Homophobia

ADDISON, Vt. -- A lesbian couple is suing the town of Addison, Vt., alleging they have been subjected to 10 years of discrimination, harassment and intimidation by residents and town officials because of their sexual orientation. [ Read more → ]

Conservative columnist Ben Carson, who last year likened gays to pedophiles and compared homosexuality to bestiality, said Saturday "gay people should have the same rights as everyone else ... but they don’t get extra rights, they don’t get to redefine marriage.” [ Read more → ]

WASHINGTON -- The Republican lobbyist behind the campaign to ban Michael Sam and any other openly gay football player from joining the NFL, released the text of his proposed federal legislation on Thursday. [ Read more → ]

Gays, lesbians and bisexual individuals living in communities with high levels of anti-gay prejudice have a shorter life expectancy of 12 years on average compared with their peers in the least prejudiced communities, according to a study from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. [ Read more → ]

BANJUL, Gambia -- Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh said Tuesday that LGBTQ people are “vermin” and said his government would tackle them in the same way it fights malaria-causing mosquitoes. [ Read more → ]

NEW YORK — Two Long Island radio personalities have been suspended over an on-air hoax about a homophobic parent. [ Read more → ]

KENT, Ohio -- A wrestler at Kent State University has been suspended indefinitely for a series of anti-gay tweets on Monday, including referring to Missouri football player Michael Sam as "that fag." [ Read more → ]

LILONGWE, Malawi -- The Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), the country's leading Christian organization, is demanding that the government hold a referendum on Malawi’s harsh anti-gay laws, confident that Malawians will send a message reaffirming their opposition to any effort to decriminalize homosexuality in the African nation. [ Read more → ]

Linda Harvey of Mission America joined the American Family Association’s Tim Wildmon and Ed Vitagliano on Friday for a riveting discussion about homosexuality and Harvey’s new book, “Maybe He’s Not Gay: Another View on Homosexuality.” [ Read more → ]

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Lawmakers in Bulgaria have rejected a controversial legislative amendment that would have criminalized homosexual behavior, including "coming out." [ Read more → ]

DAKAR, Senegal -- A judge in Senegal sentenced two men to six months' jail in a rare conviction of a gay couple on criminal charges. [ Read more → ]

NEW DELHI - India's Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request to reconsider its controversial decision to reinstate a 153-year-old law that criminalizes homosexuality. [ Read more → ]

MOSCOW -- The leader of the Russian anti-gay vigilante group “Occupy Pedophilia,” who is alleged to have lured LGBT youth to abusive encounters through fake social media profiles, is back on Russian soil Monday and in custody after being deported by Cuban authorities. [ Read more → ]

MUMBAI – The former head of the national India Psychiatric Society described homosexuality as "unnatural" and that “homosexuals uncomfortable with their sexuality should seek psychiatric help.” [ Read more → ]

KAMPALA, Uganda -- A Ugandan court on Wednesday ordered the deportation of a British man facing criminal charges related to images of him having sex with another man. [ Read more → ]

ABUJA, Nigeria -- Leading Christian and Islamic leaders are praising Nigeria's new law banning same-sex marriage and outlawing anyone from forming organizations supporting gay rights. [ Read more → ]

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Members of Brazil's LGBT community held vigil Friday in honor of a gay Brazilian teen who was tortured and brutally murdered, one of at least five reported murders targeting LGBT people in Brazil over the past week. [ Read more → ]

The star of ABC’s “The Bachelor” has made anti-gay comments that drew a swift rebuke from the network and an apology from the bachelor himself. [ Read more → ]

ABC's "The Bachelor" -- Juan Pablo Galavis -- says he's not interested in seeing a gay version of the popular reality series because gay people are not a good example for kids. [ Read more → ]

HAVANA, Cuba -- Cuban law enforcement officials on Friday arrested and detained the leader of a Russian anti-gay extremist group, according to a source in the Russian Federal Security Services, the Investigation Committee of the Russian Federation. [ Read more → ]

TEL AVIV -- More than a thousand people marched in the streets of Tel Aviv on Thursday to protest against transphobia and anti-LGBT violence in Israel. [ Read more → ]

LAGOS, Nigeria -- Arrests have spread across Nigeria as dozens more people perceived to be gay have been rounded up and questioned, activists said Friday, describing another wave of police attention unleashed by a wide-ranging new anti-gay law. [ Read more → ]

Oklahoma lawmaker Sally Kern, who once called homosexuality “the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam,” decried a federal judge’s ruling striking down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. [ Read more → ]

Trestin Meacham, the Utah man who went on a two-week hunger strike until the state stopped allowing same-sex couples to marry, now says that his "purpose in life is to stand against the homosexual movement." [ Read more → ]

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico -- A gay prisoner in Mexico remains hospitalized and recovering from injuries after his cellmate gouged out his eyes. [ Read more → ]