Fridae

Programme Director Raymond Tai takes time out from organising its annual RED Carnival to speak to Fridae about reaching young MSMs who "suffer from the 'not me' syndrome" and the challenges they face with the rise of political Islam.

Thailand will celebrate its first National Human Rights Day for Sexual Diversity on Nov 29, Manila its 10th gay pride anniversary on Dec 6 and Hong Kong its first gay pride march Dec 13.

Nepal has become the first country in the world to officially recognise a "third gender" following the Supreme Court's landmark ruling last year; and same-sex marriage may be in the pipeline. Fridae speaks to Sunil Pant, Nepal's first openly gay Member of Parliament, for the latest developments.

English pop singer and gay rights champion Sir Elton John has blamed the passing of Proposition 8 in California on the use of the term "marriage."

Gay men and lesbians in India and around the world are eagerly awaiting the court's verdict after the recent conclusion of a 12-day hearing which began on May 19.

Three men who brutally punched and kicked a man to death after he allegedly offered his attackers oral sex in a public toilet have been handed prison terms of between four years and 4 1/2 years, and six to eight strokes of the cane.

Florida, Arizona and California voted to ban gay marriage; America chooses Barack Obama over John McCain to become the first black president and the 44th president of the United States

Over the weekend, police raided four massage parlours and gay saunas. A source told Fridae that there were no sex parties in progress during the police raids despite being reported by the media.

In the first known case of its kind in Singapore, six men have appeared in court for beating a man - who allegedly exposed himself and offered sexual favours - to death.

Citing a spate of cases involving young women "behaving like men and indulging in lesbian sex" as reported by the Malay language Berita Harian, Malaysia's National Fatwa Council has announced a ban on "tomboyish" behaviour and lesbian relations.