Fridae

Eased restrictions on property financing and foreign home ownership will benefit same-sex couples who are planning to jointly purchase private residential properties using their pension funds and foreigners looking to buy private homes in Singapore.

Crowne Plaza Karon Beach Phuket has been named the official host hotel, where all pool and after-hours parties will be held from Nov 4-6. The Hilton Phuket Arcadia has been named supporting hotel.

Safehaven, a gay affirmative ministry of the all-inclusive Free Community Church, is launching a new 18-session support programme stating on Jul 15 to help gay Christian men reconcile their sexuality and their faith.

Action for AIDS clarifies that only one volunteer got infected after becoming a volunteer and not five as the paper reported; and none of the counsellors have met patients who later become their partners.

Spain has became the third country to legalise gay marriage. In Hong Kong, a party held on the same night as Kylie's originally scheduled concert which was cancelled after she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer raised HK$70,000 for the HK Breast Cancer Foundation.

Best known for her classic hits, "It's My Party (I'll Cry if I Want To) and "You Don't Own Me," former 60s teen idol Lesley Gore comes out at 59 years old.

Hideki Miyazawa, director of the 14th Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, shares how and why he became involved in the festival.

The High Court in Hong Kong has rejected the government's bid to block a review of age of consent laws that prescribe jail terms for homosexual acts with and between men under the age of 21.

In Singapore, a school had reportedly spent S$40,000 (US$23,700) replacing teaching aids and other common items after firing a gay teacher, pandering to some parents' fears that all gays are HIV positive. Meanwhile Canada is set to accord same-sex couples legal rights equal to those in traditional unions between a man and a woman.

Gay groups have reacted angrily to a government-sponsored draft survey which solicits comments on whether homosexuality is a "psychological disorder" and if it should be "regarded as a criminal act."