A 27-year-old man had to be treated in hospital for a fractured jaw after being punched in a homophobic attack in Bootle, Merseyside. Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident, which happened on Marsh Lane on June 21st.

Labour MP Angela Eagle has defended an Australian lesbian politician for publicly opposing equal marriage. Ms Eagle, who was the only out lesbian in parliament until this year, said that Australian Labor politicianPenny Wong should be commended for her previous record on gay rights.

The homophobic Family Research Council has begun a campaign against efforts to repeal America's ban on out gay soldiers in the military.

Gay groups in the US are calling on Lady Gaga to cancel a gig in Phoenix, Arizona, in protest at new immigration laws. Gaga, who is bisexual and a gay rights supporter, is due to play a concert in the city on Saturday.

More than 60 US rabbis have signed a declaration calling for Jewish communities to be accepting and tolerant of lesbian and gay people.

Nathaniel Rothschild is suing the Daily Mail over a story which claimed he set up a meeting between Lord Mandelson and a Russian billionaire. The newspaper's story, published on May 22nd of this year, was titled "Mandelson, an oligarch and a £500m deal".

A support group for gay men in London with HIV and hepatitis C begins next month. The group, set up by Terrence Higgins Trust, will meet one evening a week for six weeks in central London, beginning on August 12th.

US singer Kelis is to headline Manchester's Pride festival next month. The star, whose top hits are Milkshake and Acapella, will perform on Sunday August 29th in the city.

Six Hawaiian couples have filed a lawsuit against the state demanding full equality. Three weeks ago, governor Linda Lingle vetoed a civil partnerships bill and apparently compared it to condoning incest.

Tom Hardy, one of the stars of Inception, has revealed he slept with men when he was younger. The actor, who is engaged to British actress Charlotte Riley, 28, said he had finished "experimenting" but still enjoyed close friendships with men.

For the past two decades it's been a case of Berlin versus Cologne for the title of Germany’s gay capital. But now, as I look down Schaafenstrasse, crammed with hunky guys and the occasional German celebrity all the way down the block, there is no doubt in whose favour the scale swings tonight.

Lord Waheed Alli, the Labour peer who tabled an amendment in the last government to allow religious civil partnerships, has called for full marriage equality.

Same-sex relationships give gay male teenagers better self-esteem and lower internalised homophobia in teenage lesbians, a study suggests. The study, carried out by the University of Michigan, did not find similar effects in heterosexual teenagers' relationships.

A trans woman is one of the models in an advert for designer label Givenchy. Lea T is a former male model and previously worked as the assistant of Givenchy's creative director Riccardo Tisci.

Nepal's only out gay MP has said that his country will hold its first Pride march this year. Sunil Pant told AFP that he hopes 3,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people will join the event, to be held on August 25th in the capital Kathmandu.