Fridae

For the first time in Taiwan, three openly gay candidates are gunning for seats as councillors in districts in Taipei City and Xinbei City during the special municipality elections on Nov 27.

The amendment narrowly passed 79-70 reversing the 2008 declaration that included an explicit reference to killings committed because of the victims' sexual orientation. IGLHRC reports.

In a speech hailed as "amazing" and "inspiring", a 14-year-old gay student told a school board that he was bullied by classmates and had considered suicide when he was 9, and defended a teacher who was temporarily suspended for taking two students to task for their racist and anti-gay remarks.

A 40-year-old man in Singapore has been fined S$3,000 after being found guilty of performing an obscene act in a public place.

Organisers hailed the Taiwan LGBT Pride last to be the biggest ever gay pride parade in Asia with 30,000 people observing or marching through Taipei streets on Saturday. 

Pioneer gay group People Like Us and other civil society groups in Singapore have submitted reports on the country's human rights track record ahead of Singapore's first review by the UN as part of a periodic review of all UN member states.

A debate is heating up in South Korea over homosexuality in the military as the country's National Human Rights Commission declares the current military code that imposes a one year jail term to be a violation of soldiers' rights.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled last Thursday that Russia's ban on gay parades is illegal and ordered the government to pay a fine and damages amounting to about US$41,000.

An Ugandan newspaper has published a front-page story with a list of the "Top 100 Homos" and a banner recommending the men be hanged.

LGBT Singaporeans cite the repeal of Section 377A, legal recognition of same-sex relationships and job discrimination as their top three concerns, according to the first ever poll of LGBT citizens on what will influence their votes.