Here's a useful holiday tip: When you hear that ringing bell and see that Salvation Army kettle, leave that dollar in your pocket and keep on walking.

Here's a great idea:

Take a bunch of men who are already attracted to other men and who, according to stereotype, like to work out a lot, and put them all in a place where for ten years they'll be getting all hot and sweaty in each other's company. Then call it a punishment.

(CNN) -- While President Barack Obama has made promoting rights for gays and lesbians worldwide a key foreign policy goal, that is little comfort to Ali Asseri, a former Saudi diplomat who is gay.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The body of an Israeli transgender woman who committed suicide will be cremated despite her ultra-Orthodox family's wishes, Israel's Supreme Court ruled in documents obtained Wednesday.

An Italian priest was reportedly arrested on Dec. 18 for allegedly hooking up with teenage boys he met using the gay dating app Grindr, according to Gay Star News, which cites local media reports.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Jane Tausig and her partner were Conservative Jews who came out late in life.

The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released (2/26/14) a new study of a decade of changes in attitudes on LGBT-related issues which revealed a 21-point jump in support for same-sex marriage from 2003, when one-third (32 percent) of Americans supported gay marriage, to 2013, when a majority (53 percent) of Americans did.

Former President Jimmy Carter said this month that Jesus did not discriminate against gays. His comments were made when asked about LGBT rights during an appearance at the 100th anniversary celebration of Michigan's Grand Rapids Community College, Gay Star News reports.

(CNN) -- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will caution Thursday of a "silent war" being waged by political elites on Americans' religious liberty and prescribe state-based laws to combat government overreach.

Somerville, N.J. (AP) – A New Jersey judge has ruled that the parents of alleged bullies cannot be held financially liable for their children’s actions.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected review of a closely watched religious liberty appeal over a business owner's right to deny services to gays and lesbians.

(CNN) -- Denying services to same-sex couples may soon become legal in Kansas.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - In an uncertain legal climate for states banning gay marriage, Kansas lawmakers are considering a proposal designed to protect individuals, groups and businesses refusing for religious reasons to recognize same-sex unions or to provide benefits to gay couples.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Baptists on Tuesday chose to sever ties with a Louisville church that is open to performing same-sex marriages.

The Kentucky county clerk who has refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples says she's not a homophobe and has never said anything hateful.

It’s summertime in South Florida, but it’s about to feel a lot hotter in Key West. The annual Tropical Heat Festival filled with revelry and fun runs August 13-16 in Key West.

OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky county clerk may have again defied a federal judge’s order regarding gay-marriage licenses by altering license forms to remove her name, an attorney who represents one of the clerk’s employees told the judge Sept. 18 in a court filing.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The Kentucky county clerk known for spending five days in jail over her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples is attending the governor's public swearing-in ceremony.

As Jim Obergefell, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit that legalized same-sex marriage nationally, prepares to attend the State of the Union address as First Lady Michelle Obama's guest, hate group leaders are taking a victory lap for having secured a seat in the hall for Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis, who continues to grandstand for her right to discriminate against same-sex couples on religious grounds.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California lawmakers are urging the archbishop of San Francisco to remove morality clauses from a teachers' handbook they say are discriminatory.

(LAB) LGBT students and alumni of Yeshiva University, (YU) a private modern Orthodox Jewish research university in New York City, sued the school alleging the university is violating their rights under NYC’s human rights law.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A high-ranking Mormon leader said he believes protections for religious freedom of speech are eroding.

A parish food pantry worker who was fired over her marriage to another woman sued the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph on Thursday, the latest in a growing number of clashes over gay rights between Roman Catholic leaders and their employees nationwide.

(CNN) -- Umma Azul, whose godmother is the county's President, on Saturday became the first child of a lesbian couple to be baptized by the Catholic Church in Argentina.

He may be small, be he sure is tough.

Thank you for the excellent coverage your paper provides regarding the state of LGBTQIA discrimination, and the victories we have had in overcoming it. Thank you too for the excellent international coverage. Metropolitan Community Churches has been on the front lines advocating for love, tolerance, and legal protections for LGBTQIA people for many decades. We are currently active in Eastern Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia with staff on the ground, risking their lives daily.

Over fifty LGBT activists protested for over an hour in the rain Saturday outside ATLAH World Missionary Church in Harlem, demanding that the church’s controversial pastor, James David Manning, emerge and administer the stonings that his public sign recently called for. Until it was vandalized last week, the church’s marquee read, "Jesus would stone homos. Harlem is a homo free zone."

Gay and lesbian Mormons and their supporters are reeling over a rule change by church officials that says members in same-sex marriages can be kicked out, and bars their children from being baptized unless they disavow same-sex relationships.

The MiFo LGBT Film Festival is coming to Fort Lauderdale, Oct. 9 – 11 and 15-18, with 53 films, including 13 premieres, 28 features, 18 shorts and seven documentaries. But, most importantly the festival marks the debut of a new executive director, Victor M. Gimenez.

It’s no secret that corporations and business groups have been showing more visible support for the LGBT community in recent years.