It is Reykjavik’s 12th annual Gay Pride weekend and the highlight is always Saturday’s colourful parade. This year the parade starts at 14.00 and tens of thousands of people are expected to turn out to participate. Read the full story

Iceland’s new marriage laws came into force yesterday, allowing same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples. Church services across the country yesterday celebrated the new law and marriage generally. Read the full story

Althingi, the parliament of Iceland, this afternoon voted to change the country’s marriage laws. 49 of the country’s 63 MPs voted in favour of the bill and none voted against. The law changes the wording of the law so that marriage is the legal union of two individuals and not only of a man and a woman. Read the full story

Regardless of the outcome of next year’s Finnish parliamentary elections, the governing majority is expected to implement a motion in support of gender-neutral marriage and adoption. Read the full story

SL, the Stockholm local transport authority, has been asked by the Swedish discrimination ombudsman (DO) to provide adequate compensation to a gay man after he was instructed to leave a bus by a local driver. Read the full story

Finland will not follow the lead of neighbouring Sweden and instead will continue to forbid blood donations by gay men, says the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service. Read the full story

A new Russian film which tells the story of a troupe of drag queens is swarming with stereotypes, according to Finnish actor Ville Haapasalo. Read the full story

Finland’s Catholic Bishop, Teemu Sippo, has warned of an impending rift between the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church and Finland’s Catholic Church over the issue of gay marriage. Read the full story

Sweden is edging closer towards officially approving gay marriage now that three of the four parties in the ruling government coalition have joined forces and tabled a motion to legalise the controversial unions by 1 May. Of the four parties in the Alliance government, only the Christian Democrats are holding out. The Local newspaper reports that they are opposed to using the term “marriage” when referring to gay unions. Read the full story

If a new law that’s currently on the table gets passed by Sweden’s government, homosexuals will be allowed to legally get married in the Church of Sweden beginning as early as May 2009. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt confirmed to Swedish Radio that: “Sweden could have a gender neutral marriage law by May 1, 2009.” Read the full story