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AN expected crowd of 500,000 people have been gathering roadside at the route for this year's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade in Sydney. They can expect to see Kate Moss dancers snorting `cocaine', a spoof of gay-cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain and `friends' of the apparently gay-friendly Dick Cheney. And of course there will be the essential lampoon of Prime Minister John Howard. The parade is the culmination of a month of festivities celebrating gay pride and thousands are set to march – or to feature in the 120 floats – with this year's event having a fairytale theme. Captain...

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank has criticized Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for her role in the rejection of two international gay civil rights groups by a United Nations body. Last month, the U.N. Economic and Social Council, a think tank made up of nongovernmental agencies from around the world, voted not to admit the International Lesbian and Gay Association and the Danish Association of Gays and Lesbians. According to 365Gay.com, their application to join other nongovernmental agencies on the council was rejected without a hearing after the United States voted with some of the world's most repressive regimes, including Iran,...

DETROIT, Illinois, January 26, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, who is known as an activist for homosexuality in the Church, has handed in his resignation to the Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI is expected to announce the resignation today. Bishop Gumbleton resisted mandatory retirement last year when he reached the age of 75, asking to continue on as Auxiliary Bishop to Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida. His request, given to the head of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Giovanni Re, was denied. ”Some time ago he indicated that my request to defer my resignation was not acceptable,” Bishop Gumbleton said...

CHICAGO, January 19, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an annual interview with Chicago Sun Times reporter Cathleen Falsani, Chicago Cardinal Francis George revealed that last year the United States Bishops visiting with the Pope asked the Vatican to delay release of the long-awaited document on homosexuality and the priesthood. The document entitled, "Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders", reinforced Church teaching barring men "who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture'", from becoming priests....

IT'S cowboy country all right, but parts of north and central Queensland won't be seeing the controversial cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain. The film - banned in two cinemas in the US because of its tale of gay cowboy love - won't be seen in Townsville - home of NRL grand finalists the Cowboys. Nor, also due to its "limited release" status, will it be hitting the screens further south in Rockhampton. But the snub of two major Queensland cities has angered gay activists, who say much of its community could relate to the gay character played by Australian actor Heath...

CANBERRA, July 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The terms "homophobia" and "intolerance" are used in the media a great deal but few have dared to define them with any certainty since they carry a weight of political baggage. Many Christian and other religious objectors to the homosexual political movement have assumed that they are defined by homosexual activists simply as, "anything or anyone that differs with us," with traditional religious morality topping the list. A report by an Australian research group has confirmed that this view is accurate. The report by The Australia Institute, a leftist public policy think tank, was...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES June 15, 2005 U.S. Catholic bishops will sidestep the issue of whether homosexual men should become priests at their semiannual meeting, which begins tomorrow, despite the Vatican's concern about the role of homosexuals in the church's massive sex-abuse scandal. In the latest edition of an 84-page document on priestly training, only one sentence deals with homosexuality. "With regard to the admission of candidates with same-sex experiences and/or inclinations, the guidelines provided by the Holy See must be followed," says the document "Program of Priestly Formation." The program is expected to be approved by the bishops in their...

You know, we complain a lot about the war in Iraq yet here we are just sitting here and complaining. Why don't we do something and go enlist, or go encourage like-minded family members to do so?

It might be argues that as an Englishman, resident in the UK, your election is none of my business but as it will effect everyone in the world, I feel entitled to a voice, if not a vote. (Judging by your last foray into democracy, perhaps votes are not all that important) I do not envy you having to choose between the inarticulate incumbent Bush and an unimpressive challenger who seems to live thirty years in the past. Why can't you wonderful country find better candidates than this pair? Whoever wins will have to confront the monstrous debt, ($7 trillion...

Australian government minister brands US moviemaker an ugly American Wed Jul 21, 4:24 PM ET Add Offbeat - AFP to My Yahoo! CANBERRA (AFP) - US filmmaker Michael Moore, whose anti-war documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, has been praised and savaged by critics around the world, was described by an Australian government minister Wednesday as "the quintessential ugly American." Moore's film, which won the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival (news - web sites), has attracted sell-out audiences in Australia where it has been viewed by some critics as a justified critique of US President George W. Bush (news -...

A radio advert for supermarket chain Somerfield has been banned after its use of the word faggots was deemed to be "highly derogatory". The avert(sic)featured a husband complaining that his wife served him the same meals every week. When she told him it was Friday so he was getting his usual faggots, he replied: "I've nothing against faggots, I just don't fancy them." Three listeners complained to media watchdog Ofcom, saying faggots alluded to homosexuals. Somerfield insisted: "The ad refers only to food products. Faggots were chosen to demonstrate the idea because they are commonly perceived as an outdated and...

Springsteen torture at Camp X-Ray 01Mar04 A TERROR suspect freed from Guantanamo Bay has told of cruel and unusual punishment. Hamed Abderrahman Ahmad, a Spaniard who denies any links with terrorism, said he had to wrap his head in a damp towel to try to muffle loud tapes of Born in the USA. Mr Ahmad said he was confined to a small cell where the lights were always on and he was forced to listen endlessly to Bruce Springsteen. "First I spent a month in a cell two metres square that had a roof of sheet iron, with unbearable...

Gays win rights as refugees HOMOSEXUALS who would have to live "discreetly" to avoid persecution in their home country might be entitled to refugee status in Australia, the High Court found in a landmark judgment yesterday. The court split 4-3 over the decision to grant an appeal by a gay Bangladeshi couple, who claimed they would face persecution if sent back home. The Refugee Review Tribunal and the Federal Court previously had ruled the men would be unlikely to face persecution if they resumed the "discreet" gay lifestyle they had lived before fleeing Bangladesh in February 1999. But in a...

The English Premier League soccer kicked off its 2003-04 season last week. I've been sneakily staying up late watching live games on pay TV and waiting for the replays on free-to-air. Not for the soccer, mind you. For the hairstyles. As far as male hair fashions go these games are a veritable goldmine of cutting-edge dos. From neat short back and sides, which are apparently tres chic this year, to bleached tips, mohawks and yes, even, the mullet, English soccer has it all. Now, even though the high prince of metrosexuals, David Beckham, has departed England for the Spanish club...

<p>Hordes of quivering GOP lawmakers and vast throngs of proudly homophobic right-wing Christian Americans fell into an adorable tizzy the other day as the entire really, really big country of Canada announced it will change its law to allow full-on homosexual marriage anywhere in the whole country including Vancouver and Toronto and even "that weird province with all the gay French people."</p>

Making a clean breast of fashion By JENNIFER MELOCCO WANT to keep abreast of the latest in male fashion? Well, the message from Milan is to say goodbye to Mr Macho and hello to Mr Androgyny. The provocative direction – featuring male models with fake breasts under figure-hugging knitwear – was sent down the catwalk by outrageous British designer Vivienne Westwood in the mens' autumn winter 2003 shows held this week. And while the effect may look outrageous today, fashion commentators reckon Sydney men may just end up adopting it – in a few years' time. Director of fashion...