At two cage-fighting events in the state last month, which promised “hot chicks, cold beer and hardcore fights,” crowds came to see wrestlers beat each other to a pulp — but instead they saw two men kissing and gyrating.

Crowds of 1,000 people were attracted to Red White and Blood in Texarkana and Blue Collar Brawlin in Fort Smith, advertised on websites such as Craigslist.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Baron Cohen’s spokesman has refused to confirm that the comedian was behind this latest prank.

Punters were charged $5 (£2.50) to enter the event and were plied with $1 beer, but were also told to leave their phones and cameras in their cars.

They were also made to sign release forms, saying they were willing to appear on camera.

T-shirts reading “Straight Dave’s United Straights of America”, emblazoned with pictures of guns, beers and bikini-clad breasts, were handed out at the event while audience members were encouraged to sing stridently heterosexual songs.

At the Fort Smith event, a series of “unevenly matched” fights followed, with a character named “Straight Dave”, who some witnesses identified as Cohen, coming out to goad the crowd between the bouts.

A witness said:

“Towards the end a guy got into the ring with Borat [and] staged a short fight and before long Borat had him pinned against the cage kissing him as the stands were clearing from the homo activity.

“I looked back to see Borat on his knees in front of the unknown man, you can figure the rest.”

Cohen is currently working on a new film revolving around a gay Austrian reporter with a liking for mesh T-shirts.

The film’s working title is Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt.

Earlier this week Cohen is alleged to have tricked a former Israeli intelligence officer and a Palestinian academic into discussing the difference between Hamas and hummus.

The actor first became popular with in 2000 with his Ali G character and was propelled to mega-stardom after he released Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan in 2006.

Cohen’s bumbling, sexist, prostitute-loving Kazakh journalist Borat deceived Americans and Romanian villagers into ‘appearing’ right-wing and backward on camera, leading to several lawsuits against the actor.

His stunts included convincing a bar full of people in a small US town to repeatedly sing “throw the Jew down the well” and presenting a bag full of excrement to his hostess at a dinner party.

Horst Gorski, 51, is a member of the Lutheran Church in Germany (EKD).

There is one other candidate in the July 12th election.

If chosen he could open a schism within the EKD, claim some leading conservatives.

30% of Germans are members of the church.

Some of the 23 member churches in the denomination bless same-sex couples.

Ulrich Ruess, a Hamburg pastor, told Die Welt newspaper:

“Many members of the community would have little understanding for a bishop with this kind of lifestyle.”

If elected he would become the first gay bishop in the EKD, which is a federation of regional Lutheran, Reformed and United Protestant churches.

His election could create a rift similar to those caused by the question of gay clergy and same-sex unions in several other worldwide faiths, most prominently the Anglican Communion.

However Maria Jepsen, who was elected as the world’s first female Lutheran bishop in 1992, said she did not believe relations with other churches would suffer if a gay bishop were elected.

Gorski is a widely respected theologian who founded a centre for gay and lesbian pastors.

Launching his candidacy in Kiel this week, Gorski spoke about religious values and made no reference to his sexuality, reports Reuters.

Gorski previously stated there had been initial misgivings about his homosexuality when he took up a post as an archdeacon, “but after a few years it was no longer an issue.”

His main concern today, he said, was that the Church should find a language that communicated with people.

Organisers of the event, together with Florida’s Unity Coalition, are claiming police brutality, reports The Miami Herald.

The unofficial march, planned to start in Havana’s Don Quixote park on Wednesday, was not sanctioned by Cuba’s National Centre for Sex Education, which is headed by Mariela Castro, the daughter of President Raul Castro.

Activist Mario Jose Delgado said two organisers who were to deliver a set of demands to the Justice Ministry were detained on Tuesday, but had no details of the arrests.

He said:

“The president of the Cuban League Against AIDS and the president of the Foundation LGTB Reinaldo Arenas in Memoriam have been arrested.”

Marchers were seeking an apology from the government for its past repression and, in some cases, incarceration of openly gay citizens and the inhumane treatment of prisoners with AIDS, according to Unity.

But a passer-by, Felix Lopez, 40, a personal trainer who said he was gay, dismissed the gay pride march as unnecessary, referring to educational campaigns on LGBT issues currently implemented by Mariela Castro’s Centre.

“Important strides have been made,” he told the Herald.

“We don’t need to be instructed by people in Miami or any other part of the world. We’re slowly gaining a space in our society and that’s important.”

For the first time the International Day Against Homophobia was marked in Cuba this year, with the largest meeting of gay activists in the island’s history.

Gays in Cuba face serious discrimination, and the meeting was dominated by discussions of how to change society’s attitudes.

“We should do that in a coherent, appropriate and precise way because these are topics that have been taboo and continue to be for many,” a leading parliamentarian told the meeting.

Gay activists also cautioned a subtle approach. Cuban state television did its part, screening the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain.

The Oscar-nominated tale of two American cowboys who fall in love, it has touched straight audiences across the world.

Ms Castro, 45, has said previously that she wants to “enrich the Cuban Revolution” with her fight for equality between the sexes and gay rights.

She has been a strong supporter of legal moves to grant equal rights to all citizens, the first step towards same-sex unions and access to gender reassignment surgery.

Legislation is before the Cuban parliament.

Sexual diversity was seen by Fidel Castro as a corrupt consequence of capitalism.

Homosexual sex was partially decriminalised in Cuba in 1979 and an equal age of consent was introduced in 1992.

While social attitudes towards gay people are generally negative, the capital city Havana has a thriving gay scene. All gay rights organisations are banned.

Under Fidel Castro, who ruled from 1959 until February of this year, many gay men suffered in Cuban labour camps as the regime ‘re-educated’ homosexuals.

Castro believed that hard work would rid the men of their “counter-revolutionary tendencies.”

Michelle Obama addressed the Democratic National Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council at a gala dinner in New York City last night and renewed her husband’s promise to repeal federal policies that she says limit the rights of gays and lesbians.

She said: “Barack believes that we must fight for a world where together we work to reverse discriminatory laws like DOMA [Defence of Marriage Act] and ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.’”

DOMA allows the federal government and individual states to ignore same sex marriages, even if those marriages are recognised in other states.

The law also defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman as enshrined in the US Constitution.

“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” permits gay men and women to serve in the military but it prevents them from being open about their sexuality.

The Illinois Senator has pushed for workplace discrimination legislation and opposes a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

He told ABC News that states should be free to make their own decisions on the matter.

Michelle Obama also drew a connection between the struggles for gay rights and civil rights, drawing a standing ovation from the 250-strong crowd.

She said at the event, held days before the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots between gays and New York police, and the city’s annual gay pride parade:

“We are all only here because of those who marched and bled and died, from Selma to Stonewall, in the pursuit of a more perfect union.”

The award was presented to the 69-year-old national treasure by the Queen at an investiture ceremony held in Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.

The Hollywood A-lister  was awarded a knighthood in 1990.

Companions of Honour include the Queen and only 65 other members, all outstanding talents in their fields from painters Lucian Freud and Sir David Hockney to acclaimed actress Dame Judi Dench.

Sir Ian, an Oscar-nominated actor, is also a founder member of the gay rights organisation Stonewall, established in 1989.

Sir Ian came out as gay in 1988, long before it was fashionable, or even professionally safe, for a public figure and internationally recognised actor to do so.

His decision to risk his career came on the back of the House of Commons’s approval of Section 28 (later repealed in 2003), which made it illegal for local authorities to “intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality.”

The act also banned “teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.”

Since leaving his closeted days behind, Sir Ian has campaigned openly and vociferously for gay rights, particularly among the Hollywood film community.

He is perhaps best known around the globe for his role as Wizard Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which earned him an Oscar nomination in 2002.

His other nomination was in 1999 for Gods and Monsters.

He confesses to an unrequited passion for Derek Jacobi while a student at Cambridge, something he attributes to Jacobi’s tight trousers, orange hair and straight back.

In 2003, during a famous appearance on the BBC’s Have I Got News For You, Sir Ian claimed that when he visited the then local government minister Michael Howard in 1988 to lobby against Section 28, Howard refused to change his position but did ask him to leave an autograph for his children.

He agreed, but wrote “Fuck off, I’m gay.”

He will be a guest of honour at Pride London on July 5th.

County Wexford senator Jim Walsh lodged an official motion to the Fianna Fáil party demanding that the “special status” afforded to heterosexual marriage under the Republic’s Constitution remain in place despite the proposed Civil Partnership Bill.

Between a dozen and thirty senior backbench TDs (MPs) have signed Senator Walsh’s petition, according to The Irish Times.

The Government is likely to ask the party’s justice committee to consider the motion next week at a meeting chaired by county Louth TD Séamus Kirk.

Last night a senior Senator, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Irish Times:

“I don’t see any great need to legislate in this area. I have my own views on it. Let people do what they want, but I don’t see the need to be putting things into the statute book.”

The motion’s choice of words were deliberately chosen to protect its signatories against personal and political allegations of discrimination towards same-sex couples in any way.

“The motion would have considerable support from the more conservative sections of the parliamentary party,” said another senior Senator, also speaking anonymously.

A full Bill should be ready to go before the Dail, or Irish parliament, in the autumn and made law within a year.

The Civil Partnership Bill would give gay and lesbian couples greater rights and control over pensions, inheritance and tax, but adoption rights would not be given to same-sex couples.

Family pressure group The Iona Institute added in a statement:

“Marriage is society’s way of seeking to ensure that every child is raised by a mother and a father in a committed relationship.”

A letter sent to bishops of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and signed by church president Thomas S Monson will be read out during church services this Sunday, reports The Salt Lake Tribune.

In May, California’s Supreme Court overturned a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, saying gays could not be denied marriage licences.

Mormon teachings on the issue “are unequivocal.”

In a statement, the LDS said:

“Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and the formation of families is central to the Creator’s plan for his children.

“We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to ensure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman.

“Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.”

The Californian Mormon congregation number almost 750,000 and have heard, and heeded, similar calls from their leaders in the past.

In 2000, a letter from the pulpit asked members to give time and money in support of Proposition 22, a ballot measure prohibiting California from legally recognising gay marriages performed outside the state.

But soon after Proposition 22 passed, the California legislature passed a domestic partnership bill that granted all the rights of marriage through civil unions.

As recently as 2006, the LDS signed a letter to Congress seeking an amendment to the US Constitution that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

This latest letter is a disappointment to members of Affirmation, an international support group for LGBT Mormons, who are due to meet with Fred Riley, LDS commissioner of Family Services, in August for the first time.

Last month, Affirmation called on the church not to meddle in California politics.

Executive director W Olin Thomas said:

“This initiative will hurt so many people. The California law affects civil marriage; it has no effect on any religious institution or official.

“Without marriage, a couple who have been together 30 years could be torn apart at the doorway to the emergency room.”

The meeting was meant to bridge the divide between Mormonism and gay members hurt by church teaching against the ‘sin’ of homosexuality.

However the group’s spokesman David Melson said:

“We’re not going to let this stand in the way.

“The church has said they are open to finding new avenues and new solutions to minister to gay members, and we are taking them at their word.”

Nationalist leaders are inviting “Hungarian patriots” to “protect Hungary’s honour” from the international gay community on 5 July, according to the Budapest Times.

Earlier this month police decided to cancel this year’s parade only to reverse their decision within twenty-four hours following international condemnation.

The move to ban Pride 08 was widely seen as a reaction to last year’s parade when a dozen people, including a German couple, were beaten by skinheads with opponents throwing eggs, bottles and Molotov cocktails at marchers.

In a statement, Budapest’s mayor Gabor Demeszky said:

“In this situation every democrat must raise their voice against cowardly troublemakers and call on the police to do everything to ensure the protection of peaceful marchers and spectators.

“As city mayor it is my duty to stand up for all those who are persecuted in Budapest due to their affiliation, faith, or sexual orientation.”

A cross-European parade dubbed “Rainbow Rampage” leaves Brighton on Saturday and plans to stage a counter-march on the same route after the pride event.

Homosexuality was decriminalised in Hungary in 1961 and the country was first among the former Communist bloc to hold a gay pride parade.

Most Hungarians believe homosexuals should be free to live according to their sexual orientation, just as long as they do so behind closed doors.

The police chief had claimed earlier this month that the march on July 5th should be substituted for a static gathering.

Last year at Budapest Pride, a gang of ultra-nationalists, skinheads and fascists attacked marchers along the 7km (4.3 mile) route.

Pride organisers said that the police had failed to take appropriate action:

“Contrary to a number of reports and the statement of the Interior Ministry, items capable of causing grievous bodily harm were thrown at the marchers: beer bottles, smoke bombs and molotov cocktails,” they said.

“The counter-demonstrators continuously shouted: “faggots into the Danube, followed by the Jews,” “soap factory” and “filthy faggots.”

“In the neighbourhood of the event closing the parade dozens of attacks on gays by lingering counter-demonstrators took place.”

On that occasion the Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferenc Gyurcsany, condemned the incidents as “brutal, unacceptable, and outrageous.”

Fascism has been on the rise in Hungary in recent years.

In 2007 a far-right Hungarian political party, Jobbik, known for their anti-Semitic, anti-Roma and homophobic rhetoric, inducted the first members of its paramilitary wing, the Magyar Guard, outside the country’s Presidential palace in Budapest.

Following a scandal that led to the arrest of the mayor of Tambov, 480km south east of Moscow, the region’s Governor made a series of homophobic statements, including one that seemed to call for violence against gays.

Mayor Maxim Kosenkov was arrested in April and removed from office after he allegedly kidnapped his 19-year-old former lover.

The fact that the mayor was revealed to be gay appears to trouble Governor Oleg Betin more than the actual kidnapping.

In an interview with the national daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, in response to a question on his tolerance levels, Betin was quoted as saying:

“Tolerance? To hell with that! Gomiki [a pejorative term for gays] need to be torn apart!

“Then scatter their pieces to the wind!

“I am against perversion.”

Article 282 of the Russian Federation’s criminal code outlaws the incitement of hatred or enmity, as well as abasement of dignity of a person or a group of persons on the basis of sex, race, nationality, language, religion, as well as affiliation to any social group, if these acts have been committed in public or with the use of mass media.

Betin also opined that the local and national media need to be “cleansed” of homosexuals and accused Kosenkov of surrounding himself with gay people at Tambov city hall.

Most people interviewed on the street later about the mayor and the scandal stated that Kosenkov had done a good job as mayor and they didn’t care about his sexual orientation.

Representatives of LGBT Rights Nechaev Noir and Revin Vyacheslav submitted an application to the state prosecutor to institute criminal proceedings against the governor. 

The European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights has said it supports the event, planned for Saturday, praising it as an important step towards democracy and equality in the former Communist state.

President of the Intergroup Michael Cashman MEP led messages of support, saying in a statement:

“The rights to peaceful assembly are basic human rights and must be respected by every country.”

Sophie Veld, Vice-President of the Intergroup for ALDE said: “I call upon Bulgaria authorities to give the Pride support and where necessary proper and adequate policing.”

“Sophia has the opportunity to set an example of tolerance and diversity in Europe,” said Veld.

The European branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) has lent its full support to parade organisers Gemini.

The parade is dedicated to the Family and will be held under the slogan Me and My Family because participants are “fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, brothers and sisters,” the group said in a statement.

ILGA is urging the European Parliament to publicly condemn the so-called “Week of Intolerance” aimed at promoting hatred and providing misleading and false information about LGBT people in Bulgaria, which became a member of the EU in 2007.

Gemini representatives told BalkanTravellers.com that they do not expect serious clashes, despite the announcement of said “Week of Intolerance” with the motto “Be Intolerant, Be Normal” by Boyan Rasate, leader of the Bulgarian National Union, a marginal nationalist organisation.

The pontiff’s first Australian visit comes amid mounting protests over his controversial views on homosexuality, contraception and abortion.

NoToPope, a coalition of religious, atheist, gay and lesbian groups, will hold a rally in the city’s Taylor Square on Saturday, 19 July where condoms will be handed out before an overnight vigil and papal Mass at Randwick racecourse.

The demonstrators will tell up to half a million expected pilgrims that “the Pope is wrong, gays are great and condoms save lives,” the coalition said in a statement.

The spokesperson for participating activist group Community Action Against Homophobia, Rachel Evans, told the Sydney Morning Herald:

“This Pope is homophobic and condemns same-sex marriage.

“Pope Benedict also condemns millions of people to AIDS via his world-wide anti-condom policy.”

While the groups want the protest to be peaceful, they say they cannot guarantee that the event will be confrontation-free with police or pilgrims.

“We’re not planning to get into any trouble, we don’t want to condemn Catholic youth for being Catholics.

“We want to condemn the Pope for being homophobic,” said Evans.

“We think Catholic youth are social justice-minded, we think they are taking up issues against poverty and world debt and we want to engage with them on the key question for the day, the health issue, which is HIV/AIDS.”

Karl Hand, pastor of the 200-strong Metropolitan Community Church, which is also taking part in the protest, said he hoped Sydney’s gay and lesbian community would show only love to pilgrims and police but he would not be surprised if confrontations occurred.

He said the Catholic Church misrepresented Christianity and was “uncompassionate towards people who need condoms, abortions or recognition of their relationship.”

Other groups in the NoToPope coalition include the Socialist Alliance, Resistance and Atheists Sydney.

The World Youth event, the largest in the world, will run from 15 to 20 July.

“WYD08 will be the largest event Australia has ever hosted,” organisers said.

“It will attract over 125,000 international visitors – more than the 2000 Olympics.

“Through the WYD08 experience, young people from throughout the world will make a pilgrimage in faith, meet, and experience the love of God.

“World Youth Day is an invitation from the Pope to the youth of the world to celebrate their faith around a particular theme. Everyone is welcome to attend.”

The event was co-hosted by Assembly member and Sinn Fein spokesperson on Equality and Human Rights Martina Anderson and Dawn Purvis of the Progressive Unionist Party.

More than half of the 108 MLAs attended, but none of the 36 DUP representatives showed up.

Originally scheduled to take place in September, the event was brought forward following DUP member Iris Robinson’s homophobic remarks on BBC Radio Ulster, in which she described homosexuality as an abomination that could be “cured.”

Ms Anderson, an MLA for Foyle, told PinkNews.co.uk:

“There was a huge turn out at the event with a number of speakers – including from the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister – focusing on the need for all sections of the community to be treated equally.”

She described the event as an important milestone.

“In the light of recent events, it will also send out a powerful message – that this Assembly belongs to all of the people, regardless of creed, colour, ability or sexual orientation.”

Ms Anderson said she is “determined to build a shared and better future for everyone.”

The MLA said: “We have to change the kind of mindsets which feel it is acceptable for public representatives to publicly vilify and condemn homosexuality.

“Of course, everyone is entitled to their religious beliefs and to freedom of speech.

“But with those rights come responsibilities and elected representatives in particular need to be conscious of the power of their words,” she added.

Rainbow Network was one of the organisations honoured at the reception.

Sean Morrin, a spokesman for the group, said he was pleased with the outcome as more than half of the 108 Assembly members were in attendance, with the DUP “invisible.”

The Coalition on Sexual Orientation was also honoured.

Heinz pulled the ad after less than a week on air after 200 complaints claiming it was inappropriate, offensive and it raised the problem of parents having to discuss the thorny issue of same-sex relations with their children.

It featured a brief kiss between two men.

The ad carried an “ex-kids” restriction, meaning it could not be broadcast in or around children’s programming because Heinz Deli Mayo contravenes Ofcom’s TV ad restrictions relating to products that are high in fat, salt and sugar.

The TV ad is the first by Heinz’s new ad agency AMV BBDO since it won the £10m-a-year UK business last year.

Heinz is a US-based global icon, with an international portfolio of food brands holding number-one and number-two market position in more than fifty countries.

The Heinz brand is worth an estimated $2.5 billion globally and its top fifteen “power brands” constitute two thirds of the company’s total annual sales.

The slogan “If it’s not Heinz, it’s not ketchup” is a familiar one and its ever-expanding range of condiments such as salad cream, together with its “meal enhancers” like pasta sauces, mean Heinz has become a mainstay of almost every kitchen worldwide.

Foods such as Weight Watchers meals, Lea & Perrins, Daddies sauce, after-school snacks, the company’s popular range of soups and infant feeding products are just some of these power brands.

The annual event has been a focus of violent controversy in the past.

In his ruling, Justice Ayala Procaccia said that “a proper balance must be maintained between the desires of the gay and lesbian community to march, and the feelings of the city’s residents – it is important that such parades become a matter of routine instead of causing a commotion every year.”

A petition, submitted by a group of ultra-orthodox Jewish activists last week, called the parade a “provocation that harms the delicate texture that exists in Jerusalem.”

In 2005 a man stabbed three Pride participants and was subsequently sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The following year the venue was switched to a sports stadium following violent protests by rightwing opponents who consider the event “a profanity” of the Holy City.

Last year about 2,500 gays and activists marched down King David Street despite protests by thousands of people.

Jerusalem Open House, the gay rights group organising the event, said the parade would put Jerusalem and Israel “to the true test of democracy and civil rights.”

“Though we expect the struggle to be tough, we will not let the threats of violence silence us or challenge Israeli democracy,” the group said in a statement.

Israeli gay rights activists received another boost earlier this year with the news that Tel Aviv will be home to the country’s first permanent memorial to gay Holocaust victims.

The monument will be erected in the central district of Gan Meir by the end of 2008.

According to Yad Vashem historian Professor David Bankier, there were an estimated 1.5 million homosexuals in Germany when the Nazis came to power, with approximately 10,000 to 15,000 being sent to concentration camps.

Homosexuals under the Nazi regime and in the camps had to identify themselves with a pink triangle badge. Based on the triangle shape, the memorial’s design is currently going through the Tel Aviv’s various approval and planning processes.

Holocaust memorials to homosexuals are scattered throughout the globe, such as the so-called “Homomonument” in Amsterdam and memorials adjacent to the Jewish Museums in Frankfurt, Berlin and Sydney.

Plaques are also displayed at death camps in Dachau, Mauthausen and Neuengame.

Gay rights activist Yonatan Gher, head of the Jerusalem Open House community centre, cautiously celebrated the memorial announcement.

“In Israel the Jewish aspect [of the Holocaust] is so powerful, that other aspects have been put aside. This is a very good first step,” he told the Jerusalem Post.

In a further development indicative of Israel’s widening acceptance of homosexuality, the first LGBT community centre to be financed and run by local government opened its doors in Tel Aviv on 1 June.

There is a critical need in the community for youth groups, according to Mayor Ron Huldai’s advisor on gay affairs Pinkas.

“About one third of attempts to commit suicide among young people are by gay teens,” he told the Jerusalem Post.

“The gay community in Tel Aviv is very significant in numbers and contributions to the city’s cultural life and economy, and there is no reason why the local government should not give necessary services crucial to these citizens.”

Pride this year is running with the theme of “Myths, Fairytales and Legends” and participants are invited to be as creative as possible in producing costumes for this year’s event.

The parade promises to be one of the most visually spectacular yet.

Youth@Pride has a packed schedule of activities this year.

Admission to all events is free and individuals and groups welcome.

A programme of events for the under 25s is already underway, including Street Outreach, last weekend’s Pride Picnic, a pre-Pride Party and a free Film Academy Residential.

As if all that wasn’t enough, on Pride Day itself, there will be a free Pride brunch from 10-11.30am at “The Hub” centre in the University of the Arts London on Bond Street, where you can mix and mingle with the stars of Youth@Pride.

This year’s under 25s Fairytale Youth Float from will be coming together between 11.45-12pm at the staring point in Baker Street.

Enjoy London’s colourful parade as it travels through the West End and Whitehall, joining a host of celebrities and politicians, led by Mayor Boris Johnson. Remember: dress to impress!

From 3.30pm, those who took part in the celebrations are invited to an exclusive Under 25’s Reception Event at a special location in SoHo.

For more information on any of these events or to reserve tickets you can email youth@pridelondon.org.

Dr Jerald Block of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland wants obsessive internet use to be officially recognised as a clinical disorder.

British psychiatrists have previously reported that up to 10 per cent of internet users are addicts who spend unhealthy amounts of time playing online games, viewing porn or emailing causing them to forgo food and sleep and ‘craving’ the very latest technologies.

Akin to other ‘addicts,’ sufferers experience withdrawal symptoms, a “disconnect anxiety,” a loss of a sense of time and negative social repercussions.

Some require medication or hospital treatment to deal with the problem.

Block told the American Journal of Psychiatry: “The relationship is with the computer. It becomes a significant other to them.

“They exhaust emotions that they could experience in the real world on the computer through any number of mechanisms: emailing, gaming, porn.

“It’s much more acceptable for kids to talk about game use, whereas adults keep it a secret. Rather than having sex, or arguing with their wife or husband, or feeding their children, these adults are playing games.”