Tony Grew edited PinkNews.co.uk between 2007 and 2009. He now edits ePolitix.com
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15 August 2006Sikh policeman suspended over gay escort allegations 2 A police officer has been suspended by the Strathclyde force after The Sunday Mail exposed his alleged double life as a male prostitute.Constable Suckbir Mann, a 34-year-old married officer, is Sikh, and has been used by the force in the past as a symbol of their multi-culturalism. -
15 August 2006Australian government to ban gay adoption 57 Documents leaked to a Tasmanian gay activist indicate that the Australian government plan to ban gay people from adopting children from overseas.Even though adoption policy is a matter for state governments, John Howard's federal administration attempted to attach a prohibition on overseas adoption to the 2004 law outlawing gay marriage. -
15 August 2006London Underground deny ‘gay discrimination’ 1 The RMT union is planning to ballot 6,500 staff over a pay dispute. Members could vote for tube drivers strike, meaning travel misery for millions of Londoners.There will be a separate strike vote by 80 staff at Canary Wharf station, after union claims of harassment and vicitmisation against gay and female members of staff. -
15 August 2006Prince Albert pride for Canadian gay teens + A group of gay teenagers who live in a small city in the heart of the Canadian prairies have asked their local council for permission to stage their very own pride festival.Prince Albert is in the far north of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and has 40,000 inhabitants. It is most famous as the home of Anne of Green Gables author Lucy Laud Montgomery. -
14 August 2006Give us our rights, demand Australian gay and lesbian couples + 55 gay and lesbian couples held hands and exchanged vows on the steps of the Victoria State Parliament in Melbourne yesterday.A crowd of over 2000 people joined them, calling on the Victoria and Australian governments to follow the example of the UK and other countries and recognise gay and lesbian relationships. -
14 August 2006Gay internet dating service has a safe-sex message 1 The US-based gay dating site manhunt.net has hit upon a novel way of promoting safe sex among gay men.An outreach worker, posing under the sign-in name of VIPBoy, is paid to talk about AIDS and STDs to site users and to give out advice about safe sex practices."If gay men are going to meet in cyberspace for hookups, they should know what they are getting into if they have unsafe sex" -
14 August 2006Homophobic pensioner is given gagging ASBO + A 76-year-old man from north London has been placed under an anti-social behaviour order for racial and homophobic verbal abuse directed at fellow care home residents.David Lilley, who lives in a sheltered housing complex in Cricklewood, has a record of abusing, threatening and spitting at staff and other residents. -
14 August 2006South Africa backs gay blood donors – if celibate 57 A compromise has been reached between the South African Blood Service and gay pressure groups over donations.Previously all gay men who had sex with another man in the last five years were barred from giving blood.Gay activists had argued this rule was discriminatory, and drew attention to previous restrictions by the service on the grounds of race. -
14 August 2006Northern Ireland police to monitor gay recruitment 57 Applicants to the Police Service of Northern Ireland are to be asked their sexual orientation for the first time. Currently all GB forces monitor the number of gay and lesbian people working for them.Potential officers will also be able to declare if they are in a civil partnership.
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14 August 2006Depleted US Army still kicking out gay soldiers 58 At a time when the US Armed Forces are desperate to recruit more soldiers, it has been revealed that an Army base in rural Missouri has dismissed 60 men for being gay.The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network have revealed figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act that show there has been a spike in dismissals from bases across America. -
12 August 2006Gay Humanists welcome pride support + Belfast Pride last weekend played host to a group of Humanists marching in solidarity with gay and lesbian people.The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association has praised the support given by the Belfast Humanist Group, who marched in solidarity with the gay community at the Pride event. -
11 August 2006Plans for Ireland’s first gay hotel dropped. + Plans for a gay hotel in small town Ireland have been abandoned.As PinkNews.co.uk reported last month, promoter Brian Berry had unveiled plans to convert a hotel in Carlow, saying:"In any establishment you can get complications and objections, but at the end of the day, no matter what objections I get, I'll continue." -
11 August 2006Beenie Man claims ‘I am not homophobic’ 2 Controversial rapper Beenie Man has told The Independent newspaper that the true meaning of his lyrics have been misinterpreted due to cultural differences.Mr Man claims that in Jamaica the word 'gay' is synonymous with rape, and that unlike the consensual homosexual relationships found in England, the only 'gay' relationships that exist in Jamaica are young men who are forced into gay sex by poverty. -
11 August 2006UK Black Pride Festival set for Southend next weekend 1 The first UK Black Pride (UKBP) festival will be held on Saturday 19th August at the seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea.Organisers hope the festival will become an annual summer event. It aims to foster pride, empowerment and a positive presence for black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the UK. -
11 August 2006New scheme for reporting hate crimes at gay bars 1 An innovative method of reporting homophobic attacks has been hailed a success by the West London Gay Men's Project.Over 30 incidents have been reported via an i-kiosk installed inside the well-known Birdcage pub in Chiswick.The aim of the project is to increase monitoring of hate crimes, and victims have the option of requesting further assistance from police if they wish to pursue the incident. -
11 August 2006American psychologists stand firm against gay ‘conversion therapy’ 1 A gay rights organisation in the United States has praised the American Pyschological Association's tough stance against the pseudo-science of conversion therapy.The 'treatment' is promoted by Christian organisations as a cure for homosexuality, but the APA have rejected it on the grounds that it has no scientific evidence to support claims made about its effectiveness. -
10 August 2006Western Australia conservatives say yes to gay marriage 4 In a radical demonstration of changing attitudes, the Western Australian branch of the National Party has voted in support of same-sex civil unions.A motion supporting gay 'marriage' won the backing of delegates at their annual state conference.The National Party are often portrayed as deeply rural and conservative, representing farming interests. -
10 August 2006140,000 attended the 2006 Chicago Gay Games + The 2006 Gay Games organisers have spoken of their delight at the success of the seventh gay sports and cultural event. The amount of people attending has exceeded all estimates."Attendance at Gay Games Chicago events exceeded 140,000, 40,000 more than we had projected," Kevin Boyer, the Games' co-vice chair, told the Windy City Times. -
10 August 2006Preacher says gay-bashing posters are his constitutional right 57 A New York preacher has vowed to fight all the way to the Supreme Court in his mission to display Bible passages on billboards.Rev. Kristopher Okwedy spent $2,500 on billboard signs with this catchy quote, taken from the Book of Leviticus: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womenkind. It is an abomination. -
10 August 2006Transsexual lottery winner regrets paying for gender reassignment 4 A transsexual who came to prominence in 2003 for funding her sex-change operation from a national lottery win has revealed to her local newspaper that she now regrets paying £21,000 for the procedure.Mick Parltrow, then a 52-year-old lorry driver, won £250,000 and travelled to Thailand for the operation Over the next two years Mick transformed into Melanie.
