SYDNEY: Ashfield Council has apologised to a local resident who had her Summer Hill rainbow crossing washed away this morning despite holding a permit.

BRISBANE: Some teachers are contributing to homophobic bullying in Queensland schools, says advocacy group PFLAG.

The founder of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), Jeanne Manford, has been remembered in the US and across the world as a pioneering ally of the LGBT community following her death this week at her Californian home, aged 92.

LGBT activists have slammed a meeting between Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie and Brisbane Catholic Archbishop Mark Coleridge the night before the civil union legislation was watered down to registered relationship laws.

A marriage equality bill introduced into Federal Parliament has been overwhelmingly defeated in the lower house today after almost half of all Labor MPs sided with leader Julia Gillard and the Coalition to oppose the reform.

Support for marriage equality is at record levels, according to a new poll, with further pressure set to be heaped on Coalition Leader Tony Abbott with support for the reform amongst Coalition voters also at a new high.

NSW Shadow Minister for Mental Health Adam Searle has suggested the state’s LGBTI community could soon face a situation similar to what has occurred in Queensland this year under the newly elected LNP Government while warning of potential cuts to social services.

BRISBANE: An estimated 1,000 people gathered outside Queensland's Parliament last night (Wed May 30) to protest moves to repeal the state's Civil Union legislation and the de-funding of Healthy Communities HIV prevention organisation.

LGBTIQ youth advocacy group Wear it Purple will launch its e3- Envisage | Empower | Engage video project on Sunday, May 6 as part of a Family Day planned in western Sydney to commemorate this year’s International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).

A federal inquiry into marriage equality held in Sydney was told, “No one writes love songs about civil unions,” as advocates suggested the positive case they presented emphasising fairness clearly trumped “the tired old arguments” of opponents of the reform, including one fundamentalist Christian group which likened homosexuality to incest.

In a little under two hours marriage equality advocates will appear at a federal parliamentary hearing on same-sex marriage being held in Sydney today to argue that Australia has a historic opportunity to become a more equal and inclusive nation.

Advocates for equal marriage rights believe Tony Abbott is running out of arguments against same-sex marriage since his sister Christine Forster publicly came out.

New Queensland premier, Campbell Newman, has been urged to govern for and represent all Queenslanders following the Liberal National Party’s (LNP) mammoth election win over the weekend, with fears still remaining within the local LGBTI community that the LNP will repeal the state’s newly enacted civil unions laws.

Polling has identified South Australia as the key state for achieving national marriage equality with strong support seen from both the state’s main political parties.

Widespread community outrage and a backlash on social media networks has greeted the airing of a “homophobic” anti-gay marriage ad by Katter’s Australian Party in Queensland overnight attacking LNP Leader Campbell Newman, with some including Bob Katter’s half-brother calling it “desperate” and “disrespectful” while others have suggested it will only appeal to “rednecks”.