On 27 July 1967, the Sexual Offences Act (SOA) was passed and sex in private between two men over the age of 21 was legalized in England and Wales. Gay men in Scotland and Northern Ireland had to wait until the early 1980s. And it wasn’t until 2001 that the age of consent for men who have sex with men was lowered to 16, and brought into line with heterosexual couples. In 2003, “buggery” was finally repealed from statutory law...

This week, Britain celebrated one of its first same-sex Muslim marriages. Jahed Choudhury, 24 – who identifies as both gay and Muslim – married his partner in an Islamic ceremony, even though his family refused to attend. As a gay person raised Muslim, I was thrilled to read of this news (and was inspired by Choudhury’s bravery). In Islamic teachings, I was taught from a young age to constantly chart all my sins, and was forced to imagine myself in...

Eduard Myra from Omsk, applied for a position as sales assistant at LLC Hardcore earlier this year but was unsuccessful. When he asked for feedback, he was sent a letter explaining his "feminine manner" and being "too well-groomed" suggested he was part of the LGBT community and his appearance promoted "non-traditional sexual relations". The letter from the company's HR manager, featured in Omskinform website, claimed Mr Myra's "feminine manner of speaking and gestures, as well as appearance (too well-groomed and...