As was posted earlier, Singapore's LGBT group (Pink Dot) held the country's first ever public rally in support of gay rights.

Here are some pictures of the event:

Here is a video of the event:

On Thursday, May 14th Uruguayan President Tabare Vasquez announced his government will "allow gays to join the armed forces by scrapping military rules that define homosexuality as a disorder." Vasquez explained his decision saying, " The Uruguayan government does not discriminate against citizens based on their political, ethnic, or sexual identity."

Uruguay's Deputy Defense Minister elaborated, " There were a series of rules...regarding the psycho-physical requirements (for entry into the armed forces) in which homosexuality was seen as a sexual identity disorder, and this is what is being repealed."

The following countries allow gays and lesbians to serve openly:

• Australia
• Bermuda
• Canada
• Germany
• Israel
• Italy
• The Netherlands
• Romania
• United Kingdom
• Switzerland
• Uruguay

The U.S. still has it's "Dont Ask Don't Tell Don't Harass" policy which Obama has promised to repeal, though his promise seems to be wavering lately. In Russia, those alleged to have "sexual identity problems" are to be drafted only during war time stating that "well adjusted homosexuals" are permitted to serve in a normal capacity". In Germany, tolerance towards all sexual orientations is considered to be part of the duty of military personnel and sexual relations (regardless of sexual orientation) are considered irrelevant if outside of "service time" (on the soldier's own time).

The details on Canada (from wikipedia.org):

In 1976, the Canadian Forces issued Canadian Forces Administrative Order (CFAO) 19-20, which allowed members suspected of being homosexual to be investigated and then subsequently released. This order was repealed in 1992, after a challenge by then CF Member Michelle Douglas, thereby allowing gay, lesbian and transgendered people to serve in the Canadian Forces free from harassment and discrimination.

A series of provincial and territorial Supreme Court decisions beginning in 2003 ruled in favour of the legality of gay marriage, and a national law to that effect was passed by Canada's parliament in 2005 by the Paul Martin Liberal government. In May 2005, Canada's first military gay wedding took place at Nova Scotia's Canadian Forces Base Greenwood. Officials described the ceremony as low-key but touching. A similar wedding has since taken place between two male Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers.

Today, the Canadian Forces recognizes same-sex marital and common-law unions, and affords them the same benefits offered to all married or common-law serving members.

During the 2008 Toronto Pride Parade, ten members of the Canadian Forces marched for the first time. One month later, twelve gay and straight members of the Canadian Forces marched in Vancouver's Pride Parade. Lt(N) Steven Churm said, "The message to the public is that the Canadian Forces is an employer of choice. We have employment opportunities that people can pursue, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation. For our own members, they can be proud of what they're doing and also be proud of who they are."

Singapore's LGBT Group (Pink Dot) is holding its first ever rally and has produced a wonderful public service announcement about LGBTQ people in Singapore. It is very moving. The rally will be held in Hong Lim Park on May 16th. The following is an excerpt from PinkDot about the organization, rally, and video:

Check out this recent post on towleroad.com for more coverage of the issue posted earlier on qlinks.ca blog including an interview with a person alleged to be involved in the killing of gay men, as well as other mainstream reporting on the issue.

In March of this year the leadership of AWARE, the oldest and most respected women's advocacy group in Singapore, was ousted in a hostile takeover by Christian fundamentalists. A reader of towleroad.com writes:

"I'm writing to to ask for support as well as to highlight a situation that is unfolding rather dramatically in the island nation of Singapore. It involves a hostile takeover of a women's advocate group by Christian fundamentalists linked with [US-based] Focus on the Family who have been actively and successfully preventing any progression of basic gay and women's rights in Singapore. Earlier in March, Singapore’s most prominent, oldest and only women’s advocate group, AWARE, held their Annual General Meeting. Members were to vote and elect a new executive board. It turned out to be a hostile takeover. The group essentially organized supporters of their cause (through church links) to oust long serving members of the group from the executive committee. They did this by getting people who had previously no interest in AWARE's activities to sign up as members sympathetic to the fundamentalist rhetoric right before the elections were to be held. The old executive committee had no idea what hit them until the election was well under way."

 On Fridae, a news and feature site with the tag line: Empowering Gay Asia, they report on AWARE's tumultuous general meeting on May 2 which was over 7 hours in length and ended with cheers and applause as the anti-gay leaders (who a few months ago hijacked the group) read their letter of resignation. After a losing a vote of no confidence 1414-761.

After the antigay leaders were ousted, they were replaced by a diverse group of leaders of varied ages, backgrounds, race, and religions.

A clip of some of the comments when the meeting was opened to the floor: