Religious leaders within the Catholic faith in Germany are planning to hold mass blessings of same-sex couples around the nation in protest of the Vatican’s recent anti-gay proclamation. In March, the Vatican’s office of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released a memo announcing that God “does not bless sin”, referring to same-sex marriage. Despite becoming known as the “progressive Pope”, it was later revealed that the memo was released with the blessing of Pope Francis. Since then, many LGBTQ organizations and religious leaders have come out in protest against the Vatican’s message, and it has even led some…
Author: Keith Langston
A new experimental HIV vaccine has shown some promise in very early-stage trials. The new trials were run in partnership between Scripps Research and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. The potential vaccine works by stimulating extremely rare immune cells in the body, which can help target the notoriously elusive HIV virus within the human body. Because of the way HIV is structured, and the way it can mutate, it’s been infamously difficult to try and make a vaccine to prevent it. However, this new experimental treatment (though only tested on less than 50 people) has shown a 97% success rate.…
The 2000s was a decade filled with groundbreaking LGBTQ television and cinema. From Eating Out and Latter Days to Queer as Folk and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. But no piece of media was quite as absurd, offensive, and hilarious as Another Gay Movie. The film set out to parody popular teen comedies like American Pie, but flipped the script, and, unlike your average teen comedy, focused on a group of gay friends instead. The cast included the then-unknown Michael Carbonaro, and supporting roles were filled by some of the queer community’s favorite stars, like Graham Norton, Lypsinka, and…
Lewis Freese is the first gender-fluid person to become a finalist for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Sports Illustrated has long been a prominent force in the modeling industry. After all, they gave birth to the careers of Heidi Kulm, Brooklyn Decker, Kate Upton, Chrissy Teigen, and more. Last year, the publication made headlines after including its first trans model, Valentine Sampaio, in their swim issue, and this year is marking another first for the sports magazine. Each year, Sports Illustrated holds an open search for anyone who wants to be considered for the issue. Freese is among 15 finalists who might…
Today, Orbitz has launched their new ad campaign, Travel As You Are, shot by the famed Cass Bird. Bird, a member of the LGBTQ community, has shot for famous brands like Ralph Lauren, Tiffany & Co., Nike, Levi’s, and more. Now, Bird is bringing their talents to Orbitz to celebrate pride. The new ad campaign sees LGBTQ couples traveling freely, loving freely, and enjoying all the gorgeous destinations that the world has to offer. The ad campaign is a beautiful array of diversity, inclusion, self-love, and queer pride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_gcF1Hg1oc In a statement, Cass Bird said, “I wanted to work on…
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…
At midnight, on April 1st, 2001, The Netherlands wed four gay couples, officially legalizing gay marriage in the country. The Netherlands was the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage. Since then, 28 other countries have legalized gay marriage, including Belgium in ’03, Norway and Sweden in ’09, the USA in 2015, Australia in 2017, Taiwan in 2019, and Costa Rica in 2020. Now, NBC News reports that Gert Kasteel and Dolf Pasker, one of the couples to get married 20 years ago, are looking back on the monumental moment. And according to the news site, they’re not the…
Today, President Joe Biden made a proclamation honoring Transgender Day of Visibility. He became the first president to do so.Transgender Day of Visibility is a time to celebrate the strides the transgender community has made over the years, while also recognizing the struggles and sacrifices that trans people still face today. In Biden’s official proclamation he stated, “Today, we honor and celebrate the achievements and resiliency of transgender individuals and communities. Transgender Day of Visibility recognizes the generations of struggle, activism, and courage that have brought our country closer to full equality for transgender and gender non-binary people in the…
A new film, titled The Sound of Identity, focuses on the life and career of trans opera singer Lucia Lucas. Lucas is the first openly prominent opera singer and the first trans person to star in the famed Italian opera, Don Giovanni. The documentary begins as Lucia Lucas prepares for her performance of Don Giovanni at the Tulsa Opera. There’s an obvious tension in the air since Tulsa, Oklahoma is a conservative town. However, Lucas and her fellow performers are determined to change opera forever and breathe new life into the dying art form. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1IWvVwkk6Q The film’s director, James Kicklighter,…
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…
After months of grueling debates and transphobic harassment from Republican senators, Dr. Rachel Levine has finally been sworn in as America’s new assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services. She was confirmed in a vote of 52-48, with Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins joining Democrats in confirming her. It’s no surprise that almost every single Republican refused to confirm Dr. Levine. With their current conquest against the Equality Act, conservatives have launched a hate campaign against trans people, demonizing them as “perverts” in order to stoke fear and hatred amongst voters. It took courage…
Dan Reynolds, the lead singer of Imagine Dragons, has long been an ally to the LGBTQ community. Reynolds grew up in a devout Mormon community and says that he saw the traumatic impact it had on his LGBTQ friends and neighbors. Since then, he’s made it his goal to be an ally to the community. Throughout his career, Reynolds has done many things for the LGBTQ community, including speaking at TrevorLive, an event for The Trevor Project; writing songs for the LGBTQ community, calling out other artists who use homophobic slurs, and he even put together the LoveLoud Fest, a…
The Family Research Council, an anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ organization, which was deemed a hate group in 2010 by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is notoriously vitriol and dangerous. Throughout the last decade, the group has helped give a platform to anti-LGBTQ politicians like Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum, advocates for conversion therapy, mocked teen suicide, called trans people “peeping Toms” and rapists, and lobbied to allow businesses to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. Now, they’re at it again. The group just released a lengthy diatribe about how awful the world is, and how it has strayed from the bible. The…
Stella Keating, a transgender teen from Washington state, spoke to Congress on March 17th to discuss the Equality Act. She has become the first trans teenager to address congress in America’s history. Per usual, Republicans began throwing around the standard conservative talking points about religious freedom and girls’ sports. Keating calmly and gracefully addressed these concerns by bringing up an instance she had recently, where she was about to join her school’s girls’ bowling team (before the COVID pandemic shut down in-person gatherings). Her reasoning was simple. She said, “I did it because I just wanted to hang out with…
In a historic moment for equality, the Sapporo District Court in Japan declared that sexuality, like race and gender, isn’t a choice, and therefore discriminating against people because of it goes against the Japanese Constitution. According to the AP, “Judge Tomoko Takebe said in the ruling that not allowing same-sex marriages violates Article 14 of the Japanese constitution, which prohibits discrimination “because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.” While the ruling doesn’t have any immediate legal impact, it does mark a significant change in the mindset of Japan, a country that has long been fueled by traditionalism and…
Sadly, after a few years of Pope Francis signaling that the Catholic church was modernizing and becoming welcoming to all, the Vatican has released a damning message to the LGBTQ community. According to the AP, in a message written by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the Vatican’s orthodoxy office), and approved by Pope Francis, the Vatican will not recognize same-sex marriage, claiming that God “cannot bless sin.” This came as a complete shock to many after Pope Francis has spent the last few years trying to be more inclusive to LGBTQ people. However, in the last year,…
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…
Mississippi Governor, Tate Reeves, has just signed SB2536 into law. The bill makes it illegal for trans people to play on gendered sports teams that they identify with in the state of Mississippi. Since January, there’s been a massive amount of anger from Republicans involving trans people and sports. Just look at how CBN chose the cover image for their “news” piece, directly aimed at making readers believe that trans women will outcompete “real” women because they’re “actually men”. In fact, one of Republicans’ main talking points against the Equality Act has been to make people fearful and angry that trans…
Drag legend and winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars, Alaska Thunderf**k, is about to launch her very own comedy special. Titled The Alaska Thunderf**k Extra Special Comedy Special, the hilarious premiere is set to include some of Alaska’s famous hit songs, special guests, and lots of comedy. The event will be airing on the queer-centric channel, OUTtv in both the US and Canada. In the US, the channel can be found on Apple TV, and in Canada the special will stream on the broadcast channel, as well as OUTtv’s app. The show will also be premiering in the UK and…
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…
Celebrate the end of the pandemic by getting your vaccine and then booking a spot on what’s sure to be one of the best cruise experience of 2022. Setting sail from January 9-16, 2022 will be the inaugural Legends of Drag Cruise, starring drag queen royalty Jackie Beat, Lady Bunny, Varla Jean Merman and Miss Coco Peru. The festivities will be MC’d by Frank DeCaro. The queens will be taking over Holland America’s 5-star luxury liner, The Koningsdam, and embarking on an epic sail around the Mexican Riviera. Ports of call will include Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo, and more. https://vimeo.com/520803197 Each of…
The Alabama Senate has introduced a new bill that would severely hurt trans youth within the state. Senate Bill 10 will make it illegal for trans youth (those under 19) to transition. Doctors won’t be able to provide gender-affirming care, and if they do, they’ll be deemed criminals. The bill is intended to make providing trans care to those under 19 a Class C felony, which could put doctors in prison for up to 10 years, or slap them with a $15,000 fine. Making the bill even crueler (and quite unusual) is that it will now force teachers to notify…
The international Imperial Court System (IICS) is teaming up with the National LGBTQ Task Force to launch a campaign asking the United States Postal Service to collaborate in creating a new stamp collection that will honor LGBTQ heroes like Bayard Rustin, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and José Julio Sarria. The IICS and National Taskforce previously joined forced back in 2014 to call upon President Obama to commemorate the life and work of Harvey Milk by issuing a commemorative stamp in his honor. The campaign was a success and the White House unveiled the stamp on what would have been…
Two gay men were arrested on a beach in Tulum, Quintana Roo, not far from the tourist hotspots of Cozumel and Playa del Carmen in Mexico. Shortly after being handcuffed, a large crowd gathered around the men and the police, voicing their displeasure with the blatant homophobia being perpetrated by the police officers. The police claimed that they received a call that the men were partaking in “immoral acts” and that they were spotted performing oral sex on each other. The nearby beachgoers all denied this, saying that none of them had noticed them having any form of sex. As…
Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, had her senate confirmation hearing today to be ushered in as America’s newest assistant secretary of health when she was berated with uneducated, false, anti-trans comments by Rand Paul. According to the Daily Beast, Paul asked Levine, “American culture is normalizing the idea that minors can be given hormones. Dr. Levine, you have supported both allowing minors to be given hormone blockers to prevent them from going through puberty as well as surgical destruction of a minor’s genitalia…Do you believe minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing one’s sex?”…
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,…
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…
The Grammy-nominated singer, Rufus Wainwright, has had a big year. His new album Unfollow the Rules has garnered the singer yet another Grammy nomination, and he’s appeared on James Corden, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon. Now, he’s launched an online series called Rufus-Retro-Wainwright-Spective! 2021. It is a multi-show event series with Wainwright performing a virtual live-stream tour through all 9 of his studio albums. Each episode even includes a celebrity audience. Among those joining Wainwright for the performances are Zach Galifianakis, James Corden, and more. When speaking of the events, Wainwright stated, “I was reluctant at first to take a look…
From February 12-16, the travel site Orbitz will be partnering with the booty-baring Insta page The Travelin Bum to curate an online travel show, lovingly called Orbuttz. Throughout the 4 days, hosts, including Jackie Cox from season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, will lead you on a tour of cities around the world. From New York to Honolulu, Rio, and even the Turks and Caicos, along with others. The event is designed to coincide with Valentine’s Day to celebrate love and travel. The Travelin Bum Instagram page famously posts tongue-in-cheek travel photos of bare booties all over the world, and…
The world went wild after Bernie Sanders attended President Biden’s inauguration in what many are calling a stunning “grumpy chic” look. But what some don’t realize is that his outfit was also very much a local celebration of his home state. His jacket is Burton, which is based in Burlington, and his mittens are handmade by a LGBTQ woman named Jen Ellis. Ellis lives in Essex Junction, Vermont, and made the mittens as a gift for Sanders back in 2016. On Twitter, Ellis revealed that the mittens are made from repurposed wool sweaters and fleece made from recycled plastic bottles.…