The foreign secretary William Hague has for the first time denied internet rumours that he is involved in a gay affair with a ministerial aide.

A teacher who stood for election as a Conservative candidate has been given a written warning by his employer for remarks about homosexuality.

The finishing touches are being put to Liverpool’s first official Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender [LGB&T] Pride Festival, which takes place this weekend, on Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th August. A full line up for the whole weekend has now been announced and for the first time, we can reveal the time and place that each act is on stage.

The news from Synod is that the Church of England may begin to consecrate women bishops in the next few years, with little provision for those who feel less comfortable with the idea.

The Supreme Court has ruled that two gay men from Iran and Cameroon have the right to asylum in the UK.

Dr Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, who has spoke out against the appointment of gay clergy and same-sex unions, has been appointed to a top academic post at the School of Divinity at St Andrews University, Scotland's most distinguished and ancient academic institution.

The Scottish Adoption Association has told gay couples not to be put off by the "very negative publicity" surrounding the issue of same-sex couples adopting children. The publicity in question is believed to relate to the complaints of the grandparents of two Edinburgh-based children who were adopted by a gay couple.

Liverpool is to hold its first Pride festival on Saturday August 7th. Until this year, it was the largest city in the country not to hold a Pride celebration, although a gay culture festival, Homotopia, began five years ago.

Home secretary and equality minister Theresa May announced an ambitious programme of the coalition governments LGBT policies today.

Left-wing Labour backbencher Diane Abbott squeezed onto the starting line for the Labour leadership this afternoon just before nominations closed..

The chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has warned David Cameron not to panic by bowing to public pressure and ditching or diluting the Human Rights Ac.

The simpering leaders' wives were given more column inches than any female candidate.

Handing schools over to parents will do nothing to eliminate the social disadvantage that leads to academic under-achievement.

More than 4,000 female council workers have won the right to be paid the same as their male colleagues in a case which could lead to payouts worth about £200m.

A Scottish Conservative Party candidate has been suspended from his party for saying that homosexuality is not normal.

The election is shaping up as one in which women as players slowly fade out until, like the Cheshire cat, only a nice smile is left.

The trial of three teenagers accused of attacking a gay man in central London last year has begun.

Gwyneth Paltrow has pulled out of appearing in The Danish Girl, a film about trans painter Einar Wegener.

Labours manifesto for the general election promises that more money will be invested in tackling homophobic bullying in schools if the party is returned to power.

A Tory councillor on Wirral borough council has been suspended for making a remark about limpwristed boys.

We are concerned by the rise of Islamophobia, the negative coverage of Muslims in the media, the violent street mobilisations of extreme rightwing organisations like the English Defence League, and the rising electoral support for the British National party.

The black and minority ethnic vote could determine the outcome in more than 100 seats in the general election, campaigners have claimed.

Amendments have been added to the Equality Bill to reassure clergy that they will not be sued if they refuse to hold religious civil partnerships for gay couples.

A gay Labour minister has been accused of hypocrisy for attacking David Cameron after the Tory leader appeared to stumble over how his party voted on gay rights issues.

The Bill, which sets out groundbreaking new laws that will help narrow the gap between rich and poor, require businesses to report on the pay gap between men and women and outlaw age discrimination, will now return to the House of Commons, where MPs will consider amendments made by the Lords. The changes made in the Lords include:

A gay couple were turned away from a bed and breakfast because the Christian owner did not approve of their homosexuality.

Less than one in five working men would take all of the proposed six months' paternity leave, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by Orange.

Doctor John Henderson: Psychiatrist who championed the rights of the mentally ill across Europe.

Published last Monday, the Stern Review sets a new benchmark in discussions of rape and sexual assault by describing victims in gender-neutral language. Male rape was only recognised by English and Welsh law in 1994 and as a result there is little statistical history, with what there is varying wildly.

A third of gay, lesbian and bisexual people in Scotland have been physically assaulted but only 15 per cent reported incidents to police, a survey has suggested.

Friends and colleagues have paid tribute to Kristian Digby after the gay BBC presenter was found dead yesterday.

Two surveys of Conservative candidates have found that the majority support equal gay rights.

The British National Party (BNP) is to open its doors to black and Asian members after voting to scrap its whites-only rules.

The British National Party is to decide today on whether to scrap its whites-only membership policy.

Never was a stronger case made against the positively dangerous obsession with artificial "equality" promoted by lunatics like Harriet Harman, writes Simon Heffer.

Top-ranking footballers turned down requests to appear in the FA's anti-homophobia film because they feared being ridiculed on the pitch, it has been reported.

High street retailer WHSmith will no longer stock gay men's magazine Attitude.

No new legislation is needed to protect gay people, David Cameron has insisted, in an interview discussing his voting record on gay rights. The leader of the Conservatives apologised for his party's history of spearheading anti-gay legislation and went further than any previous Tory leader in laying out his belief in equal rights for all regardless of sexual preference.

The number of ethnic minority students in higher education is growing but they still experience more difficulty in finding jobs than their white counterparts, new research reveals.

Equality minister Harriet Harman has backed down over an amendment on who churches can employ. She is thought to have made the climbdown to avoid a continuing dispute with church leaders in the face of the Pope's visit in September.

The Pope has urged Catholic bishops in England and Wales to fight the UK's Equality Bill with missionary zeal.

The Stephen Lawrence award, an ambitious race equality programme, will benefit schools in leafy suburbs as much as those in cities.

Pope Benedict XVI, in confirming his intention to visit Britain this year, strayed into political controversy yesterday by implicitly criticising the Equality Bill now before Parliament.

European commission puts pressure on ministers to toughen law on discrimination by churches.

Moves to boost workplace flexibility should start with older employees.

Almost half of black people aged between 16 and 24 are unemployed, compared with 20% of white people of the same age, a think tank has claimed.

Minister for equality wants a massive public policy change to allow people to carry on working into their late 60s, 70s and 80s – if they want to.

Political parties could be set mandatory quotas for the number of women they put forward as parliamentary candidates.

The Roman Catholic ban on women entering the priesthood will become illegal under Harriet Harman's controversial Equality Bill, according to Christian charity, CARE.

Toleration is one of the most fundamental values of a liberal society. It is also appears to be the one that some Labour ministers find hardest to understand.

Equalities minister Harriet Harman has accused the BBC of "wasting a lot of talent" and upsetting viewers by not valuing older female newsreaders.