Happy Pride Day Everywhere!

This year is the 46th anniversary of the single most significant event in the LGTB Rights Movement: Stonewall Day, in Greenwich Village, New York, in 1969.

 

A lot of LGBT individuals stood up to police brutality and fought back as hard as they could. Many were injured and arrested. Every year, we celebrate their bravery and gumption as Gay Pride Day.

 

Please, read the excellent post of my partner Eddi Haskell about this historical event.

 

 

Happy Pride Day!!!!

SCOTUS rules in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide

 

A divided Supreme Court ruled today that states cannot ban same-sex marriage, establishing a new civil right and handing gay rights advocates a victory that until very recently would have seemed unthinkable.

 

In a 5-4 ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority with the four liberal justices. Each of the four conservative justices wrote their own dissent.

 

The language of Kennedy's opinion spoke eloquently of the most fundamental values of family, love and liberty.

 

"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family," Kennedy wrote. "In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than they once were."

 

"Their hope," Kennedy wrote, "is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."

 

Today is a historic day!

 

The Supreme Court's full decision here.

Love has won!

UN's report pro LGTBI rights everywhere

 

 

A new report from the United Nations Human Rights Council makes a sweeping set of demands on every country on earth. These aren’t suggestions but ‘obligations’, many of them to comply with international law.

 

The report says LGBTI rights are improving in some countries but this is ‘overshadowed by continuing, serious and widespread human rights violations’.

 

Here are the 24 key ways the report says all nations should stop that:  

1. Decriminalize homosexuality. Prosecuting people for consensual gay sex is against international law.
2. Ban ‘conversion’ therapy or ‘gay cures’ and the forced sterilization of trans people.
3. Make forced genital and anal examinations illegal. ‘Anal probes’ are used by some countries to find out if people have had gay sex and are considered a form of torture.
4. Wipe clean the criminal records of anyone found guilty of gay sex.
5. Create hate crime laws that mean criminals motivated by homophobia and transphobia get tougher sentences.
6. Investigate violent hate crime and the torture of LGBT people immediately. Bring those responsible to justice and help the victims.
7. Collect and publish data on LGBT hate crime.
8. Criminalize hate speech that incites violence against LGBTI people.
9. Train police and judges to understand LGBTI issues. Make sure prison officers know how to protect LGBT prisoners.
10. Guarantee asylum for any LGBTI people whose lives might be at risk if returned home because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
11. Stop asking ‘intrusive, inappropriate’ questions about the sex lives of LGBTI asylum seekers and train refugee and border personnel how to deal with them properly.
12. Scrap ‘gay propaganda’ laws – like the one in Russia.
13. Allow freedom of expression, association and assembly to LGBTI people. This will include the right to hold Prides, dress in whatever gender clothes they want and more.
14. Make sure lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex are protected by anti-discrimination laws.
15. Train doctors and nurses so they understand the health needs of LGBTI people, including sexual health and suicide prevention.
16. Fight homophobic and transphobic bullying and discrimination in schools. Provide helplines for vulnerable LGBTI kids.
17. Give age-appropriate sex education to all.
18. Set up shelters for homeless LGBT people, particularly youths, older people and ‘those in emergency situations’. Make sure all LGBTI people have fair access to housing.
19. Offer legal recognition to same-sex couples and their children. This implies but does not state equal marriage. The report says countries should ‘ensure that benefits traditionally accorded married partners – including those related to benefits, pensions, and taxation and inheritance – are accorded on a non-discriminatory basis’.
20. Let people choose their own gender on legal documents like passports.
21. Stop sterilizing trans people or forcing them to have treatment, or get divorced, before you recognize their true gender. They should be legally recognized as the gender they want from the moment they want to.
22. Educate the public to combat homophobic and transphobic attitudes.
23. Tackle negative, stereotypical portrayals of LGBT people in the media.
24. Make sure lesbian, gay, bi, trans and intersex people and organizations are consulted on new laws and policies that impact their rights.

 

The full report here.

Support to same-sex marriage wins in Czech Republic

A new poll in the Czech Republic has found almost half now support same-sex marriage while less than half still oppose it. 49% of those polled said they now support it while only 47% said they still oppose it.

 

Registered partnerships for same-sex couples, first introduced in the Czech Republic in 2006, were strongly supported by Czech voters with nearly 75%.

 

However adoption by same-sex couples remains controversial, with a majority still saying they should not be able to adopt children. Only 44% of Czech voters said gay couples should be allowed to adopt children they were not related to but that is a considerable improvement on when Czechs were asked the same question in 2005 when only 19% thought they should be able to adopt in general.

 

Czechs were also asked about their perception of homophobia in their local communities. When asked whether coming out as gay in their home town would cause problems for someone 40% thought someone coming out as gay in their community wouldn’t face a hard time.

 

Step by step.

More people join the Prague Pride Parade every year

Barcelona Gay Pride 2015 June 25-28th

For a city with a gay population and scene as large as Barcelona, it’s always been lacking a proper pride festival. In the past, locals have decamped to take part in the much larger Madrid Orgullo.

But since 2008 organisers have taken some of the politics out of Barcelona Pride and inserted some more fun, with a pretty entertaining spectacle coming out of it.

Now a proper major event is being staged, and with each year it's gotten bigger, better and glammer, with several Pride-related events taking place over ten days. While not as big or commercial as Matinee's Circuit Festival in August, expect sauna naughtiness, shopping discounts, and bar promotions as well as special parties.

The main events not to be missed include:

Wednesday June 25

24:00-05:00. Mr Pride Barcelona at Metro (Sepúlveda 185).

Friday June 26

20:00-23:00. Stiletto Race. Minimum of three inches required. Heels, that is. Followed by Miss Drag Pride Barcelona. At the main Pride Village by Avenida Maria Cristina by Plaça Espanya.

23:00-02:00. Foam party. Let yourself loose in the bubbles. Pride Village.

02:00-06:00. Tanga. Pride editiion of new weekly at Under (Tarragona 141).

Saturday June 27

13:00-14:00. Synchronised swimming. Let's gay it up properly. Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc (Av. Miramar 31)

16:00. Parade. Leaving from Plaça dels Tres Xemeneis (the three chimneys at Parallel by Portal de Santa Monica) at 18:00, the parade will make its way along the Parallel to Plaça Espanya where the festivities culminate in one big party.

20:00-02:00. Main party. Drag shows, DJs, and the mandatory reading of the pride manifesto. Pride Village.

02:00-06:00. Xtra Pervert. Matinée Pride party at Poble Espanyol.

Sunday June 28

12:00-21:00. Tibidabo Pride Day. Gay boys take over the amusement park. EUR 12 entry.

Vienna Gay Pride Claims Marriage Equality in Austria

Vienna Gay Pride is Austria’s biggest gay pride party and has featured a big Rainbow Parade on the Saturday along the Vienna Ringstrasse.

 

It has been followed by the “Pride Party”, a number of different parties held at some of the city’s gay bars and clubs.

 

The highlight of Vienna Pride was the Rainbow Parade yesterday. This year marks the twentieth time that the event has been held. The motto "Sichtbar 2015" is a clear reference to the first motto back in 1996 ("Sichtbar 96").

 

Tractors, motorbikes, horse-drawn carriages and around 100,000 people will set off on their march against the normal direction of traffic, a visible sign against discrimination and for tolerance and equality.

 

With the Eurovision win by Austrian singer Conchita is 2013, Vienna has raised its gay profile, and so can expect Gay Pride Vienna to join the ranks of Europe's biggest gay pride festivals.

Willkommen in Regenbogen Pride in Wien

Austria says no to same-sex marriage

The National Assembly of Austria has taken a strong stance against equal marriage on Friday.

Resolution to open marriage to homosexual couples suffers landslide defeat.

Two days before Vienna Pride, the Assembly voted against a proposed resolution to grant lesbian and gay couples ‘the human right of equal marriage’.

Out of 136 representatives, only 26 voted for and 110 against the proposal in a roll-call vote; the Green party, who proposed the resolution, was the only party to fully support marriage equality.

Dammit!

Viena Gay Pride Parade 2015 is ready to protest

Still... proud to ask same rights!

National Kissing Day 2015

Today is the National Kissing Day in the United Kingdom.

 

This British national day has been running for 10 years now.

Today is the day to kiss someone or two or three... doesn't matter who... doesn't matter same-sex kisses of course.

A happy day with a kiss!

 

 

Things People Ask Gay Dads

Gay dads get asked a lot of questions. A lot. Some of them are appropriate; some of them are not.

 

At lot of the comments seem rooted in gendered assumptions about different roles that mothers and fathers are supposed to play in the process of parenting.

 

In any case, the video shows people still think on stereotypes too much.

 

Watch it below.

Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade, the biggest in Asia

Almost 200,000 people from Israel and abroad attended the Tel Aviv Pride Parade, in the nation's capital.

Pride parades began in the city in 1997, and every year the participation increases.

The theme of this year’s pride has been "Tel Aviv loves all genders", in support of transgender people.

A number of streets were closed down, and traffic redirected along the march route. Police were deployed as security, but there were no outbreaks of violent, nor other incidents.

The event drew almost 200,000 people, including Conchita Wurst, the Austrian bearded drag queen, who won the 2014 Eurovision contest.

Tel Aviv has the largest Pride Parade in Asia. Congrats!

Mexico’s Supreme Court has effectively legalized same-sex marriage

The Corte Suprema in Mexico has found state laws that restricted marriage only to heterosexual couples are discriminatory.

The highest court has declared: "As the purpose of matrimony is not procreation, there is no justified reason that the matrimonial union be heterosexual, nor that it be stated as between only a man and only a woman". And it added: "Such a statement turns out to be discriminatory in its mere expression".

Mexico City, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Quintana Roo States are the only ones in Mexico to recognize marriage equality. Under a previous ruling, other states must recognize marriages performed in these four.

But this does not mean every state ban against same-sex marriage has been struck down, it allows gay couples denied marriage in their state to seek injunctions against district judges. When they have enough injunctions, the court will formally order state legislatures to lift their bans.

Vamos Mexico!

Gay couples celebrating Supreme Court´s decision 

Two-thirds Believe SCOTUS Will Rule to Legalize Gay Marriage

Nearly two-thirds of Americans expect the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide when it rules on the issue within the next few weeks, according to a new poll. 

Only 25 percent expect the high court to leave existing state bans on gay marriage intact, while 65 percent expect the bans to be overturned, according to the poll conducted by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute.

Predictions on the Supreme Courts ruling differ sharply between same-sex marriage supporters and opponents. Among those who favor same-sex marriage, eight in ten (80%) believe the Supreme Court will make same-sex marriage legal nationwide. Opponents of same-sex marriage are divided on the outcome. Nearly half (47%) believe that the Supreme Court will legalize same-sex marriage while roughly as many (42%) believe the court will uphold the bans.

Notably, there is general agreement across party and religious lines on how the Supreme Court will rule. Seventy-one percent of Democrats, two-thirds (67%) of independents, and nearly six in ten (58%) Republicans believe that the Supreme Court will legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. Majorities of every major religious group, including 63% of white evangelical Protestants and 60% of Catholics, say they expect the court to make same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.

See more about the poll here.

It´s time SCOTUS!

Germany´s big step to legalize gay marriage

The German coalition government is facing increasing pressure from within to grant same-sex couples full marriage equality.

Today the Bundesrat, Germany’s Federal Assembly subordinate to the Bundestag (the parliament), urged the government to make necessary constitutional changes to open marriage to gay and lesbian couples.

In its resolution, titled "Marriage for everyone, resolution for full equality of same-sex couples", the assembly proposes changing the German Civil Code to include marriage equality; the proposed changes to the Civil Code would also grant same-sex couples equal adoption rights.

The assembly approved the resolution with 40 – 29 votes, due to the higher number of states governed by Labor, Greens or Left coalitions.

Although the German government is obliged to react to a resolution, it does not bind them.

In any case, one important step to same-sex marriage.

Berlin gay pride parade is very crowded every year

#takepride

Pride isn’t something any of us were born with.

 

It is something you take, by finding purpose in every challenge, experience, victory and feeling.

 

Celebrate and take pride in who you were born to be.

 

#takepride

Proud to be who you are

 

Blogging is not a Crime! Free Raif Badawi!

Raif Badawi was flogged in public 50 times in January, in Saudi Arabia.

 

Raif is still due to be publicly flogged 50 times every week until he has been lashed 1,000 times.

 

He has 950 lashes and nearly a decade in prison left to serve, simply for blogging and supporting free speech.

 

In June 2015, Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court upheld the sentence of 1,000 lashes and ten years in prison

 

Ask Saudi authorities to halt the barbaric punishment and to free this prisoner of conscience.

 

#FreeRaif