In 2005, she was sent to prison after being convicted for supplying “class A” drugs. While at prison, the unnamed woman entered into lesbian relationships with fellow inmates.

According to the Jamaican Observer, British immigration officials do not believe the woman and say her claims are just “a ruse to avoid deportation.”

The United Kingdom and the United States have granted asylum to Jamaican gays in the past because of the extreme levels of homophobia in the island nation.

Read the full Jamaican Observer story here.

Lt. Cmdr. Craig Jones climbed the staircase into the captain’s cabin, with its porthole overlooking the sea and its matched pictures of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. The captain paused in a conversation with his executive officer and took a seat. Jones looked him in the eye and told him he would never again listen to the captain bash gay servicemen.

It was January 2000, and the captain had just announced that gays in Britain could start serving openly in the military.

“I said, ‘Look, it’s really simple. I’m gay,’” Jones said. “Whilst the changes in policy may not have had a great impact on you, they have a great impact on me.”

The assault ship’s rattled captain stuttered. There was a policy, yes – but no one had any idea what to do next. The captain asked Jones not to say anything.

Instead, he ended up saying a lot – all the way up to the British military’s highest officials.

After all, he’d had time to consider this. For years, he had led a double life.

Jones joined the navy at 1989, eager for adventure, and got his wish. He intercepted drug dealers in the Caribbean, dropped from helicopters, served in the Shatt-al-Arab waterway dividing Iraq and Iran, tracked arms into Northern Ireland.

Then, at 25, he met Adam Mason, the man who would become his partner. Suddenly, he had something to hide.

Jones and Mason set up a clandestine relationship in Brighton, a coastal community with a relaxed attitude toward gays but far from his ship’s home port in Portsmouth. Fearing he’d be betrayed by a casual remark, he told neighbors he was a truck driver for Shell.

“I had a constant fear of a knock at the door by the military police,” he said.

This was tough for an officer in the Royal Navy, where men and women spend a lot of time together and work doesn’t end at 6 p.m. The bonds extend to families, who support one another during long absences and in times of war and death.

Jones wanted to be part of that. He wanted Mason to be the first to know if anything happened to him, to be provided for in case Jones should die serving his country.

So it all welled up in him that morning in 2000 – all those years of sneaking around.

“I do remember saying to the captain that he had gay men and women on his ship and that he was bound to the same duty of care to them as everyone else,” Jones said.

But that was just the start. Jones told other officers – and made clear he didn’t mind if they shared the news. When a notice was put up for the ship’s ball, he signed up. Though the other officers and their wives welcomed them, he decided against dancing with Mason that first night.

“I thought it was appropriate to be aware of other people’s sensitivities,” Jones said.

Change came slowly. Though gays could now serve openly, few safeguards existed for those who came out. Jones worried that problems might be used as an excuse to backtrack. He met with personnel committees at the Ministry of Defense, wrote to Cabinet ministers.

And one day when he was particularly angry, he had lunch with the parents of a colleague. Jones didn’t hold back. What he didn’t realize that he was venting to Lord Armstrong of Ilminister, the former Cabinet secretary for ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Soon after, an invitation arrived in the mail to spend a weekend at Leeds Castle – a turreted Saxon manor. The Armstrongs had a surprise guest: Lord West, the First Sea Lord, the top dog in Britain’s navy.

They bumped into each other in the hallway. Lady West grabbed Mason by the arm, questioning him about the needs of partners.

“She got it in a way that left no doubt she would use her influence,” Jones said.

Lord West promised to speak to the officer in charge of personnel. The Royal Navy began to lead. Sailors marched in the gay pride parade. Jones testified, in uniform, before the U.S. Congress. He was honored by the queen for his work in promoting diversity.

He’s left the navy now, confident others can carry on. But much had been accomplished. Britain now allows civil unions, for example, enabling partners to get many of the same rights as married couples.

From the “Berlin Wall of inequality,” Jones said, “it was the first brick to fall.”

—

Lord West, now Britain’s terrorism minister, spent more than four decades in the Royal Navy, and was commander of the HMS Ardent, a frigate which was sunk during the Falklands War.

In an interview at his office in the House of Lords, West said some of his views on gay people serving in the military were shaped by a non-commissioned officer who he served with on the Ardent.

“Probably my best NCO – a really brave chap, did brilliantly under fire, did all the right things, everything – by the time I became commander-in-chief, he’d finished his time in the Navy. And when he left, he let me know that actually, he was gay,” West said. “It really made me think about it.”

—

Mandy McBain knew what the conversation would be about when her boss told her she could bring a lawyer.

This wasn’t just a regular sit-down with a supervisor. And this wasn’t just any employer – it was the Royal Navy. What McBain’s boss asked her about was more than just an intrusion of privacy. It was a matter of law. Someone had reported her, and she had to answer.

“We didn’t have a don’t ask, don’t tell policy. If you were gay, you were dismissed,” McBain says. “If I had answered yes to any of those questions, I would have been dismissed.”

So that day in the office, with another senior officer as witness, McBain denied she was in a relationship with another servicewoman – but didn’t tell them she was seeing a civilian.

“There’s no two ways about it. If I was asked today, ‘Did you lie?’ I would have to say yes,” she said.

Now, along with the anger, she feels sympathy.

“He was one of the best bosses I ever worked for,” she says. “It must have been awful for him, because we got along very well. (After) he said, ‘Right. Let’s put it behind us. Go home, have a gin and tonic, and I’ll see you tomorrow.’”

McBain knew from childhood she wanted to serve in the navy; she enlisted in 1986 at age 19. Two years later, she realized she was a lesbian and told her mom, some trusted friends – but not the navy.

“The only choice I had was to lead a double life,” she said.

She had a career she loved, but there was a cost. She had to tread carefully when she recounted for colleagues how she’d spent her free time. She didn’t get into the gay nightlife scene, worried that one of the patrons at a bar could be a military investigator.

In 2000, when the ban on gays serving in Britain’s armed forces was lifted, outwardly, little changed for McBain. There was no big announcement. But inwardly there was a sense of relief, and little by little, she started talking about her girlfriend.

Now, McBain is a lieutenant commander specializing in logistics. While she praises the armed forces – in particular, her beloved navy – McBain would like to see more people working on diversity issues. She believes the top brass understand the benefits of an inclusive military; it’s the people below them she wants to reach.

In particular, it rankles when someone tells McBain her sexuality is none of their business, “a private matter.”

“They just can’t understand me when I say, ‘What you do with your wife in the bedroom is a private matter,’” she says. “But when you go for a walk with your wife, and your child and your dog, well, I’d like to hear about that.”

The ultimate goal is simple: “I do wish for the day when being gay isn’t an issue.”

Nadim Kurrimbukus, 25, will be sentenced on June 15 for the murder of  Charlie Davies, 23, in June 2008.

Kurrimbukus’ co-accused, Yusuf Dulloo, 27, was found not guilty.

Davies suffered burns to 75 percent of his body, dying in the hospital 12 days after the attack. The prosecution alleged that Kurrimbukus killed Davies in retaliation for Davies ending their relationship.

At his trial, Kurrimbukus calmly denied the accusations.

“You were there to commit a horrific act of violence against Charlie Davies. On that evening you had access to petrol, bottles and transport. You were a jealous man,” prosecutor Victor Temple said.

In a clear, calm voice Kurrimbukus replied, “I had nothing to do with Charlie’s murder.”

Temple also accused him of lying to investigators, lying to police about his whereabouts until confronted with phone evidence which placed him at the scene.

Kurrimbukus attempted to refute evidence presented by police that during questioning, Dulloo said that Kurrimbukus had admitted the killing the following day.

“In Islam you are not allowed to be gay. There’s such a thing as an honor killing. Dulloo’s lying as a punishment. He is trying to punish me after he found out about my sexuality,” Kurrimbukus told the court.

The court also heard from one of Davies’ neighbors who described seeing the victim engulfed in a “big ball of fire.”

The woman, whose name was withheld for her own safety, said that she was coming home and as she approached Davies’ house she heard screams and saw him stumbling down his driveway on fire.

She also testified that she saw a man running down a nearby alley.

The jury deliberated for six-and-a-half hours before finding Kurrimbukus guilty and  Dulloo not guilty of murder.

Nadim Kurrimbukus, 25, and a second man, Yusuf Dulloo, 27, are charged with murdering Charlie Davies.

Davies, 23, suffered burns to 75 percent of his body and died in the hospital 12 days after the attack last June. The prosecution alleges that Kurrimbukus killed Davies in retaliation after Davies ended their relationship.

At his trial, Kurrimbukus calmly denied the accusations.

“You were there to commit a horrific act of violence against Charlie Davies. On that evening you had access to petrol, bottles and transport. You were a jealous man,” prosecutor Victor Temple said.

In a clear, calm voice Kurrimbukus replied, “I had nothing to do with Charlie’s murder.”

Temple also accused him of lying to investigators, lying to police about his whereabouts until confronted with phone evidence which placed him at the scene.

Kurrimbukus attempted to refute evidence presented earlier in the trial by police that during questioning Dulloo said that Kurrimbukus had admitted the killing the following day.

“In Islam you are not allowed to be gay. There’s such a thing as an honor killing. Dulloo’s lying as a punishment. He is trying to punish me after he found out about my sexuality,” Kurrimbukus told the court.

Last week, the court was given evidence from a police interview with Dulloo in which he said that Kurrimbukus told him he had “lit the guy.”

According to the police account of Dulloo’s questioning he said: “I’m listening to the radio and then I hear kind of like a scream… then he comes back and he is like as if he has been running. But I didn’t account that to anything to do with the screaming.”

Earlier in the trial one of Davies’ neighbors described seeing him engulfed in a “big ball of fire.”

The woman, whose name is being withheld for her own safety, told the murder trial this week that she was coming home and as she approached Davies’ home she heard screams and saw him stumbling down his driveway on fire.

She also testified that she saw a man running down a nearby alley.

“He covered his face, first of all he had his hood up, he had sunglasses on and then he had something covering the from the tip of his nose across the face,” she told the court.

She said she and other neighbors called for help but Davies had suffered massive burns.

The trial continues.

Charlie Davies, 23, died in hospital 12 days after the attack last June.

His ex-lover, Nadim Kurrimbukus, 25, and a second man, Yusuf Dulloo, 27, are charged with murder.

After the arrests, Kurrimbukus denied the attack and Dulloo said he only drove Kurrimbukus to Davies’ home.  But Dulloo then told police, according to one of the investigators, that the following day when they met up Kurrimbukus said he had “lit the guy.”

Dulloo allegedly told police that when they arrived near Davies’ home, Kurrimbukus got out, asked Dulloo to wait for him, then took something out of the trunk of the car.

According to the police account of Dulloo’s questioning he said: “I’m listening to the radio and then I hear kind of like a scream… then he comes back and he is like as if he has been running. But I didn’t account that to anything to do with the screaming.”

Under police questioning Kurrimbukus denied Dulloo’s account. Kurrimbukus said he only went to Davies’ home to collect a phone charger.

Earlier in the trial one of Davies’ neighbors described seeing her neighbor engulfed in a “big ball of fire”.

The woman, whose name is being withheld for her own safety, said that she was coming home and as she approached Davies’ home she heard screams and saw him stumbling down his driveway on fire.

She also testified that she saw a man running down a nearby alley.

“He covered his face, first of all he had his hood up, he had sunglasses on and then he had something covering the from the tip of his nose across the face,” she told the court.

She said she and other neighbors called for help but Davies had suffered massive burns.

The prosecution claims that Davies was murdered by Kurrimbukus in revenge for the break-up of their two-year affair.

Jamie Durrant, 38, claims in his complaint to the labor tribunal that the company failed to take action despite numerous complaints he was being harassed by fellow workers.

Durrant, who earned about $100,000 a year designing video games for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console, claims emails were circulated among employees with headings including “I’m Jim and I’m Gay,” “Me and My Favorite Men” and “Ladies Are Bad.”

One, in which he was described as “Fag Boy Jim,” was posted on the wall in the lunchroom at the Reading operation.

In his complaint, Durrant said that he is being treated for depression and has not been able to work for seven months because of the harassment.

He said that when he brought the situation to the attention of Microsoft Human Resources in the UK, he was not taken seriously. The complaint to the tribunal said that he was told by the HR department that all staff would be sent an email staff reminding them of “how to behave responsibly in a diverse office.”

Months later, when he asked why the email was never sent, he was told Microsoft UK would have to create a diversity policy first. Durrant claims that has never happened.

“This was not the first time there was homophobic content in the office,” he said. “Previously, I had tried to deal with it myself. This time, I did not feel that I could.”

The complaint seeks about $90,000 in damages.

“I feel I should be compensated for the stress that this whole complaint procedure has placed on me, the amount of effort and time I have put into trying to get this resolved and acknowledgment that they have done nothing whilst the homophobic harassment continued, making my workplace uncomfortable and unpleasant,” he told The Telegraph newspaper.

Microsoft denies discriminating on the ground of sexual orientation and said it will vigorously contest Durrant’s claims.

James O’Connor was 19 when he beat and kicked Michael Causer to death after a drunken party. He was one of three men charged in the killing. With good behavior, O’Connor could be out of prison in about 11 years.

O’Connor pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors that took a hate crime charge off the table. His co-defendant, Michael Binsteed, 19, pleaded guilty to perverting the cause of justice and was given 34 weeks in custody that was suspended for two years.

The third accused, Gavin Alker, 19, who had been charged with murder but pleaded not guilty, was absolved by a jury last month.

Causer was part of a group that had met during a night out at a local pub. After heavy drinking, the group went to the grandmother’s home of one of the men to “sleep it off.”

During Alker’s trial, the prosecution alleged that Alker discovered from one of the other men that Causer was gay.

Prosecutor Richard Pratt told the jury that Alker took a heavy hardbound American history book from a shelf, went into the room where Causer was sleeping and used it to batter Causer’s head. He then beat and kicked him repeatedly.

Pratt told the jury there was only one reason for the attack: “Michael Causer was gay.”

Pratt told the trial that the evidence showed that Alker tried to burn a section of Causer’s leg and prepared to rip his body piercings out with a knife.

At that point, as Causer lay unconscious, Alker, Binsteed and O’Connor decided to dump the body on a street.

They allegedly hoisted the body over a fence and dragged it to the road. Pratt said that Alker then fled and the other two returned to the house and cleaned away evidence. Binsteed called an ambulance.

Paramedics found Causer on the roadway barely breathing and suffering massive brain injuries and was rushed to hospital.  He died eight days later when doctors declared him brain dead and a ventilator was removed.

During his trial Alker blamed O’Connor for the killing.

At his sentencing Mr Justice King told O’Connor his actions were “ignoble” and “cowardly.”

Brown made the comments during a speech to British gay rights leaders during a reception at the Prime Minister’s official Residence 10 Downing Street the British Broadcasting Corporations reports.

“This attempt to undo good that has been done is unacceptable,” Brown said. “This shows why we have always got to be vigilant, always got to fight homophobic behavior and any form of discrimination.”

The Prime Minister praised UK gay leaders for pushing to have civil partnerships legalized in 2005, giving same-sex couples all of the rights of marriage except the name.

He praised the rights leaders for “changing opinion” about same-sex unions.

“You have shown how the legislative process, by your pressure, can respond,” he told the group.

Last May the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage.  Some 18,000 gay and lesbian couples married before voters by a slim 52 percent approved Proposition 8.

Brown’s comments came only hours after the California high court heard arguments challenging the legality of the proposition.  It could be up to 90 days before a ruling is made in the case.

Anthony Morley, the winner of the Mr. Gay UK contest in 1993, is on trial for murder in the slaying of 33-year-old Damian Oldfield.

Prosecutor Andrew Stubbs told the court that Morley and Oldfield had met on April 23 and went back to Morley’s house where they had sex.

Morley, 36, then attacked Oldfield, slashing his throat and stabbing him numerous times.

Morley, wearing a white dressing gown and flip flops, then walked casually down the street to a restaurant and told the staff that he killed someone.

Employees alerted police.

Officers found “meat” in a stewing pot in the kitchen and more “meat” in a garbage bag. Forensic tests showed it to be human.

Investigators said they did not know how much of the thigh had been eaten.

“From a chopping board on one of the kitchen units, six pieces of cooked flesh, which had been seasoned with fresh herbs and fried in olive oil were recovered,” Stuffs told the court.

At the time Morley was employed as a chef at a well known area restaurant. Oldfield worked as an advertising salesman on a Leeds-based magazine.

Morley’s attorney, Robert Smith, said Oldfield had attempted to rape his client. He said that he would seek a psychiatric evaluation.

It is not the first time a gay man has been arrested for murder and cannibalizing his victims.

Two separate cases occurred in Germany.

The most famous involved Armin Meiwes, 44, who is serving time for murdering and devouring Bernd Juergen Brandes, 43, in 2001.

Meiwes and Brandes met through an internet bulletin board or BBS for gay men interested in a cannibalism fetish.

“If you are between 18 and 25 years old you are my boy. Come to me and I eat your horny flesh” his ad said.

The case came to light when Meiwes posted more ads after Meiwes death for additional victims, and readers of the postings contacted police.

When police searched Meiwes’ home they discovered neatly wrapped body parts in plastic bags which were labeled “according to cuts.”  Bones and other “non edibles” were found buried in the garden. Meiwes told police he already had  consumed about 40 pounds of Brandes’s body.

He told police that the two men had enjoyed a final meal together.  Brandes had agreed to be castrated and the two sautéed his penis and testicles.  They washed down the meal with a German white wine.

The other German case of gay man who killed his partner in 2005, dismembered him, and then froze the body parts to eat later.

Last year in Mexico City, a bisexual man and his gay lover were arrested for the murder and cannibalization of his some-time girlfriend.

The Rev. Peter Mullen, who is chaplain to the London Stock Exchange, made that remark and other incendiary homophobic comments on his internet blog.

Mullen said the forced tattoos would be similar to warning placed on packages of cigarettes. 

“Let us make it obligatory for homosexuals to have their backsides tattooed with the slogan ‘Sodomy can seriously damage your health,’ their chins with ‘Fellatio kills.’

In another posting, the 66-year old Mullen calls for gay pride parades – which he called “obscene” – to be outlawed.

In yet another, he blasted another Church of England priest, the Rev. Martin Dudley, for blessing the civil partnership of two fellow clerics.

“The Bishop of London is in a high huff, Because Dr Dudley has married a puff; And not just one puff – he’s married another: Two priests, two puffs and either to other.”

Bishop of London the Rt Rev Richard Chartres has criticized Dudley for conducting the ceremony, but chastised Mullen for the blog postings.

“While clergy are entitled to their own personal views, we recognize that the content of this text is highly offensive and is in no way reflective of the views of the Diocese of London,” Chartres said in a statement to The Evening Standard newspaper.

The paper also reported that Mullen is under investigation and may face a disciplinary inquiry over his comments.

Mullen dismisses the criticism, calling his postings “satire.”

“I wrote some satirical things on my blog and anybody with an ounce of sense of humor or any understanding of the tradition of English satire would immediately assume that they’re light-hearted jokes,” he told the paper. “I certainly have nothing against homosexuals. Many of my dear friends have been and are of that persuasion. What I have got against them is the militant preaching of homosexuality.”