22-24 March 2015

UK UK Government awards £2 million homophobic bullying fund
	Eight organisations will share £2 million to help prevent and eradicate homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying. The funding was announced by Jo Swinson, Minister for Women and Equalities, and Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan gov.uk  24 Mar 15
The organisations awarded funding are: Anne Frank Trust - to run workshops and educate young people about prejudice and the impact of the Holocaust on lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Barnardo's - to provide face-to-face support for victims of HBT bullying and training for staff with a focus on cultural issues in schools in Leeds and Wakefield. Diversity Role Models with Brook - to develop and deliver training on tackling HBT bullying to 10,000 teachers and staff in 400 schools. EACH - to deliver a training and resource programme in schools across Avon and Somerset. Educate & Celebrate - to train staff in 60 schools, giving them confidence and strategies to address HBT language and bullying and promote inclusiveness throughout the school environment and the curriculum. National Children's Bureau - to train 1,500 teachers on tackling homophobia, biphobia and transphobia through PSHE. Show Racism the Red Card - to hold workshops with 2,000 young people at football clubs around England, train 200 teachers and run a film competition for young people on tackling HBT bullying. Stonewall - to extend and share its 'train the trainer' course with 60 partner organisations, enabling them to run the programme with schools in their local communities and giving them the skills to tackle HBT bullying.
Gloucestershire now without an LGBT venue after The Westgate closes
	Gloucestershire is now thought to be the UK's only county without a dedicated gay venue after the closure of The Westgate Pub. The Westgate, in Westgate Street, was appealing for support to save the venue and was hoping to raise £25,000 to stay afloat gloucestercitizen.co.uk  24 Mar 15
O-M-G Taunton street preacher convicted for homophobic sermon
	Christian street preacher, Michael Overd, has been convicted of delivering homophobic sermons over loudspeakers in Taunton, Somerset, last summer. He was fined £200 and ordered to pay compensation and costs totalling £1,200 at Bristol Crown Court bbc.com  24 Mar 15
California lawyer seeks to put 'shoot the gays' proposal on 2016 ballot
	Matt McLaughlin wants homosexuality punished 'by bullets to the head'. State attorney general, Kamala Harris (pictured), may be powerless to stop the proposal going forward theguardian.com  24 Mar 15
GAY MARRIAGE Russia fails in bid to stop UN staff benefits for all gay couples
	Russia failed on Tuesday in a bid to stop the United Nations extending staff benefits to all same-sex couples after a U.N. General Assembly budget committee voted 80 to 43 against the proposal. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in July that the United Nations would recognize all same-sex marriages of its staff, allowing them to receive U.N. benefits. dailymail.co.uk  24 Mar 15
SEX - LIFE I'm gay and my fashion sense is awful. Send help
	It's an outdated cliché to say that gay men are more stylish, so why does Shaun Kitchener feel he needs to smarten up his act? telegraph.co.uk  24 Mar 15

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Monday
UK Tories draw level with Labour in winning gay vote
	Survey of LGBT voting intentions puts Conservatives and Labour on 26% in poll as support for Liberal Democrats plummets and Greens make gains theguardian.com  23 Mar 15
Poll shows overwhelming support for 'gay cake' row bakery
	The ComRes poll measured opinion among 1,000 adults in Northern Ireland. It showed that only 27% of adults believe it is right for the Equality Commission NI to take Ashers Baking Company to court, while 71% disagree newsletter.co.uk  23 Mar 15

Sunday
UK HIV campaigners stage protest in local pub of UKIP leader Nigel Farage
	Protest organiser and HIV activist Dan Glass said: "Ukip are a con. By wrongfully shifting the blame for the economic crisis onto immigrants they have let the bankers off the hook." Protestors included "people who have been targeted by UKIP such as HIV activists, and gay people" sevenoakschronicle  22 Mar 15
GAY BUSINESS 'Open For Service' stickers oppose religious freedom bill
	Indianapolis entrepreneur Josh Driver came up with the idea, and he says it's about doing what's right. But religious freedom advocates say the bill is about protecting religious liberty - not supporting discrimination indianapublicmedia  22 Mar 15

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Friday 30 January 2015

UK Muslim leader: 'Teaching British values in schools creates atmosphere of suspicion'
	Joan Deslandes, head of Kingsford Community School, told a London conference of head teachers that schools experienced problems when trying to teach about statutory subjects such as gay rights because some parents would either keep their children at home or lodge time-consuming complaints independent.co.uk  30 Jan 15
Cohabiting couples now the fastest growing type of family in the UK
	Cohabiting couple families (straight or gay) grew by 29.7% between 2004 and 2014. The Office for National Statistics anticipates that the next Families and Households survey will contain specific statistics on same sex married couples familylaw.co.uk  30 Jan 15 Marriages of same sex couples formed in England and Wales so far ons.gov.uk  30 Jan 15
HIV AIDS Mortimer Market Peer Support Workers saw 1,034 patients one-to-one
	And last year 700 more attended workshops at this central London clinic (age-range, 21 to 73!) such as their Newly Diagnosed Course; six sessions covering disclosure, medical aspects, love and sex, building support networks and, critically, the impact of diagnosis. They also work on positive-thinking, self-confidence, growing older with HIV, and clinical updates cnwl.nhs.uk 30 Jan 15
SEX - LIFE Selfridges is introducing a unisex shopping concept
	For six weeks, Selfridges will be introducing a gender neutral shopping experience. The Oxford Street store will be merging its separate women's and men's departments over three floors metro.co.uk  30 Jan 15
GAY PRIDE Kent Pride promises seaside family fun in Margate
	Kent Pride is being organised by Tony Butcher, who runs Canterbury's only gay bar, Limes Lounge. He said: "Margate will be a great venue for the parade, and Thanet District Council is very supportive" - Sat 29 Aug kentonline.co.uk  30 Jan 15
GAY RIGHTS US Bill seeks to protect LGBT rights around the globe
	"Members of Congress have sent a clear message to the State Department and the Obama Administration that LGBT rights are human rights and that they support creation of a special envoy to help put an end to persecution of LGBT people," said David Stacy, HRC's Government Affairs Director hrc.org 30 Jan 15
GAY SPORTS Only 19% of Americans oppose gay athletes in pro sports
	73% say they would support a professional sports team signing a gay or lesbian athlete, while 19% say they would oppose this action. There is broad support for a professional sports team signing a gay or lesbian athlete across demographic and political groups, including 66% of Republicans, 75% of independents, and 79% of Democrats publicreligion.org
SHOW BIZ Oscars: The Imitation Game finally plays the Gay Card
	Harvey Weinstein argues that though Turing received a royal pardon in 2013 for his 1952 conviction for gross indecency because of his homosexuality, he deserves to be honored by the British government hollywoodreporter.com  30 Jan 15 Alan Turing Gay Page

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Wednesday 21 January 2015

TRANS 'Transgender' said for first time in State of the Union address
	"That's why we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender," President Obama said. "We do these things not only because they're right, but because they make us safer." He went on to call gay marriage a civil right thehill.com 21 Jan 15
UK Manchester 'gay school': Petition launched against plan
	LGBT Youth North West is being asked to cancel any plans to create a LGBT specific school and focus work on equality for all within mainstream education manchestereveningnews Sign petition 21 Jan 15
Head hits back after Sunderland free school branded 'inadequate'
	Principal Chris Gray complained: "In the days after the inspection ... I heard reports of primary schoolchildren being asked if they knew of any boys or girls who thought they were in the wrong body and others if they knew what gay and lesbians did" sunderlandecho.com  21 Jan 15
NI Health Minister backs Edwin Poots' gay blood ban
	Jim Wells says he continues to support a ban on gay men donating blood here despite the prohibition being lifted elsewhere in the UK and an ongoing legal appeal that has cost his department £39,000 so far belfasttelegraph.co.uk  21 Jan 15
GAY HISTORY The first National Festival of LGBT History is just around the corner
	Trailblazing campaigners speaking at the event include Christine Burns MBE (Press For Change), Peter Tatchell (Gay Liberation Front), Mike Jackson (featured in the year's smash hit "Pride"), Stuart Milk (chair of the Harvey Milk foundation) and veteran ex-politician Linda Bellos OBE - 14-15 Feb 2015  lgbthistoryfestival.org  21 Jan 15 LGBT History Month
SNP to host LGBT History Month conference
	650 delegates from across Scotland will attend the event, which will mark LGBT History Month with a debate on how LGBT rights have improved in Scotland over the years - Sat 7 Feb facebook.com 21 Jan 15 Register free
Supreme Court faced gay rights decision in 1958 over 'obscene' magazine The road to gay rights at the U.S. Supreme Court began in a small downtown Los Angeles office, where volunteer writers and editors in 1953 launched ONE - a new "magazine for homosexuals" latimes.com  21 Jan 15 How the Germans invented gay rights - more than a century ago
	Robert Beachy's Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity begins with the story of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, essentially the first gay activist, who encountered censorship and ended up going into exile, but his ideas very gradually took hold newyorker.com  21 Jan 15 Buy Book
GAY MARRIAGE Irish gay adoption law due before same-sex marriage referendum
	Irish minister for justice Frances Fitzgerald has pledged that legislation providing for adoption by gay couples will be enacted before the referendum on same-sex marriage in May irishtimes.com  21 Jan 15
Christian group's free speech denied over gay marriage conference ban, UK Government signals
	Christian Concern, which campaigned against the legalisation of same-sex marriage, has received a public apology after it was barred from staging a debate on marriage at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre opposite the Houses of Parliament telegraph.co.uk  21 Jan 15
FYR Macedonia bans same-sex marriage and creates constitutional obstacle future civil unions
	"Instead of guaranteeing equal rights for all couples, Macedonia's parliament decided to create a constitutional obstacle to even create possible legislation on this issue in the future," warned the Intergroup on LGBTI Rights lgbt-ep.eu 21 Jan 15
SHOW BIZ Pride wins Unsung Film of the Year and the LGBTQ Film of the Year
	Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics also named Boyhood their Film of the Year, while Transparent and The Normal Heart win TV awards galeca.com  21 Jan 15
Sixteen years after Queer As Folk exploded on to the screen ...
	... award-winning writer Russell T Davies is back with Cucumber, Banana and Tofu: three new interlinked shows for Channel 4, E4 and online. Cucumber and Banana are two original drama series exploring the passions and pitfalls of 21st century gay life - C4, Thu 22 Jan 9pm channel4.com  21 Jan 15 Channel 4's diversity quotas read like a comedy script independent.co.uk  21 Jan 15

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