Members of the LGBTI community, progressive Catholics and others have called on the Vatican to consider serious reforms so that the Catholic Church may better reflect modern values following Pope Benedict XVI’s announcement this week that he would retire at the end of this month due to poor health.
The Nepalese government has begun issuing citizenship certificates designated “third gender” for trans and intersex people who do not identify as male or female.
A senior representative with Amnesty International has claimed people in Cameroon including LGBTI people are being subjected to a raft of abuses including unlawful killings and torture.
Hollywood star Jodie Foster left plenty in the entertainment world and elsewhere confused yesterday while many others were inspired after delivering a cryptic and rambling speech at the Golden Globe Awards where she publicly hinted for the first time she was a “loud and proud” lesbian.
The leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict, was denounced as a homophobe over the weekend as a group of feminist activists held a topless protest for gay rights in the Vatican over the weekend.
Gay clergy will now be allowed to become bishops in the Church of England however they will have to meet certain conditions including repenting for past homosexual acts and promising to remain celibate.
Fans of one of Russia’s biggest football teams, Zenit St Petersburg, have called for the club to field only white, heterosexual players after members of the club’s largest supporter group deemed “dark skinned” and gay players as “unworthy”.
Hacker activist group Anonymous has once again stepped up its campaign against the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) after members of the controversial anti-gay family led church announced their intentions to picket the funerals of victims – the majority of whom were young children – of last week’s mass school shooting in the US.
Same-sex marriage is likely to be legal in Uruguay early next year after lawmakers in the South American country overwhelmingly supported the passage of a marriage equality bill in its first phase this week.
Britain’s Government will reveal more about its plans for marriage equality this week with a consultation paper to be released expected to support allowing same-sex marriages to take place in churches and other religious buildings.
A Muslim prayer centre situated in a small room in the house of a Buddhist monk in Paris has quickly taken the title of Europe’s first LGBT-friendly mosque while also stoking criticism from religious leaders that it is “an abuse of the definition of a mosque” and “against the spirit of Islam”.
Pop star Madonna has escaped a hefty fine for speaking out for gay rights in Russia as the UN late last week delivered withering criticism of the country's anti-gay 'homosexual propaganda' laws operating in several regions after ruling the legislation goes against basic human rights.
Human rights advocates are once more calling on the Ugandan Government not to pass legislation known as the ‘kill the gays’ bill. The legislation could be approved by Christmas.
The re-election of President Barack Obama has been described as a watershed moment for LGBTI rights in America, with yesterday’s election day also seeing the first openly gay politician to be elected to the US Senate as well as marriage equality legislation successfully passing for the first time via ballot box in not one, not two but three states.
Barack Obama has been re-elected as president of the USA with many crediting his ability to reach out to minority groups such as Hispanics, the African-American community and LGBTI people as key to defeating Republican opponent Mitt Romney.
