Fridae

Hong Kong's Legislative Council panel has unanimously passed a motion demanding that the Broadcasting Authority withdraws its earlier ruling that a TV show that discussed same-sex partnerships was biased. In France, the highest court has declared the first marriage by a gay couple in France to be unlawful.

As Singapore is looking at its first major review of its Penal Code in more than 20 years, the National Council of Churches has praised the government for its proposal to retain laws criminalising homosexual acts, and for the first time advocated the specific inclusion of lesbians in its scope.

Fridae's man-huntress, Alvin Tan, previews the Singaporean hunks for CLEO Magazine's Most Eligible Bachelors 2007 and picks his favourite manpanions!

Thai gay icon and Fridae correspondent Vitaya Saeng-Aroon goes to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for the first time.

Sen. Hillary Clinton has pledged to support gay causes if elected president in the 2008 race. Same-sex couples in Taiwan may soon be covered under the revised Domestic Violence Bill. In London, a man responsible for the 1999 bombing of a London gay bar, which killed three, has had his original prison sentence extended from 30 years to 50.

Doug Sanders reports on "Queer Asian Sites," the second International Conference of Asian Queer Studies, which was held back to back with "Queer Space: Centres and Peripheries" in the lead up to the Mardi Gras parade in Sydney last weekend.

The Internet has on many occasions been credited as a liberating force for LGBTs but is it really? Alex Au examines the two features of the Internet that may work against LGBTs in reducing visibility of LGBT individuals as well as audience fragmentation given that surfers choose what they want to read online.

Look out for a Fridae Version 5 (V5) beta launch party happening near you in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and even San Francisco this March and April.

A woman in Kuala Lumpur has gone to the press about a club's discriminatory policy of a club for not admitting ''tomboys.'' Gaydar co-founder Gary Frisch was found dead outside his London apartment. Captive female koalas in Australia have been found for the first time engaging in 'lesbian' sex.

With the shut down happening just days ahead of the big Mardi Gras parade and party weekend, last Sunday's drug bust has somewhat dampened moods in the Australian city as some fear similar action by the police.