A woman in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur has gone to the press saying that a club had refused her entry because of her tomboyish appearance, a euphemism commonly used to mean butch lesbian.
Top: cover page report on the Malay Mail web site about a woman who came forward with her story about a discriminatory policy of a club for not admitting ''tomboys''; bottom: Gaydar co-founder Gary Frisch was found dead outside his London apartment.
Accompanied by four friends, the 30-year-old was barred from entering the club and was told by one of the door hosts that: "Tomboys can't enter. It's a directive from the management."
She questioned the discriminatory policy of the establishment saying: "I am a paying customer. It's a public place so I don't understand the discrimination."
When contacted by the Mail, The Loft KL Sdn Bhd, the company which operates the club and four other outlets, refused to comment on whether the club had denied entry to tomboys, gays and transvestites, without a written complaint.
The Mail however quoted the club's manager on duty, Zul Arshad, as saying that the club reserves the right to deny entry to certain groups like tomboys, gays and transvestites for "our own reasons."
"The club has the right to bar them from entering because this involves our image. In my opinion, we can't have these people because other patrons would feel intimidated by their behaviour. We are not discriminating against them but this is how we take care of our image. It's not good for the club. But gay people are allowed to work here," he said.
Gaydar co-founder dies in London
Gary Frisch, the co-founder of IT consultancy firm QSoft which owns the phenomenally successful gay dating website Gaydar, was found in the street on Saturday afternoon outside his London apartment on Feb 10.
Police have ruled out foul play and is investigating whether the 38-year-old Johannesburg-born businessman fell or jumped from his eighth floor balcony. Suicide has not been ruled out as a possibility.
Frisch and Henry Badenhorst, his partner at the time, moved from South Africa to London in 1997 and founded Gaydar two years later. They remained business partners after ending their personal relationship last year, with Frisch serving as chairman and Badenhorst managing director of QSoft Consulting.
QSoft released the following statement about Frisch's unexpected death: "Gary was a highly regarded leader and colleague who cared first and foremost about the gay and lesbian community that we serve. He was an accomplished entrepreneur and a very generous man who also cared deeply about the people who worked for and with him. Gary's legacy as a cofounder of the Gaydar phenomenon is immense, and it is one that we shall both celebrate and continue into the future. Gary will never be forgotten and is deeply missed by us all."
Last year the UK Independent on Sunday newspaper named Frisch and Henry Badenhorst - his business partner and former romantic partner - in its annual Pink List of the top 101 most influential gay men and women in the UK.
QSoft Consulting owns the Gaydar web sites, gaydargirls.com, gaydarradio.com, gaydartravel.com and rainbownetwork.com.
Rupert Everett and Boy George at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
British actor Rupert Everett has been announced as the Chief of Parade for this year's Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade to held on Saturday. He will lead a parade of 120 floats as it makes its way from Hyde Park in the city through Darlinghurst with an expected 300,000 spectators.
The honorary title is given each year to a high-profile member of the gay community. Everett, who came out in the late 1980s, is known for his roles in My Best Friend's Wedding, Shakespeare in Love, The Next Best Thing and The Importance of Being Earnest. He's now promoting his recently released a kiss-and-tell book Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins.
Follow British entertainer Boy George will perform at the traditional all-night party that follows the parade.
The festival almost ended when organiser Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Ltd went into receivership in 2002, but it was rescued by donations from organisations across the community.
The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade - now in its 29th year - will be broadcast live over the Internet but will cost $US7.50 to access at mardigras.viostream.com.
Female koalas observed to have lesbian sex in captivity
Researchers at University of Queensland, Australia have reported that they found female koalas indulging in 'lesbian sex sessions' immediately after rejecting male suitors and attempting to mate with each other, sometimes up to five at a time.
Although the marsupials appear to develop the tendency for same-sex liaisons when they are in captivity, researchers say they would remain heterosexual in the wild. Based on their study of 130 koalas in captivity, the researchers counted three homosexual interactions for every heterosexual one.
"On several occasions more than one pair of females shared the same pole, and multiple females mounted each other simultaneously. At least one multiple encounter involved five female koalas. One theory put forward by the researchers is that the females do it to attract males; another is that it is simply hormonal, or that it is a stress reliever.
"Our aim was to determine the extent of differences in the homosexual and heterosexual behaviour of female koalas and thereby to determine the purpose of female homosexual behaviour in the koala," say the researchers.
"Wild koalas brought into captivity clearly display homosexual behaviour on a regular basis. A total of 15 heterosexual and 43 homosexual interactions were recorded in separate animals. Homosexual behaviour was restricted to females only. Heterosexual encounters were typically twice as long as homosexual encounters," they add.
The results will be published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science.