In a historic and unanimous ruling, the Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal declared that people in "stable, enduring and public" same-sex relations must be granted the same rights as people in straight marriages. The ruling does not exactly establish gay marriage in Brazil the way that Canada, Argentina and...

The Obama administration is often criticized for betraying gay rights. Despite having helped repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, critics still charge that the White House continually reneges on its pledge to work hard to end marriage bans and gay bashing. Yet, on another unnoticed front, the administration has actually gone...

It was a banner year in the history of gay rights in the Americas. Here are the top 20 LGBT-related stories.

20
Open Doors: United States. The law that banned HIV-positive non-U.S. citizens from traveling or immigrating to the United States officially ended. The ban began...

In early September Fidel Castro, former president of Cuba and now opinion-maker-in-chief, stunned the world twice by declaring, first, that the Cuban model "doesn't work for us" anymore, and second, by arguing a few days later that he didn't really mean what he said. While Fidel Castro seems confused, his...

When most straight people are forced to think about gay people, they usually think of one thing first, sex. A political scientist might focus instead on a different question: how do gays perform in politics? Judged from their political achievements this past decade, the answer is, at least for Latin...

This week, the United States helped bring an end to a serious political crisis in Honduras. A similar crisis is now brewing in Nicaragua. This time, the United States won't be as lucky.

In both cases, the root cause of the crisis was the same: elected presidents seeking to...

The Organization of American States (OAS) finds itself in a conundrum. When it condemned last week's coup in Honduras, the OAS was convinced that it was defending democracy. Today, the OAS is not so sure. In his recent visit to Tegucigalpa, the OAS secretary general José Miguel Insulza found himself...