It was one of three nail bomb attacks and killed three people, while 80 were injured.

While the incidents in Brixton and Brick Lane were targeted directly towards ethnic minorities, the Admiral Duncan bombing was a vicious attack intended to kill gay people.

The bomb detonated in the busy pub at 6.37pm. The location was an obvious choice for bomber David Copeland due to its location in Old Compton Street, at the heart of London’s gay community. Allegedly, it was the first gay pub chosen from an alphabetical list.

One witness described the scene as “absolute carnage”, with several people blown out of the pub into the street.

What made the situation even more frightening, was that no warning was given and many were anxious that another explosion was set to go off, causing panic in the streets. Many injured were treated on the roadside, while others fled the area.

At the time, many gay people had seen the area of Old Compton Street as a safe haven where they could socialise without fear of homophobic attacks. The explosion inevitably changed all this and highlighted the prejudice inherent in society that many had forgotten existed.

Peter Tatchell summed this view up after the attack, saying: “This outrage has destroyed that cosy assumption.”

Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Alan Fry, head of the Metropolitan Police’s anti-terrorist branch, said that when officers arrived at the scene they were confronted by utter devastation. He said: “It was an horrendous scene. It was a complete wreck.”

The device exploded at the start of a bank holiday weekend so the Old Compton Street area had been heaving with people. It was a pre-mediated attack in which the aim was to hurt and kill as many gay people as possible.

Copeland, a former BNP member and neo-Nazi, was so fuelled by hate that he did not consider integration in any of his attacks.

In this, where he thought he would be attacking specific groups because the areas he targeted were known to be either gay areas, or ethnic areas, he faltered. In all three attacks, he injured whites and straight people.

One of these was Andrea Dykes, 27, who was four months pregnant. She was was instantly killed while enjoying pre-theatre drinks at the Admiral Pub and her husband was one of those seriously injured.

Their friend, Nik Moorem, 31, was also killed and the best man at their wedding, John Light, 32, later died in hospital.

There is now a memorial and a plaque in the pub to commemorate those injured and killed in the blast.

The explosions were set off by David Copeland, then 22, whose objective was to wage a war against ethnic minorities and gay people in Britain.

He was arrested at his flat in Sunnybank Road, Farnborough, where police found Nazi flags and a poster of Adolf Hitler in the middle of a collage of photos of bomb victims.

He is currently serving six life sentences in Broadmoor Hospital at Crowthorne.

In March 2007, the High Court ruled Copeland could not be released before 2049, when he will be 73.

The initial sentence ordered him to spend at least 30 years behind bars but this was extended due to what the High Court judge described as the case’s “exceptional gravity”.

His new film, Outrage, which will soon be aired at the Tribeca Film Festival, is no different.

It draws on a plethora of substantiated claims to out alleged gay Republican politicians, who reportedly lead hypocritical double lives and vote against the LGBT community.

Dick says he intends to explore the hypocrisy of such politicians and wants to promote the idea that we are in a society now where gay politicians can run without hiding their sexual orientation and win.

Republican Mark Foley is one of the more obvious examples after he was indicted after having sexual relations with 16 year old male assistants. This controversy first surfaced in 2006 before the midterm elections.

The illicit emails between Foley and the boys were released publicly and the transcripts are still available online. Ironically, in the email, Foley requests naked pictures from the boys but at the time is also championing for harsher anti-child pornography laws.

Larry Craig, who was caught cruising a men’s bathroom in Minnesota airport, is also featured in the film. Craig too has advocated legislation against the gay community.

Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida and forerunner for the 2012 Republican elections, is a politician consistently mentioned throughout the documentary. Dick founds his theory using stories brought together by local reporters and the governors’ dating patterns during election seasons.

In a website interview with Reuters, Dick claims although these revelations have been avoided by the mainstream press, all allegations are factually accurate. He said: “If they decide to legally come after me, it will be as big a story as the film.

“All it will do will help to get sales. A, what is said is true and B, I have a right to say it.”

The film will have a limited release in May.

At her first conference since accepting the position, she said: “Sexuality is something that is celebrated now we have civil partnerships and it’s fantastic that I’m an openly gay writer, and anyone here or watching the interviews who feels shy or uncomfortable about their sexuality should celebrate and be confident and be happy.

“It’s a lovely, ordinary, normal thing.”

Speaking in Manchester today, she also discussed poetry, royal poems and her new role at the conference at the John Rylands University Library.

She said: “It’s not a job. I have been able to relinquish myself from any financial commitment by giving the money to the Poetry Society to establish a prize so I’ll just continue reading my poems and writing my poems as I always have.

“Poetry matters to people in this country, poetry is a place we can go to for comfort, celebration, when we’re in love, when we’re bereaved and sometimes for events that happen to us as a nation.

“Poetry comes from the imagination, from memories, from experience, from events both personal and public so I will be following the truth of that and I will write whatever needs to be written.”

Ms Duffy is best-known for her works Standing Female Nude (1985) and Selling Manhattan (1987).

Her work is included on the national curriculum for schools and frequently features themes of sexuality, inequality and bereavement.

Dr Olwen Williams told BBC Wales’ Dragon’s Eye that HIV patients who go to their GP about a common complaint often find themselves being referred to hospitals.

Dr Williams claims these patients are experiencing “very subtle” discrimination.

“It might be when they go to the dentist and try and register, when they fill in the form they suddenly find there are no spaces on the list.

“Other things that are probably even more subtle is that they’ll go to their GP, divulge they’re HIV positive, with a complaint at the time that’s very common that the GP should be able to deal with, but actually told they have to see their HIV physician for this condition.

“Of course that really denies them access to health care at a point where they actually need it.

“If I was someone with cancer and I went to a GP with a common cold and I was told ‘sorry I can’t deal with that’ because I’ve got cancer I’d be so amazed – that’s what our patients are experiencing.”

“My concern here is that we’ve still got fear and prejudice and ignorance that’s actually driving discrimination and stigma in Wales. And I think this is something major that we have to tackle.”

The British Medical Association have denied that doctors are discriminating against HIV patients, saying that some GPs may be overly cautious when referring patients.

Dr Andrew Dearden, the chair of the British Medical Association’s Welsh council, maintained that it would be “unprofessional and unethical” for a doctor to discriminate against someone because of any illness.

Nevertheless, he continued that some doctors might not always feel they had all the information and training needed to treat certain conditions.

Dr Dearden said: “Remember that doctors always refer patients to other doctors or, for example, physios, when they feel there’s a need for extra information, diagnosis, tests or treatment.”

“Generally you would expect GPs to treat those things within practice as long as they’re confident those things are not serious complications of the disease.”

There are currently more than 1,000 people in Wales living with HIV.

Daily Business Review reports that Scott Allen Burr is alleging that Miami-based law firm, Astigarraga Davis, discriminated against him due to his sexual orientation.

He has claimed that the firm has previously discriminated against gay employees.

Mr Burr filed the suit in October of last year, which is based on a Miami-Dade County ordinance that protects employees against sexual orientation discrimination.

He worked for the firm from November 2002 to May 2006. He claims that despite the firm having promised that he would be considered for a promotion to equity partner within a year of joining as senior counsel, no such promise materialised.

Instead, he claims that Astigarraga Davis gave him poor performance reviews and refused a request for time off even though the firm was honouring requests from straight attorneys.

Mr Burr’s suit said: “Shortly after his employment began, however, [firm chairman Jose] Astigarraga articulated his discomfort with the fact that plaintiff was gay, criticising the plaintiff for not ‘fitting in’ with the attorneys at the law firm and suggesting to plaintiff that he consider leaving the firm.”

The firm denies these allegations and maintains in a court filing that its leaders were aware of Mr Burr’s sexuality before they hired him, and he quit.

Robert Turk, the firm’s lawyer, claims that Mr Burr’s poor performance reviews were justified and that he sued after unsuccessfully trying to get his job back.

Mr Turk’s motion said: “There are a multitude of material facts with respect to his employment that Mr Burr has failed to disclose that this court should consider … including the fact that when Astigarraga Davis extended him an offer of employment Mr Burr had previously voluntarily disclosed his sexual orientation, that Mr Burr’s employment with Astigarraga Davis was affected only by his unsatisfactory performance and that Burr tendered his letter of resignation at one point.”

Both Mr Burr and the firm have declined to comment.

This is not the first time that Mr Burr has sued a former employer.

In 1993 he anonymously filed a federal suit against the Philadelphia firm Kohn Nast & Graf making claims that he was fired because he is HIV positive.

The case, filed under the Americans With Disabilities Act, was dismissed a year later after Mr Burr settled. He later disclosed his identity to the media.

Neil Warner, his former lover Jonathan Wicks, and 2007 X-Factor contestant Kim Marrero were charged with carrying out the attack on Keiran Dulai.

Getreading.co.uk reports that Warner’s police interview was read out at Reading Crown Court yesterday, in which he suggested that Mr Dulai was “a compulsive liar”.

When asked whether he had called Mr Dulai a racist insult, Mr Warner maintained: “I am not a hater.

“I am not racist. My grandmother came from Barbados.”

Though Mr Warner admits that he did visit Mr Dulai on the night of the attack, he said it was just to use the bathroom. He told the police he was only there long enough to “pull down his trousers and have a ****”.

Mr Dulai, who became homeless after disagreements with his family over his sexual orientation, has alleged the trio bombarded him with homophobic and racist insults and poured detergent on him.

Mr Warner announced that he would never have trashed Mr Dulai’s squat because such an act would be “bang out of order”.

Witnesses Anna Shea and Louise Barney also gave evidence yesterday. Both had been in the pub, The Malthouse, at the time Mr Dulai went there for help after his attack.

Ms Barney said: “He appeared to have been beaten up. He had a swollen eye and was covered in blood. He seemed to be in a state of shock.”

Both women said initially Mr Dulai refused to tell them who had attacked him but eventually named the three defendants.

Mr Dulai was beaten with a TV set, computer and DVD player and hit with a curtain rod at the flat he was staying at in Reading town centre on April 24th last year.

Only Wicks, 21, of Oxford Road, West Reading, has admitted one count of assault, one of criminal damage and one of theft.

Warner and Marrero two deny the charges against them. The case continues.

Two girls were expelled from California Lutheran High School after the prinicpal questioned their sexual orientation.

The school is not covered by California civil rights law, the ruling said.

The parents of the two girls appealed their expulsion but the review was denied.

Their lawyer, Kirk Hanson, said that ruling would consequently allow private schools to indiscriminately expel students on any basis they choose, including sexual orientation and religion.

In September, 2005, after another student reported postings on the girls’ MySpace pages, the principal, Gregory Bork, called them into his office in and questioned them over their sexuality.

The girls were suspended based on the answers that they gave and a month later, were expelled. The two girls have since graduated from another high school

The parents sued under the 1959 Unruh Act, a civil rights act which forbids discrimination by businesses. Since 2005, the act has been amended to include bias based on sexual orientation and someone else’s perception of sexual orientation.

While state law prohibits anti-gay bias, it does not extend to private schools and is only relevant to the public sector.

In January, the Fourth District Court of Appeal in San Bernardino said the school was not a business but was a social organisation entitled to found and follow its own principles. This decision relies on the basis of a 1998 state Supreme Court ruling that allowed the Boy Scouts to exclude gays and atheists. Like the Boy Scouts, the board of appeals maintains that a private religious school exists mainly to instill its values in young people.

Mr Hanson strongly disagrees with this comparison and expounds that unlike the Boy Scouts, a private school provides education that is required by state law and has a business connection, because it “promotes the economic interests of the students.”

The missive is a reply to a letter sent by his 16-year-old self to his future self and is published in Gay Times’ 25th anniversary issue, out this month.

In it, the broadcaster says that frequently, love, rather than being gay, causes the most problem in gay people’s lives.

He writes: “Gay people sometimes believe that the preponderance of obstacles and terrors they encounter in their lives and relationships is intimately connected with the fact of their being gay. As it happens at least 90 per cent of their problems are to do with love and love alone.”

“Straight people are encouraged by culture and society to believe that their sexual impulses are the norm, and therefore when their affairs of the heart and loins go wrong…they are forced to believe that it must be their fault.

“We gay people at least have the advantage of being brought up to expect the world of love to be imponderably and unmanageably difficult, for we are perverted freaks and sick aberrations of nature.”

Fry also confesses his constant quest to confirm that he was not alone.

He needed affirmation that there were others like him: “I know what you are doing now, young Stephen. It’s early 1973. You are in the library, cross-referencing bibliographies so that you can find more and more examples of queer people in history, art and literature against whom you can hope to validate yourself”.

“So many great spirits really do confirm that hope! It emboldens you to know that such a number of brilliant (if often doomed) souls shared the same impulse and desires as you.”

Fry also writes of his envy of straight people. “They won’t have to spend their days in public libraries, public lavatories and public courts ashamed, spurned and reviled. There is no internet. No Gay News. No gay chatlines. No men-seeking-men personals. No out-and-proud celebs. Just a world of shame and secrecy.

But he promises his young self that things will get better: “You will emerge from Cambridge and enter a world where being “out” is no big deal.” At the same time, Fry alludes to themes of doubt. He admits that “a whole theatre of war remains.”

The young Fry wanted to remain young – he did not yearn for adulthood or things that came with growing up. His future self concludes: “I think you are right.”

The 25th anniversary issue also features letters from celebrities such as Elton John and Paul O’Grady.

It was one of three nail bomb attacks and killed three people, while 80 were injured.

While the incidents in Brixton and Brick Lane were targeted directly towards ethnic minorities, the Admiral Duncan bombing was a vicious attack intended to kill gay people.

The bomb detonated in the busy pub at 6.37pm. The location was an obvious choice for bomber David Copeland due to its location in Old Compton Street, at the heart of London’s gay community. Allegedly, it was the first gay pub chosen from an alphabetical list.

One witness described the scene as “absolute carnage”, with several people blown out of the pub into the street.

What made the situation even more frightening, was that no warning was given and many were anxious that another explosion was set to go off, causing panic in the streets. Many injured were treated on the roadside, while others fled the area.

At the time, many gay people had seen the area of Old Compton Street as a safe haven where they could socialise without fear of homophobic attacks. The explosion inevitably changed all this and highlighted the prejudice inherent in society that many had forgotten existed.

Peter Tatchell summed this view up after the attack, saying: “This outrage has destroyed that cosy assumption.”

Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Alan Fry, head of the Metropolitan Police’s anti-terrorist branch, said that when officers arrived at the scene they were confronted by utter devastation. He said: “It was an horrendous scene. It was a complete wreck.”

The device exploded at the start of a bank holiday weekend so the Old Compton Street area had been heaving with people. It was a pre-mediated attack in which the aim was to hurt and kill as many gay people as possible.

Copeland, a former BNP member and neo-Nazi, was so fuelled by hate that he did not consider integration in any of his attacks.

In this, where he thought he would be attacking specific groups because the areas he targeted were known to be either gay areas, or ethnic areas, he faltered. In all three attacks, he injured whites and straight people.

One of these was Andrea Dykes, 27, who was four months pregnant. She was was instantly killed while enjoying pre-theatre drinks at the Admiral Pub and her husband was one of those seriously injured.

Their friend, Nik Moorem, 31, was also killed and the best man at their wedding, John Light, 32, later died in hospital.

There is now a memorial and a plaque in the pub to commemorate those injured and killed in the blast.

The explosions were set off by David Copeland, then 22, whose objective was to wage a war against ethnic minorities and gay people in Britain.

He was arrested at his flat in Sunnybank Road, Farnborough, where police found Nazi flags and a poster of Adolf Hitler in the middle of a collage of photos of bomb victims.

He is currently serving six life sentences in Broadmoor Hospital at Crowthorne.

In March 2007, the High Court ruled Copeland could not be released before 2049, when he will be 73.

The initial sentence ordered him to spend at least 30 years behind bars but this was extended due to what the High Court judge described as the case’s “exceptional gravity”.

One year on from the tragedy, in 2000, a memorial service was held at St Anne’s church nearby to mark the anniversary of the bomb, an event which has been carried out ever since.

A trio of cherry trees were planted on the church grounds in dedication to Andrea Dykes, John Light and Nik Moorem. The trees symbolised the three local London communities: Soho, Brick Lane, and Brixton, which were left in chaos by the three nail bombings.

Today, the Admiral Duncan will remember the tenth anniversary of the bombing.

There will be a two-minute silence at 6.37 pm at St Anne’s Gardens, which will stay open until 7.30pm for those wishing to pay their respects. The Rector of St Anne’s Chruch will also say a few words for families and friends.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has 15 days to “promulgate” the measure into law after the Senate passed it last month.

The President cannot veto a measure passed by the National Assembly under the French constitution. He can however pass it back to the Assembly for further consideration.

Article 10 reads in the official English translation: “The President of the Republic shall promulgate Acts of Parliament within 15 days following the final passage of an Act and its transmission to the government,”

“He may, before the expiry of this time limit, ask Parliament to reopen debate on the Act or any sections thereof. Such reopening of debate shall not be refused.”

The passage of the measure in the French National Assembly was welcomed this morning in Brussels.

Both the European Union and the European Parliament had been putting pressure on the French government to recognise the legal status of same-sex couples who had registered their partnerships in different countries.

The non-recognition of foreign same-sex couples by France had been highly contentious among ex-pats from EU countires living in France as those EU countries that have same-sex relationships laws recognise PACS (Pacte Civil de Solidarité).

Before this morning, Britain recognised French partnerships but France did not reciprocate this recognition.

The English-language newspaper The Connexion has previously reported that the proposal to amend the law had been made by Green Party senator Alima Boumediene-Thiery.

It was jointly supported by Green and Socialist senators and was consequently agreed by the whole upper house.

As it stood, the law meant that British couples in civil partnerships who lived in France had to pay heavy inheritance taxes of 60 per cent if one of them died. French couples in PACS did not however have to pay such duties.

Christian Vanneste, a well-known homophobic politician, had tabled an amendment in opposition to the measure but it was dropped after he failed to turn up.

Mr Vanneste represents the Nord constituency and is a member of the Union for Popular Movement. In 2006 he became the first French citizen to be fined 3,000 euros after making homophobic remarks in the National Assembly.

He said that gays were a threat to the survival of humanity, and “morally inferior”. He later repeated his statement to the media.

Initially, Ms Stark, who is openly lesbian, had come under scrutiny after accepting income from a real estate company while also administering the city’s real estate taxes.

Earlier this month it was reported that Ms Stark was having a relationship with former Assistant Commissioner, Dara Ottley-Brown.

It was then that Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked the Department of Investigation and Conflict of Interest panel to look into Ms Stark’s relationship with Dara Ottley-Brown, former Assistant Commissioner.

It is prohibited for city employees to engage in personal or financial relationships with superiors or subordinates.

Ms Stark has maintained however that the relationship only began once Ms Ottley-Brown had left the Finance Department for a position on the city’s Board of Standards and Appeals.

Investigators were also asked to look into reports that Ms Stark had employed relatives. The City Charter prohibits city employees from using their position to benefit family members and spouses.

Ms Stark took office in February 2002, soon after Mayor Bloomberg’s election, and was one of the highest-ranking African-American officials in the administration, making $189,700. Her final day in office will be Friday.

Despite the controversy, Mayor Bloomberg has praised Ms Stark’s performance in the workplace and said in a brief statement: “I want to thank Martha for her years of service, and I want to recognise the many reforms that Finance developed and implemented under her leadership,”

“Martha made the Finance Department – and our city – a better place.”

Two city officials told the New York Daily News that Mayor Bloomberg never lost confidence in Ms Stark’s abilities, but grew tired of what an official called “the accumulated weight of all this stuff.”

Deputy Commissioner Michael Hyman, a 21-year veteran of the department, will take over as acting commissioner while the city searches for a permanent replacement.

Ms Stark’s lawyer, Randy Maestro, has defended his client and maintains: “Stark did nothing wrong here, except try to keep her private life private,”

“New York City has lost one of its finest public servants.”

The festival will be known as Norwich Pride. Organisers say that the events will continue over a period of two days and will include a parade, a church service and an afternoon of live music.

The event is also set to feature stalls, lectures and workshops.

Norwich Pride will be officially unveiled on Friday 25th July at the Arts Centre with an evening called Camp it Up Cabaret.

Oxfam have organised an Oxjam concert that will take place in Chapelfield Gardens before a parade sets off towards the city centre.

Chairman of Norwich Gay Pride Collective, Nick O’Brian told the BBC: “It’s surprising we haven’t had one before.

“We have 700 people signed up to our Facebook site and 400 on our email list so we’re thinking maybe 1,000 people may turn up.

“It’s really important. So many other cities of our size or smaller already have pride events.”

A multi-faith service will also be held at St Peter Mancroft Church late on Saturday afternoon.

Trade unions have provided most of the funding for the event.

Mr Holdsworth had been heavily involved in the lesbian and gay movement throughout his lifetime.

He was one of the leading organisers of a Lesbian and Gay Socialist Conference in Edinburgh in 1984 and was also active in supporting the miners’ strike.

Mr Holdsworth worked with Kate Fearnley, whom he also had a two-year relationship with. They volunteered books and features editors for Gay Scotland magazine and were both instrumental in the creation of the Edinburgh Bisexual Group, which ran for 16 years.

In an obituary written by Ms Fearnley for the Guardian, she praised his “huge intellectual capacity, deep convictions and many intense interests”.

They also created a number of flamboyant political banners, his favourite of which was “Pink Commie Queers”, the banner of the Communist Party Great Britain (CPGB) Lesbian and Gay Network made from pink net.

It was at Gay Scotland where Mr Holdsworth landed his first paid job as a part-time administrator. Eventually he moved to the HR department at Napier University in Edinburgh.

He was born in south London on 27th January 1962, the son of an Anglican priest. He experienced his first gay relations in his mid teens but it was at Edinburgh University where he studied divinity, that he came out and became a political activist.

He was especially drawn to Left politics, liberation, theology and sexual politics and at one point, became a member of the student branch of the CPGB.

Mr Holdsworth experienced a series of health problems ever since he was struck down with viral cardiomyopathy and had a heart transplant in 1998.

The anti-rejection drugs caused a proliferation of other major health concerns, including osteoprosis, kidney failure and cancer. Friends have said however that he bore his fluctuating health with fortitude.

Mr Holdsworth is survived by his partner of 22 years, Adam O’Brien.

Manon Koffiijberg, a municipal spokeswoman, told Agence France-Presse: “There are various groups of users of the park; people with small children who bathe on the beaches, those who walk their dogs, gays cruising and nature lovers.

“Things are arranged so that each group can relax in their own area without intruding on each other.”

“The signs clearly indicate what is happening in each zone; also those where gay men are known to practice ‘cruising’.”

“If you don’t want to be confronted by a vision of that sort, the signs allow you to avoid specific areas,” said Ms Koffijberg.

The De Oeverlanden park in Slotervaart, is known as a popular spot for gay men from all over the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe to find sex partners.

Ms Koffijberg maintains that though public sex is indeed illegal, the park had turned a blind eye for so long that it has become “gedoog”.

Gedoog is a Dutch word for tolerating unwanted behaviour.

Cruisers tend to keep their sexual activities to the confines of the bushes in the park and the new signs have been erected to ensure that unwitting visitors do not accidently stray into the areas.

Recently there have been reports of gay bashing in the Slotervaart area, which is populated by a large group of Muslim immigrants. Reports of robberies and violence against gay men in De Oeverlanden park are rife.

The case will reopen this Thursday.

Lambda Istanbul gained legal status in April 2006. However, on June 9th, 2006, there was an official demand to ban the society on the grounds that it violated Turkish laws on morality and families.

Despite this, Istanbul’s prosecution office reached a decision in February 2007 to allow the group to continue its operation. Consequently, the Governor’s Office appealed this decision.

On 29 May 2008, the 3rd Civil Court of Beyogla of First Istance ignored an expert’s report and dissolved the association on the grounds that it interfered with “general morals” and “Turkish family values”. Luckily, the 7th Judicial Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned this ruling on 25 November 2008 but released a six-page decree containing detrimental connotations limiting the freedom of LBGT individuals in the future.

While the Court of Appeals ruled that “sexual identity and orientation are facts that people do not choose of free will, but that stem from birth or upbringing and a person has no control over”, it also stated in its decision that “the dissolution of the defendant association could still be demanded, if it would act counter to its charter, in the ways of encouraging or provoking lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite and transsexual behaviour or acting with the aim of spreading such sexual orientations.”

President of the Intergroup, Michael Cashman has released a statement saying: “This wording is jeopardising freedom of assembly and speech of LGBT citizens and their organisations,

“This statement is contrary to fundamental rights as we understand them in Europe. It is severely tampering rights of LGBT citizens not only freely spread but also receive information intended to them. If Turkey is to join the EU, it must treat all human beings equally and respect the rights of every citizen”.

Although it is not illegal to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans in Turkey, discrimination practices and persecutions of LGBT people are commonplace. Hate crimes have risen dramatically, both in the form of attacks and murder and campaigners say the police and government have shown little responsive action.

A spokesperson for the legendary Ms Arthur said that the actress died at home of cancer, aged 86.

Famous for her one-liners and raspy voice, it was no surprise that Ms Arthur became a natural subject for female impersonators. Told of her drag following, Ms Arthus once declared: “I’m flattered.”

Her roles as Yente in Fiddler on the Roof, Maude Finley of All in the Family and Maude, and most famously, Dorothy Zbornak of Golden Girls, gained her a fervent gay following.

Tributes were paid on Entertainment Tonight over the weekend. Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfuss said: “I think of her very fondly, she was a great inspiration to me, I loved her.”

The night featured performances by Christina Aguilera and Linda Perry, and a live auction hosted by Sharon Stone.

Items that were being auctioned had been donated by stars such as Bette Midler, Gwen Stefani, Perez Hilton and many more.

Other stars who showed up to the bash at the Beverly Hilton Hotel included Dita Von Teese, Sarah Silverman and Clementine Ford.

The money raised at an Evening With Women will support a wide range of women’s programming at the L.A Gay & Lesbian Center.

The programmes include women’s health, legal assistance, domestic violence prevention and education, and cultural classes designed especially for women.

An Evening With Women’s host committee includes Cher, Jared Leto and Slash.

Carlyle says that he became convinced that Begbie was in the closet after he read a scene in which he has a run-in with a trans woman.

He said: “He picks up the transsexual in the nightclub and there’s the scene in the car where he puts his hands between the trousers and finds out it’s the real deal.

“Now why doesn’t he just kill this person? He kills everybody else, why doesn’t he do that? He gets frightened of it and backs away.

“Back at the flat, Begbie reacts to Renton winding him up about it and says, ‘Don’t you ever mention that again or you’re dead.’ I thought, ‘That’s interesting, that’s really too strong.’”

The author of the novel, Irvine Welsh has also agreed with Carlyle’s interpretation and suggests that though he intended for Begbie’s sexuality to be ambiguous in the book, he was most probably played as gay on screen.

“I think the Begbie of the film is more potentially gay than the Begbie of the book,” said Mr Welsh.

“In the book, Renton and Sick Boy hint that he’s a repressed homosexual as a means of making him into a less frightening figure and thus empowering themselves against his violence.

“John Hodge latched onto this side of things and amplified it subtly in the screenplay. It’s a standard middle-class view; the working-class hardman is subconsciously gay.”

Francis Begbie is the film’s most terrifying character with his arbitrary acts of sickening violence and Carlyle believes that this is down to his “fear of being outed”.

Carlyle also claims that the film’s director, Danny Boyle wanted him to portray a “homosexual Ian Rush look” so he grew a moustache similar to that of the Liverpool striker and dressed in brightly coloured Pringle jerseys and stay-pressed trousers.

Mr Carlyle admits: “On the first day of filming I had pink Pringles and red stay- pressed trousers on and I can remember Danny Boyle looking at me and thinking,’What have you done?’

“But he stuck with it, thank God.”

The state legalised marriage for gay couples on April 3rd after a unanimous decision by judges at the Iowa Supreme Court.

Polk County Recorder Julie Haggerty has told reporters that workers at the county offices have set up extra tables and chairs to cope with the expected rush. Additional staff will also be on hand to help out.

“We will be busy. We anticipate to be a lot busier than normal, yes. But as far as the procedure that happens in our office, it will be business as usual,” said Ms Haggerty.

Iowa became the the third US state to legalise same-sex marriage this month. Massachusetts and Connecticut already allow same-sex marriage; Vermont too has passed the legislation but this will not take effect until September.

Though applications are being processed today, marriages will only be allowed to take place from April 30th.

This is because the state requires a three-day waiting period, however a judge can waive that delay and allow an immediate wedding.

It has been reported that committed gay and lesbian couples are travelling from neighbouring states such as Illinois and Chicago to legally tie the knot.

Pastor Tom Emmett of Metropolitan Community Church of Omaha has already agreed to officiate more than a dozen ceremonies and he has received even more inquiries.

He told local reporters: “Many people are excited that they can finally have equal rights. However, some are waiting until later on in the year, I have ceremonies scheduled as late as August so far.

“It’s only a matter of time until God’s love for equality translates into equal rights for everybody regardless of who you are.”

To emphasise equality and to ensure all gays and lesbians enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples, weddings will be performed at bed and breakfasts and parks.

Ms Tan was taken into custody at her home in January for overstaying her 1989 visitor’s visa. She applied for political asylum in 1995 but was turned down by the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2002. Ms Tan claims that she was not notified of the decision.

US Senator Dianne Feinstein has sponsored a bill that puts the case on hold. The emergency measure, introduced Wednesday, stops on the deportation order.

Ms Tan’s deportation had been scheduled for April 22nd and meant that she would be separated from her partner, Ms Mercado and her 12-year-old twin sons. Because the twins are legally permitted to remain in the US, they would not have been deported.

Ms Tan’s deportation has received much criticism from gay rights activists who believe she is being treated unfairly due to her sexual orientation. She has been in a 23-year partnership with an American citizen called Jaylynn Mercado but will not still be allowed a green card.

The LGBTIQ Movement are one of the couple’s many supporters. They have said that Ms Tan and Ms Mercado had been living together in the US on a gay marriage arrangement with Ms Mercado’s 76 year old grandmother and Ms Tan’s 12-year-old twin sons.

“Bayan Muna”, an affiliate of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) allegedly told the Philippines News Agency (PNA) that they could do nothing as the “US federal law does not recognise their union as a family based on their identification as women and their partnership as lesbians.”

Supporters told local media that the decision is an “unjust act” and insisted that the union “be recognised as a marriage and family unit with all the rights that citizenship holds.

”If deported, the Tan-Mercado family will yet be another casualty of the U.S. immigration system.“

The case is just one of approximately 37,000 others.

Ms Tan’s case has come after the controversial Proposition 8 of the State of California was passed last year. The bill is a new amendment to the Californian Constitution making same-sex marriage illegal.

It says: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognised in California.”