New gay HIV infections at highest rate ever

The latest figures released today from the Health Protection Agency reveal that the number of gay and bisexual men diagnosed with HIV in the UK is at its highest rate since the start of the epidemic.

2,700 gay and bisexual men were newly diagnosed last year, the highest number ever.

Across the UK 1 in 20 gay and bisexual men are now living with HIV and estimates suggest this figure is as high as 1 in 10 in London.

The increase in diagnosis comes at a time when the National AIDS Trust claims funding for HIV prevention is inadequate.

In the past 10 years the number of people being seen for HIV care has more than trebled, but a recent National AIDS Trust survey into Primary Care Trusts revealed that in the same period the amount spent on HIV prevention has decreased.

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust, commented:

"For over ten years the government and health services have been failing to bring HIV in the UK under control and diagnoses among gay and bisexual men continue to rise.

"Funding for prevention and testing must urgently be increased and the Government must make informed policy commitments to control the epidemic.

"But the gay community must also act – gay men, gay businesses, the gay media all must respond to what is in essence a public health crisis for gay men.

"If amongst the general public there was over one in 20 with such a serious infectious disease, it would dominate politics and priorities. If we want wider society to act on HIV, the gay community must take the lead."

7,800 people were diagnosed last year, and the numbers living with HIV in the UK were 73,000 by the end of 2006.

One in three people do not know they are infected.

Nick Partridge, Chief Executive of HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said that urgent action was required.

"Twenty five years on from the discovery of HIV this just isn't good enough," he said.

"We need to renew the fight and we need everyone, from the NHS to individuals, to join us.

"One in 20 gay men are now living with HIV, and levels of STIs are at their highest for 20 years. That's why we’re launching a Call to Action to improve gay men's sexual health.

"Gay men, businesses, politicians, media and the voluntary sector all need to play their part, and act now."

THT has outlined five action points for each group and suggestions range from asking politicians to make sex and relationships education part of the core curriculum to asking gay men to have regular tests for sexually transmitted infections.

In 2006, an estimated 31,100 men who have sex with men (MSM) were living with HIV in the UK and there were approximately 2,700 new diagnoses. Around a third of people with HIV don’t know they have it.

Howard upbeat as Australians go to the polls

Just hours before Australians go to the polls in a federal election, it looks like the predicted landslide win by Labour could turn out to be a close-run thing.

The opposition party, out of power since 1996, has seen a consistent lead over the incumbent Liberals halve in one recent poll to 4%.

Prime Minister John Howard, seeking a fifth term in office and widely expected to suffer a catastrophic defeat, was upbeat today.

AFP quotes him as telling reporters in Melbourne:

"I believe the coalition can win this election. I believe that there is a bit of a tide coming back. I sense it in the streets."

A poll of 2,600 Australian voters, to be published tomorrow in The Australian, shows Labour on 52% against 48% for the government.

However, other polls show Labour as much as 14% ahead, meaning it is still likely that Kevin Rudd will become Australia’s 26th Prime Minister.

Gay rights have been a theme in this race.

The announcement of a general election prompted evangelical groups in the country to begin campaigning against gay equality.

The Labour party took the line that marriage is for heterosexuals only, and would grant legal concessions to homosexuals, but not the legal status of marriage.

"On the institution of marriage itself, our view is between a man and woman and it's just been our traditional, continuing view," Mr Rudd said in October.

When asked if in the future this position would look as closed-minded as racist beliefs of the past, Mr Rudd said it was what he believed in.

However, Labour will support changes to the law to remove inequities in the tax and benefits system that discriminate against same-sex couples.

A report in June by Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) recommended that 58 laws need to be changed to grant gay, bisexual and lesbian Australians equal rights.

These include key changes in the way that gay couples receive benefits from their relationships.

The 68-year-old Prime Minister is a despised by many in Australia's LGBT community.

In 2004 he passed federal legislation banning same-sex marriage and earlier this year said that HIV positive immigrants should not be allowed into the country.

Mr Rudd has led the Labour party since December 2006, and recent revelations that he visited a strip club in New York while on official business did much to endear him to Australians who previously viewed him as grey and boring.

Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull will be defending the Sydney seat of Wentworth, which after boundary changes now includes gay districts such as Darlinghurst and Kings Cross.

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey is seeking re-election in North Sydney, another constituency with a high concentration of LGBT voters.

Both seats have seen fierce campaigning and attempts to get out the gay vote.

Tatchell to celebrate 40 years of activism

One of the best-known gay rights advocates in Britain will soon be celebrating his 40th year of human rights campaigning.

Peter Tatchell began his first campaign in 1967 in his native Australia against the death penalty and opposition to conscription and the Australian and US war against the people of Vietnam.

"It is a great honour and privilege to have been part of the international human rights movement," said Mr Tatchell.

"Over the last four decades, I have been involved in campaigns that have contributed to many spectacular human rights achievements: the fall of the dictatorships in Spain and Chile, independence for East Timor, an end to apartheid in South Africa, peace in Vietnam and the north of Ireland, and the transition to democracy in the former Soviet bloc states of Eastern Europe and the Baltics."

He will celebrate 40 years of human rights campaigning on
10 December 2007, Human Rights Day, by staging a protest.

In the evening he will attend the Human Rights Awards 2007, which is
jointly organised by Liberty and Justice.

After moving to London in 1971, aged 19, he became a leading activist in the Gay Liberation Front (GLF); organising sit-ins at pubs that refused to serve "poofs", and protests against police harassment and the medical classification of homosexuality as an illness.

Recently he was assaulted while taking part in a Pride demonstration in Moscow, and was detained by Russian police.

As well as his campaign work he also regularly writes for The Guardian and hosts a weekly current affairs programme broadcast on internet channel 18 Doughty St, entitled Talking with Tatchell.

He is the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Oxford East, and party's spokesperson on human rights.

Protests ask Commonwealth to "fight" gays

A group of anti-gay activists has protested in Uganda against gay rights and accused Europeans of trying to change the law to decriminalise homosexuality.

The demonstration by the Rainbow Coalition against Homosexuality took place at Kololo airport yesterday, and was led by Pastor Martin Sempa, who has generated large amounts of publicity through his attacks on gay people in Uganda.

Yesterday Her Majesty the Queen, who is in the African nation to open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, praised the country's work on HIV/AIDS during a visit to a clinic.

Pastor Sempa said: : "If Uganda is leading in the fight against HIV/AIDS, it should do the same to fight homosexuality.

"The government is under pressure to legalise homosexuality. Europeans send people money to change the laws in order to legalise homosexuality."

He urged the Ugandan leadership to use the three-day conference, which begins today, to take the fight against homosexuality to other Commonwealth nations.

There were protests from gay rights activists at the decision to hold the international meeting in Uganda.

Last month James Nsaba Buturo, the country's Minister for Ethics and Integrity, told All Africa news agency that the government is committed to stopping LGBT people "trying to impose a strange, ungodly, unhealthy, unnatural, and immoral way of life on the rest of our society."

Members of Parliament in Uganda have urged the country's government to speak out against gay rights at the CHOGM.

One MP, demanding a "clamp down" against lesbian and gay Ugandans, said that the international event, to be held in the capital later this month, would be a good opportunity to "send a clear message that gays are not welcome in Uganda."

Gay sex is punishable in Uganda by life imprisonment, under laws originally introduced by the British colonial administration in the nineteenth century.

The Queen is on her first visit to Uganda since 1954 and today she opened the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the capital Kampala.

The meeting, held every two years, is expected to be dominated by discussions about the situation in Pakistan.

53 heads of government, among them Prime Minister Gordon Brown, are in attendance.

Norwegian church lifts ban on partnered gay clergy

The Lutheran church of Norway has lifted an outright ban on clergy in same-sex relationships.

However, it will allow each bishop to decide whether or not to employ them.

The decision comes after a week of debate at the churches annual meeting, with the 86 member governing synod voting 50 to 34 to change the rules.

Marit Tingelstad, head of the Bishop's Council for Norway's Hamar distric said on state radio network NRK: "This will create peace in the church, and securing for homosexual clergy."

However not all church members are pleased with the decision.

Bishop Ole D. Hagesaeter, of the Bjoergvin district, said, "This is a sad day for the church. It will be a splitting factor and lead to many feeling homeless in the church."

Under Norwegian law, gay couples have rights comparable to those of married heterosexuals, apart from church weddings and adoption.

The church counts nearly 85 percent of Norway's 4.7 million people as members.

Greens launch campaign for Mayor of London

Sian Berry today launched her campaign to become Green Mayor of London.

Earlier this year the 33-year-old won 45% of the party member's votes to become her party's candidate.

Among the Green pledges unveiled at the launch of her campaign at City Hall was a "living wage" of Ј7.20 an hour for all Londoners working for public employers, cuts to off-peak travel fares and an increase in affordable housing across the capital.

Under the slogan "A Green London is an Affordable London," Ms Berry's said:

"The likes of Gordon Brown who think that you can get people to change their ways without making the alternatives cheaper and easier are living in a fool's paradise, she said.

"And so are people who think social justice and poverty are not 'green issues'. You can't have one without the other."

In 2000 and 2004 the Green party candidate was Darren Johnson, the openly gay London Assembly member.

The election for Mayor of London will be held on May 1st 2008.

Brian Paddick, who as Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner was the most senior gay police officer in the UK, is the Liberal Democrat candidate.

Incumbent Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone is also being challenged by Conservative party candidate Boris Johnson.

Gerard Batten will be the UKIP candidate, Lindsey German has been selected to stand for the Respect party and Richard Barnbrook will be standing for the BNP.

Tabloid journalist Garry Bushell is the English Democrats candidate and the One London party will contest the election but have yet to select a candidate.

In the 2004 election for Mayor of London the Greens came seventh.

UKIP, the BNP and Respect all polled more first preference votes.

Police investigate suspicious death of trans woman

A forty-year-old trans woman has been found dead at her home in south-east London, according to reports.

Kayiode Dexter Telesford, who had been living for several years under the name of Kellie Telesford, died of strangulation at her home on Leander Road in Thornton Heath.

The police are treating the death as suspicious, and have asked anyone who saw Telesford between the 15th and 21st of November to contact them immediately.

One neighbour told thisislocallondon.co.uk "There's been a lot of police activity round here. I can't believe something like that has happened.

"I heard the police breaking in through the door the other day but I didn't know why. Now I've heard what's happened, it's made me feel very uneasy." he added.

Undercover mission for gay millionaire

Gay entrepreneur and mutli-millionaire Terry George will feature on an upcoming episode of Channel 4's The Secret Millionaire.

The owner of Bent magazine and the 118 G-A-Y directory enquiries service admitted that when he was first approached to do the show he was sceptical but "cried his eyes out" when he watched the first series on DVD.

In the show, participants agree to give Ј30,000 to people who they deem worthy of needing the money.

The twist is that the people who receive the money don't know the real identity of their new moneyed up friends.

It's only after getting to know them that the secret is revealed.

Terry told PinkNews.co.uk:

"I did three jobs. I worked in a care home delivering meals on wheels, then an old people's home, then a chip shop where things were very physical - swinging bags of potatoes around.

"The hardest part for me was the old people's home where I had to feed and change people who couldn’t look after themselves."

Of the filming, he said: "They stuck me in a caravan in Cornwall but I quite liked it.

"It was rough in terms of having to live on a minimum wage. I wasn't allowed to take any money, they even took my Platinum American Express card away.

"I had to beg and borrow tea bags, milk, bread and butter from my caravan site neighbours."

The owner of Leeds club Mission, Mr George was born and brought up on a Leeds council estate and now lives in a Ј3m castle in Calderdale with his civil partner Michael Rothwell.

The couple were one of the first to tie the knot after the civil partnership laws came into place in 2005.

The Secret Millionaire featuring Terry George will be shown on Channel 4 at 9pm on Wednesday 28th November.

Mark World AIDS day with cycling and champagne at St Pancras

A cycling campaign group is planning to hold a ride to coincide with World Aids Day on December 1st.

Southwark Cyclists' bike trek will start at the newly refurbished St Pancras station.

It is being held is in association with voluntary group The Food Chain, who deliver meals to mean women and children who are very ill as a result of HIV-related illnesses.

Those who are taking part are being asked to contribute a donation of Ј10.

All money goes to The Food Chain, which claims Ј10 is "more than enough to pay for 3 people's two-course lunch and a light
evening meal."

After a drink at the Europe's longest champagne bar, which has just opened in the station, the fun moves to St Pancras Church on Euston Road for a free concert with the London Gay Men's Chorus.

Those interested in riding at the event have been asked to arrive at 9am at the Cutty Sark Gardens.

Zoo hosts anti-bullying event

The Young Anti-Bullying Alliance (Young ABA) is hosting a special event at London Zoo today to mark Blue Friday, the day when all children and young people are encouraged to dress in blue for the day in support of the anti-bullying message.

Young ABA (YABA) is a recently established advisory board of nine Diana Anti-Bullying Award holders – one from each government region.

This week is Anti-Bullying Week 2007, run by the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), who this year are focusing on 'bullying in the community.'

Gay equality organisation Stonewall and LGBT education group Schools Out are members of the ABA, which is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Research published by Stonewall earlier this year revealed that nearly two thirds of LGB students reported instances of homopbobic harassment.

That figure jumps to 75% of young gay people attending faith schools.

The survey of more than 1,100 young people found that only 23% of all UK schools explicitly condemn homophobic bullying.

92% of gay, lesbian and bisexual pupils have experienced verbal abuse, 41% physical bullying and 17% have been subject to death threats.

The Diana Anti-Bullying Award is a living legacy to the late Princess which is presented to all young people, 18yrs and under, who have tackled bullying in their schools or communities. The Diana Anti-Bullying Award is under the umbrella of the main Diana Award which is presented to young people who inspire the lives of others.

Echoes of Diana as Queen shakes hands with HIV+ man

Her Majesty the Queen visited a clinic for people with AIDS for the first time today.

During a state visit to Uganda the monarch shook hands with Steven Wakodo, who is HIV+, echoing the famous handshake between Diana, Princess of Wales and an HIV+ person in April 1987.

The Princess's gesture helped overcome the fear of AIDS, demonstrating that the HIV virus cannot be transmitted by touch.

"The scourge of HIV infection and AIDS has touched the lives of too many Ugandan people," Her Majesty said in a speech to patients and staff.

"Centres such as this, which the government of Uganda has done so much to encourage, are essential in achieving our common aim of controlling this cruel disease."

The Queen is on her first visit to Uganda since 1954 and tomorrow she will open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the capital Kampala.

The meeting, held every two years, is expected to be dominated by discussions about the situation in Pakistan.

53 heads of government, among them Prime Minister Gordon Brown, are in attendance.

In a speech to the Ugandan parliament today the Queen stressed the importance of democracy, a clear reference to Pakistan. She also praised Uganda.

"The deliberations and decisions of this House, together with your respect for the rule of law, have had and will continue to have an essential bearing on the country's success in addressing many serious challenges," she told MPs.

CHOGMs are one of the most important events in the Commonwealth calendar and take place every two years in a different country.

Almost one third of the world's leaders are in attendance, and they come together to adopt common positions through consensus.

There were protests from gay rights activists at the decision to hold the three-day meeting in Uganda.

Last month James Nsaba Buturo, the country's Minister for Ethics and Integrity, told All Africa news agency that the government is committed to stopping LGBT people "trying to impose a strange, ungodly, unhealthy, unnatural, and immoral way of life on the rest of our society."

Members of Parliament in Uganda have urged the country's government to speak out against gay rights at the CHOGM.

One MP, demanding a "clamp down" against lesbian and gay Ugandans, said that the international event, to be held in the capital later this month, would be a good opportunity to "send a clear message that gays are not welcome in Uganda."

Ishaa Otto claimed that the gay community is growing:

"It's unfortunate that the government is silent as if there is nothing happening. The society must rise up against homosexuality before it's too late," he said.

"The government should urgently table a new bill that criminalises homosexuality with punitive amendments that guarantee arrests to prevent the spread of gay practices."

Gay sex is punishable in Uganda by life imprisonment, under laws originally introduced by the British colonial administration in the nineteenth century.

2007 has seen the first gay rights press conference and the first anti-gay rally in Uganda.

In August gay rights activists in spoke out about the prejudice LGBT people face in the country.

30 people gave a press conference drawing attention to the state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia they face every day.

They called themselves the "homosexual children of God" and demanded that attacks on LGBT people stop.

Some of the activists wore masks for fear of being identified, while others shocked journalists by outlining the brutality they had faced at the hands of police.

Trans people are also targeted by police and regularly subject to abuse and harassment.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are also on a state visit to Uganda for the CHOGM.

Labour peer defends lesbian sister's parental rights

The House of Lords continued its debate on the second reading of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill yesterday.

During the debate a leading Labour peer revealed that his sister is a lesbian who had a child with her partner.

Conservative elected hereditary peer Lord Elton said it was "extraordinary" to remove the need for a father.

"It seems to me grotesque and unpleasant," he said.

"The sensibilities of those who may be bringing children up after they are born must come second to the interests of the child."

Labour's Lord McIntosh of Haringey, leading Humanist, interrupted Lord Elton to give an example of why is point was irrelevant.

"My sister is a lesbian, and she and her partner decided to have a child," Lord McIntosh told peers.

"Her partner bore the child, with the active agreement of a man friend. My sister has no rights whatever over that child.

"She had no legal power to become the equivalent of a father. Fortunately, it has worked well, and the child has grown up happy and contented.

"The effect of the existing law is to take away the equivalent of a father, and the effect of this bill would be to give my sister rights that would be equivalent to those of a father.

"It works in the opposite direction from that which the noble Lord, Lord Elton, is describing."

Lord Elton rejected the point.

"The bill is not perfect, and the noble Lord suggests that there is no way of introducing a right for a woman in this position or a relationship which cannot in my view properly cut out the parenthood of the male," he said.

"I do not rule out the possibility of putting a locus for a second female with the child of a couple, I am undecided on that and it should be looked at, but to rule out the male responsibility seems to go in the face of nature, religion and good sensible politics on the part of a government who are trying to stop overfilling the jails of this country."

Muslim peer Lord Ahmed agreed, and said Parliament does not have the right to "deny a child knowledge of his origins."

He pointed out that "Muslims have a profound belief not just in the sanctity of human life from conception onwards but in the importance of knowing your antecedents: the root from which you spring."

On Monday a peer was taken seriously ill in the House just after speaking in the debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill and the sitting was suspended.

Baroness Paisley of St George's, wife of the DUP leader and First Minister of Northern Ireland Ian Paisley, whose speech was interrupted on Monday, mentioned Lord Brennan at the start of her remarks.

"I have been praying that he will have a speedy recovery, and it appears that those prayers are being answered," she said.

"We look forward to having him back in your Lordships' House very quickly."

Baroness Paisley attacked the bill. "This proposal totally disregards the biblical law on mixing kinds or species as laid down in Holy Scripture, and would be an offence to the Creator Himself, who made man in His own image," she said.

"These proposals would also unleash an untameable monster on an already morally diminished people, the end result of which is too fearsome to contemplate."

Other peers were less apocalyptic in the assessment of the proposed legislation, but many speakers were drawn to the proposal to remove the need for a father for children conceived through IVF.

Bishop of Newcastle urged the government to consider the welfare of the baby.

"It seems extraordinary that at this time in our society's life we state in the law that in the welfare and well-being of a child there is no need any more for a father.

"It is surely very odd that the law might provide a birth certificate showing two women as parents of the child. I well understand that comes from a desire not to discriminate, but to have two women, or, indeed for that matter, two men on a birth certificate as parents is a very odd way to put things.

"We have come to see that donor-conceived children should be able to discover the truth about their origins, and of course we all commend the bill's desire to promote the truth.

"So why provide a birth certificate naming two persons of the same sex, when it is simply not true? If the well-being of the child is a key principle, and if truthfulness is a key principle, then above all we have to be honest."

Another Tory elected hereditary peer, Lord Selsdon, said that gay and lesbian civil partners are a "small minority" compared to people who are married.

"Over the past 10 years, I have noticed that in the political world people are paying more and more attention to the views of minorities, because, I suggest, they think that the minority vote might count," he told peers.

"That may not be true, but the wishes and feelings of the majority are often ignored, including the moral feelings. When we look at that, my suggestion is that we have a few technical problems.

"The average age at which a male civil partnership is entered into is 47 and the average age for female civil partnership is 44.

"Therefore, the people involved are above the age at which it is normal to be given IVF treatment on the NHS.

"An accumulation of evidence shows the importance of a father in bringing up children. I suggest that the father has four roles. The first is giving physical, financial and emotional support to the mother. The second is as a secondary, but still very important, attachment figure for the child, adding to its self-esteem and sense of security.

"The third is as a role model, showing a boy what it means to be a man, building his self-esteem, encouraging him to work at school and developing by example his social skills. The fourth is as a role model to both boys and girls, showing them how a man and a woman can live and work together in a loving relationship.

"It is possible, but not proven, that a second mother can perform the first two of the roles that were traditionally those of the father, but she certainly cannot substitute for the father as a male role model.

"When most boys reach the age of seven or eight, they instinctively start to ask themselves what it means to be a man. They seek out heroes to be their role models.

"If there is a father, the child will instinctively love and admire him and will turn to him. If there is not, however, he will look elsewhere.

"With so few male teachers in primary schools today, he may have little alternative but to find a role model in his computer game or, as he grows up, in a gang leader on the street.

"My main concern is not so much with that small minority of children who will grow up in a lesbian household and who will have two women to look after them, but with the fact that (removing the need for a father) and other parts of the bill will send a message to fathers that it does not matter if they abandon their child, and it will send a message to all prospective mothers that it does not matter whether their child has a dad."

Labour's Baroness Hollis of Heigham told the House that she holds "conservative views about the family," but criticised the language used by some of her fellow peers in the debate.

"To suggest, as did the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York, that we need to include such a phrase in the bill to placate Fathers 4 Justice is profoundly unwise," she said.

"Should reference to the need for a father be on the face of this bill? Let me be clear. Do I think that the welfare of a child is usually best ensured within a loving, stable family of a mother and father? Yes, I do.

"Do I also think that a single parent or a gay or lesbian couple can be a loving, stable family, as my noble friend Lord McIntosh said? Yes, I do.

"Do I think that fathers should offer emotional and financial sustained support to their children? Yes, I do.

"Do I value their contribution, especially in providing a role model for sons, as the noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, eloquently described it?

"Yes, I do. Do I think that many children will want to know who their fathers are? Yes, I do.

"Do I therefore believe that the need for a father should be a consideration for the clinician and the phrase reinstated in this bill? No, I do not."

Baroness Hollis went on to claim that the current requirement for a father is "meaningless, vacuous, empty rhetoric" as single women receive IVF treatment.

"We have been told this by the minister and by clinicians and the noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, has emphasised the point. It is not usually salient to the decision whether to offer IVF treatment.

"Instead the assessment is made on whether the woman is in sound physical and emotional health, or, in more conventional parlance, not "flaky", and has family support.

"If we reinsert the phrase, we are doing so because it should be meaningful; otherwise there is no point, and why bother? It would mean that clinicians would and should question the whereabouts of the putative father. If there is no such person, what then?

"Will they still permit treatment, in which case the question was intrusive but irrelevant, or refuse it, which means discriminating against and denying single women and lesbian partners the right to IVF?

"Even if they are young and fertile enough and may have unassisted births and even though, after the most intense and rigorous scrutiny, they may have adopted a child, they may not receive IVF.

"Fathers do belong in children's lives. I firmly believe that. It is just the phrase that does not belong in the bill"

Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve, a crossbench peer and former professor of philosophy, agreed that the need for a father is an ambiguous and impractical phrase.

"Being a father is a deeply understood notion in our and every culture," she said.

"Fatherhood is not something that is up for legislative redefinition. We would do much better to put the emphasis on the notion of the agreed parent and the second agreed parent and, if I had my way, even the third agreed parent.

"We need not challenge in a way that many of our fellow citizens find offensive the importance of fathers in fixing with legal certainty the parental rights of those who actually bring children up."

Baroness Barker, a Liberal Democrat, said that her party beleived this issue should be given a free vote, "in recognition of conflicting and very deeply-held religious and moral views."

The government has indicated the vote will be enforced along party lines.

"It is also our party's policy that individual women and lesbian and gay couples should not face discrimination when they seek fertility treatment," she told peers.

"I say to those noble Lords who have said throughout the debate that they do not wish to be discriminatory in any way, that some of the statements that have been made about fatherhood and parenthood can only be that.

"When heterosexual people agonise long and hard and decide that adoption is not the right course for them or for the children, we support them through the physical and emotional trauma of fertility treatment and we rejoice with them when it is successful.

"But when single or gay people make that same difficult considered decision, we are suddenly surrounded by phrases like "children are accessories" and "nobody has the right to a child."

"Of course nobody has the right to a child, but nothing in the bill suggests that they do.

"All that is suggested is that people are given the same consideration as potential parents.

"I suggest that in seeking to make the changes that noble Lords have indicated, we risk eliminating those single women and gay people who have taken a responsible attitude towards parenthood, who are willing to subject themselves to the intrusive questioning that is quite rightly conducted when people present themselves for this sort of treatment and who are the responsible parents we should be encouraging."

Responding on behalf of the governement Lord Darzi, the Under-Secretary of State for Health, addressed the concerns about the need for a father expressed by many peers.

"I hope that I may be able to address some of the concerns through further explanation of the Government's thinking," he said.

"Many of the concerns raised appear to be motivated not by any practical effect that the clause may have in relation to assisted reproduction but by a general concern for the perceived signal or message that may be derived from its removal. I understand that concern.

"Let me say at the outset that the proposal is not motivated by any attack on fathers or on the concept of fatherhood. Nor is it motivated by a simplistic desire for political correctness.

"The government recognise clearly the extremely important role that fathers can and do play in their children's lives and the consequences that can follow where a relationship breaks down. Many measures taken by this government are aimed at strengthening the role of fathers and ensuring that they are aware of their responsibilities."

The minister pointed out to peers that only slightly less than 1.5% of UK births "result from licensed assisted conception treatments. Hence, we are talking about a few hundred children."

He said that at present there is no requirement in the law as it stands that there must be a father or any man involved in the upbringing of the child.

"There is no ban on single women or same-sex couples receiving assisted conception treatment," he reminded the House.

"The outcome intended to be achieved by the current law is therefore extremely unclear or, as the noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, said, ineffective and wishy-washy.

"Undoubtedly, we want anyone contemplating having children to think through the implications.

"Given the nature of the procedures in question, we are talking about people who will almost invariably have considered very carefully their decision to approach treatment services and who will have decided to act responsibly.

"In addition, the law requires the provision of information and an offer of counselling.

"In relation to fathers, there is clear evidence of poorer outcomes for children where a marriage or partnership breaks down and the father is then absent. It is right and proper that that should be addressed.

"However, in the context that we are discussing today, the available research evidence suggests that it is the quality of parenting that is the factor of prime importance, not the gender of the parent per se."

The bill will now proceed to a Committee of the Whole House.

Army sergeant denies sending texts to lesbian soldier

An employment tribunal has heard an Army sergeant deny sending texts to a lesbian soldier claiming he could "convert" her.

Lance Corporal Kerry Fletcher, 31, claims she was picked on because of her sexuality and that the staff sergeant sent her text messages indicating he wanted to have sex with her when she was working at an army stables in North Yorkshire.

The sergeant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has maintained his innocence despite an internal army inquiry indicating that he most likely did sent the messages.

"I have been protesting my innocence for the past three years. I still remain innocent and I still didn’t do it," he said.

He told the Leeds tribunal yesterday, that Fletcher had suggested he should be a sperm donor and once said: "You have quite a bulge, I was wondering if it was big or just scrunched up in briefs?"

The staff sergeant described how Miss Fletcher had often been late for duties and insubordinate towards him.

He said after a period of leave he decided "enough was enough" and decided to enforce discipline more severely.

He denied he had singled her out for more severe treatment because she had rejected his sexual advances.

He was asked how he felt when he heard about the allegations Miss Fletcher had made against him.

"I had 20 years of exemplary service. I had never had anything like this happen to me. I was absolutely fuming," he said, according to The Sun.

Police warn child about homophobic abuse

An 11 year old boy in Gloucestershire has been given a final warning from police for using homophobic language.

The child shouted three times towards his 49-year-old victim as he walked down the street in Dursley.

PC Helen Seymour, Hate Crime Officer for Stroud, Stonehouse and Dursley, said her force take incidence of hate crime "very seriously."

"We thoroughly investigate any reports of hate crime – whether related to race or sexual orientation," she told the BBC.

"The majority of young people are fully aware that it is unacceptable to abuse people, particularly in racist and homophobic terms," she added.

Champion athlete may have gender reassignment surgery

A former European pole vault medallist has decided to quit the sport, possibly to pursue a sex change operation.

Yvonne Buschbaum said that a persistent achilles tendon injury and a feeling that she was "emotionally in the wrong body" have contributed to her decision to end her career.

The 27-year-old said on her website: "For many years, I have had the feeling I am in the wrong body.

"Those who know me have seen a clear fault. I feel like a man and yet must live my life in the body of a woman.

"I would not like to be misjudged any longer.

"I am conscious of the fact that transsexuality is a difficult topic, but I don't want to be involved in a game of hide-and-seek with the truth.

"I appeal to the public's understanding, to respect my decision and not draw any wrong conclusions."

The German, who won bronze at the 1998 European Championships and came sixth in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 also added: "I am just daring to show what is the real me."

Trans people are not very visible in sport, but earlier this year, former tennis star Renne Richards admitted to Reuters that she regretted the fame she received from her gender re-assignment surgery in 1975.

In April Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike Penner revealed
he was about to undergo a sex reassignment operation and later returned to the Times as a female sports writer.

UN figures indicate fall in global HIV infections

New data from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests the percentage of people around the globe living with HIV has levelled off and that the number of new infections has fallen, in part as a result of the impact of HIV programmes.

Officials warned, however, that while the global prevalence of HIV infection, the percentage of people infected with HIV, has levelled off, the total number of people living with HIV is increasing "because of ongoing acquisition of HIV infection, combined with longer survival times, in a continuously growing general population."

According to the data released by UNAIDS/WHO, global HIV incidence, the number of new HIV infections per year, is now estimated to have peaked in the late 1990s at over 3 million new infections per year, and is estimated in 2007 to be 2.5 million new infections, an average of more than 6,800 new infections each day.

The number of people dying from AIDS-related illnesses has declined in the last two years, due in part to the life-prolonging effects of antiretroviral therapy.

AIDS is among the leading causes of death globally and remains the primary cause of death in Africa.

"These improved data present us with a clearer picture of the AIDS epidemic, one that reveals both challenges and opportunities," UNAIDS executive director Dr. Peter Piot said in a release.

"Unquestionably, we are beginning to see a return on investment.

"New HIV infections and mortality are declining and the prevalence of HIV leveling," he added.

"But with more than 6,800 new infections and over 5,700 deaths each day due to AIDS we must expand our efforts in order to significantly reduce the impact of AIDS worldwide."

EastEnders actress wins damages over lesbian story

Actress Samantha Janus has won substantial damages from a claim that she had engaged in a "three hour drug fueled lesbian orgy."

She sued the Sunday Sport after story entitled "Sam's sex and drugs shame" hit newsstands on 22 July this year.

Two topless photos of Janus, taken by her ex boyfriend Doug Harwood, accompanied the article.

As well as the lesbian claims it was also said that the EastEnders actress took part in "coke-fuelled threesomes."

Her solicitor David Price said: "The truth is that, contrary to the article, at no time did the claimant and Mr Harwood have sexual relations in the presence of others, let alone indulge in a drug-fuelled orgy of the kind described in the article.

He told the High Court: "I am pleased to tell your Lordship that the defendants are here today to apologise to the claimant for publishing the article.

"The defendants have agreed to pay the claimant a substantial sum in damages together with her legal costs.

"They have also undertaken not to repeat the allegations or republish the photographs."

Ms Janus joined the EastEnders cast in May.

US TV host drags the Queen into gay marriage debate

In the US, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams upset the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and more than a few bloggers earlier this week.

He opened a segment on the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip by saying:

"In an era when marriage is under attack, the United Kingdom is these days celebrating a 60th wedding anniversary, the longest marriage of any monarch."

After receiving several e-mails about the comment, Williams posted a response to MSNBC's blog.

The anchor said he was referring to "our national divorce rate, which is currently somewhere between 40 and 50 percent," when he used the phrase often heard from anti-gay activists.

"Others took it upon themselves to decide that I was somehow attacking gay marriage," he added.

"The simple fact is that nothing could have been further from my mind, as many others easily understood.

"In fact, one comment shared with me today came from a respected member of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, who said, 'It seemed to me he was talking about the sky-high heterosexual divorce rates. Marriage is under attack—by straight people. It had nothing to do with the gay marriage movement.'"

GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano sent a letter of his own to Williams yesterday.

"Your blog entry today confirms that your use of the phrase on last night's broadcast was not in any way intended to disparage gay couples and that expression is appreciated.

"However, the primary issue is whether a phrase that has been used predominantly in an ugly anti-gay context can be used in another, tangentially related context (here, marriage in a general sense) without invoking the stereotypes that imbrue its common usage.

"The phrase 'marriage under attack,' like 'defence of marriage,' which you use elsewhere in your blog entry, is designed and used by far-right anti-gay activists to scare people into opposing legal protections for gay couples," Giuliano added.

"Media professionals who talk about marriage-related issues in their reporting should simply and factually discuss them, rather than uncritically repeating rhetoric calculated to make people feel threatened by and afraid of loving, committed couples."

Warning over poppers link to HIV infection

Poppers usage could increase a gay mans susceptibility to HIV transmission during unprotected sex, a new UK study has found.

The use of the drug facilitates longer and rougher sex, as well as increasing the body's uptake of fluids.

The research, published in the online edition of Sexually Transmitted Infections, shows gay men are still the highest risk group in terms of UK HIV infection, with 84% of all new cases in 2005 being the result of gay sex.

The risky behaviour of gay men in the UK is said to be behind the statistic, with 50% reporting having had unprotected sex in the past year.

The re-emergence of syphilis and chlamydia indicate that the sexual health of gay men is a cause for concern.

As regard poppers use, the researchers said:

"The attributable risk of nitrite inhalants to HIV seroconversion among gay men in the UK is high and reduction in their use during HIV serodiscordant unprotected intercourse be adopted as a population level goal/objective by prevention programmes."

It is not the first time drugs have been blamed for raising HIV infection rates.

Use of crystal meth in the gay community has been blamed in the press for a loss of inhibitions leading to dangerous sexual activity.

Poofter licence plates can stay

A gay man in the US state of Virginia who was told to remove his car licence plates because they spell out the word 'poofter' has now been told he can keep them.

David Phillips has had the plates for eleven years. He previously claimed that the word is only offensive to English people and Virginians would not understand its meaning.

According to the Washington Post, he first heard the word used by performer Boy George in a TV interview and liked it.

"It's just an amusing word that I self-identify with," he told the Post.

Earlier this month the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles ordered Mr Phillips to remove the poofter plates because they deemed them to be offensive.

However, Mr Phillips told blog Pam's House Blender that the DMV phoned him and conceded that he could keep using the plates.

In correspondence he asserted his First Amendment right to free speech and to "self-identify in terms that meets no reasonable test for obscenity."

He wants an apology from the Virgina DMV.

Mr Phillips has claimed that he had a sexual encounter with disgraced Senator Larry Craig several years ago.

In April 2006 PinkNews.co.uk reported that a homophobic numberplate had been withdrawn by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) after complaints by a leading gay MP.

Chris Byrant felt that plate H8 GAY was offensive to gay people.