Mr Romney, a Marriott board member from 1992 to 2001, has publicly voiced his opinions on the perils of pornography.

Now conservative activists have attacked the candidate, a devout Mormon, and the Marriott for presenting themselves as family-orientated when pornography continues to be distributed in their hotels.

Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, an anti-pornography group based on Ohio said:

“Marriott is a major pornographer. And even though he may have fought it, everyone on that board is a hypocrite for presenting themselves as family values when their hotels offer 70 different types of hardcore pornography.”

A leading conservative in Washington and president of the Family Research Council Tony Perkins, said:

“They have to assume some responsibility. It’s their hotels, it’s their television sets.”

Mr Romney said in a recent Associated Press interview that during his time as chairman of the board’s audit committee, he has no recollection of pornography being discussed.

He claimed he was oblivious to how much revenue the Marriott chain may have generated from the on-demand service.

Mr Romney emphasised that his main fear is young children innocently coming across pornography on television and the internet.

“I am not pursuing an effort to try and stop adults from being able to acquire or see things that I find objectionable; that’s their right. But I do vehemently oppose practices or business procedures that will allow kids to be exposed to obscenity,” he said.

Marriott and other major hotels claim they offer pay-per-view sex videos due to demand from customers.

Marriott spokesman Roger Conner said of Mitt Romney:

“It certainly would have been wrong to impose his own personal beliefs if they were contrary to the financial interests of the company.”

Mr Conner also said that before Romney joined the hotel chain, Marriott had a contract with ON Command Corporation for television and movies which was signed in 1991, a year before Romney joined.

Following Romney’s departure to take over the 2002 Winter Olympics, the Marriott chain praised him in a announcement as an “active, hands-on director.”

When asked if the contract with On Command was ever discussed or voted on by the board, Marriott refused to comment, saying the directors’ votes and meeting minutes are proprietary.

On Command was bought out by LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation last year and is now responsible for the Marriott’s contracts.

The President of American Family Association of Michigan, Gary Glenn, said: “The Marriott Corporation may be tap dancing around this subject, but a candidate for president should not be able to.”

While it may appear that the Marriott are in the front line, the corporation claims ownership to only a dozen hotels while the rest are franchised.

The Marriott name is engraved on more than 2,800 hotels and Marriott International has more than 500,000 hotel rooms with an annual income exceeding $10 billion.

The fact that most of Marriott’s hotels are franchised, it gives them less control over what goes on.

Mr Romney’s father, former Michigan Governor George Romney and Marriott’s founder J. Willard Marriott, who opened the first Marriott in 1957, became close friends.

The son of Marriott’s founder J.W. Bill Marriott said in 2000 that it was impossible to separate pornographic movies from other films.

An accusation that landed Ibrahim in prison for six years.

Ibrahim’s case was thrown out of the High Court after a judge ruled that the lawsuit was “unsustainable,” due to a similar lawsuit against bin Mohamad in 1999.

The former Finance Minister was first accused of being gay in 1998 by the Prime Minister and then fired from the cabinet for challenging his authority.

He had acted as his deputy for five years.

Ibrahim was tried and was handed a lengthy sentence of 15 years for sodomy and corruption.

He believed the trial was intended to restrict his political rise.

He was later released in September 2004 after the conviction was overturned.

Neither politician made an appearance in court on Wednesday.

Sankara Nair, Ibrahim’s lawyer, said he was “quite upset” due to the judge’s rejection of the lawsuit continuing.

“The only way to know the truth is through a trial,” the lawyer said.

After 22 years as Prime Minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad retired in 2003 and was replaced with Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

In January 2006 bin Mohamad said it was “unacceptable” to have a homosexual in his Cabinet.

Anwar Ibrahim then filed a second defamation lawsuit.

The former Finance Minister’s stint behind bars for corruption stopped him participating in general elections and kept him out of office until April 2008.

His wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismai is now responsible for the running of his People’s Justice Party.

Disputes over policy during the Asian financial downturn led to the breakdown of Ibrahim and bin Mohamad’s relationship.

Alexandra Polyanskaya, spokeswoman for the parade’s committee said that the gay community are not uncomfortable about the parade been held on this date.

This is despite the authorities opposing similar events in the past.

They previously banned a gay Parade in May as it clashed with a important date in the Orthodox church.

“We are certain that we will be able to conduct our parade with style and without hurting anyone’s feelings,” Ms Polyanskaya said.

An application to hold the parade celebrating gay culture will be filed two weeks before the September 8 as required by law said Polyanskaya.

“We will file several applications, about five, describing various itineraries,” she added.

Earlier applications were refused by the authorities administration for the parade to be held on May 27, the same day as St. Petersburg celebrates its city day.

His conservative views towards gay marriage has made him a popular figure within the conservative wing of the church.

He told the The Times: “That has never been on my mind. We are going nowhere.

“We have our traditions, we have not broken the law. It is your churches that are breaking the law. You are the ones doing what should not be done with impunity,” he said.

He claimed as many as 120 bishops may boycott next year’s Lambeth Conference unless the American church repudiates its current accepting attitude towards gay clergy and relationships.

The ordination in New Hampshire of Gene Robinson the first gay bishop in the 450 years since the church began, in 2003, led to a divide between the liberal and conservative camps in the 77 million member Anglican Church.

A number of American Anglican, or Episcopalian, congregations have decided to place themselves under the authority of bishops in Africa who are hostile to gay people in the church.

The spiritual leader of the Anglican communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, asked Archbishop Akinola not to install Bishop Martyn Mimms as a bishop of the Nigerian church with pastoral responsibility for the breakaway Americans, but Akinola continued to do just that.

Akinola told the The Times he did not deny the existence of homosexuality in Africa but said:

“All we are saying is do not celebrate what the Bible is saying is wrong. If the Bible says it is an aberration, it is an aberration. Do not do it.

“We see it as a problem that can be treated.”

The powerful Anglican leader said that the calls for African churches to be more liberal was an effort to reinforce colonial attitudes.

“For God’s sake, let us be. When America invades Afghanistan, it is in the name of world peace. When Nigeria moves to Biafra, it is an invasion.

“When England takes the Gospel to another country, it is mission. When Nigeria takes it to America, it is an intrusion.

“All this imperialistic mentality, it is not fair.”

Brenda Lee said that because of her race, gender and sexual orientation she was forced to do grueling exercises without proper precautions and was also at the end of offensive comments from department bosses.

The harassment and mistreatment included someone mixing urine with her mouthwash, she said.

The court ruled in Brenda Lee’s favour in one of the largest in a long line of recent settlement cases alleging discrimination and retaliation against women and minorities within the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The panel was back to the courts on Thursday for a second round on Lee’s trial involving Captain Christopher Hare.

If penal damages are considered by the jury, it could mean Lee will be awarded more for the alleged discrimination she endured.

Rob Kitson, a lawyer for Lee, did not comment as the case is ongoing.

The city would “review its options going forward,” said Jonathan Diamond, spokesman for city attorney’s office.

Two other firefighters also won awards from the jury on the grounds of discrimination and were tried separately.

The city is a favourite hangout for gay tourists each year. Mayor Jim Naugle believes that robotic toilets will scare off gay cruisers.

Mr Naugle told Sun-Sentinel: “We’re trying to provide a family environment where people can take their children who need to use the bathroom, without having to worry about a couple of men in there engaged in a sex act.”

Conservative politician Christian Naugle claims that gays are trying to take over Fort Lauderdale, despite the fact they bring in millions of dollars each year.

“They’re engaging in sex, anonymous sex, illegal sex,” he told the paper.

Fort Lauderdale police claim that sex is not a problem anymore in the toilets and Sgt Frank Scousa said that while there may once have been a problem it isn’t today.

“There’s no evidence, no reports or arrests made for any men having sex in any restrooms,” Sousa told Sun-Sentinel.

Despite this, Mayor Naugle is still adamant that he wants the $250,000 (£125,000) “robo-john” to be bought by the city and positioned on the beach at Sebastian Street, an area in with a large gay presence.

The “robo-john” allows people to stay in the toilet for a short time before the door opens. Naugle figures not enough time for “illegal sex.”

Already in use in New York, Seattle and Atlanta, the toilet plays music and cleans the seat automatically.

It is still waiting to be approved by the City Commission.

The Human Rights Watch online photo essay captures the courage, the exuberance, and the human faces of LGBT people’s Pride marches on five continents, over more than a decade.

The first photo documents the first-ever march to take place to celebrate LGBT people in the heart of Manila, Philippines in 1996.

People are shown marching through the streets with posters displaying their messages of ‘Can’t Live in the Closet’ and ‘Lesbian Rights Now’.

The human faces of LGBT Pride marches on five continents are documented over more than a decade of spreading the message that human rights are for everyone.

1998 in Harare, Zimbabwe, marchers join the crowds for their first time carrying the colours of the country with ‘out and proud in Zimbabwe’ written across the flag, showing their commitment to human rights.

Another photo depicts an equality march held in 2001 in Windhoek, Namibia, to defend human rights in the face of President Sam Nujoma’s verbal attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

President Nujoma caused public outrage when he told Afrol News “The Republic of Namibia does not allow homosexuality or lesbianism here. Police are ordered to arrest you, deport you and imprison you.”

2001 San Francisco Pride March was joined by brave Members of Al Fatiha, a group for LGBT Muslims in a bid to demonstrate against the fact that homosexuality is forbidden and is punishable by death in some Islamic countries.

Another image shows the first-ever pride march in Guatemala in 2001. Jorge Lopez Sologaistoa from Oasis, a organisation in Guatemala run by gay men in an effort to support lesbian, gay and transgender told The Gully: “The only way we could start then was by not mentioning that we were going to do HIV/AIDS prevention work specifically with lgbt populations,”

A striking image of a gay activist beaten by an anti-gay nationalist mob during the first attempt to hold Gay Pride in Belgrade, Serbia in 2001 is one of the more moving images in the online exhibition.

Other highlights include:

Gay activist Adam Russo in Jerusalem’s Gay Pride continuing to march after he was stabbed by a homophobic protester. He was one of three marchers who were stabbed by an anti-gay protester at the 2005 parade, told the BBC: “We are all frightened but I’m here because of my right to protest. I will be not be shut down by anyone.”

Participants are watched by the police at an ecumenical service at an Anglican Church in 2005 during the first Gay Pride in Riga, Latvia, while anti-gay demonstrators threaten them. Despite fears of anti-gay violence, the gay pride got the go ahead by a court. The country’s Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis showed his disgust by saying Riga should “not promote things like that”.

“For sexual minorities to parade in the very heart of Riga, next to the Doma church, is unacceptable,” he told LNT television.

Marchers celebrating a beautiful day at Gay Pride in Lima, Peru in 2006 where events like this takes them out of the secrecy they choose to live in rather then been perceived as flawed.

LGBT Pride Walk holding hands to express solidarity in 2006 in Calcutta, India. A country where gay people live in the shadows, where people gather to protest in public rallies.

An LGBT Pride marcher showing a sign of peace in 2006 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Brazil launched a campaign called Brazil against Homophobia to make people more aware in their country.

In 2006, marchers in the Dyke March organised by the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, Johannesburg, South Africa stepped out in bright yellow t-shirts and colourful banners.

Lesbian feminists marching in the streets in 2007 in Santiago, Chile showing their courage and their right to be themselves.

To view the Human Rights Watch online photo essay click here.

The drop in the number of couples tying the knot showed a 10% fall to 244,710 weddings in 2005, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

Other figures showed that 18,000 civil partnerships took place in the UK since they were introduced in December 2005 and the end of December 2006.

1,600 partnerships were formed each month between January and March 2006, falling to 1,500 between April and September and 800 between October and December.

60% of civil partners were male and they tend to be older than female civil partners.

London has the highest proportion of male civil partnerships with three times as many male partnerships (3,429) formed as female (1,059)

Yorkshire and the Humber was the only part of the country where more lesbians than gay men registered.

A quarter of all civil partnerships took place in London.

16,173 took place in England with 1,131 in Scotland, 627 in Wales and 128 in Northern Ireland.

The average age of civil partners was 47 for men and 44 for women while the overall average age of all partners in 2006 was highest in England (46) and lowest in Northern Ireland (41). The average age was 45 in Wales and 44 in Scotland.

The fall in the numbers of people getting married coincided with a Home Office crackdown two years ago on ‘phoney’ marriages involving foreign nationals.

Non-Europeans using false weddings way of winning the right to stay in the UK was made more difficult following a change in rules in February 2005.

According to the ONS, it was not clear on how much the figures had been affected by the new regulations.

A analysis of the statistics showed the rise was not to last with a jump from 249,000 in 2002 to 273,000 in 2004 which may have been pushed up by fake marriages.

The Office for National Statistics found that the number of marriages taking place in London fell by 35% between 2004 and 2005.

An ONS spokesman said:

“Clearly the effect of the change in the law is one possible factor.”

The Office for National Statistics said the long-term trend in marriage has been falling since 1973.

The ONS said there were 12 marriages for every 1,000 unmarried in 2005 in comparison with 27 per 1,000 in 1851.

The number of marriages which were religious ceremonies had dropped, added the ONS.

84,400 were carried out in churches and other religious institutions in 2005, but 88,710 were held in other venues such as hotels and stately homes.

Mr Higgins was among the first people to die with AIDS in the UK.

Despite the work of the Terrence Higgins Trust to educate the British public about the dangers of the virus, the survey reveals ignorance among all age groups.

Although 36% who responded to the survey thought sex education was good at schools, 28% of people were ignorant to the level where they thought a hole in a condom led to HIV.

10% believed that the virus could be contracted through sweat, while a further 12% thought sharing cutlery put them at risk of catching HIV.

Nick Partridge, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, commented:

“It’s frightening that 25 years after Terry’s death, this level of confusion exists.

“The lack of good sex education means many young people are leaving school ignorant about HIV and safer sex.

“HIV is now the fastest growing serious health condition in the UK, and there is no cure. It’s time to get our facts straight. “

The survey found that one in ten 18-24 year-olds thought HIV could be picked up through kissing, while in one of five in this group lacked awareness that there was no cure for HIV.

Since Terry Higgins death, HIV has killed 17,000 others in this country, with a total of over 70,000 people currently living with HIV in the UK.

Many people are unaware that the have they have the virus and there has been an explosion in unsafe sex in porn.

Many people choose to delude themselves the epidemic has gone, but the reality is that more people than ever were diagnosed with HIV in 2006 for the first time.

Gay men and the African community continue to be in the high risk groups for HIV in the UK.

Stockholm Pride will be celebrated with a sports theme this year, hosted by the Swedish minister for culture and sports, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth.

Famous for the colours of the rainbow that grace the city each year at this time, Stockholm is a welcoming place for all LGBT.

The celebration of Pride is one of the most colourful events in the Scandinavian capital.

“I was very glad when I received the invitation and the idea to turn it down simply did not exist”, said Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth.

This year’s Pride will be marked with debates and seminars, a sports events and charity games in a bid to question homophobia and transphobia within the world of sport.

“Sport is something that should unite – not separate. That is why I think the theme of the festival is very timely,” the minister said.

In comparison to other areas like politics and the entertainment industry where gay stars are very prominent and open about their sexuality, sport is different.

By focusing on this theme, Stockholm Pride wil draw attention at homophobia in the sports arena and question just how accessible the leisure world is to transgendered people.

“To feel that you can’t practice your sport because of your ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation does not belong in our society,” said Ms Adelsohn Liljeroth.

Stockholm Pride runs from the 30th July until August 5th.

Instead Washington used the word ‘faggot’ a choice that eventually led to him being dropped from the show.

He claims that he was in fact referring to himself when he used the homophobic slur during the argument with Dempsey and not their co-star, T.R. Knight.

Washington was aggravated by Dempsey’s turning up late on the set.

He told Larry King:

“(Dempsey) became unhinged, face to face, spittle in my face. I’m asking him ‘why are you screaming at me?’ He became irate.

“By that time I pushed him out of my face and I began to say ‘there’s no way you’re going treat me like a ‘b word,’ a ‘p word,’ or a ‘f word’ in front of this crew.”

Asked by King to explain what three words he meant, Washington said “a four-legged dog” (most likely he meant to say “female” dog); a “punk”; and the anti-gay slur beginning with “f” which he said he used to mean “someone who is being weak, someone who is not treated with respect” rather than a homosexual.

Washington now claims using the n-word would have saved him. “I wish I had said ‘You’re not going to treat me like an ‘n-word’ because that’s how I felt,” he said.

T.R. Knight told Ellen Degeneres on her show that Washington was targeting him with the homophobic slur.

The controversy cooled for a period, until Washington rocked the boat by saying to a tabloid reporter at the Globe Awards:

“I never called T.R. Knight a ‘faggot.’

“I unbelievably regret that,” he said.

“If I could take that moment back. (The story) wasn’t true and unfortunately I did what you don’t do, and that’s go to IMDB or blogs and read what they’re saying about you. I felt that my integrity was being challenged.”

Washington knew he stepped over the line after his comments at the Globes Awards that caused mayhem, with protests from GLAAD and other gay watchdog groups.

Although Washington claimed that he tried to resign from Grey’s Anatomy, his contract was not renewed and producers on the ABC show demanded that he get counselling and issue a public announcement.

Washington said of his experience:

“Focus on your acting. Don’t worry about production issues, and in times of great stress and duress just keep your mouth shut.”

According to Science magazine, researchers working on the deadly virus have engineered an enzyme that attacks the HIV virus and cuts it out of the infected cell.

Although the enzyme TRE is far from ready, it offers hope for the more than 40 million people around the world who are HIV+

“A customised enzyme that effectively excises integrated HIV-1 from infected cells in vitro might one day help to eradicate [the] virus from AIDS patients,” Alan Engelman of Harvard Medical School affiliate Dana-Farber Cancer Institute wrote in an article accompanying the study, according to the AP.

Drugs are currently used to suppress the virus and can even take it to a level where it is undetectable, but have so far failed to completely eliminate the virus from the body.

What makes HIV so lethal is the way it inserts itself into the body’s cells, therefore forcing those cells to produce new infection.

“Consequently the virus becomes inextricably linked to the host, making it virtually impossible to ‘cure’ AIDS patients of their HIV-1 infection,” Mr Engelman explained.

According to researchers, the virus will be removed from the genome of infected cells by this new enzyme TRE, by recognising and then recombining the structure of the virus’s DNA.

With the virus’ ability to remain undetected for not only months but years by reverting to a resting state in infected cells, this could remove a major block allowing the enzyme to recognise HIV’s DNA.

“The most important, and likely most difficult, among these is that the enzyme would need efficient and safe means of delivery and would have to be able to function without adverse side effects,” wrote the study’s lead author, Indrani Sarkar of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden.

Significant barriers still remain, before TRE could be used to cure patients, Sarkar concluded.

“Nevertheless, the results we present offer an early proof of principal for this type of approach, which we speculate might form a useful basis for the development of future HIV therapies.”

Scottish schools are realising that bullying is a issue among young people and represents a living hell for most.

Homophobia can be directed towards its victim in many ways and can be extremely damaging whether it is physical, emotional or verbal, between young people.

It can have a direct effect on a young persons mental health and well being.

Nicola Sturgeon, MSP, Deputy First Minister and Secretary for Health said:

“Ignorance is at the root of most discrimination and our schools are the first line of defence.

“If you don’t teach children or allow children to learn and understand about these issues then they are going to enter the adult world ignorant.”

Stonewall Scotland Director Calum Irving said:

“Homophobic bullying is a problem endemic to schools across the UK, and Scotland is not an exception.

“Fortunately the SNP have made strong manifesto commitments to tackle the issue.

“These statistics make it even more pressing that they make good their manifesto promise to tackle homophobic bullying.”

LGBT Youth Scotland works with teachers and the government to try and curb the problem of homophobic bullying in schools by providing awareness and more confidence.

They also introduced the NO Big Deal campaign in May 2007, using posters to challenge homophobic attitudes that induce isolation and insecurity whilst providing a dynamic point with young people.

Jamie Rennie, Chief Executive, LGBT Youth Scotland said:

“This campaign is an open discussion with young people. Homophobic bullying is not acceptable within our schools, but we are seeking to create dialogues with young people rather than to preach.

“It is the responsibility of young people to treat each other with respect, but it is everyone’s responsibility to tackle homophobic bullying.”

A reception was held last week to mark this milestone, hosted by Merrill Lynch.

Google, one of the largest internet businesses in the world, joins companies and organisations such as Barclay’s, IBM, the Royal Navy and Transport for London as members of the programme.

All are committed to championing the importance of a diverse working environment and ensuring that all employees are able to fulfil their potential in the workplace, promoting good practice around sexual orientation.

Nicholas Creswell, chair of the LGBT network at Google UK, called Gaygler, told PinkNews.co.uk that the decision to join the Stonewall programme came from the top:

“We have actually had the CEO of our organisation approved us – we have been involved in Pride across the world – New York Pride, San Francisco Pride, Dublin Pride.

“We are doing Europride in Madrid and that’s come with approval from the chief executive.”

Mr Creswell explained why they had joined with Stonewall to become a Diversity Champion:

“For us, its about getting advice and really become about as LGBT-friendly, as we aspire to be, but culturally we do huge amounts to make sure we make a very open and accepting work place.

“We have been a small organisation, as we are growing, and as we have become more international as a organisation, we have got to make sure we are doing things properly, to create more formal process and more formal programmes.

“We really believe in driving innovation and all sorts of issues from the bottom up, so having a employee network for LGBT employees is a really natural thing to do.”

The Diversity Champions programme aims at focusing employers attention on recruitment and retention of gay and lesbian staff.

It allows employers to promote diversity in the work place for gay and lesbians who face discrimination and for those who are unable to disclose their sexual orientation due to negativity and harassment.

These companies send out a strong signal that they understand the value of all employees in the workplace.

The scheme has steadily grown in size.

Will Hutton, Chief Executive of the Work Foundation, spoke at the reception.

“Three years ago I was invited to speak by Stonewall and there were 50 Stonewall Diversity Champion members,” he told a crowd of representatives of some of the organisations who are members.

“Here we are in 2007 and there are 300. It’s an incredible achievement for Stonewall to pull this off.

“Stonewall have been remarkable agents of change in the UK workplace, a huge catalyst for change. They’ve really helped transform the way that organisations view gay people at work.”

Ben Summerskill, Stonewall chief executive, commented:

“Even 10 years ago it would have been unthinkable for an organisation like Merrill Lynch to host an event like this, demonstrating both internally and externally their commitment to equality.

“That signals a transformation in the UK workplace and we’re determined to push that change further. Our ambition is to make every workplace in Britain somewhere where lesbian and gay people can be themselves.

“People will always perform better when they can be themselves.”

For more information on the Diversity Champions programme click here.

The Irish elections held on 24th May 2007 saw Fianna Fail returning as the largest party. They will be lead yet again by Bertie Ahern – his third consecutive five year term.

The electorate focused on the two traditional parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, with Bertie winning the trust of the masses, who appeared to be unwilling to stray too far from what they have enjoyed so far under his leadership.

Undoubtedly his reputation has tainted by allegations into his personal finances at the start of his campaign.

Over the past year the Taoiseach (the Irish word for Prime Minister) defended his acceptance of large sums of cash in the 1990′s during the separation of his marriage.

As a result, earlier polls suggested that the public had lost faith in the leader who had until then managed to distance himself from his corrupt predecessor Charles Haughey.

But Bertie Ahern’s true statesmanship and flair was exhibited during his speech on the Northern Ireland peace process and his televised debate on national television with Enda Kenny, the leader of the main opposition party, Fine Gael, just days before the election.

After its success in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein hoped to gain support, but lost one of its five Dail seats.

According to Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern he was not surprised at Sinn Fein’s poor showing: “People saw that a party that has a Marxist, a socialist philosophy is not really in tune, particularly with the younger population who are all working, have cars, go on holidays and are trying to buy a house.”

Fine Gael, made strong gains since its disastrous campaign in 2002 by increasing its seats from 31 to 51, but its coalition party, the Labour Party failed to make enough gain to secure a majority administration.

Despite its victory, Fianna Fail did not secure an overall majority, which was mainly due to its smaller coalition party, the Progressive Democrats suffering an electoral meltdown.

Bertie Ahern now faces the prospect of tough talks with opposition parties to build a coalition government.

In 1999, the island lowered the age from 21 to 18.

Politicians in Guernsey approved an equalisation amendment as part of a “requete,” the equivalent of a Private Member’s Bill, from Conseiller Carol Steere, which would have seen an equal age of consent of 16.

Following the presentation of her requete, Conseiller Steere told other members that the matter is one of equality and freedom.

The senior States committee was told to come back to the house with detailed legislation within six months.

If the age for homosexuals is not equalised, the island will be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Guernsey only legalised homosexual acts 15 years ago.

Chief Minister Laurie Morgan said “I’m sure that there will be States members who will say ‘Why do we need to be pressurised into doing something like this?’

“But I believe the majority of members will see the common sense of it, bearing in mind that the age of heterosexual acts is 16 anyway.”

Figures from France, Germany and Holland show that young people acted responsibly when given more rights.

The change in the age of consent was opposed by some members of States, and others voiced concerns that passing the bill would amount to legalising sodomy.

Despite the MPs backing the equal age of consent, it is likely to face a test in the House of Lords.

Former Home Secretary Jack Straw has said there is no evidence that when homosexual acts were illegal at any age, this cut the number of people engaging in them.

Instead, inequality leads to, “huge human unhappiness and very great injustice,” hd said.

If Guernsey’s gay age of consent is accepted it would put the island more in step with the rest of Europe.

He became the first openly gay state governor in American history following his dramatic public confession of an affair with his former homeland security advisor, Golan Cipel.

He left office two months later, in November 2004.

The gay confession followed threats from Cipel’s lawyer of a $50 million sexual harassment suit against McGreevey.

“My truth is that I am a gay American,” he told a press conference at the time.

Mr Mc Greevey wrote a book last year, The Confessions.

The former Governor appeared on Oprah last year, and shocked viewers with his confession of an encounter with a gay aide while his wife lay in bed in hospital following a difficult birth of their son.

Following this admission, and further revelations of sexual encounters at highway rest stops, Mr McGreevey and his second wife began divorce proceedings.

Now his wife Dina Matos McGreevey will speak for the first time about her experiences on Oprah on May 1st.

Her book, Silent Memoirs, comes less than a year after her husband’s confessions.

Mr McGreevey is demanding that a judge dissolve their marriage, grant custody of their daughter and make a decision on child support.

In a strange twist, he did not specify which parent should get custody of the child.

Legal experts interpret that as a threat to his wife, warning her to settle now or face a long and dirty legal battle.

“You have to assume this lawyer didn’t just drop a pronoun,” divorce attorney Raoul Felder told the New York Post.

“It’s either very carelessly constructed or carefully constructed to be purposefully vague.”

Should McGreevey win custody, his daughter will live with him and his partner, executive Mark O’Donnell, in Plainfield, New Jersey.

Balaji Ravichandran, a young medical student has talked to PinkNews.co.uk about his own experiences of being gay.

Having studied medicine in India, Balaji moved to the United Kingdom about a year ago.

The British Medical Journal provided him with a two-month scholarship to study medical journalism and subsequently appointed him as the editor of studentBMJ.

“I got to love the freedom homosexuals enjoy in this country, and decided to be open and complete about my own sexuality,” explains Balaji.

This talented scientist has an unconditional offer to study at one of the most prestigious colleges in Cambridge – if he can find the £22,000 needed to fund his course.

He has only recently declared his homosexuality to his mother, but his father remains unaware.

According to Balaji, one can be jailed in India for life for been gay. He states that according to Indian law, ‘unnatural acts’ are forbidden and punishable by an unlimited fine including life imprisonment.

As a result of anti-gay and lesbian legislation and their rejection by the Indian community at large, gay and lesbian people are keeping their status and activities secretive.

He mentions a few examples of the realities of gay existence in India, like the 40-year-old married male with two children diagnosed with HIV who in his secret life solicits younger men for sex via the Internet.

The Gully (an online magazine) reported in 2004 that a young man, Raju Sharma, had been hung by his ankles with a rope from the first floor balcony of his parents’ flat by his father, who threatened to kill any neighbour attempting to rescue him.

His father had found out the son was gay.

It also reports of a young man being assaulted by local police and forced to give oral sex. When attempting to file a complaint, the policemen’s superiors threatened him with prosecution under Indian law for carrying out ‘unnatural acts.’

But despite Indian law and its society there has being an increase in pro-gay movement.

According to Shaleen Rakesh, Director of the gay outreach group, Naz Foundation, there has been a remarkable change:

“Ten years ago the only option a gay person had was to go to cruising areas- to parks and public toilets for random, discreet sex. Now there are so many venues, so many private parties, gay night clubs.”

Kim Mulji, executive director of charity Naz Foundation, told PinkNews.co.uk:

“Most men who have sex with men in India do not identify as gay, and we find men with differing sexuality and gender identities and no identities.”

For Balaji, life in India as a gay man remains a frightening thought.

Having lost two of his gay friends to suicide, he suffered depression himself in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami which affected his hometown.

He finds himself, “in a quandary that could mean his future life or death.”

Balaji believes that the current legal and social barriers for gay and lesbian goes further by deterring the prevention and treatment of HIV.

According to figures published by Naz, South Asia represents some 20% of the world’s population and includes the countries of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with a combined population of over 1.5 billon people.

This region is at the forefront of the AIDS pandemic, where in India, the numbers living with HIV has been estimated to be more than four million within highly localised epidemics.

According to Naz, in such heavily populated region, males who have sex with males have been significantly ignored in regard to ensuring that appropriate and accessible HIV/AIDS services are available.

The majority of those services that do exist have been primarily developed through technical assistance and support from Naz.

Until there is significant progress shown in the attitudes of both the legislator and minds of Indian society, Balaji is keen to stay in the UK.

“I have an unconditional offer from King’s College, Cambridge to study Natural Sciences. But without funding, I cannot take this course up, and coming from poor background, I have no funds to cover my course.

“The course, because I’m not from the EU, costs more than £22,000 a year. There are no full scholarships anywhere for undergraduate studies, and all my efforts to secure funding have been in vain, including charities like Wellcome Trust.

“My passion in life has been, and will always be, to ‘do science’, as opposed to being a scientist.

“And there is no better place in the world to nurture scientific ambitions than Cambridge University.

“What’s even better, I need not live a lie, and can be honest about my sexuality. After all, despite all the adversities I have faced, my homosexuality has been the greatest source of my strength.

“Now, having come this far, I hope I will not have to give up on my dreams just because I was born poor – something over which I have no control over.”

The Bill passed its second reading in the Senate when it was debated in February.

The Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act 2007 in its current form provides that persons of the same sex and those who marry them or is a witness thereto will be committing a crime with a mandatory sentence of five years imprisonment.

But the Bill, which is in plain language and to the point, goes even further by infringing on the Human Rights principles of freedom of assembly and association:

“7.-(1) Registration of Gay Clubs, Societies and organisations by whatever name they are called in institutions from Secondary to the tertiary level or other institutions in particular and, in Nigeria generally, by government agencies is hereby prohibited.

(2) Publicity, procession and public show of same sex amorous relationship through the electronic or print media physically, directly, indirectly or otherwise prohibited in Nigeria.

(3) Any person who is involved in the registration of gay clubs, societies and organisations, sustenance, procession or meetings, publicity and public show of same sex amorous relationship directly or indirectly in public and in private is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a term of 5 years imprisonment.”

Simply taking part in a gay or lesbian club or support group would be illegal.

Not only would gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals be targeted not for specific acts but for existing, heterosexual people who “promote” their lifestyle, for example by selling them a house, would also be penalised.

Whilst the Bill has been received with mixed reactions from religious groups, the Archbishop Peter Akinola, the head of Nigeria’s Anglican Church, the Christian Association of Nigeria and National Muslim Centre have welcomed the Bill.

But independent United Nations experts have express serious concern over the Bill. In a press release by the UN, it states that “the proposed law will make persons engaging in, or perceived to be engaging in, same sex relationships in Nigeria more susceptible to arbitrary arrests, detention, torture and ill-treatment and expose them even more to violence and attacks on their dignity”.

It further expresses its concerns over the likelihood of HIV/AIDS education and prevention efforts being undermined by driving stigmatised communities underground and posing a threat to the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

In addition, the UN fears that “the introduction of criminal penalties of imprisonment in the Bill, if enacted, would in particular have a chilling effect for local human rights defenders who undertake peaceful advocacy on the adverse human rights implications of the law for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons”.

Nigerian LGBT people opposed the new anti-gay law in the country spoke about their experiences in a report for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).

Voices from Nigeria, released last month, details homophobic attacks, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and increased levels of homophobia that have already begun as a result of the introduction of the legislation, referred to as the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act.

With elections for the Presidency, Senate and House of Representatives in April, gay rights activists fear that politicians will put populism above human rights.

At a House committee hearing it emerged that over 100 petitions had been received objecting to the proposed new law, which would be one of the most draconian ever considered anywhere in the world.

“Ultimately, it is the lives of LGBT Nigerians that will be affected by this law,” said Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC’s Senior Specialist for Africa.

“The report is meant to turn up the volume of those voices.”

One of those interviewed for the IGLHRC report is an HIV outreach worker named Chuma, who was arrested and detained by the police in Lagos in 2006 while carrying out research for a study on the prevalence and risk factors of HIV/AIDS among men that have sex with men.

According to Chuma: “A team of policemen in Lagos came to my apartment and took me away to an unknown place for two days.

“I was beaten beyond recognition, and I am still receiving treatment for the head injury I received.

“I was dehumanised and paraded naked to the press… My only offence was that I am gay.”

Chuma was eventually released without being charged or tried.

Sarah, a Nigerian sexual rights activist, believes that many Nigerians are acting as if the legislation has already been passed.

She cites attacks on gay men in Abuja, the capital city, and the expulsion of cadets from a national military academy.

During the hearings, officials in the Nigerian president’s office claimed that passage of the bill would help to fight HIV.

Aishat, a gay Nigerian man interviewed for the report argues however that:

“The Bill will force to people having sex in secret rather than stopping gays having sex.

“Condoms will be used less and less often because there will be no time to develop relationships because of fear of being caught.”

In releasing the report, IGLHRC has called on the Nigerian authorities to remember their commitments to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that guarantees freedom from unfair discrimination and the right to privacy.

Provisions of the Act are also inconsistent with the principle of non- discrimination found in the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the Nigerian Constitution.

But in a country where five states are governed by Islamic Sharia law where the death by stoning for adultery, including gay sex is mandatory and where the majority of religious groups are against same sex marriages or sex, it would appear the fears of the gay and lesbian community, and the minority groups attempting to protect them, for being persecuted will soon become a reality.

Celine Casey, a former Parliamentary researcher at the Dáil Éireann, explores the background to the defeat and the future for gay rights laws in Ireland.

The Civil Unions Bill 2006 was debated last week by in Parliament was well received by all political parties represented.

Yet the Government managed to postpone the Bill by a further six months.

The Government argued that the proposed Bill was vulnerable to constitutional challenge and that it should be postponed pending the outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court in the Zappone case.

A lesbian couple, Drs Katherine Zappone and Anne Louise Gilligan lodged an appeal with the country’s Supreme Court in earlier this month challenging the High Court’s decision that their Canadian marriage is not valid.

Speaking to PinkNews.co.uk from Dublin, the spokesperson on Justice for the Labour Party, Deputy Brendan Howlin, who introduced the Bill, said: “This was a con by the government using procedural amendments to postpone this Bill by six months to avoid having to pass this important piece of legislation before the new government is elected in June.

“The Bill has therefore failed, but if this party is represented in the new government, the Bill will be on our agenda”

Elections are scheduled for July this year at the latest. The ruling Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalition have been in power since 1997.

Whilst homosexuality was formally decrimilised in the Republics of Ireland in 1993, at present individuals in same-sex relationships or cohabiting straight people do not enjoy the same legal status as those within the traditional marriage relationship under Irish Law.

Adam Long, Communications Officer Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) told PinkNews.co.uk: “I feel that the effective defeat of the Labour’s Civil Unions Bill was a missed opportunity. It represented significant progress towards achieving the full equality outcome of marriage and would have had an immediate positive impact on the status of same-sex couples in Ireland”.

The Government’s Minister for Justice Mr Michael McDowell insists that the Government fully accepts that same-sex couples, and other cohabiting couples, require heightened legal protection.

He argues however that any legislative reform in this area must be fully consistent with the provisions of the Irish constitution and in particular the State’s constitutional duty to protect with special cares the institution of marriage.

Mr McDowell insists that the government is unequivocally in favour of treating gay and lesbian people as fully equal citizens in Irish society, but giving effect to this principle in legislative is necessarily complex and challenging.

In the United Kingdom, the Civil Partnership Act 2004 provides for registration of exclusively same-sex civil partnerships in an institution broadly equivalent to marriage, which the proposed Bill purports to replicate.

He told the Dáil during last week’s debate that the Labour-proposed bill falls short of The United Kingdom Act, which is a comprehensive piece of legislation, and would be unlikely to survive constitutional challenge in its current form.

Members of the public in Ireland were overwhelming disappointed that the Bill did not pass.

Gareth Kelly told PinkNews.co.uk: “The Government should have taken this opportunity to allow gay couples equal rights, but has opted to take a side door to avoid the subject in question.

“They are making it more difficult over here than in other countries, such as Spain where they just went ahead and passed legislation without difficulty. Passing this Bill will make it easier for young people to make their status know in society. You will be surprised how many people in Ireland will be taken back by the display of affection between two people of the same sex.”

Being a member of the European Union, Ireland is challenged to change its social values amongst a socially and economically diverse community.

The wave of the Celtic Tiger has transformed Irish society in financial terms but has Irish society really moved forward in terms of social diversity?

There seems to be an argument made by the Government in its debate against the proposed Bill that Ireland has done so by the introduction of legislation such at The Employment Equality Act 1998 and The Equal Status Act 2000, which forbid discrimination on nine distinct grounds, which include marital status, family status and sexual orientation.

However, these are anti discrimination legislation, which falls short of affording equal legal status to gay couples.

By not affording such status, gay couples remain not only affected socially, but economically, as their civil partnerships or marriage are not recognised under legislation such as tax laws as seen in recent developments such as in the Zappone case.