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…
Author: Keith Langston
English soccer player, Jake Daniels, who is currently 17 and plays for the second division club Blackpool FC, has just announced he’s gay. When speaking to the UK’s Sky News, Daniels said, “I’m ready to tell people about myself, about my story. I want them to know the real me…and lying all the time just isn’t what I want to do, and that has been a struggle, but now I just do feel like I’m ready to be myself, be free, and be confident with it all.” It’s a big moment because openly-gay athletes (especially male athletes) are still rare,…
Quibi has announced that on Monday, May 4th, Adam Rippon’s new series Useless Celebrity History will premiere. The show is hosted by figure skater and Olympic medalist, Adam Rippon, and explores the most random events in pop culture history. From Rhianna to Lindsay Lohan and Snooki, Rippon will be digging up everything from the biggest celebrity scandals to the fiercest red carpet moments. The series will combine interviews, reenactments, and skits. https://twitter.com/Adaripp/status/1256327225571282944 Rippon teased the premiere of the show on his Twitter account by taking part in the #MetGalaChallenge which encourages people to try and make their own homemade Met…
On Monday, July 22, gay rights activist and politician, Taiga Ishikawa, was elected to Japan’s National Parliament. Ishikawa won a seat for the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. The current ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is avidly anti-LGBTQ+, and Ishikawa is determined to challenge them with his new position. His party is trying to introduce a bill for protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination, as well as a marriage equality bill. According to Japanese news outlet Asahi Shimbun, after his victory, Ishikawa stated, “I would like to do my best to enact both pieces of legislation…I want…
According to the WHO, there are currently 3,413 confirmed monkeypox cases globally, with thousands more suspected cases that are awaiting verification from lab testing. Now, the HRC has launched a resource page about monkeypox that is specifically geared to the LGBTQ community. Info on the page includes risks, symptoms, what to know when having sex , and specific info for those living with HIV. It’s also creating a page with info on where and how to get tested and where to receive a vaccine. The US government has also stated it’s going to start offering vaccines to high-risk communities. For…
The film Hair Love has just won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. Though only a little under seven minutes, the movie manages to be funny, joyful, and heartwarming, while sending a powerful message of of acceptance and inclusion. View Hair Love here, and share this wonderful film with your family and friends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNw8V_Fkw28 During the Oscars, Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver accepted the award and called awareness to an issue many don’t know about: The CROWN Act. CROWN, which is an acronym for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlyDdE3mveY The act is…
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…
Earlier this week Mike Pence attended a homophobic sermon at the Holy City Church of God in Christ in Memphis. Making matters even worse is that the White House officially streamed the sermon and then put it on their YouTube page, giving the republican base a clear expression of where the Trump administration stands. Not only did Pence attend the sermon, but he was invited on stage to give a few words. He, of course, ran the typical dog and pony show, stating how the Trump administration is creating jobs, is good for the economy, especially in the South, as…
Shudder, the premiere streaming service for horror and suspense is now streaming the documentary Scream Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street, which delves into the now-infamous 1985 movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, which has been called “the gayest horror movie of all time.” The controversy over the film is wide and varied. The movie was written with tons of homoerotic undertones and some very blatant LGBTQ moments (like a visit to a gay bar). However, screenwriter David Chaskin denies deliberately doing so. Secondly, the film’s star, gay actor Mark Patton, was stepping into the role of being…
June 30th will mark the eighth anniversary of Give OUT Day, an annual event where generous donors are encouraged to give to local, grassroots LGBTQ organizations. On the day, hundreds of groups participate, including organizations like the AIDS Project of East Bay, the American Trans Resource Hub, and the Center on Halsted, among many others. The event was created by the Horizons Foundation as a way to help grassroots LGBTQ groups raise funds that are desperately needed in order for them to better serve the community. 2021 is an even more important time to give to these nonprofits because many…
This week, it was announced that San Francisco will honor transgender people during the month of August. The city’s mayor, London Breed, stated that San Francisco will create the nation’s first Transgender History Month, which will be celebrated every August. Though it’s nearing the end of the month, the city still has some events planned, including the ‘Riot Party’ block party that will be taking place in San Fransisco’s famously queer Tenderloin District. This is also the neighborhood where much of the trans rights movement began, after a group of trans women decided to fight back against police brutality. According…
Famed designer, Jean Paul Gaultier, can add a new title to his resume, that of a museum curator. With his new exhibit, CinéMode at the Cinémathèque Française museum in Paris, France. Gaultier has long been a fan of film, loving their stories, soundtracks, cinematography, and of course, the costumes. In fact, Gaultier himself has done costuming for numerous big-budget films, such as The City of Lost Children and The Fifth Element, among others. His new exhibit celebrates the movies that have influenced him, the films he’s been a part of, and cinematic experiences that changed Hollywood forever. Just a few of…
Sherry Vine is a drag legend who was been in the industry for decades. She’s one of the reigning queens from the pre-Drag Race era and knows the industry inside and out. She’s now used her knowledge and talent to assemble a cast of drag superstars for an epic variety show like no other. The Sherry Vine Variety Show harkens back to retro variety shows from the 70s, and on May 25th, Vine will be joined by an all-star cast, including Alaska Thunderfuck, Bob the Drag Queen, Bianca Del Rio, Jackie Beat, Peppermint, Tamie Brown, and more. The broadcast is…
Musician. Actress. Businesswoman. Theme park owner. Gay icon. Dolly Parton is many things, and she’s incredible at pretty much every endeavor she embarks on. Now, TidalWave Comics has decided to feature her in their Female Force collection. The Female Force comic series tells the stories of real women who have changed the world. Whether it be in entertainment, politics, or activism, the women featured in this series have all left their mark on the world. Previous editions of Female Force have centered around Kamala Harris, Betty White, Michelle Obama, and more. In Female Force: Dolly Parton (which is set to…
Hollywood veteran, Udo Kier (best known for starring in unsettling Lars von Trier films and grindhouse horror classics by directors like Rob Zombie), is taking on an extremely unexpected role in his new film, Swan Song. The movie, which premiers on August 6th, sees Kier play Pat Pitsenbarger, a retired hairdresser who now lives in a dingy retirement home. Once a prominent hairdresser, he’s since become a burnt-out old man simply waiting for death…that is, until he gets word that a prominent former client of his has died and is requesting that he do her postmortem hair and makeup for…
This year, the National LGBTQ Task Force will put on their 23rd Gala in the heart of Miami Beach at the gorgeous Fountainbleau Resort on Saturday, October 19. Seeing as this is the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, this year’s theme will be Fifty Years of FIERCE! According to the organization, “Fierce describes the activists, drag queens and kings, the leather daddies and biker babes, the gender-queer fashionistas and transgender stars. Fierce is the power in which we live our lives and the progress we’ve made in the fight for our rights to exist as we choose!” The event will begin with…
Betsy DeVos, the US Secretary of Education, is threatening to cut federal funding to Connecticut schools unless they ban transgender girls from playing sports on girl’s teams. The move, which was first reported by the AP, is yet another attack by DeVos against the LGBTQ community. The claim is that trans girls aren’t biologically girls, but boys, and therefore, will have an unfair advantage in the realm of sports. The Alliance Defending Freedom (a conservative Christian organization) backed up the claim by stating, that it “isn’t fair, destroys girls’ athletic opportunities, and clearly violates federal law,” The Department of Education’s…
According to the US Mint, the American Women Quarters Program is, “a four-year program that celebrates the accomplishments and contributions made by women to the development and history of our country.” It will run for four years, celebrating a new group of women each year. 2022 will be the inaugural launch of the campaign, and the original lineup of women selected to be honored are: Maya Angelou – celebrated writer, performer, and social activist Dr. Sally Ride – physicist, astronaut, educator, and the first American woman in space Wilma Mankiller – first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation Nina…
Argentina has just made a change to their national identity documents to show support and acceptance to Argentinians who are nonbinary. According to NBC News, during the ceremony unveiling the new document option, Argentinian President, Alberto Fernández, said, “There are other identities besides that of man and woman, and they must be respected…there are a thousand ways to love and be loved and be happy.” https://twitter.com/ZonaFALGBT/status/1417887280719663104 This move is a first in South America. However, as CNN reports, various other countries around the world already allow gender-nonconforming people to change their gender marker. Such countries include Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In…
Opera singer Lucas Bouk used to be a mezzo-soprano before transitioning. He was worried about making the transition because there was a chance the hormones could impact his voice and singing career in the world of opera. However, Lucas decided to follow his truth and now lives openly as a trans man. He’s also continued singing, sharing his talents with the world. However, on August 14th, Bouk will perform for the first time as a baritone instead of a mezzo-soprano. On August 14 and 15, Bouk will take part in the On Site Opera, an opera pop-up taking place in…
According to a recent Gallop poll, 5.6% of responders now identity as LGBTQ+. This is up from 4.5% a few years ago. However, the findings also state that an additional 7.6% refused to respond to the question, meaning the true number could be as high as 13% of the American population. Surprisingly, the largest sector of responders identified as bisexual. Out of the total LGBTQ+ responses, a whopping 54.6% claimed to identify as bisexual. 24.5% identified as gay, 11.7% identified as lesbian, 11.3% identified as trans, and another 3.3% percent claimed other non-hetero identities. The study had one profound error,…
Twenty years ago, back in 2001, the Netherlands became the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage. Since then, the country has paved the way for LGBTQ rights globally, cementing itself as one of the most forward-thinking nations on the planet. Now, the Dutch have made another groundbreaking declaration: Royals can marry partners of the same sex and remain in succession for the crown. According to NBC News, Mark Rutte, the nation’s Prime Minister, stated, “The government believes that the heir can also marry a person of the same sex…The cabinet, therefore, does not see that an heir…
Florida’s recently-passed “Don’t Say Gay” bill isn’t going as smoothly as Republicans had hoped. The party was hoping to pass blatantly bigoted legislation under the guise of “protecting children”, thinking it would stoke massive support from the ever-grown alt-right base. However, Americans, Hollywood, and even Disney have taken a massive stand in defense of LGBTQ people in an act of defiance the Republican party has never seen before. Now, conservatives and conservative news outlets are forced to dig themselves deeper and deeper into a hole in order to find “logical” reasons to justify supporting a bill that is widely hated…
Disney has a massive presence in Florida. The company’s largest theme park, Walt Disney World – which is located just outside of Orlando – employs an astonishing 77,000 people and attracts more than 58 million visitors each year. This means that Disney has immense political and financial power in the state. And yet, the company, which in recent years has tried to be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, has remained silent on the state’s bigoted new laws that target people of color and the LGBTQ community. Most notable is Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, which can ban classrooms…
The Legal Aid Society, a New York-based nonprofit that seeks to ensure that residents are not denied their right to equal justice because of poverty, has publically called on New York City’s newly-elected mayor to rescind his appointment of Erick Salgado to Assistant Commissioner of Outreach for the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. Mayor Eric Adams recently appointed Salgado to the position, however, as The Legal Aid Society points out in a press release that cited The City, “Mr. Salgado rallied against marriage equality in 2011 and then was endorsed by a nonprofit group opposed to same-sex marriage during…
Palm Spring’s historic INNdulge gay resort is currently for sale. The property has been listed on LoopNet for $10,800,000. The 31-room resort also has a gorgeous courtyard, large pool, manicured grounds, and stunning views of the nearby San Jacinto Mountains. Jon Jackson, the resort’s current owner, has also made it clear that they want the new owners to keep the resort an LGBTQ property. They have also stated that they’ve spent the last decade investing in renovations, creating a balance of modern luxury with retro style. This could be a great opportunity to purchase a resort hotel at a discount.…
The mayor of Ridgeland, Mississippi, Gene McGee, is currently withholding over $110,000 from the local library system, insisting that they must remove their LGBTQ content if the libraries wish to remain funded. According to the Mississippi Free Press, during an interview with Library Director, Tonja Johnson, she said the mayor “explained his opposition to what he called ‘homosexual materials’ in the library, that it went against his Christian beliefs, and that he would not release the money as the long as the materials were there.” When speaking to CBS 12, the mayor said he wasn’t withholding money due to LGBTQ…
A New York Christmas, which has just been released on Netflix, puts an LGBTQ twist on the famous film It’s a Wonderful Life (which itself was adapted from the short story, The Greatest Gift.) The story follows a woman about to be wed to the man she loves…until she stumbles across her guardian angel late one night in Central Park. Her angel allows her to see what her life could have been if she had the courage to remain with her first true love, Gabrielle. The movie was written, directed, and produced by first-generation filmmaker, Otoja Abit, who even has…
The stories, experiences, and history of LGBTQ people have often been suppressed in society. However, despite hundreds of years of oppression, the community has managed to mobilize, fight for equal rights, and usher in a new era that includes greater acceptance and inclusion. Now, The American LGBTQ+ Museum is set to open in New York City and will be located inside an expansion of the New York Historical Society on the city’s Upper West Side. While the physical museum isn’t set to open until 2024, online programming is already underway. The museum will showcase LGBTQ+ history, as well as New…
During Obama’s administration, the section 1557 provision was instituted, which provided protection to the LGBTQ community and women from discrimination in healthcare.The provision stated that services couldn’t be denied to patients, nor could they be intimidated by a medical professional, based on their gender or sexual orientation. The rule was put into place due to America’s history of discrimination against the LGBTQ community in the medical field. Today, Politico reports that the health department is finalizing its “rewrite” of the provision, which many advocates and healthcare professionals say will surely roll back anti-discrimination policies. Spearheading the campaign is Roger Severino,…