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Notes from the World: Human rights for everyone, everywhere

After almost a year of chronicling individuals who are actively and passionately working to make the world a better place, in this installment I am honored report about the very important work of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), a champion for us all.

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Celebrities kick off National Guide Dog Month fundraising campaign

Three celebrities -- Dick Van Patten, Jimmy Van Patten and Nicollette Sheridan -- are promoting September as National Guide Dog Month.

They are getting an assist from Guide Dogs of the Desert guide dog in training Parcel, guide dog in training Barbee, and puppy in training Alley.

Throughout September, pet parents can visit any of PETCO's more than 1,000 locations to help PETCO and Natural Balance Pet Foods achieve their goal to raise $1 million for guide dog organizations across the country.

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Sepehr Masakani, a college student in Iran, lives dangerously as a gay activist

Editor's note: It is dangerous to be gay or lesbian in Iran, where international human rights groups report public floggings and executions of LGBT people. Transsexuality in Iran is legal if accompanied by a sex change operation, but transsexual people still report societal intolerance. In 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking at Columbia University, said that homosexuality does not exist in Iran. Homosexuality is a crime punishable by death under the country's theocratic Islamic government. Sex outside of a heterosexual marriage is forbidden.

Record 14 Equality California-sponsored bills, resolutions pass in legislature

SACRAMENTO -- Equality California said today that a record 14 measures sponsored by the organization passed during this year’s legislative session.

By partnering with the LGBT Legislative Caucus and allied lawmakers, Equality California helped secure approval of seven bills and seven resolutions, many of which included more bipartisan support than in any other year in the organization’s history.

Gays are living guarded lives in Cameroon

LONDON -- A recent decision by the UK Supreme Court found that a gay man would "face a well-founded fear of persecution" if he returned to Cameroon. The Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal's decision that this Cameroonian man could return and conceal his identity to avoid persecution.

Gays in Mauritius are kidnapped to “cure” their homosexuality

Introduction by Nicholas Ritter of Collectif Arc-en-Ciel: Although LGBT issues are evolving in the right direction in Mauritius, it takes time. Mauritius is a VERY conservative country and also VERY religious. Therefore parents who learn that their child is gay rarely accept it and act sometime like barbarians.... Thanks to the courage of those girls and the media support this strory finished with a happy end. Thank God we are still in a democracy even if sometime its smell like banana.

VIDEO: “From Bagdad to Brooklyn” follows a gay Iraqi refugee’s quest for asylum

In the fall of 2006, I journeyed to the Middle East as an independent journalist to cover the growing Iraqi refugee crisis. At the time, one in five Iraqis had left their homes. With nearly four million people displaced, it was the largest refugee and displaced persons community in the world.

I soon realized no one was immune from the dangers that faced Iraqi citizens. However, one specific group seemed to be under particular risk -- members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community.

Australia refuses gay Pakistani asylum

CANBERRA, Australia -- On 26 May 2010, a divided High Court set a high bar for those seeking to challenge refugee decisions on the basis that they are irrational or illogical. In ordering that a decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal denying an asylum seeker a visa should stand, a majority of the Court said there was “room for a logical or rational person to reach the same decision.” The decision was, according to the majority, not “unintelligible.”

VIDEO: Queer Rising takes over P.A. system at Target store, telling shoppers about "Bigot Special"

Queer Rising activists recently got the attention of shoppers at a Target store, hijacking the public address system for a message not approved by the home office.

Be forewarned that some profanity is used during their protest of Target’s corporate donation to support an anti-gay candidate for Minnesota governor.

To learn more about Queer Rising, click HERE.

VIDEO: Whoopi Goldberg gives a damn about workplace discrimination

Cyndi Lauper's Give a Damn Campaign releases new video that puts emphasis on work place discrimination.

The Give a Damn Campaign is for everybody who cares about LGBT equality, especially straight people who want to get informed about the issues that the LGBT community is fighting for.