Karine Jean-Pierre has been chosen by President Biden to become the first openly-LGBTQ White House Press Secretary. Pierre’s background is as a lecturer at Columbia University and a political analyst for both NBC News and MSNBC. She was then named Biden’s Principal Deputy Press Secretary. Her new role as Press Secretary marks two historic firsts. She is the first Black woman to hold the position and the first openly-LGBTQ person to hold the position. Jean-Pierre is an open lesbian and is partnered with former CNN host, Suzanne Malveaux. https://www.instagram.com/p/CdNmDSLqO8i/ According to NBC News, President Biden said in an official statement, “Karine…
Author: Keith Langston
Olivia the travel company for LGBTQ+ women, has launched their new Because She Said Yes campaign in Times Square. According to Curve Magazine, the travel company stated, “This is not just a marketing campaign, this is a political statement. As our community finds itself under attack from the nation’s top officeholder, representation is more important than ever.” The advertisements have been placed on the side of the Thomson Reuters skyscraper, in the heart of Times Square at 7th Avenue and 42nd Street. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7MRy7LgXsc The advertisements are encouraging LGBTQ+ women everywhere to share photos of themselves around the world, to help…
Diesel, the fashion brand known around the world for their high-quality clothes and accessories, has just released a video for Pride Week that will surely cause some controversy, as well as inspire many people. The video follows Francesca, who was born male, but transitions to female. At the start of the video, you’re not sure what to think. You see a dark shot of Francesca taking a pill. It tricks the viewer into wondering if this is going to be about drugs. But then, you start to see Francesca’s life, and you realize she’s transgender. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=117&v=535_479z-hM&feature=emb_logo By the end of…
In the foothills outside of Tokyo, in Saitama area of Japan, the ancient Saimyouji Temple has started offering same-sex weddings. The Buddhist temple is over 750 years old and is steeped in history and tradition. However, in 2020, the temple created a new tradition…offering traditional Buddhist weddings for same-sex couples. Japan doesn’t currently recognize same-sex marriages, however, some regions of the country do allow couples to file for civil partnerships. The Saimyouji Temple wants to change this and help make Japan a more welcoming, inclusive country. For their part, the temple has started offering wedding ceremonies to help promote Buddha’s…
Idaho Governor Brad Little signed two anti-transgender bills into law yesterday, despite the global pandemic. The first, House Bill 500, bans transgender women from playing on girls and women’s sports teams at public schools and colleges. The law deems that to qualify as a woman you’d have to be examined for “reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously 19 produced testosterone levels.” The Idaho Attorney General, however, cautioned forcing genetic testing on athletes likely violates the constitution. The second, House Bill 509, bans people from changing their gender on Idaho birth certificates. Back in 2018, Idaho tried passing a similar…
On September 24, the ACLU was presented with the Emmy for Outstanding Short Documentary for their film Trans in America: Texas Strong. The film was made in partnership with Little by Little Films, and was distributed by Conde Nast’s LGBTQ brand, Them. The film centers around 8-year-old transgender child Kai Shappley and her mother Kimberly. At a very young age Kai showed signs that she didn’t identity with her gender at birth. Her mother, Kimberly, struggled with trying to understand and comprehend what was happening. Finally, Kimberly accepted her daughter Kai and embraced her with love and affection. However, with…
The typical rom-com formula will get turned upside down on September 30th when the new movie Bros hits theaters. The movie stars (and was written by) gay comedian Billy Eichner, who many will already know from his hit reality series Billy on the Street. He teamed up with comedic powerhouses Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin) and Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) to serve as producer and director. In the film, Billy plays Bobby Lieber, a “typical” gay New Yorker who finds himself falling in love with a masculine, “straight-acting” guy named Aaron. The two initially judge each other based on…
The European Parliament has voted to make the entire 27-nation European Union an ‘LGBTQ Freedom Zone’. The motion passed by a vote of 492 to 141. While the motion is largely symbolic, it will add political pressure on certain EU countries that are leaning into radical and hateful conservativism, such as Poland, Hungary, and Latvia. In recent years, parts of Poland have been declaring themselves as ‘LGBTQ-free’, and Hungary has passed anti-LGBTQ legislation. The EU wanted to send a strong message about these new policies. According to Politico, the resolution states, “Rather than discriminating against LGBTIQ persons, the authorities at…
During Biden’s first week as president back in January, he signed a wave of executive orders to help undo many of the Trump-era’s harmful policies. One of Biden’s executive orders was to allow trans people to openly serve in the US military. Now, the Pentagon has finally released its revised codes and rulings that will put Biden’s order into effect. According to NPR, the Pentagon’s new policies include allowing military personnel to transition while serving, to be protected from discrimination based on gender identity, and to create new medical guidelines to help trans people who are serving. The new policies…
The political circus created by Florida Republicans continues to get wilder and more pathetic by the day. Last year, the state banned teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools, despite the fact that it wasn’t actually taught in them. Now, the state is going to the next level by passing a bill that bans the teaching of historical facts if it makes people “uncomfortable.” Even more despicable is that this ban isn’t just for schools, but also applies to the workplace as well, meaning that both children and adults can simply claim to feel “discomfort” when being educated about slavery,…
The angry moms over at One Million Moms (the alt-right hate group that’s anti-LGBTQ and promotes 1950s gender roles) are enraged once again, this time, at Sephora. The beauty product company has released a new holiday ad titled “Holiday Gifting 2021: It’s the Beauty You Give” which features various people giving and receiving gifts from the store. One vignette features a gay couple who (gasp!) kiss at the end of the commercial. Naturally, this offended the one million moms, who curiously only have 4,119 followers on Twitter (not exactly a million, but again, this is a group who believes that…
On Sunday night, Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the presidential race. After winning the Iowa Primary, and coming in a close second in New Hampshire, Buttigieg’s numbers quickly dropped when primaries in more diverse states took place. In Nevada, he picked up only 14.3% of the vote, and in South Carolina, he only picked up 8.2% of the vote. His lacking numbers are believed to be the cause of his dropping out, as well as a campaign that was understaffed. With Super Tuesday around the corner, it was becoming more and more apparent to Buttigieg and his campaign that there…
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…
I was lucky enough to snag a seat on Virgin Atlantic’s Pride Flight, which flew from London Heathrow into New York City to herald in the start of WorldPride. The flight was, put simply, completely insane. I’m talking conga lines through the aisles, Britney blasting on the speakers, and the plane being completely depleted of its alcohol supply. It was a flight that will surely go down in history. Here are 8 things that made it epic! THE FUN BEGAN AT THE AIRPORT The festivities began the second you walked up to the doors of Heathrow’s T3. A giant…
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…
A new streaming service called Documentary+ is offering tons of nonfiction content, completely for free. The streaming service is available through its website, its mobile app, and on Apple TV, Amazon, and Roku. The streamer contains a number of famous and highly praised documentaries, including The Aristocrats, Confessions of a Superhero, and The Nightmare, among many others. They’ve also released a whole lineup of LGBTQ films that can easily be found in their Pride category. Highlights include Hit So Hard, which follows the life and struggles of Hole’s drummer Patty Schemel, who is openly a lesbian, and Southwest of Salem,…
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…
Chile has just become the 31st country to legalize same-sex marriage, enabling its 18 million residents to love freely. The bill, however, contained much more than just marriage equality. Chile has enacted more parenting and adoption rights for same-sex couples, as well as access to reproductive procedures for the LGBTQ community. The bill was passed overwhelmingly by both sides of the political spectrum, passing with a vote of 82 – 20. According to the BBC, even the country’s right-wing president, Sebastian Pinera, supported the bill, stating, “I think we should deepen the value of freedom, including the freedom to love…