Fridae

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss says he supports the repeal of his country's 145-year-old British-era law which criminalises same-sex sexual relations.

Only 11 of the 11,000 athletes at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are known to be openly gay or bisexual - and of which only one is a gay man.

Gay relationships can "reflect the love of God" in a way that is comparable to marriage, wrote Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams eight years ago in private letters that have been leaked to the media.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are 19 times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population, yet nearly half of the 128 country reports fail to provide any data on MSM, says AIDS group amFAR.

For the fourth year in succession, Singapore's LGBT Pride Season opens tonight with an open house cocktail reception. The 2-week long event will run till Aug 19.

A Bombay High Court judge's recent remarks supporting a review of the dreaded Section 377 has offered activists some encouragement as the case has been scheduled to be heard by the Delhi High Court on Sep 18 and 19.

Four transvestites arrested in a raid at a beauty pageant held in a Kelantan resort have appealed a one-week jail sentence imposed by a Syariah (Islamic) court for "dressing as women."

A survey in the US has shown that a significant proportion of MSM are not open about their sexual behaviour to their doctors - a situation which health officials say put patients at risk of not getting advice on HIV testing and other health concerns.

A 26-year-old Turkish student who died after being shot outside a caf� near Istanbul last week is believed by friends to be a victim of the first gay "honour killing" recorded in the country.

The only queer film festival to be held in a predominantly Muslim country, the Q! Film Festival will be held in the capital city of Jakarta, Bali and Surabaya this year; followed by Bandung and Yogjakarta next year.