Fridae

Tasmania, the last state in Australia to decriminalise sodomy in 1997, has become the first to pass a motion supporting gay marriage.

Kaohsiung and Hsinchu will hold its second annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride parade and streetside Rainbow Festival respectively on Saturday.

Former infantry officer Dan Choi, who came out as gay on a TV show in March 2009 which led to his discharge from the military a day after, tells of his journey as a closeted service member to being the most prominent anti-Don't Ask Don't Tell activist.

Following a tip-off, the police raided a gay party held in a bungalow in northern Mumbai early on Sunday and detained 133 people – including several celebrities – on the charge of indecent behaviour, two party organisers for not having the requisite liquor licence, and the DJ for not having the licence to play music beyond permissible hours.

Fridae and LGBT Capital, the world's first and only corporate advisory and investment management firm focused on the LGBT consumer sector, today announced a strategic alliance to develop a world class LGBT operation in Asia to support this rapidly developing market and provide empowerment for the LGBT community.

Gay men and lesbians in Iran come out in a Facebook campaign despite a regime that views their sexual orientation as a crime punishable by death.

For National Coming Out Day on Oct 11 this year, residents in the US state of Utah are asked to come out and form a Pink Dot in support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

A prominent businessman has applied to the local council to establish Australia's first gay and lesbian cultural centre and museum in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood.

The Thai military has agreed to stop labelling katoeys and male-to-female transgenders who are exempt from military conscription as suffering from a "permanent mental disorder" but instead having a gender identity disorder."

"What change can you accomplish, so that your family would welcome a son or daughter, nephew or niece, uncle or aunt who turns out to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender? What change can you spark, that would inspire the leaders of your local mosque, church or temple to resolve that in face of disagreement on issues of faith, there should be at the very least - in my opinion – the agreement to do no harm. If we can get some of these things right, if we can see ourselves as part of the solution, or better yet, instigators of the solution, then we may be on the right path to disrupt the drivers of HIV in this world." – Laurindo Garcia