Fridae

Fridae.com’s Hong Kong correspondent Nigel Collett meets authors Brian Leung Siu Fai and yezhiwei to discuss their new books and their project to foster queer culture in Hong Kong.

The ACT government passed legislation today making it the first to legalise civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples, but Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has the power to overturn the new laws because they are at odds with the marriage act. 

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to allow all Senators a free vote on same-sex marriage so that the issue can be debated fully.

It is a “provocation and an abuse”should gay and lesbian tourists visit the Vatican City, Bishop Janusz Kaleta of Holy tells a travel and tourism website.

A new ruling that prescribes compulsory relationships and sex education - including gay relationships - for all pupils at the age of 15 has met with opposition from religious groups.

Same-sex marriage advocates in Maine were dealt a crushing blow as Maine voters overturned the state’s same-sex marriage law yesterday.

Produced at a cost of over HK$110,000 (US$14,000) without government or charity funding, organisers say they are HK$77,000 (US$10,000) short and are appealing for funds. 

A record 25,000 participants turned out for the 7th Taiwan Pride Parade which concluded at gates of the Presidential Office Building on Ketagalan Boulevard for the first time to protest at the government’s meagre progress made in gay rights promised to the community during past elections.

President Barack Obama has signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act - named after victims of two brutal 1998 murders: Shepard, a 21-year-old gay Wyoming college student and Byrd, a black man dragged to his death - on Oct 28.

In a city where 1 in 20 (Singapore, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh), 1 in 12 (Hanoi), 1 in 10 (Phnom Penh), 1 in 5 (Chiang Mai) or 1 in 3 (Yangon, Bangkok) gay men are infected with HIV, it is important to stop ignoring HIV as 'a problem affecting others.’