In The News

Sir Elton John considering adopting Ukranian orphan

Sir Elton John and his civil partner David Furnish

Gay singer Sir Elton John has revealed that he wishes to adopt a 14-month-old boy named Lev who he met at an Ukranian orphanage.

Lev, whose parents died of AIDS has "stolen" Sir Elton's heart.

Sir Elton said he and his civil partner David Furnish were now thinking of adopting: "David and I have always talked about adoption, David always wanted to adopt a child and I always said 'no' because I am 62 and I think because of the travelling I do and the life I have, maybe it wouldn't be fair for the child.

"But having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don't know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David's heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home. I've changed my mind today."

British consul killed in 'homophobic' attack in Jamaica – note on his bed called him a 'batty man'

Jamaica is known as one of the most homophobic countries on earth

A British honourary consul has been found murdered at his home in Jamaica, in what police believe is a homophobic attack.

John Terry, 65, was found at his home with severe head injuries and a cord and piece of clothing around his neck. He is thought to have been beaten around the head and upper body with a lamp. Post-mortem examination results released today showed he died of strangulation.

A note found on the bed called him a "batty man" – a homophobic term of abuse. It added: "This is what will happen to ALL gays" and was signed "Gay-Man".

Although Mr Terry's wallet and phone were stolen, police do not believe robbery was a motive for the killing.

According to various reports, a detective working on the case said: "It might be that someone took exception to Mr Terry.

"We do have reports that he has been seen with another man. It is likely he could have known his killer.”

Mr Terry's body was discovered on Wednesday afternoon after a neighbour raised concerns that a light had been left on all night. There was no sign of forced entry to the property.

He was the British honorary consul to the Montenegro Bay area and had worked for the past 12 years helping tourists who had gotten into difficulties.

He is thought to have separated from his wife three years ago. She and his two children live in Kingston, Jamaica's capital.

Jamaica is known to be one of the most homophobic countries in the world. Gay sex between two men can carry a ten-year jail sentence or hard labour. Sex between two women is currently legal but many lesbians face persecution.

Foreign secretary David Miliband offered his sympathies to Mr Terry's family: "John Terry was a key member of our team in Jamaica and had been an honorary consul for 13 years, but with many years of other service to the British community in Jamaica before then.

"Honorary consuls like John play a valuable role in our work overseas and this was especially true of John who helped many, many British visitors to Jamaica over the years.

West Ham striker Morley says gay rumours almost killed his game

Trevor Morley on the cover of EX

Former West Ham striker Trevor Morley has discussed rumours of his homosexuality. The player suffered homophobic abuse from fans after whispers spread he was in a relationship with another player.

Morley was stabbed by his wife in March 2000. According to the claims she had caught him in bed with colleague Ian Bishop. The rumours were never repeated in the national media and Morley turned down newspaper offers to tell his story.

According to football blog West Ham Til I Die, he told EX magazine he said he suspected his wife of starting the rumours.

He said: "I even think it must have been her who started the rumour about me being caught in bed with Bish. Nothing about Bish, me and the gay talk had ever been reported in the media, so how did those rumours spread so quickly?

"Within two days of my stabbing, my sister phoned from Nottingham to ask: 'What’s all this we’ve heard up here about you and Bish?' It was amazing how it spread just through word of mouth, and, I have to say, I didn’t handle it well."

Morley continued: "The rumours about me being gay killed me for a while. I’ve got nothing against gays – I now have friends who are gay – but it’s not nice to be called a homosexual when you aren’t one.

"How many times does Robbie Williams have to come out and tell the world he isn’t gay? The more you say it, the more people start to believe it’s true… It ruined my football for a while. I’d go out onto the field and hide. I didn’t want to be there… Hearing gay comments from some West Ham fans was hard to take."

Iran may allow trans marriage

The wedding may be allowed if the would-be groom has a medical examination

According to the Guardian, the woman, known only as Shaghayegh, told Tehran's family court she wanted to marry her best friend from school, who recently underwent gender reassignment to become male.

Under the country's laws, a woman must gain permission from her father to marry. Her father initially refused but has now said he will permit the marriage if her partner Ardashir has a medical examination to prove the relationship will be that of a typical male-female couple.

Although homosexuality is illegal and many gays are persecuted, the country takes a much different approach to gender dysphoria. Under Islamic law, trans people are deemed religiously permissible and the country carries out the second highest number of gender reassignment surgeries in the world, after Thailand.

Shaghayegh told the court she and Ardashir had been together since they were teenagers. He transitioned after the pair finished university.

Her father said he had at first refused to allow the marriage out of a fear of being humiliated but had been moved by his daughter's insistence.

Designer Tom Ford says lack of rights for gay couples is 'disgusting'

Tom Ford said the lack of gay rights was 'disgusting'

Openly gay fashion designer Tom Ford has hit out at the bans on gay marriage and civil partnerships in many parts of the world.

Speaking at a Venice press conference for the premiere of his first film, A Single Man, which stars Colin Firth, he told of his worries should anything happen to he or his partner.

According to Reuters, Ford said: “I have someone I’ve lived together with for 23 years. Recently he was in hospital for something. I had to carry papers on me at all times that he had signed saying that I could visit him in his room and make medical decisions for him if anything happened.

"Our taxes, by the way: if I died tomorrow my estate would be completely taxed and then the remainder go to him whereas if we were a couple his life wouldn’t have to change and my entire estate would move to him. There are things that are wrong with our legal systems in a lot of countries.”

He added: "It is, I have to say, quite disgusting that in America and in other countries you cannot have a civil union or something equivalent to marriage."