A young woman who asked three All Blacks fans at Eden Park not to use homophobic slurs was told by the men that "it's just part of the game".

The outcome of a Human Rights Commission complaint by a lesbian couple who say they were discriminated against when a Whangarei lodge would not let them share a bed will only be made public if both sides agree.

Twenty-five women from 21 countries became New Zealand citizens at Government House in Wellington yesterday.

The Green Party says the Government must reveal the extent to which the United States' National Security Agency has passed information on to it.

Plans to fine women who have children out of wedlock have caused outrage in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Brian Rudman asks, "What would the great Liberal and Labour social pioneers think of the cripple-bashing that occurred last week?"

Thousands of people marched through the streets of Manhattan to protest against the killing of a gay man allegedly taunted with homophobic slurs.

Two-thirds of Europe's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are still afraid to show their sexuality in public, and a quarter have been victims of physical or verbal attacks, a European Union report says.

A Northland couple are outraged and hurt at being denied accommodation at the Pilgrim Planet Lodge because of "who we are".

It is for those who appointed her to justify their decision and the process that was followed, writes Rajen Prasad. It is for them to explain their understanding of the contemporary race relations challenges for NZ.

Emaciated and frail, more than 100 men lie on concrete floors of freezing, solitary cells in Guantanamo, silently starving themselves to death.

British historian Niall Ferguson has apologised for remarks suggesting that economist John Maynard Keynes didn't care about future generations because he was gay and childless.

Women's refuges are being kept in the dark about the proposed repeal of laws protecting victims of domestic violence.

Kiwis are more polite about their racism than people in other parts of the world, says university lecturer Camille Nakhid.

Martin Luther King she is not, but the new Race Relations Commissioner adopted some of the American civil rights legend's soaring rhetoric yesterday.

As a conference this weekend looks at how racism affects Auckland, Susan Edmunds examines the progress we have made and the work left to do.

Some of humanity's daily tragedies stand out because they inflict wantonly futile suffering; others awake the persistent tug of collective conscience.

It has been controversial right from the time of the first pilot project five years ago, but our Government seems set to continue giving aid to the police in Indonesian-controlled West Papua.

"Why should under-25s, with nothing but a desire for a romantic stroll in the park, be driven out for nothing more than the crime of having acute hearing?" asks Brian Rudman.

Gay marriage has been legalised by Parliament - but it is still banned by most of New Zealand's 10 main religions, a new Herald survey shows.

Aquiet, conscientious National MP, Jackie Blue, has made an unusual career move, forsaking Parliament for the Human Rights Commission where she will be the next Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner.