Tom Daley encourages football players to come out to help young fans

Tom Daley has urged gay and bisexual footballers to come out of the closet to help young LGBT fans. Tom said that he “feels really bad” for LGBT people in sport who feel that they can’t come out.

“I’m sure there are people that are closeted and feel trapped and I feel really bad for them because it’s such a weight on your shoulders to be living like that,” he told.

Acknowledging that there’s “no right or wrong time” to talk about your sexuality, he continued: “I think for anyone, whether they’re in sport or not, it is a daunting time to think about coming out and telling people about yourself and who you are".

“But knowing that people in sport, especially a high profile sport, if you were to come out and share your personal story it would help so many young children that look up to you—whether it be a football player or a rugby player—and think, ‘Oh wow! Who I am isn’t going to stop me being able to achieve my dreams in sport.’”

The Olympic diver said that he built his own coming out up to be one of the craziest and scariest things. "I was like, ‘Oh okay that wasn’t so bad.’I thought the world is going to end, it’s this terrible event. It didn’t and I was like, ‘Oh okay that wasn’t so bad.’”

He is now married to Oscar-winning screenwriter and activist Dustin Lance Black, with whom he has a one-year-old son.

Tom announced that he was in a relationship 

with a man in a 2013 YouTube video

Massive crowds gather for Brazil's Pride Parade

More than 3 millions of Brazilians sent a defiant message to right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, at the country’s first Pride parade since the ardent homophobe took office in January: They won’t go back into the closet, no matter how hard he tries to roll back the rights they’ve gained.

Bolsonaro, who won Brazil’s presidential election last October, once said that he’d rather have a dead son than a gay one and, at another point in his past, compared same-sex marriage to pedophilia. 

As president, he has made homophobic jokes during state visits to other countries and gleefully celebrated an openly gay congressman’s decision to flee the country amid death threats from Bolsonaro supporters. His government has implemented or attempted to enact a slew of anti-LGBT policies from the very beginning.  

That such a figure now occupies the Palácio do Planalto, cast a long shadow over the annual Pride festivities in Brazil, 50 years after the Stonewall Riots in New York City, which inspired this year’s theme. And it inspired Brazilians, even those who have celebrated Pride from its beginning, to turn out in force. 

Overall, the parade took on the air of celebration rather than protest, and despite Bolsonaro’s blatant homophobia, there was reason to cheer. This month, Brazil’s Supreme Court voted to criminalize homophobia, a move that activists had long sought in the hopes of limiting anti-LGBT violence in a country some human rights observers regard as one of the deadliest in the world for queer people. 

Crowds swarmed the Avenida Paulista in São Paulo 

for the first Pride parade since the election of Bolsonaro,

right-wing homophobe, as the Brazil’s president

A gay kiss at Women World Cup in France goes viral

We have seen in Women World Cup, in France, one of the most beautiful images of soccer. There are few things better than celebrating a triumph with a kiss to the person you love the most. 

It was what Magdalena Eriksson, a Swedish player, made with the Danish international Pernille Harder. Both met during a game, and starred in a snapshot that has been viral around the world.

Love can emerge anywhere. For example, on a soccer field. It was at a stadium where Magdalena and Pernille met, in a match between Sweden and Denmark. They saw each other, and since then they become a couple to star, finally, the kiss of France.

Awesome!!

Magdalena and Pernille happy on Instagram

Casa Batlló, in Barcelona, beautifies with rainbow colors for Pride

As every year, the Casa Batlló, in Barcelona (Spain), illuminates its façade with the colors of the rainbow to celebrate the International Day of LGBT Pride.

With this action, the famous modernist building, built by the universal architect Antoni Gaudi, joins the movement to defend freedom so that no one may suffer violent acts, discrimination or inequality of any kind due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

This gesture continues with the link between Casa Batlló and the LGTB movement, since it was the first museum in the world to participate in Pride Barcelona last year, dedicated to LGBT refugees.

Pride Barcelona this year celebrates its tenth anniversary with more than 80 activities, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the first LGBT event in Spain, which took place precisely in Barcelona.

Good Pride!!!

Over 1,000 same-sex marriages recorded in Taiwan since the introduction of equal marriage on May

Taiwan has wed 1,173 same-sex couples since becoming the first Asian country to introduce equal marriage on May 24. In the first month of equal marriage, 790 female couples and 383 male couples tied the knot, Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior announced.



Same-sex marriage was introduced after Tapei legislators approved a government-backed bill on May 17, almost two years to the day after the island’s Constitutional Court ruled that a law defining marriage as being between a man and a woman was unconstitutional.

The government was given a two-year deadline to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples, and in November 2018 it held a referendum on the matter. Of the 55 percent of voters who participated, 67 percent voted against marriage equality. The result however did not impact the court ruling, which was binding.

Some 526 nuptials took place on the very first day of marriage equality, May 24, which came after a three-decade fight by LGBT rights campaigners.

While marriage equality in Taiwan is undoubtedly a huge step forwards for LGBT+ rights, it is not without its limits. Under the legislation, same-sex couples may only adopt children who are biologically related to at least one of the pair. According to the Ministry of the Interior, none of the newlywed couples have filed for adoption as of yet. 

Transnational couples are also limited by a stipulation that same-sex marriages are only allowed between Taiwanese people, or with foreigners whose country recognises gay unions. Since May 24, 28 such unions have been registered.

Congrats to all newlyweds!!!

Taiwan's capital hosts the largest Pride Parade in Asia

8,000 people rally for LGBT rights in Ukraine's capital

Thousands of supporters of LGBT rights have marched through the center of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, under a heavy police presence to separate them from opponents. Several Ukrainian politicians and Western diplomats have also attended the event.

They marched in the center of the capital while waving rainbow and Ukrainian flags as thousands of police and National Guard troops stood by to ensure order. Organizers of the "March of Equality" said about 8,000 people took part in the event, the biggest and most peaceful ever in the former Soviet country.

Organizers said that their goal is to promote full respect for the LGBT minority. The Pride parade has been held in Kyiv since 2016 amid protests by opponents, including right-wing activists and representatives of religious organizations.

Several people protesting the march scuffled with police as the march assembled. Others stood along the route, shouting and holding a banner reading “Sodomy is the road to hell.” Police said that nine people were arrested yesterday on suspicion of preparing provocations against participants, but police said they had seen no reason to detain anyone today during the march.

The government has increased support for LGBT rights since a Western-backed leadership came to power in 2014, but critics say homophobic attitudes remain relatively widespread. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a former comedian who took office last month, wants to promot a tolerant culture, saying he stands for all people’s equality and freedom.

#PrideMonth

Pride Jubilee in London

Only a few weeks away from the parade, Pride in London has released their annual TV ad. And this year it’s a queer history lesson no LGBT person or ally should ever forget.

This year’s theme for Pride in London will be Pride Jubilee, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Half a century after that fateful night in New York City, the LGBT community in the UK reflects on the fight for equality.

From Stonewall to the AIDS crisis to the fierce battle against Section 28 up until marriage equality, Pride in London ad condenses all the pivotal moments that shaped the community. The video ends on a hopeful note, highlighting the protest element which so many Prides seem to have lost over the years.

Pride in London reflected on the milestones of the LGBT community and worked with an all-LGBT cast for the film, as well as using actual historical news audio and footage to add authenticity.

Watch the TV ad below:

#PrideJubilee in London

Democrats block Trump's ban on trans troops

Donald Trump’s policy banning openly transgender troops from serving in the military hit a stumbling block when a majority of lawmakers voted against it.

Members of the House of Representatives voted 243-183 to adopt an amendment that will block funding for Trump’s trans troop ban. The vote came during a debate on a $1 trillion spending package that includes the military spending bill.

Republicans argued that allowing trans people to serve openly in the military would undermine the “military readiness” and “unit cohesion” of troops. But Anthony Brown, the Democrat for Maryland, said that this argument had historically been used to justify racially segregating the military. "The president and his administration wrongfully argue that it's about military readiness and unit cohesion, but these arguments are the same ones that were made to keep the military racially segregated,” said Brown, who is African American. “Every service chief testified that transgender service would not disrupt unit cohesion or readiness,” he added.

The amendment was proposed by Jackie Speier, the Democrat for California, and will block military funding from being used to implement the new policy, which has been in effect since April 12.

Trump’s policy, first announced in a series of tweets on July 26 2017, requires trans people with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria to serve in the military as the gender they were assigned at birth. It also means that people with a trans history are barred from serving in the military unless they have lived as the gender they were assigned at birth for three years and have not socially or medically transitioned.

Trump’s policy is also being challenged in court. An estimated 14,700 members of the US military are trans. Under Obama’s presidency, trans people already serving in the military were allowed to be open about their trans status.

Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) spoke supporting trans troops

Tbilisi Pride organisers say event will go ahead

Tbilisi Pride will be held in the capital of Georgia despite threats of disruption, event organisers said in a statement released earlier today amid public tension.

Turmoil around the first Tbilisi Pride, a week-long event dedicated to the rights of LGBT individuals, continues as organisers decided to hold the events despite threats coming from nationalist groups.

One of the organisers of the event Nino Bolkvadze refrained from naming the date of the march which will be the final stage of the event  at the end of the week and warned possible participants regarding existing threats.

"What I can say now is that all the security measures which might have been provided by the pride organisers are in place. Many people, including the police and high ranking officials are involved to ensure the peaceful conduct of the events. Of course, there are risks and the government is responsible for avoiding them,” Bolkvadze stated.

Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria reported that, taking security threats into account, the Georgian Interior Ministry said no to pride organisers to hold the events. "It’s not the right of expression when one aims to insult others", she declared.

However, the organisers did not accept the refusal and decided to go ahead anyway.

Amnesty International has urged the Georgian authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Tbilisi Pride participants “amidst unprecedented threats” of violence including from homophobic groups.

Shade never made anyone less gay!

Taylor Swift is pushing for support of the Equality Act in a star-studded music video for her new single.

A who's who of Hollywood, including Ellen DeGeneres, RuPaul, Billy Porter, Ryan Reynolds, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Adam Rippon, and many other stars and LGBT activists, appear in the video for "You Need to Calm Down" song.

Lyrics for the track include lines such as "Why are you mad when you could be GLAAD?", a reference to the country's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer media advocacy organization, and "Sunshine on the street at the parade, but you would rather be in the dark age."

Swift also sings, "You just need to take several seats and then try to restore the peace / And control your urges to scream about all the people you hate / 'Cause shade never made anybody less gay."

Katy Perry, who had engaged in a long-running feud with Swift, also makes a cameo in the music video. The pair, dressed as a hamburger and French fries, are seen hugging one another. Perry had praised Swift's political activism last year, saying, "She's setting such a great example."

At the end of the video, a graphic urges viewers to sign a petition supporting the Equality Act. The bill, which would enshrine protections for LGBT Americans in federal law, passed the House in May.

Watch the video below:

Kyiv to host Equality March on June 23

The March of Equality organized by KyivPride will take place in Kyiv, Ukraine capital, on June 23 / 23 червня, у неділю, в Києві відбудеться Марш Рівності КиївПрайд 2019.

This year KyivPride will start with the pride-week, which will be from June 14 to 22. The pride week program, already traditionally, is filled with a variety of cultural, entertainment and educational activities, and on June 23, organizers expect 10,000 participants at the Equality March.

KyivPride has been known as a peaceful human rights public action that is the manifestation of the LGBT+ community’s right to peaceful assembly, freedom of speech and self-expression. Thus, this year, the main topic of KyivPride is “Freedom. Unity. Fighting” and the main slogan: “Freedom is our tradition!”. Freedom, indeed, is the ability to speak, act and think without repressive restrictions, prohibitions and violence. 

Our freedom is an indisputable value to be ourselves, to choose what we want and not to fear to live a full life. Freedom does not happen without daily struggle, because freedom is an action. Freedom is not given for granted, it is a process in which we must stand for human rights together, so freedom is impossible without unity.

You can read the instructions to participate in the march here.

Gus Kenworthy rides with AIDS/LifeCycle

Olympian Gus Kenworthy, 27, has temporarily traded in his ski pants for padded bib shorts as he  prepares to ride 550 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles over seven days with AIDS/LifeCycle in early June.

The out silver medalist in men's slopestyle at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, joins 2,500 cyclists and 500 roadies who will set out en masse from the Cow Palace in San Francisco June 2 with the common purpose of stamping out HIV and AIDS and the stigma around the disease. 

While strides have been made in research, education, prevention, and treatment over the past few years, Kenworthy, who pledged to raise $1 million to help fund programs at the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, has joined the fight in part to help send the message that the epidemic is far from over. 

“I think that thinking HIV and AIDS is something of the past comes from a place of privilege. We feel very lucky now with Truvada [the drug used in prevention] and things like that to feel safe and feel like we're no longer really at risk, but infection rates are still climbing, especially in poor communities,” Kenworthy told.

“[With] a lack of education [around HIV and AIDS] we're seeing higher infection rates in young people. It’s important that we keep it in the forefront of people's minds. It's not something that we found a cure for yet, and I really hope that it comes, but as of now it's something that we still need to fight for, ” he added.

Inspired by watching exhausted but exuberant riders at the AIDS/LifeCycle finish line in downtown Los Angeles last June, Kenworthy pledged to raise as much money as possible for the cause and also to heighten awareness around HIV and AIDS.

Help him here as I did.

#TeamWorthy

Hundreds of thousands march in Tel Aviv Pride Parade

Tel Aviv Pride Parade did kick off with 250,000 attendants celebrating LGBT. Tourists from far and wide come to celebrate and continue the fight for LGBT rights in Israel. Tel Aviv’s pride parade is the largest pride event in Asia and the Middle East, and one of the largest parades in the world

The parade showcased 14 floats with people celebrating their sexuality. Two of the floats are for the lesbian community, one is sponsored by the British Embassy, two others represent the LGBT community center and one is sponsored by Thailand.

The parade began at noon. People marched from Gan Meir north to Gordon Beach and then south to Charles Clore Park and beach, where a huge party is happening from 3 p.m. until nightfall. The parade is a chance for people to celebrate being who they are, but not everyone was here just to celebrate. 

This year, the LGBT community center sent out a poll and changed the way the parade would look this year. Tel Aviv is asking for participants to protest visibly and are calling for the safety and equality of those in the LGBT community. 

Tel Aviv is a very accepting city, one of the Gay hubs of the world, but there are still many rights that LGBT people do not have in the State of Israel.

In addition to typical tourists and Israelis, American television actor Neil Patrick Harris came to Tel Aviv with his husband, David Burtka, to celebrate Pride. Patrick Harris is known for his portrayal of Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother and kid-doctor Doogie Houser. He is serving as the international ambassador this year. 

Every night this week there were different parties in different night clubs, bars and on Hilton Beach, drag shows, movies and activities to entertain the tourists and Tel Avivians alike. Saturday is another big event. Offer Nissim, a big-name Israeli DJ, will be performing in Park Hayarkon. 

Enjoy Pride!!!

Neil Patrick Harris, with his husband David, 

appointed int'l ambassador of Tel Aviv Pride Parade

Ecuador legalises same-sex marriage

Ecuador’s highest court legalised same-sex marriage, ruling in favour of two gay couples who petitioned for the right to wed.

The constitutional court in Quito voted five-to-four to approve same-sex marriage in the cases of the two men, thus extending gay marriage across the country.

The four judges who ruled against same-sex marriage said that changes to the Ecuadorean constitution would have to be decided and approved by the government.

However, the co andnstitutional court’s decisions are binding and mandatory. That means public authorities officiating weddings must perform same-sex weddings.

Ecuador recognised sexual orientation as a protected characteristic since 1998, making it illegal to discriminate against people for being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

The country allowed same-sex couples to enter civil unions since 2008 also banned conversion therapy in 2014. However, same-sex couples cannot adopt children. 

The decision to legalise same-sex marriage follows other countries in South America, including Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.

Congrats Ecuador!!!

Remember Pulse

During Pride Month three years ago, 12 June 2016, 49 LGBT+ people were killed in a terrible attack at Pulse Nightclub, in Orlando. 

The Florida gay nightclub, that was the site of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, will become a memorial and museum to comfort the bereaved now and educate future generations about the importance of tolerance.

Today, we remember those who were lost.

Rest In Peace

Former US Defense Secretary says Trump's troop trans ban will fail

Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter explained why he believes Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military may not last long.

Carter, who served in the Cabinet role under President Barack Obama when the ban was lifted in 2016, told “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert that it boiled down to being able to recruit the most capable people for the all-volunteer military, regardless of their identities.

“The reason we’re the finest fighting force in the world is because we have the best people,” said Carter, who is promoting his new book “Inside the Five-Sided Box” about his three decades at the Pentagon.

Carter continued: "What matters in choosing them is military qualifications and I continue to maintain that and that is what led me to the view that we ought to admit to the military and retain in the military the people who are most qualified to do a given job."

Colbert asked Carter if he was “surprised” the lifting of the ban didn’t last long. Trump’s ban, on that basis that trans people cost the military too much, came into effect in April amid a slew of legal challenges.

“I think it’ll come back because I think it’s based upon that fundamental military necessity of qualifications are what really matter,” Carter replied.

Trump Administration refuses to let US embassies fly the Pride flag

US embassies around the world have been denied the right to fly rainbow flags throughout June in honour of LGBT Pride Month.

Before an embassy can fly any banner other than the American flag, it must be granted permission by the State Department.  US embassies in Germany, Israel, Brazil and Latvia requested permission from the State Department to fly the rainbow flag on their flagpoles and were denied

This is a shift from the Obama era policy which gave diplomats blanket permission to fly the Pride flag during the month of June.

However, several American embassies and diplomats are defying the policy and the spirit of the Trump administration’s reported prohibition against flying rainbow colors from embassie. They are simply ignoring the State Department position, while others are using more creative techniques to boldly display their support for the LGBT community.

US missions in Seoul as well as in Chennai, India, Santiago, Chile, and Vienna all appear to be flying the flag. U.S, officials in Chennai also posted next video of the flag raising and a supportive Pride message.

YouTube sets LGBT documentaries for Pride Month

YouTube is unfurling the rainbow flag for Pride Month, set to release a trio of original LGBT documentary films available for free worldwide on the platform.

The lineup includes “State of Pride,” from Oscar-winning filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, premiering May 29; “Stonewall Outloud,” from StoryCorps and World of Wonder, premiering June 26; and “This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous,” the 2017 doc about the transgender female YouTube fashion and beauty vlogger.

State of Pride, which debuted at South by Southwest in March, follows Braun as he travels to Salt Lake City, Utah, San Francisco, Calif., and Tuscaloosa, Ala. In each of those cities, he meets with young LGBT people who share their wildly different perceptions of what June, Pride Month, means to their generation. Among those interviewed is pop singer-songwriter Troye Sivan, whose albums “Blue Neighbourhood” and “Bloom” have made him a queer icon for the millennial set. 

Stonewall Outloud brings the original audio recording of Stonewall to life, in a documentary that features contemporary voices in the LGBT community, from YouTube creator Conor Franta to Olympian Adam Rippon. The World of Wonder-produced film builds upon StoryCorps’ long-standing commitment to recording the powerful and varied experiences of LGBT people. Storycorps’ original audio documentary Remembering Stonewall features first-person accounts of those who fought during the uprising and forms, the basis for this new documentary. The movie premieres Wednesday, June 26, 2019 on the World of Wonder YouTube channel.

This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous, director Barbara Kopple and subject Gigi Lazzarato stopped by the Variety Studio presented by Orville Redenbacher’s at the Sundance Film Festival to talk about their new documentary. Lazzarato, a transgender woman who has shared her journey on YouTube, said that the documentary was an exercise in control. “I’m a control freak,” she said. “I just wanted to take control because that’s what I’m used to.” But Kopple said that the product is one that makes a statement. “It’s about hope, it’s about friendship, it’s about love. It’s about all the wonderful ingredients that our president is not doing,” she said. YouTube will make available free to watch from June 5-30.

Same-sex mass wedding staged in Israel to advocate for marriage equality

Hundreds of Israelis participated in a mass wedding in Tel Aviv to demand the right to same-sex marriage ahead of the country’s Gay Pride week.

23 same-sex couples walked down the aisle at the Tel Aviv LGBT Centre in unison and exchanged vows at the unofficial marriage ceremony, cheered by family, friends and supporters. 

The annual Tel Aviv Pride Parade, set for June 14, draws thousands of foreign visitors to the city, which flaunts itself as one of the world’s most gay-friendly tourist destinations. Jerusalem Pride Parade is set for June 7.

Yet political rights for Israel’s gay community lag behind the increasingly widespread cultural acceptance. Jewish ultra-Orthodox parties, powerful in the Israeli parliament, have rejected legislation that affords rights like same-sex marriage and the inclusion of gay men in surrogacy laws.

In any case, Israel stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the Mideast and becomes an exception in the region on acceptance of LGBT rights. 

Tel Aviv Pride Parade is one of the largest in the world

Pride Month comes back to Chicago

The Chicago Transit Authority has again decorated several train cars on the north-south Red Line in rainbow colors for Pride Month, as it has done the past several years. 

This year, for the first time, Howard Brown Health Center, which serves a largely LGBT clientele, has become a sponsor of the Pride cars, decorating the interior with visuals representing the center’s diverse patient population and highlighting that it will never deny care, judge sexuality, or define anyone by their HIV status.

Also, in the heavily gay Boystown neighborhood, the city is installing 14 Pride-themed crosswalks along North Halsted Street — 13 in rainbow colors and one in the pink, blue, and white colors of the transgender flag. Seven of them, including the trans one, have been unveiled; the rest are scheduled to be completed by June 22, in time for the Pride festival.

Last April, Chicago elected its first openly gay mayor, Lori Lightfoot, who become the leader of the third largest city in the USA. 

Lori Lightfoot, the mayor of Chicago

House of Lords approves LGBT guidance in English schools

The House of Lords has given its backing to new LGBT-inclusive guidance on compulsory relationships and sex education in English schools.

The upper chamber gave approval to new government guidance on relationships and sex education, a month after the plan passed through the House of Commons by a vote of 538 to 21.



The regulations passed through the Lords without a formal division due to overwhelming support, paving the way for the guidance to come into effect in schools for September 2020.

Education minister Lord Agnew of Oulton said: “There is no reason why teaching children about the diverse society that we live in, and the different types of loving and healthy relationships, cannot be done in a way that respects everybody’s views.

“Schools should ensure that the needs of all pupils are appropriately met and that all pupils understand the importance of equality and respect, in particular respect for difference.

“The new guidance is clear on the teaching about LGBT relationships expected in secondary schools and encouraged in primary while retaining the flexibility for head teachers to respond to the needs of their own schools.”

These new regulations mark a significant and welcome change to how pupils are taught about LGBT relationships and identities. It’s life-changing legislation that will give LGBT pupils the tools to make informed decisions about their relationships and their futures.

Scotland was first to approve LGBTschool lessons

Prince Harry and Meghan celebrate Pride month on Instagram

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, duke and duchess of Sussex, are celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.

The royal couple gave their Instagram page a rainbow tribute in honor of Pride Month, which kicks off June 1 in the U.K. and the U.S.

Harry and Meghan shared a collage made of photos, which included one of Harry’s late mother Princess Diana, from accounts they are following this month which included The Trevor Project, Stonewall UK, SAGE and artist Ruben Guadalupe Marquez.

“This month we pay tribute to the accounts supporting the LGBTQ+ community – those young and old, their families and friends, accounts that reflect on the past and are hopeful for a deservedly more inclusive future,” the couple captioned the post. “We stand with you and support you 🌈 Because it’s very simple: love is love.”

The royal couple's post explained that they have a tradition of rotating Instagram accounts they follow based "on causes and social issues that matter to us".

Awesome couple!!