The 7 LGBT news stories you should have read this week

PinkNews brings you a roundup of news from the past seven days.

Here are some of the most widely read, and notable news stories from the past week which you may have missed.

The Mail on Sunday was criticised for front page headline claiming the NHS is funding a sperm bank “for lesbians”.

The newspaper was covering the launch of a national sperm bank, which has been awarded a £77,000 grant by the Department of Health to boost sperm donations.

The sperm bank is targeted at all people who want to conceive, and will be available to straight couples, same-sex couples and single women, and to people of all ethnicities.

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Nando’s suspended a male member of staff for posting homophobic comments on Facebook.

Steven McKee, who works at Nando’s in Victoria Square, Belfast, complained: “Raging I’ve to work the day [sic], shops gonna be packed with gay bastards wearing hot pants, despise these bastards.”

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A Lib Dem councillor in Somerset resigned, and condemned homophobic bullying from councillors in other parties.

Sam Phripp, 22, had been one of the youngest councillors in the country when he was elected to Mendip District Council three years ago, aged 19, and last year was elected to Somerset County Council.

However, he announced he is stepping down from his role at Somerset Council, after experiencing homophobic bullying.

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Gay celebrities Tom Daley and actors John Barrowman and Charlie Condou have signed a letter urging Scotland to reject independence.

Their names were among a list of more than 200 public figures to be published in a letter by Let’s Stay Together, a UK-wide campaign against an independent Scotland.

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An anti-gay activist disguised himself as a pro-gay participant in last weekend’s Vancouver Pride parade, distributing anti-gay leaflets at the event that looked like condoms.

Bill Whatcott, executive director of anti-gay group Christian Truth Activists, and four other evangelical Christians marched in the event.

The group used a banner promoting the fictional Calgary chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster as a guise.

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Football player Michael Sam has an unexpected fan and supporter in Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe.

The actor recently told OUT magazine that he is a big American football fan, commenting on out NFL player Michael Sam and his career.

When asked what he thought of Sam coming out as gay, Radcliffe told the magazine: “I think it’s fucking awesome. It’s fantastic that he’s got a team. It’s horrendous that he slipped to 249 after being the SEC defensive player of the year.

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Boxing legend, manager of Lennox Lewis and UKIP candidate, formerly known as Frank Maloney, on Sunday came out as trangender.

Kellie Maloney revealed in an interview with the Sunday Mirror that she felt she had always had a “female brain”, but that she feared coming out over how the boxing world would react.

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