Month by month highlights - and a few lowlights - from GayNZ.com's Daily News coverage for 2010... January We don't need another Hero: It just took one signature to end the almost 20 year history of Hero, with its final standing Trustee Mike Binis given the honour of wrapping up the iconic brand, after key stakeholders decided its time was up. Milking the truth Club Physical's ears got a damn good workout when it circulated a nonsense claim that drinking soy milk can turn otherwise straight boys gay. The gym franchise apologised saying it didn't mean to cause any offence and promised to check its sources better in the future. Damn straight! February The tabloids want Mau: The front page outing of TV newsreader and presenter Alison Mau by a Sunday newspaper caused unease within the gay community, with some saying it harked back to Marilyn Waring's similar treatment on the front page of Truth newspaper a quarter of a century ago. Comments to GayNZ.com about the outing included the words "distasteful" and "intrusive". March Who wants Candy? With a hiss and a roar Candy Bar marched into Auckland's lesbian scene offering to create a permanent space for lesbians to call their own. It was packed ... for the first few weeks. Then Auckland's lesbian population shacked up and hibernated for winter and the dance floor became too sparsely-populated for the bar to survive - a real pity. But at least the girls are keeping Auckland lesbians sweet with monthly nights. Drop in new diagnoses: The 2009 figures from the AIDS Epidemiology Group at Otago University revealed a drop in new diagnoses in 2009, there were 151 compared to 184 in 2008. Of the new cases, 73 were men infected through sex with men (MSM), down from the record 98 cases in 2008 but similar to 2007 and 2006 figures. April Anna's revelation: Delicious New Zealand actress Anna Paquin grabbed global headlines when she came out as bisexual in a video promoting gay rights in the USA. The True Blood star said in the clip: "I'm bisexual... one hate crime is committed approximately every hour of every day in [the USA]." May Carmen Rides Again: New Zealand friends and supporters of tranny-legend Carmen rallied to buy her a scooter, saving her from struggling to get around on a three-wheeler mobility scooter. A picture of Carmen gloriously soaring through Sydney on her new ride made it into a gallery of the city's best pictures. Carving up stereotypes: Kiwi Olympic speed skater Blake Skjellerup went from breaking speed barriers to breaking down stereotypes when he came out following the Vancouver Games. In a piece for GayNZ.com, the inspiring athlete wrote that he has no doubts that if he was an All Black, he would be stereotyped by a large percentage of New Zealand's population. "I have lived homophobia and I know I would be defined as a skirt-wearing pansy. I came out to break the stereotype of gay men and gay athletes. We can be anybody. We are anybody." June The end of the Out empire: The closure if the Westside Sauna and Out Bookshop at their Anzac St site in Auckland marked the end of an era – they were the final two businesses in a string of ventures which played a huge role in New Zealand's gay history. Their businesses' pioneers were Tony Katavich, John Penney and the late Brett Sheppard. The trio had numerous bars, clubs and saunas across the country in the '70s and '80s. The Out 'empire' provided the hub from which most gay rights activism was supported and forged. That's not funny Mr Fane: Comedian David Fane made a drunken slip of horrific proportions as he tried to entertain media at a celebrity roast, stating that people with HIV should be 'roasted'. He was pretty quick to apologise for the nasty gaffe and attempted to rebuild bridges by auctioning off a roast dinner, which he cooked, for the GABA Charity Auction. July Dropping the ball: A 28-year-old netball coach was sacked from Christchurch Christian institution Middleton Grange School because he was gay. The man said he had "never felt so small" in his life. The man says the principal told him he could not continue in the position because the school's Board of Trustees decided his sexuality was a problem, based on Christian beliefs that homosexuality is a sin. Religious organisations are exempted from the protections of the Human Rights lesgislation August A divisive murder: GayNZ.com Daily News angered some members of the community when it revealed that murder-victim Denis Phillips frequented gay venues, after we were made aware of elements of the case which made it relevant to our readers. A 16-year-old boy has been charged with the 59-year-old temporary non-sworn police officer's murder. The case remains before the courts and there are heavy suppression orders in place. GayNZ.com Daily News will continue following developments in 2011. 'Pooftergate':The Broadcasting Standards Authority raised the ire of many GayNZ.com readers when it refused to uphold a complaint about a comment on More FM Tauranga's breakfast show: "I'm Not a Poofter Mate". The BSA ruled "poofter" was used to mean "wuss" or "wimp" rather than a term of gay abuse. More FM's response was decidedly pathetic and arrogant, with the regional station running a web poll to see whether it should apologise under the heading "pooftergate", then refusing to do so. September The morning Christchurch rocked: Christchurch was rocked by the quake that left the city looking like a warzone and many gay venues damaged. Matt Wright, 21, was working at Menfriends when it struck and after overcoming his initial shock he ushered patrons out of the club. He told GayNZ.com: "They looked shocked and stood around like stunned mullets for a few moments. One took a while to get his shit together. I was saying 'Come on man, there's going to be an aftershock soon, we gotta get out of here.' We were all shaking, it was creepy." The mother of all muddles: When the news broke that "Mama" Tere Strickland was to be honoured by the New Zealand AIDS Foundation as a Life Member it caused a storm of outrage. The emails flooded in and the Forum was full of angry responses, claiming Mama Tere was "deeply hated", had a history of violence and rallied against the rights of prostitutes. Despite the outcry, Mama Tere was still made a Life Member in November, leaving Prostitute's Collective worker Anna Reed to refuse to accept her own award and NZPC researcher Calum Bennachie to resign as his NZAF membership in protest. October To the left, to the left: Len Brown romped into the second-most powerful job in the country, the Auckland super city mayoralty, leading a nationwide swing to the left in the local body elections. The GLBT candidates had incredibly mixed results – with longtime rep Bruce Kilmister losing his community board seat in Auckland and 21-year-old go-getter Sam Johnson nabbing a spot on a Christchurch board. There was of course the Jevan Goulter sideshow, but that's another story … The end of an era: As the NZAF marked its 25th anniversary, Rachael Le Mesurier announced she was stepping down as Executive Director after seven years in the role and was emotionally farewelled later in the year. She copped a lot of flak during her time in charge, but she was a clear and determined agent of change. November In your own time, Ali: After being hounded by tabloids and outed earlier in February, newsreader and TV host Alison Mau received rapturous applause when she came out as bisexual onstage at the Queen of the Whole Universe show in Auckland, declaring she had "proud to be standing amongst the community". Mau told GayNZ.com Daily News after the show "I have fallen in love with a wonderful woman and it was just so unexpected." December Moa ruffles feathers: GayNZ.com's story about an outrageously offensive 'qeer' low carb beer drinkers t-shirt campaign from Moa Beer grabbed headlines across the globe. The boutique Marlborough brewery says it was meant to be light-hearted … but was quick to realise its blunder when its Facebook page was bombarded with comments like Dorothy V Dentata's: "BROES. Did you not hear how lesbians fuckin' love good beers? Sincerely- a raging bifurious girl who won't be hooning one of yr brews any time soon." The gay 'non-kiss': Air New Zealand controversially pulled a scene from an in-flight safety video where a gay flight attendant is rebuffed when he asks for a kiss on the cheek from All Black pin-up boy Richard Kahui. While there are some who staunchly believe Air NZ did the right thing in making the change, a poll on GayNZ.com was overwhelmingly against the decision to edit the ad. Jacqui Stanford - 27th December 2010