In the United Kingdom, along with help from people from the state of California, a Christian charity which sponsored a conference promoting the idea that gay people can be converted to heterosexuality has funded interns for an estimated 20 Members of Parliament (MPs), including some who are now ministers in the coalition government. The conference featured a keynote by Joseph Nicolosi, a Californian psychologist and founder of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality in the United States. No statement has been issued by Queen Elizabeth II nor her representatives.

April 12, 2012 will forever be a day to remember in the history of the gay and lesbian community especially for Kentuckians. The push however to get the case to a federal level came from Kentucky Equality Federation, and advocacy and public advocate non-profit. Two Eastern Kentucky men are the first in the nation to be charged under the section of the federal hate-crimes law that makes it illegal to attack people based on their sexual orientation, said U.S. Attorney Kerry B. Harvey.

The Central Kentucky Council for Peace & Justice held an anti-hate candlelight vigil at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 10 to call attention to the increasing amount of hate speech and hate-driven violence in the U.S. and Kentucky. Dozens of people from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds gathered Tuesday night to call attention to what they see as a growing atmosphere of hatred.

Kentucky Equality Federation today made a comparison most gay rights organizations avoid. The fact the gay community is now fighting the same fight that Interracial couples and the entire Black community once faced – discrimination.

After the Hazard Pavilion incident, two hate crimes in Harlan, one in Breathitt, and another in Bell County, all in the past month (with the exception of the Hazard Pavilion incident), Kentucky Equality Federation today created a special operating region within southeastern Kentucky.

In just a year and a half, the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community of Puerto Rico has been rocked by the deaths of 18 of its members, with three murdered in the last week alone. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and is not a sovereign State like the other 50 which appear on the United States flag. Pedro Julio Serrano, communications manger for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said there has been a “spike in violence against the LGBT people since the ‘80s, when we had a serial killer who killed 27 gay men.”

Kentucky Equality Federation’s partnership with StoryCorps made the front page of the Lexington Herald-Leader today complete with amazing pictures, and will shed much needed light on the actual people that are born gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered in rural Kentucky.

Louisville Fairness Campaign and the Statewide Equality Coalition will begin working with Kentucky Equality Federation and vice versa according to a press release issued by Kentucky Equality Federation earlier today. This is the first time Kentucky Equality Federation has spoken about the Statewide Equality Coalition since its Board voted to withdraw.

Toby Ray Lasure was sentenced to life in prison Friday afternoon for the 2009 shooting death of Christopher Tolliver, who was said to have been Lasure’s former boyfriend.

Motivated by three picketers from the Westboro Baptist Church, hundreds of students and East Lansing residents gathered to show their support for diversity and tolerance. Earlier this month, the Westboro Baptist Church protest another military funeral.