David Gray / Reuters

A pedestrian walks across a rainbow pedestrian crossing painted on Sydney's Oxford Street, the city's main gay district, on April 4, 2013.

Officials have ordered the removal of a rainbow pedestrian crossing painted on a street in Sydney's main gay district, setting off fierce debate in a city known for its annual Mardi Gras gay pride event, one of Australia's main tourist draws.

Tracey Nearmy / EPA, file

New South Wales police officers take part in the 35th Sydney Mardi Gras parade on March 2, 2013. The annual LGBT pride parade and festival carries on from the gay rights marches held annually since 1978 after numerous participants had been contentiously arrested by New South Wales State Police.

Controversy over the crossing, painted in February to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the annual gay festival, is pitting those proud of Sydney's reputation for tolerance, such as gay former tennis star Martina Navratilova, against government officials who say it is a safety hazard.

The colorful stripes on Oxford Street were originally intended to remain for a month after the Mardi Gras in March, but the crossing has become something of a magnet for tourists, prompting calls to maintain it as a celebration of gay pride. Read the full story.

Tracey Nearmy / EPA, file

Revellers take part in the 35th Sydney Mardi Gras parade on March 2, 2013.

Misha Japaridze / AP

Andrey Smirnov / AFP - Getty Images

Police officers detain gay right activists holding a 'kiss-in' protest outside the State Duma in Moscow on Dec. 19, 2012.

Russian gay rights activists kiss during a protest near the State Duma, Russia's lower parliament chamber, in Moscow on Wednesday.

The State Duma was set to debate a bill that would introduce sanctions for providing minors with information on homosexuality but postponed the debate until next month.

-- The Associated Press

 Related content:

• Russia retaliates against US rights legislation
• Lady Gaga accused of illegal gay rights promotion in Russia

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Couples exchange vows during a mass wedding for 25 same-sex partners at Seattle First Baptist Church, Dec. 9, 2012, in Seattle, Wash. Sunday is the first day that same-sex couples can legally wed in Washington state.

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Johanna Flynn, left, makes her way out of City Hall with her wife, Allison Kelsey on Sunday in Seattle.

Reuters reported on Sunday:

Hundreds of well-wishers braved a damp and chilly Seattle morning to celebrate the first of 140 weddings at City Hall on Sunday, marking the first day that same-sex couples can marry in Washington state.

Washington, Maine and Maryland last month became the first U.S. states to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples by a popular vote, in a leap forward for gay rights.

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Elaine Thompson / AP

Terry Gilbert, left, kisses his husband Paul Beppler after getting married at Seattle City Hall, becoming one of the first gay couples to legally wed in the state, Dec. 9. Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a voter-approved law legalizing gay marriage on Dec. 5 and weddings for gay and lesbian couples began in Washington on Sunday, following the three-day waiting period after marriage licenses were issued earlier in the week.

Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

A reveler holds the gay pride flag during the opening ceremony of the first South Asia Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, LGBT, Sports Festival in Kathmandu, October 12, 2012. The three-day long event is organized by the Blue Diamond Society, a LGBT rights group, to promote the equality, rights and social justice of LGBT through sports, according to Sunil Babu Pant, managing director of BDS.

Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

An athlete practices during the first South Asia LGBT Sports Festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Oct. 12.

AFP reports — Hundreds of athletes Friday took part in Asia's first-ever sports tournament for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, organizers said.

The three-day event at the national football stadium and other venues around Kathmandu kicked off with a soccer match between local teams.

The tournament features basketball, volleyball, football, martial arts and tennis, said The Blue Diamond Society, Nepal's leading gay rights group.

Some 300 local athletes had signed up for the games while 20 gay athletes arrived from countries including the United States, Russia, Japan, France and Bangladesh, Pant said.

Gay Olympic diving gold champion Greg Louganis, who is attending the event, is the big draw.

New Zealand and Australia host the "Asia-Pacific Outgames", another multi-sports gay event. But the event in Nepal has been billed as Asia's first gay games.

Homosexuals in the overwhelmingly Hindu nation have started to become more open about their sexual orientation since the end to the decade-long Maoist civil war in 2006 with the gay community staging beauty contests and other events.

Nepal said in June it would start issuing identity cards with three gender categories -- male, female and transgender.

Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

The shadow of a player casts on the ground while practicing volleyball during the opening ceremony of the first South Asia LGBT Sports Festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Oct. 12.

Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender players participate in a friendly soccer match during the opening ceremony of the first South Asia LGBT Sports Festival in Kathmandu, Oct. 12.

Niranjan Shrestha / AP

Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community hold the gay pride flag during the opening ceremony of the first South Asian LGBT Games organized by Blue Diamond Society in Katmandu, Nepal, Oct. 12. Around 250 LGBT community members are participating in the festival, according to Nepal's first openly gay politician Sunil Babu Pant.

Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters

Nepalese police sit during the opening ceremony of the first South Asia LGBT Sports Festival in Kathmandu, Oct. 12.

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Noah Berger / AP

Mark Wilson carries a rainbow flag during San Francisco's 42nd annual gay pride parade, June 24.

From San Francisco to New York and cities and towns in-between, revelers crowded streets and sidewalks Sunday for annual gay pride parades.

The sidewalks of downtown San Francisco were filled with colorful participants and spectators as the city marked its 42nd year celebrating the lesbian, gay and transgender community.  Organizers said more than 200 floats, vehicles and marching bands are taking part. The city's mayor, Ed Lee, was to address the crowd at the city's Civic Center.

Read the full story.

Related story: Conservatives target Republicans who back gay marriage: 'You could lose your career'

Noah Berger / AP

Niki Ryan, left, applies lipstick for her niece Brenna Ryan as they wait for the start of San Francisco's 42nd annual gay pride parade, June 24.

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Anatolii Stepanov / Reuters

Anatolii Stepanov / Reuters

Unidentified people beat Svyatoslav Sheremet (on ground), head of the Gay Forum of Ukraine public organization, in Kiev, May 20. Sheremet was attacked after meeting with members of the media to inform them that a scheduled gay parade was canceled. The attackers ran off when they realised members of the media were documenting the attack.

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Lucas Jackson / Reuters

A woman walks past colored bean bag chairs in a courtyard at The Out, a newly opened resort in New York, March 1. According to Ian Reisner, managing partner of Parkview Developers, the resort will be the first "straight friendly gay resort" in the city.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

A man talks on his phone in the lobby area of a new gay resort hotel, The Out NYC, in midtown Manhattan after the ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 1.

THE OUT NYC is part of a global trend, said Darren Cooper, senior consultant for Out Now Consulting, an international company based in the Netherlands that specializes in marketing to the gay community.

“Traditionally gay-owned and or operated hotels and guesthouses have been located in vacation resorts, and catered almost exclusively to the gay leisure traveler,” Cooper said. But since 2003 there has been growth in larger, metropolitan, upscale, boutique hotels that are predominantly aimed at the LGBT community but also marketed as "straight friendly." The LGBT community is announcing that it is now “part of the mainstream, but that straights are welcome, too,” he said.

Cooper cited a number of reasons for the increase, including the fact that post 9/11, the LGBT travel market “showed remarkable resilience, a fact that was not lost on the global travel industry as well as gay entrepreneurs and hoteliers.”

-- Reported by msnbc.com contributor Tanya Mohn

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Timothy A. Clary / AFP - Getty Images

The front of New York City's The Out NYC, during the official opening to the public March 1.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

A room is seen at a new gay resort hotel, The Out NYC, in midtown Manhattan after the ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 1. The 105-room gay urban resort features a nightclub, spa, restaurant and outdoor spaces.

Timothy A. Clary / AFP - Getty Images

The Spa Deck of New York City's first-ever gay hotel, The Out NYC, during the official opening to the public March 1. The urban resort in Hells Kitchen on 42nd Street will be the first hotel and entertainment complex targeted specifically at attracting the LGBT tourist and local community.

Drew Katchen / msnbc.com

In the "Fashion of the World" category, contestants are encouraged to take their inspiration from cultures around the globe and make something truly "bizarre."

Drew Katchen / msnbc.com

A performer walks in the "Butch Queen European Runway" competition. In this category, contestants look to "the future and outer space" for inspiration.

Drew Katchen / msnbc.com

Two dancers face off in a 'vogue' battle.

Voguing, drag queens and “bizarre” costume competitions are all part of a vibrant dance scene in the gay community where performers battle it out in competitions known as "balls.” The Latex Ball, held in New York City every year and sponsored by the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, is considered the Academy Awards for this community, and msnbc.com had a front-row seat.

More photos in our slideshow.

More about the annual event.

Watch video from the event below:

David Handschuh / Pool via Getty Images

Same-sex couple Ray Durand, left, and his partner Dale Shields kiss while having their picture taken after their wedding ceremony at the Manhattan City Clerk's office on the first day New York State's Marriage Equality Act goes into effect on July 24 in New York City. Today was the first day gay couples were allowed to legally marry in New York State after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the historic legislation into law.

 Read the full story here.

Reuters

A man attacks a gay rights activist during a gay pride parade, which was unsanctioned by the city authorities, in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 25.

On a similar note, activism for the gay community in New York paid off when same-sex marriages were legalized in that state on Friday and will begin in July. Read more here.