Taiwan gay groups have called for the abolition of laws which bans the sale, circulation and public display of obscene publications after the conviction of a gay bookstore owner. Meanwhile in India, the Human Rights Watch has renewed its call for India to repeal its sodomy laws after recent arrests.
While many have predicted that Hong Kong will lower the legal age for gay sex from 21 to 16 following the High Court's decision last August, the government has responded that it will appeal the case. In the UK, same-sex couples can now adopt children, meanwhile a top Muslim cleric has condemned gay civil partnerships in a radio programme.
Australia Prime Minister John Howard has ruled out following Britain's lead by introducing civil unions for same-sex couples. Elsewhere, Rosanna Flamer-Caldera of Sri Lanka and Dr Peter Jackson, a well-known Australian academic have been named winners of the 2005 Utopia Awards.
Sir Elton John has "wed" his long-time partner, David Furnish, on Wednesday in the UK, the same day legislation goes into effect legalising civil partnerships in England and Wales.
Chinese Police has shut down Beijing's first gay and lesbian culture festival despite organisers moving the event at the last minute in an effort to escape police scrutiny.
A gay man in Brisbane has been sentenced to jail for 10 years for "deliberately" infecting a sex partner with HIV, making it the first of its kind in the state of Queensland. In Hollywood, Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain is in the running for seven Golden Globe awards.
A Singapore court has sentenced five men to eight to ten months in jail for providing false information when donating blood, which was later found to contain the HIV virus.
Same-sex couples in the UK can now be covered under the new Civil Partnership Act, which gives them the same rights as married heterosexual couples. In London, Robbie Williams, had accepted undisclosed libel damages from publishers of three publications that claimed he had sex with several men.
A controversial gay-friendly ad has won a prestigious US advertising award after being banned by several US TV networks. In China, MSM have become a focal point in its HIV/AIDS fight. More on the renewed ban on 'gay' priests by the Vatican and arrests in UAE.
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