The claim that homosexual men share a “gay gene” created a furore in the 1990s. But new research two decades on supports this claim – and adds another candidate gene. To an evolutionary geneticist, the…
The more the west recognises and protects gay rights, the more African and Asian nations (such as Uganda and India) seem determined to go in the opposite direction.
AAP
Media coverage of gays and lesbians in 2014 has followed a very different trend to previous years. Rather than good news stories about love and weddings, the majority of reports relate to violence, persecution…
Moving forward in science doesn’t mean moving back in politics.
Weeklydig
Why does a “gay gene” paper still cause a stir? A similar paper on any other topic would probably have passed unnoticed. But this is sex research – where public interest is huge but real funds and real…
Michael Sam (right) just wants to play ball, but his ambitions are affected by how the global sport/entertainment/media complex processes his sexuality.
EPA/Chris Lee
Any lingering doubts about the political power of popular culture have surely been dispelled in the last couple of weeks. When actor Ellen Page courageously fought tears to come out before a global audience…
“Homos” in Uganda can be “male lesbians” in Nigeria – or not.
AP
On 13 January the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, signed a bill against gay relationships, outlawing gay marriage, public displays of same-sex relationships and membership in gay groups. A few days…
Code-breaking genius Alan Turing was driven to suicide by the criminalisation of homosexuality. Such convictions still haunt many Australians.
AAP/Keir David
It is time for all Australian governments to acknowledge a historic wrong. In doing so they will help to right an injustice and demonstrate a real commitment to respect for all Australians. Earlier this…
Black economy: regulating sex work is easier said than done.
Ian Britton
Both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are taking steps towards new regulations for the sex work industry, principally aimed at better protecting victims of coercion and trafficking. However…
Homophobia in the Commonwealth isn’t just a relic of colonialism.
Image from shutterstock.com
The Kaleidoscope Trust this week released a report on LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgender and intersex) rights in Commonwealth countries. It found that 41 of the 53 member states still…
Uganda is among 76 countries in the world - and 41 Commonwealth states - that criminalise homosexuality. Should Australia get involved?
EPA/Dai Kurokawa.
In Australia, there is an ongoing debate around the right for same-sex couples to marry. The majority of laws discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people were repealed in…
Out and about. But HIV is rife in Bangkok and more men need to break the silence.
CharlesFred
It has been 10 years since the first evidence emerged of what was until then a completely hidden HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men in Bangkok, Thailand. The term includes all men who engage…
In his new book, activist and author Dennis Altman takes a look at how far the global gay liberation movement has come since events such as the Stonewall riots in New York.
New York Daily News
In a recent speech celebrating 30 years of the Victorian AIDS Council, Adam Carr, one of its founders who went onto pursue a PhD in history, made the point that: …not many people get to make history in…
Prisoners are having sex whether we like it or not and a lack of condoms affects us all.
PA/Barry Batchelor
The idea of prisoners having sex upsets people; it offends our sense that prison is a place of punishment not pleasure. But sex still happens, maybe more than we like to think. And if it is happening…
Being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex is joyous! Make no mistake, it’s the experience of homophobia and transphobia that can destroy lives and often leads to depression, anxiety and poor…
Ex-gay therapies utilise spiritual methods such as prayer, and a personal relationship with God.
Leland Francisco
A law banning therapists in California from attempting to change the sexual orientation of same-sex attracted youths was tested in the courts this week. At issue were the rights to professional free speech…
Archbishop Peter Jensen believes “homosexual lifestyles” are dangerous. He’s wrong.
ABC TV
Some people are ignorant. There are no cases, however, of ignorance being listed as the cause of death on someone’s death certificate. On the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night, Archbishop Jensen agreed…
A protest outside Exodus International’s 2009 anual conference.
Kevin Zolkiewicz
Alan Chambers, president of the world’s largest “ex-gay” organisation, Exodus International, recently renounced the group’s long-held position that homosexuality can be “cured” – that gay people can become…
Being counted in the census for the first time is a milestone for gay and lesbian couples everywhere.
multi.phrenic
AUSTRALIA BY NUMBERS: The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released the first batch of its 2011 census data. We’ve asked some of the country’s top demographers and statisticians to crunch the numbers…
Gamers can choose to play a gay character in Mass Effect 3.
BioWare
It may seem surprising, but the number of queer characters in videogames has increased dramatically over the last decade. A key influence of this is “media convergence”, that is, the flow of subject matter…
A new study has shown better-than-chance recognition of gay people by participants.
Official U.S. Navy Imagery
In the last few years, several laboratory studies have shown that, to some extent, we can tell whether someone is gay or straight, just by glimpsing their face. When asked to categorise male and female…