Benjamin Cohen founded PinkNews.co.uk in 2005 and was editor until 2006. He was technology correspondent at Channel 4 News between 2006 and 2012.
Twitter: @benjamincohen-
5 March 2006Gay penguins book banned from children’s library + A children's book about a pair of gay penguins who raise a baby has been banned from the children's section of two libraries in America after parents complained that it promoted homosexuality."And Tango Makes Three," is based on the true story of two gay penguins, Roy and Silo who hatched an abandoned egg in New York's Central Park Zoo in the late 1990s. -
5 March 2006Archbishop: Church faces rupture over gay clergy + The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that the Anglican communion faces a "rupture" following divisions over homosexuality.Dr Rowan Williams told the BBC that he fears a split that could take years to heal."If there is a rupture, it's going to be a more visible rupture, it is not going to settle down quietly to being a federation," he said. -
4 March 2006Sydney Gay Pride celebrates Brokeback Mountain and Dick Cheney + Gay cowboys aping the stars of Brokeback Mountain together with Kate Moss lookalikes snorting fake cocaine and a float celebrating Dick Cheney have taken to the streets of Sydney to celebrate the city's gay pride festival.The celebrations of gay rights begun as a civil rights march in 1978 and in the 1980s attracted crowds of over half a million. This year's celebrations drew in an estimated quarter of a million revellers from across the world. -
2 March 2006Transgendered fire-fighter claims discrimination 4 An American fire-fighter claims that she's being discriminated against because she used to be a man.Fire Captain Jamie Faucon, has filed a complaint against the Knoxville Fire Chief Carlos Perez and her supervisor, Mark Foulkes.Ms Faucon claims that she was denied a car and overtime because she is a trangendered woman. -
2 March 2006Bisexual politician fails in attempt to lead party + Simon Hughes has failed in his second attempt to secure the leadership of the Liberal Democrats, Britain's third largest political party.Mr Hughes, the 54 year old MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey previously came second to Charles Kennedy in the 1999 leadership election, following the retirement of Paddy Ashdown. -
2 March 2006School rejects ex-pupil for starring in Brokeback Mountain 5 Brokeback Mountain star, Michelle Williams is persona non grata at her old school, who don't want to know her since she starred in the film of gay cowboy love.Ms Williams attended Santa Fe Christian School in California. The school's headmaster, Jim Hopson told his local newspaper that the school "don't want to have anything to do with her in relation to that movie." -
1 March 2006Clare Short under fire for meeting with anti-gay Muslims 2 Former cabinet minister Clare Short has angered fellow Labour MPs for meeting today with an anti-gay radical Muslim group.The former international development secretary invited Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group which the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, wishes to ban from Britain, to speak to MPs.The former international development secretary invited Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group which the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, wishes to ban from Britain, to speak to MPs. -
1 March 2006Police force transgendered woman forced to urinate in a cup + A transgendered telephone engineer from New York has claimed that she was arrested three times in the past six months by transport police for using the women's toilets. She claims she is now forced to urniate in a plastic cup.Helena Stone, 70, who is undergoing treatment for a gender chance from male to female said that a police officer called her: "a freak, a weirdo and the ugliest woman in the world." She was told: "If I ever see you in the women's bathroom, I'm going to arrest you." -
1 March 2006London Mayor wins first stage of appeal 3 The High Court has delayed a four-week suspension of London's Mayor Ken Livingstone imposed for comparing a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard outside a party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first openly gay MP.Mr Livingstone was ordered suspended for a month beginning March 1 by a tribunal last week for bringing his office into disrepute during an exchange with the reporter outside a party. -
27 February 2006George Michael: “arrest my own stupid fault” 1 Gay pop star, George Michael had admitted his arrest yesterday for suspicion of possessing a Class C drugs was his "own stupid fault, as usual".A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "We were called by a member of the public to a man seen slumped over the steering wheel of a car on the street close to Hyde Park Corner. A search of the man revealedwhat was believed to be controlled substances." -
27 February 2006London Mayor appeals against suspension in court 3 London Mayor, Ken Livingstone who was suspended from office for a month after comparing a Jewish journalist to a concentration camp guard has launched a High Court appeal to his suspension.The adjudication panel of the Standards Board for England ruled that the Mayor of London brought his office into disrepute when he acted in an "unnecessarily insensitive" manner following a reception held commemorating 20th anniversary of Chris Smith being the first MP to reveal he was gay.
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27 February 2006Da Vinci Code faces gay porn remake as DaVinci Load 2 Whilst Da Vinci Code author, Dan Brown, faces a High Court accusation of plagiarism, it has been announced that the film version of his best-seller is to be remade as a gay porn film to be released on the same day as the Hollywood version starring Tom Hanks.Mr Brown's publishers, Random House, are facing a copyright challenge by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of the 1982 book, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (also published by Random House). -
27 February 2006Government tells gay bars to let in straights + As predicted on PinkNews.co.uk in November of last year, gay bars and clubs will be unable to turn away straight revellers on the basis of their sexuality or gender when the Equality Bill comes into force, according to a leaked Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) memo."If customers were turned away only because their answers to these questions indicated that they were straight, this could be discrimination," the memorandum states. -
26 February 2006Mugabe attacks gays and threatens pro-gay clergy with prison 5 President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has launched a blistering attackon homosexuality in a speech to mark his birthday.Mr Mugabe, who has previously described gay people as worse than"dogs and pigs" used an hour long speech to warn Zimbabweans of thedangers of homosexuality and threatened pro-gay clergy with prisonsentences. -
25 February 2006Paratroopers face court-martial over gay porn allegations + The American army has said that three paratroopers could be discharged from the service after they allegedly took part in sex acts published on a gay pornographic website.Three of the soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division face court-martial proceedings on charges of sodomy (which is still illegal in the American army), pandering and engaging in sexual acts for payment. The four other soldiers face non-judicial punishments. -
25 February 2006France grants gay couples new parental rights + The highest court in France yesterday ruled that both members of a gay couple are entitled to exercise parental authority over a child, rather than just the biological parent.The Cour de Cassation, decides how French law should be interpreted but does not hear actual trials. The decision is likely to open the way for further debate in France over the rights of gay couples in terms of marriage and adoption, which remains illegal. -
24 February 2006Gay Hitler takes Israel by storm + In a surprising move, the Hebrew version of the stage musical, The Producers has taken Israel by storm with a gay Hitler.The Mel Brooks musical centres on the efforts of a theatrical producer's attempts to stage a sure-fire flop, Springtime for Hitler.The Israeli version of the show has be translated into Hebrew complete with Nazi salutes. However, swastikas are in less abundance than the Broadway and London versions of the musical. -
22 February 2006Three and a half thousand English gay couples tie the knot + Figures released by the General Register Office show that over three and half thousand couples formed civil partnerships in England and Wales in the first five weeks since the change in the law.3,648 couples formed civil partnerships in England and Wales between 21st December 2005 and 31st January 2006. -
21 February 2006“What was the right answer for the question?” George Galloway and gay rights 2 PinkNews.co.uk ExclusiveGeorge Galloway is a giant figure in British politics yet at just five foot and six inches he has difficulties towering over even me, someone famed for their short stature.The first thing that I notice apart from his height is that Galloway is nothing like his television persona. I've always thought of him as a thoroughly unlikeable man, someone I couldn't imagine having a pleasant conversation with. But his warmth won me over, he seemed genuinely pleased to communicate with the gay community. -
21 February 2006Irish support gay marriages- poll claims + A poll commissioned by a national newspaper has found that over half of Irish adults support the introduction of gay marriages in the predominantly Catholic country.The Irish Examiner/Red C survey claims that 51% of the public would welcome the introduction of civil marriages for gay couples and allowing gay couples the same rights of adoption as straight couples.
