The man arrested in connection with the murder of gay Puerto Rico teenage Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado will reportedly use the 'gay panic' defence.

Prime minister Gordon Brown has made a statement describing violence and harassment against trans people as "utterly unacceptable". He also thanked trans campaigners for their work.

Steven Purcell, the leader of Glasgow city council, has been named the Herald's Councillor of the Year. Purcell, who is gay, was ranked at number 16 this year on PinkNews.co.uk's 50 most powerful gay, lesbian and bisexual people in British politics.

Workers' union UNISON is holding its annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) conference today and tomorrow. The organisation is calling for more encouragement for LGBT victims of hate crime to report offences to police.

The father of a 14-year-old boy who went missing two years ago has appealed to the gay community to help find him. Andrew Gosden has not been seen since September 14th, 2007.

Gay couples who married in states where gay marriage is legal should be able to claim some government benefits, a New York court ruled yesterday.

Baroness Cathy Ashton, who won Stonewall's Politician of the Year award in 2006, has been named as the new European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

Elton John has offered his fans refunds after it was announced that a string of cancelled UK tour dates will not be rescheduled.

Today is the 11th International Transgender Day of Remembrance. The yearly event is held to recognise and remember trans people who have been killed through hatred or prejudice.

A Brazillian trans woman at the centre of a scandal involving an Italian politician has been found dead in a burnt-out basement.

In a profile published for The Guardian, Caroline Davies argues that the new European Union's new High Representative For Foreign Affairs has a strong history of standing up for equality. In 2006 she was the first recipient of the Stonewall Politician of the Year award.

British doctors are becoming "world pioneers" in treating children and adults who are born with ambiguous genitals, it has been reported. The NHS treats such babies on the assumption that they should not automatically be operated on.

Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell has said that TV executives should chose a wider range of gay presenters, not just "camp and cliched" stereotypes.

A Texas candidate for attorney general has argued that an amendment made to the state's constitution to ban gay marriages has actually made all marriages illegal.

Prime minister Gordon Brown has recorded a video message for World AIDS Day. In the message, Brown paid tribute to the gay community in the 1980s, which he said had "led the way" on HIV and AIDS campaigning.