12-14 April 2015

UK Cameron pledges pardons for 'outdated' UK gay-sex convictions
	Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to posthumously pardon people convicted of historic gay-sex offenses if his Conservative Party wins the May 7 general election. The commitment closely matches one made by opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband in March bloomberg.com  14 Apr 15
13,000 sign petition to have 'gay cure' conference in London axed
	Second conference with talks on 'gay conversions' is going ahead today. A similar event named the Holy Sexuality Conference, organised by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, was set to take place in Marylebone next week but was called off after more than 13,000 people signed a petition calling for it to be banned standard.co.uk  14 Apr 15
ALAN TURING Alan Turing's handwritten journal sells for more than $1m
	A handwritten notebook that belonged to the celebrated World War II code-breaker Alan Turing has sold in the US for more more than $1m. The 56-page journal, written in a simple notebook bought from a stationers in Cambridge, was sold at an auction on Monday for $1,025,000 independent.co.uk  14 Apr 15
GAY BUSINESS Indiana plans to spend $2 million to repair image after RFRA
	Indiana's economic development and tourism agencies announced Monday they have hired global PR firm Porter Novelli to help rebuild the state's image in the wake of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act debacle indystar.com  14 Apr 15

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Sunday 1 March 2015

SEX - LIFE Why should WE pay for gays to have unsafe sex?
	'Imagine how these cancer patients and their families must have felt this week when, following a major trial on a £12-a-day drug which helps prevent people catching HIV, they learned researchers were recommending that healthy gay men should be given it free on the NHS at a cost of almost £5,000 a year per person,' writes Amanda Platgell dailymail.co.uk  1 Mar 15
GAY MARRIAGE Trio of gay men get married in 'world first'
	The adage that two's company, three's a crowd doesn't seem to apply to this trio, who have been married in what is thought to be the world's first three-way gay wedding. Joke, 29, Bell, 21, and Art, 26, tied the knot on Valentine's Day in Uthai Thani Province, Thailand metro.co.uk  1 Mar 15
USA Can Republicans finally accept gay conservatives?
	"There's this feeling among many gay people that gay and conservative is not compatible, just as there are some here at CPAC that feel that gay and conservative is not compatible," say  Log Cabin Republicans newrepublic.com  1 Mar 15
GAY PRIDE Miners and gay activists reunite for strike anniversary
	The revived Neath, Dulais and Swansea Valley Miners' Support Group will get back together with the Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners group. Their activities inspired last year's Bafta award-winning film Pride - Onllwyn Miners' Welfare Hall, 14 Mar  bbc.co.uk  1 Mar 15
Guinness rejoins New York's St. Patrick's Day Parade as sponsor
	Guinness has decided to resume sponsorship of the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Fifth Avenue after dropping out last year, sparking criticism from gay activists who want a broad boycott because of what they call the organizers' discriminatory policies. Company cites inclusion of one gay group as prime factor in decision wsj.com  1 Mar 15
SHOW BIZ EastEnders to introduce first transgender character
	Producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins, the soap's boss, revealed the news in London earlier today at a Student Pride panel event mirror.co.uk  1 Mar 15
Matt Lucas: 'I dress up because I'm insecure'
	'I'm as uncomfortable looking at photographs of myself as anybody is and that's one of the reasons I dress up' metro.co.uk  1 Mar 15

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Thursday 19 February 2015

UK Scottish Tory leader introduces her same-sex partner in election ad
	Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader and MSP for Glasgow, has broken new ground with a party election broadcast featuring her partner Jen Wilson stv.tv  19 Feb 15
GAY HISTORY LGBT History Month Magazine 2015
	Featuring lengthy articles by Chair Sue Sanders and Promotions Officer Andrew Dobbin, and other LGBT rights and cause groups History Month Magazine 19 Feb 15 History month makes history - with first National Festival of LGBT History in Manchester LGBT History Month
SEX - LIFE Sex redefined
	The idea of two sexes is simplistic. Biologists now think there is a wider spectrum than that ... if you want to know whether someone is male or female, it may be best just to ask nature.com  19 Feb 15
TRANS The financial penalty for being transgender in America
	Transgender people struggle to find work and safe housing, face challenges updating critical identity documents, make less on the job, and have higher medical costs than their non-transgender peers lgbtmap.org  19 Feb 15

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Saturday 14 February 2015

GAY BARS Camden's Black Cap saved from plans to redevelop as flats
	The iconic London gay pub and cabaret venue the Black Cap has been saved from a drastic downsizing after proposed redevelopments were rejected pinknews.co.uk  14 Feb 15
SEX - LIFE Five ways gay culture influenced 50 Shades Of Grey
	What few fans of the book (and now movie) may realize is that even though 50 Shades of Grey features a young heterosexual couple, it's actually a very gay-inspired story huffingtonpost.com  14 Feb 15 Backlash - defending freedom of sexual expression backlash-uk.org.uk
O-M-G LGBT Christians move their office to Nottinghamshire After 25 years at Oxford House, the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement will be closing their London office and relocating to a new office at Newark in Nottinghamshire LGCM Newsletter  14 Feb 15 Grace and Disagreement in the Church of England
	Resource booklets are now available for particpants in the Church's programme of Shared Conversations on Scripture, Mission and Sexuality churchofengland.org  14 Feb 15 Download
GAY HISTORY Simon Callow: in praise of Gay Sweatshop
	On the theatre company's 40th anniversary, Simon Callow explains how it has transformed his and others' lives theguardian.com  14 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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