With just one day left before the ALP National Conference in Sydney, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has sought the help of senior Labor figures to avoid a humiliating defeat on the issue of marriage equality, with party delegates on the brink of forcing a policy platform change that will extend marriage rights to the LGBTI community.

MELBOURNE: A new Victoria University study, funded by mental health agency beyondblue, will look at the impact homophobia has on young people involved in sports, with existing research showing that sport and physical education are significant environments in which homophobic bullying takes place.

USA: More alleged transgender victims of a woman who posed as a doctor and cosmetic surgeon in Florida have come forward following global media attention on the bizarre case which centres around claims that substances like cement, tire sealant and super glue were used in low-priced, backroom procedures targeting trans women.  

BRISBANE: In a historic win last night the Queensland Parliament voted 47-40 in favour of introducing the Civil Union Bill.

RUSSIA: St. Petersburg lawmakers will on Wednesday debate a globally criticised bill that proposes fines for “public activities promoting sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgender identity” as well as paedophilia.

A GetUp video that suggests “it’s time” for marriage equality has notched over one millions views after going viral following its launch late last Friday afternoon. 

DEFGLIS, the Australian Defence Force’s LGBTI Information Service, has relaunched its website and social networking services as part of a series of reforms in reaction to a number of recent incidents, such as the homophobic Facebook campaign that involved Defence Force personnel exposing and intimidating gay colleagues.

Rainbow Labor has today officially announced the proposed amendments that it will be seeking at next month’s ALP National Conference in Sydney, with a call for the party to “amend the Marriage Act to ensure equal access to marriage under statute for all adult couples irrespective of sex”.

BRISBANE: Queensland’s Parliament will hold a vote next week on whether to introduce civil unions legislation after a parliamentary committee recommended that Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser’s private member’s bill be passed.

BRISBANE: One of Queensland’s leading LGBTI mental health experts, psychologist Paul Martin, has called on Premier Anna Bligh to “urgently” alter the state’s Sodomy Law, warning that its continued existence “increases risks of negative outcomes including suicide” for same-sex attracted youth.

A La Trobe University PhD student whose thesis highlights significant correlations between policy and a variety of wellbeing outcomes for GLBTIQ students has been invited to present her findings at UNESCO’s first International Consultation on Homophobic Bullying in Educational Institutions to be held in Brazil early next month.

Thredbo disaster survivor Stuart Diver, who also lost his wife in the tragic 1997 incident, has today come out in support of marriage equality, saying in a statement that marriage “should be available to all in our community regardless of gender or sexuality”.

Federal Labor Senator Mark Arbib has attempted to heap pressure back onto the Coalition following Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s calls today for the Labor Party to back a conscience vote on the issue of marriage equality, saying that Liberal moderates like high-profile Wentworth MP Malcolm Turnbull should be arguing for a conscience vote of their own.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has today called for Labor members to support a conscience vote on the issue of marriage equality while maintaining her opposition to same-sex marriage rights, arguing that “the institution of marriage has come to have a particular meaning and standing in our culture and nation and that should continue unchanged”.

The UK is threatening to cut foreign aid to nations with anti-gay laws. But the world’s poorest should not suffer because their government’s persecute LGBTI people, writes Peter Tatchell.