Online dating has come a long way since Match.com first launched back in the 90s. Since then, competitors like eHarmony launched in 2000, and Tinder popularized free online dating back in 2012. However, it’s new brands like Hinge and a resurgence of popularity in OkCupid that are really stepping up for equality and diversity. Both companies have new campaigns aimed at supporting the LGBTQ community. HINGE Hinge is one of the newest dating apps out there. While the site was technically created in 2012, it struggled and almost went bankrupt for years. It wasn’t until 2017 that users gravitated…
Author: Keith Langston
Florida’s bigoted governor, Ron DeSantis, has signed the notorious “Parental Rights in Education” (dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill) into law. The move comes after a month of scandal and media attention…all of which DeSantis loves as he continues to pander to Trump’s base. The bill will ban schools from talking about LGBTQ topics with kids, which makes activists worry the bill could be used to ban something as innocent as a children’s book that features a character with two dads. Republicans claim the bill is needed because LGBTQ topics should be discussed in the home and not at school,…
Pantene, the renowned beauty company known especially for their Pro-V products and their famous advertisements from the ’80s which featured supermodel Kelly LeBrock saying, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful,” is now being known for something else…their inclusivity. Earlier this month, the beauty company launched their Home for the Holidays video series, along with the hashtag #BEAUTIFULGBTQ. The series highlights different members of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles. Watch the opening trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsJWzXtNlgw The trailer begins with “137 million Americans will travel home this holiday season…” Followed by, “44% of LGBTQ people feel they can’t come home as their…
New alarming information has been released by the Web Integrity Project revealing that the Trump administration is altering and deleting information about LGBTQ people. According to Fast Company, the organization discovered shocking and horrific slashes in the amount of information being released by the Trump administration in regards to LGBT people throughout numerous government agencies. Examples included in the investigation is the switching of “LGBT” to “LGB” on the CDC website, The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity deleted information about rights for LGBT and HIV positive people, and there’s been a 40% decrease in the use of the…
The new documentary Julia Scotti – Funny That Way explores the life of comedian Julia Scotti, who shot to fame on the talent show America’s Got Talent. Julia, born Rick Scotti, always had a love for stand-up comedy, and despite a good career on the comedy club circuit, Scotti felt something was missing: that he wasn’t who he truly was supposed to be. In his late 40’s, Rick realized he needed to be his true self. After transitioning, Julia not only blossomed into a happier, healthier person, but she rebooted her career as a stand-up comediene. Little did she know…
The United Kingdom has just expanded Turing’s Law, a measure that seeks to pardon LGBTQ people who were convicted of archaic crimes, largely aimed at gay men who were convicted under sodomy laws. According to NBC News, gay sex was legalized in the UK in 1967, but the age of consent was kept higher (at 21 years of age) for gay men than for heterosexuals (which was 16 years of age) all the way until 2001. This means that someone who was 25 or 26 could have been convicted of pedophilia for having sex with someone who was 20 years…
The state of Florida is currently doing everything it can to censor free speech and stop kids from learning the truth about America’s history and their fellow Americans. A wave of bills has begun flooding the Florida legislature that seeks to ban discussions of race, gender, and sexuality in schools. The “reasoning” behind this is that Republicans claim children’s feelings are being hurt and that parents deserve “parental rights” over their children and don’t want their kids being “indoctrinated”. The fact that many politicians consider learning about LGBTQ rights and racism as “indoctrination” says a lot about where America is…
Tony and Grammy winning actor and singer, Billy Porter, is set to be honored at this year’s 38th annual Black Tie Dinner. The Black Tie Dinner is one of the largest LGBT events in the country, and previous years have seen the likes of Connie Britton, Maya Angelou, Lilly Tomlin, Dustin Lance Black, and many more. The event is set to take place November 2nd in Dallas, Texas. The night’s theme is, “Be.” The Black Tie Dinner has grown tremendously over its lifetime. The first event, held back in 1982, raised $6,000 for charity. Last years event raised over $1,000,000! Throughout…
The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) has released a massive and in-depth study about the rampant spread of misinformation and lies about conversion therapy online. According to the findings, search engines and social media networks like Facebook and Instagram do a good job of weeding out misinformation when people search the phrase “conversion therapy”. The problem, the study says, is that conversion therapy providers have started changing the phrasing and narratives of their practices. Now, terms like “reintegrative therapy” and “unwanted same-sex attraction” are becoming the norm within conversion therapy networks. Search engines and social media sites have much higher…
Elon Musk’s trans daughter recently turned 18 and legally changed her name and gender. Now going by the name, Vivian Jenna Wilson, she told the court, “I no longer live with, or wish to be related to, my biological father in any way, shape or form.” (via NBC News). Publications are currently scrambling to reach out to Jenna for comment, but she has yet to respond and so far, her exact reasonings for disavowing her father remains unknown. However, what is known is that in recent years Musk has become more and more conservative, aligning further and further with Republican…
Last week, Rio de Janeiro’s mayor Marcelo Crivella took it upon himself to become outraged at a 9-year-old Marvel comic titled Avengers: Children’s Crusade. The Bienial Do Livro book fair, a local literary event, was selling copies of the Avengers comic, and the mayor (an evangelical) suddenly demanded that LGBTQ children’s media shouldn’t be seen in public. Crivella claimed that such literature should be “packaged in black plastic and sealed.” (I’d like to also acknowledge that the characters portrayed in the series are teenagers, so calling this “children’s literature” seems a bit untrue.) The issue immediately went to a local…
Scapegoating is the typical M.O. for many politicians who wish to remain in power without actually helping their constituents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, and after the January 6 riots, Republicans have been very busy doing everything they can to not address those issues. Instead, they’ve found an easy victim to blame for the world’s problems: trans people, with a focus on trans women and girls in particular. The excuses they’ve been throwing around sound more like fearmongering, stating that trans women in women’s bathrooms would result in “Peeping Toms” and that trans girls playing on girls’ sports teams would actually…
Back in 2016, the then 27-year-old architect, Alfie Arcuri, had a life-changing experience: He was selected to audition for Australia’s version of the popular reality series The Voice. Before he knew it, he was crowned the winner, had a record label, a hit album, and a future as a musician. Recently, I was lucky enough to sit down with this handsome and charming Aussie and ask him some questions about his life. With his cat (whom he adopted from Delta Goodrem) perched in his lap, and his dog asleep on the couch beside him, Alfie opened up about his life, his…
Trixie Mattel. Drag queen, singer, songwriter, autoharp pro, winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, and star of her YouTube series UNHhhh alongside her drag partner-in-crime, Katya. With all this success, Trixie has become a world traveler. Whether she’s selling out concert halls to play music or on the road with Katya for UNHhhh Live, one thing’s for sure, she’s been everywhere. I had the privilege of catching up with Trixie at New York’s DragCon to discuss all things travel. From her favorite destinations to her must-have travel accessory, and even an inflatable urine-filled pillow…Trixie Mattel reveals it all. By…
This is a tough time for everyone, but especially for the LGBTQ+ community. Many people traveled home to be with family during the pandemic, but for a lot of LGBTQ+ people home isn’t a place where they feel comfortable. Also, large portions of the LGBTQ+ community live in major cities, which have been the hardest hit by the outbreak. LGBTQ+ people also have disproportionate amounts of financial and housing disenfranchisement. For all of these reasons, among many others, it’s easy to see how life in lockdown can make you feel anxious, scared, and frustrated. But you don’t have to go…
Queer legend and dance hall staple, k.d. lang, has just released a remix of her 1995 hit song “If I Were You”. The single was released in anticipation of her upcoming album, Makeover, which will feature tons of remastered and remixed hits from k.d. lang’s song library. Included in the album will be songs originally released between 1992-2000, including, “Sexuality,” “Miss Chatelaine,” “Theme from the Valley of the Dolls,” “Summerfling,” “Lifted By Love”, and more. Makeover will release on May 28th in preparation for Pride month and pre-orders are now available. The album’s cover is a never-before-seen image taken of…
The Sin City Classic, the world’s largest annual LGBTQ sporting event, will return to Las Vegas on January 16th and will run through the MLK holiday weekend until the 19th. This year, there will be 24 sporting competitions with an estimated 8,000 competitors heading into Las Vegas. The sporting events are varied, including everything from basketball, dodgeball, and hockey, to e-sports, bridge, and billiards. Each of the events will take place in different venues and arenas around town. Aside from sports competitions, there will be nightly social events and parties, including a welcome party and closing celebration at the Brooklyn…
This Black History Month, the National AIDS Memorial will be holding a virtual viewing of the AIDS Quilt to honor Black lives lost to AIDS. The exhibition is set to coincide with National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on February 7th. From now until March 31st, the free-to-the-public online exhibition will be available at AIDSMemorial.org. Pieces of the quilt will be on display that highlights Black stories. Swatches from the quilt that will be on display include: • Panels made as part of the Call My Name program, one of which honors Wandra, made by her hairdresser, who kept Wandra’s secret…
In a new lawsuit, Jamii Erway describes the horrific situation she faced at the Raleigh Durham airport back in 2019 when she was the victim of a ‘false positive’ result at the TSA security checkpoint. At the time, Erway, who is transgender, was just 15 years old. Due to the flagging, TSA told her that in order to enter the terminal, she’d have to undergo a strip search and genital search. According to The News and Observer, “A 2019 ProPublica report examined the TSA’s civil rights complaints over a three-year period and found that 5%, or 298 complaints, involved transgender…
As everyone has likely heard over the last few weeks, the Walt Disney Company has come under fire for a multitude of reasons regarding their response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Here’s a brief timeline of events: ~ Florida’s House and Senate passed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and it went to DeSantis’ desk. ~ Activists noticed that Disney remained silent through the bill’s passing, and it was later revealed that Disney was even funding the Republican politicians who were pushing the bill forward. ~ Disney came out and claimed that they were “working behind the scenes” to enact…
Social media superstar and winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Trixie Mattel, is going into the hotelier business by opening up her own cheeky property in the gay mecca of Palm Springs, California. The hotel is named Trixie Motel (a play on her own name) and is set to open later this year. Mattel reportedly purchased the property for around $2.4 million (not including renovation costs). During the renovation process of the motel, Trixie Mattel struck a deal with Discovery+ to create an 8-episode reality series that chronicles the property’s redesign. Joining Trixie for the journey will be a…
A draft bill has entered Ghana’s parliament that will imprison everyone in the LGBTQ community and anyone who supports them. According to The Guardian, the bill, tentatively titled the “promotion of proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values bill” states that LGBTQ and intersex people are intrinsically wrong, are against God’s wishes, and are hurting society. The bill is even threatening “violators” with “no less than five years” and “up to ten years” imprisonment. According to BBC West Africa (which is written in Pidgin), the bill states, “Anybody wey go use media, technological platform, technological account or any other…
A new wave of controversy has arrived as the town of Saint-Jean-de-Braye in France suspends its Sister City status with Tuchow, Poland over their anti-LGBT sentiments. But to truly understand this story, we have to look at the anti-gay policies that are over-taking Poland and endangering its LGBTQ citizens and visitors. By Keith Langston Poland Becomes More Conservative Poland, along with numerous other countries around the world, has actually regressed in recent years, becoming more and more conservative and nationalistic. One of the main political figures in Poland hyping anti-LGBTQ sentiment is politician Jarosław Kaczyński. He’s said things such as…
As almost everyone has heard by now, Dave Chappelle recently released a new stand-up special on Netflix called The Closer. During his routine, Chappelle blasted the LGBTQ community numerous times. Throughout the special, he made comments such as: ~ Claiming he was on “team TERF” (meaning feminists who reject that trans women are women). ~ He said “gender is a fact” and that trans women have fake vaginas. He went on a diatribe about how trans women’s vaginas are “Beyond Pussy” and “Impossible Pussy,” mocking their bodies by comparing them to brands of meat alternatives. ~ He went on to…
Today, the Columbia City Council passed a law banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth. Columbia is now the first city in South Carolina to create such protections. Kimmah Dozier-Burt, President of the Board for the Harriet Hancock Center, stated: The sad truth is that young LGBTQ people who endure ‘conversion therapy’ are at an immensely higher risk for steep mental health challenges – including depression and suicide – than those whose identities are affirmed. This is just one reason that we must do everything possible to protect LGBTQ young people from being subjected to this dangerous pseudoscience. I’m grateful that…
Larry Kramer died at age 84 today, leaving behind a body of work that changed not only the LGBTQ community, but the world as a whole. Kramer came to prominence in 1969 when he was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for the movie Women in Love. Almost a decade later, Kramer would make waves again for his shocking and controversial 1978 novel, Faggots, which was based on his own life. The novel focuses on a young man trying to make it in New York City, all while feeling alienated by his fellow gays who partake in the hyper-sexualized, drug-obsessed nightclub…
Country singer Brooke Eden became a star a few years ago after releasing her hit song, “Act Like You Don’t”. Since then, Eden has been taking time to find herself and hone her skills as a musician. Part of her journey has been to take her once-secret relationship and make it known to the world. In an interview with People, Eden stated, “How is an artist supposed to be an artist and be completely open…if you can’t be completely open?” Now, Eden is releasing a trilogy of singles that chronicle her relationship and the love she shares with her girlfriend.…
Today, the High Court of Singapore upheld the controversial article 377A of the constitution, which states that same-sex relationships (pertaining mostly to men) are illegal, and can be punished with up to two years in prison. Three separate cases were challenging the law, stating that it was archaic and unnecessary. The law is rarely used and is largely a leftover from Britain’s colonial rule of the small city-state. Unfortunately, Justice See Kee Oon dismissed all three cases, saying the law was constitutional because it was “safeguarding public morality.” Jessica Stern, Director of OutRight International, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting for…
The Trevor Project has long been known as a group that’s dedicated to helping LGBTQ youth and young adults. To help raise awareness of acceptance and diversity during September’s Suicide Prevention Month, the organization has created fun outfits in their signature orange color, accented by the rainbow flag design for Animal Crossing players. According to Mashable, The Trevor Project’s lead designer, Jonathan Silberman, stated, “Our research has found that LGBTQ young people who have a space where they feel affirmed in their identity are significantly less likely to attempt suicide. All of these factors contributed to our decision to design…
In the early 90s, photographers Saul Bromberger and Sandra Hoover began documenting life at Seattle’s Bailey-Boushay House. Bailey-Boushay was a hospice care facility for AIDS patients, the first of its kind in the nation. What they discovered was the reality of a devastating pandemic that was being largely overlooked by mainstream society. But, they also discovered hope and community. The two found that close bonds, support, and friendship was being formed between the residents of the house. Now, on September 24th at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT, the two will be taking part in a new monthly series that…