(Dec 29, 2008) - More than half of the world's remaining bans on gay sex are relics of British colonial rule, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Dec. 17.

(Dec 29, 2008) - Gay pride organizers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have decided to stage their yearly pride events jointly, rotating among the nations from now on.

(Dec 29, 2008) - Two Swedish Lutheran ministers, Lars Gårdfeldt and Lars Arnell, have lost their final appeal in a case seeking recognition of their Canadian same-sex marriage.

(Dec 29, 2008) - Fifteen transgender activists from nine East and Southern African countries met in Cape Town in mid-December in the first-ever gathering of its kind.

(Dec 29, 2008) - In a landmark victory, the High Court of Uganda ruled Dec. 22 that constitutional rights apply to GLBT people.

(Dec 29, 2008) - U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Dec. 23 "strongly objecting" to the refusal by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations to join 66 other nations Dec. 18 in signing a statement affirming that international human rights protections include sexual orientation and gender identity.

(Dec 29, 2008) - A 28-year-old lesbian in the East Bay city of Richmond, Calif., was gang-raped Dec. 13 by four men who indicated they knew she was gay, police said in late December.

(Dec 29, 2008) - In an important victory for same-sex parents nationwide, a U.S. district judge in Louisiana has ordered the state registrar to recognize the New York adoption of a baby boy by a same-sex couple, saying her refusal to do so violated the U.S. Constitution.

(Dec 15, 2008) - A Newsweek poll released Dec. 8 found growing public support for same-sex marriage and civil unions.

(Dec 15, 2008) - Out comedian Wanda Sykes has joined the board of directors of the Equality California Institute, and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta has joined the Equality California board, EQCA said Dec. 9.