During his time he covered many seismic events, including the political demise of former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe. Michael Mason founded Capital Gay in 1981, which ran for a total of 14 years pinknews.co.uk
Labour vow homophobic bullying crackdown after true scale of playground abuse revealed
	Labour has vowed to make every school free from homophobic bullying after shocking stats revealed 70,000 pupils suffer from abuse. Tristram Hunt MP, Shadow Education Secretary, has called for a 'zero tolerance' attitude to homophobic bullying mirror.co.uk  2 Feb 15 Bullied at school for being gay: 'It was a living hell' newsbeat  2 Feb 15
Family discover explicit gay porn at Jimmy's restaurant in Greenwich
	A mum-of-three was left feeling sick after her young children viewed an explicit gay sex scene on a restaurant booking screen. Archie and Alfie viewed the explicit content on the way back from the toilet newsshopper.co.uk  2 Feb 15
UKIP candidate stands down after backing BNP post calling homosexuality a 'perverted corruption'
	Donald Grewar, has resigned from UKIP following an investigation into the allegations made against him by a fellow party member southwalesargus.co.uk  2 Feb 15
O-M-G Man survives being thrown from 7-storey building by Isis for being gay then stoned to death
	According to reports from the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, members of Isis threw the man seven storeys, but despite surviving the fall, he was then stoned to death metro.co.uk  2 Feb 15

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Tuesday 16 December 2014

UK Government considers 50% funding cut to HIV prevention programme Dr Rosemary Gillespie, Chief Executive at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "This is not the right time for the Government to pare back spending on HIV prevention. We have not yet reached the tipping point in our fight against the epidemic." tht.org.uk  16 Dec 14 Deborah Gold, Chief Executive of National AIDS Trust, said: "This decision is simply staggering. HIV transmission shows no signs of decline, with the highest number of diagnoses among gay and bisexual men ever last year." nat.org.uk  16 Dec 14
Nick Clegg defends right to indulge in 'exotic' behaviour
	Deputy Pime Minister said today ministers must not "stick their nose in the bedroom" as he suggested that new pornography laws may be too tough standard.co.uk  16 Dec 14 Sexual freedom activists sit on each other's faces in Westminster standard.co.uk  16 Dec 14
GAY HEROES Gay hero of Sydney hostage crisis
	Tori Johnson, 34, managed the Lindt Chocolate Café for two years. He tried to take the gun to protect the other hostages as they fled, but he was shot in the attempt. He leaves his partner of 14 years, Thomas Zinn huffingtonpost.com  16 Dec 14
GAY MARRIAGE Gay marriage law comes into effect in Scotland
	Scotland's new law on same-sex marriages was used for the first time shortly after midnight when Douglas Pretsell and Peter Gloster upgraded their civil partnership at the British consulate in Sydney bbc.co.uk  16 Dec 14 Record 68% support for same-sex marriage in Scotland equality-network.org  16 Dec 14 Florida asks highest court to block gay marriage tampabay.com  16 Dec 14
WORLD Inequalities in the labour market faced by gay and lesbian employees
	A new report, Sexual orientation and labor market outcomes, by Dr Nick Drydakis of Anglia Ruskin University, investigates workplace discrimination, earnings and job satisfaction worldwide. Fewer than 20% of countries have adopted sexual orientation anti-discrimination laws in employment, and 2.7 billion people live in countries where being gay or lesbian is a crime iza.org  16 Dec 14
RUSSIA Russia 'ignoring' anti-gay attacks, says Human Rights Watch
	The US-based body said Russia's leadership had reacted to violence and anti-gay rhetoric with silence, and it accused some officials of hate speech. The 2013 law banning gay "propaganda" had led to more attacks, it said bbc.co.uk  16 Dec 14
Ultraconservative lawmaker hunts for teens at gay club
	St. Petersburg lawmaker Vitaly Milonov and a film crew fought their way into local gay club Central Station as it hosted a Loshadka party - "Craziness, scandal and sex" are promised in advertisements themoscowtimes.com  16 Dec 14
GAY PRIDE Brighton Pride early bird tickets prices frozen for the third year
	Tickets for Brighton Pride 2015 go on sale on the Friday 19th December at midday with £9 Super early bird tickets and £12.50 early bird ticket prices frozen for the third year running - Sat 1 Aug 2015  brighton-pride.org  16 Dec 14 Gay Pride Calendar

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9-10 December 2014

UK Porn protest to shock Westminster with mass 'face-sitting' and fake sex
	Around 500 people will descend on Westminster and pretend to have sex on Friday in a shocking protest against 'censorship' - Noon, Fri 12 Dec london24.com  10 Dec 14
GAY MARRIAGE 10 same sex couples in Brighton make history
	At 10am this morning the couples were taken through the administrative process simultaneously in separate offices at Brighton Town Hall to become the first people in Britain to convert their civil partnerships into marriages independent.co.uk 10 Dec 14
WORLD ISIS jihadis throw a "gay" off a rooftop, then stone him to death
	A jihadi website reported that the Islamic court in Wilayet al-Furat decided that a man who has practiced sodomy must be thrown off the highest point in the city, and then stoned to death dailystar.com.lb  10 Dec 14
If homosexuality isn't illegal, why is there a gay crackdown in Egypt?
	A bath house raid instigated by complicit media looks like a bid to distract attention from bigger economic and political issues theguardian.com 10 Dec 14
GAY PRIDE Portsmouth Pride celebrations planned for June 2015
	The festivities will feature a parade starting and ending at Victoria Park and stalls and performances in Guildhall Square - Sat 20 Jun 2015 bbc.co.uk 10 Dec 14 Portsmouth Pride Gay Pride Calendar 2015
SHOW BIZ Sundance film festival recognises Iris Prize short film talent for the second time!
	FOLLOWERS, written, directed and edited by Tim Marshall has been selected for the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The sixth short film to be produced by the Iris Prize and supported by the Michael Bishop Foundation and Gorilla Post will screen 22 Jan - 1 Feb, Park City, Uta, USA irisprize.org  10 Dec 14 Trailer

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