This year, Provincetown’s famous Carnival celebration is going online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The good news is that now, everyone can watch the show for free from anywhere! On Saturday, August 22nd, at 5 pm, one of America’s most famous Pride events will begin a new chapter by streaming online for free. This year’s carnival is titled FOREVER PROVINCETOWN and will celebrate the past 42 years of the famed PTown event, while also looking towards the future and what’s next for the queer community. The event will include a virtual tea dance, performances by world-renowned talents like Courtney…
Author: Keith Langston
The new documentary Julia Scotti – Funny That Way explores the life of comedian Julia Scotti, who shot to fame on the talent show America’s Got Talent. Julia, born Rick Scotti, always had a love for stand-up comedy, and despite a good career on the comedy club circuit, Scotti felt something was missing: that he wasn’t who he truly was supposed to be. In his late 40’s, Rick realized he needed to be his true self. After transitioning, Julia not only blossomed into a happier, healthier person, but she rebooted her career as a stand-up comediene. Little did she know…
A new campaign called Well Beings is aiming to help the mental health crisis amongst America’s youth. To launch the project, the organization assembled celebrities and mental health professionals to hold a virtual town hall to address the issue of youth mental health. The event was hosted by numerous celebrities including Billy Porter, Alanis Morissette, Bill Pullman, Jewel, Kid Cudi, and Demi Moore, among many others. One of the main topics was mental health among LGBTQ youth. Trans actor Ian Alexander, star of Netflix’s The OA, spoke about his experience growing up. He said that when he tried to speak…
A new rule from the Department of Housing and Urban Development is seeking to allow federally-funded homeless shelters to decide a person’s sex based on a “good faith belief.” The rule states that employees of homeless shelters are not allowed to turn someone away for being transgender, but are allowed to decide whether they go in a men’s or women’s shelter. Making the measure even crueler, is the process by which how an employee can decide. The rule says that someone’s sex can be determined by their physical characteristics, such as height, the presence of facial hair, or having an…
You’ve probably heard that The Dixie Chicks have recently changed their name to The Chicks. The band has decided to distance themselves from a word that’s heavily associated with the Confederate South. The change has enraged some conservatives, but this isn’t the band’s first brush with controversy. Back during the Bush era, the band famously received extreme backlash from Americans (including death threats) because of their comments about the sad direction America was moving in. While many thought that incident was going to be the death of the band, The Chicks came back swinging with their manifesto album Taking the…
Sports Illustrated features their first transgender model for their famous swimsuit issue. Throughout the magazine’s history (it premiered back in 1964), their swimwear photoshoots have taken place all over the globe, from Cozumel to Australia, and even Bora Bora in Franch Polynesia. But this issue marks a new milestone for the magazine. Model Valentina Sampaio has become Sports Illustrated’s first transgender model, breaking barriers for women and the LGBTQ community, as well as ushering in a new era for the magazine—one that promotes the beauty of diversity. Sampaio was photographed by famed fashion photographer Josie Clough on Scrub Island, in…
The popular ABC show What Would You Do? returns with a special episode guest-starring Olympic skater Adam Rippon. The show centers around putting real people in extreme scenarios to see what they do. Do they stand up to bigotry? Do they defend the oppressed? Or do they just stand there and watch? Or partake in the harassment? In the episode with Adam Rippon, a coach is put to the test when a young athlete comes out to her as LGBTQ. The show seeks to find out how she’ll respond, and also aims to help educate the viewer about why inclusivity…
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…
Today, the Supreme Court delivered two rulings in favor of religious freedom over civil rights, moving America further backward in the quest for human rights. Unfortunately, these decisions shouldn’t come as a surprise. After June’s big Supreme Court wins for civil rights, Republicans have been on a fervent crusade to tarnish the reputation of the Supreme Court justices. The court’s conservative justices (which is most of them) have been under extreme pressure to “be more conservative”, and unfortunately, today’s rulings show that they’ve listened to the pressure coming from republican media. First off, there was the ruling of Our Lady…
The votes are in from the recent election in Russia, which saw the nation voting (or did they?) for a whole referendum of constitutional changes. One of the most horrifying is Russia officially declaring marriage to be only between a man and a woman, preventing the possibility for any LGBTQ rights to develop in the near future. Even scarier, the referendum now allows Putin to retain his power until the year 2036, even though his reign was supposed to come to an end in 2024. But the worst part is that many Russians are crying foul. According to CNN, Russians…
A new amendment, lead by senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Susan Collins aims at protecting transgender service members from discrimination in the US military. In June, the US Supreme Court offered a huge win to LGBTQ citizens by granting the community protections from harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Now, the Gillibrand-Collins amendment seeks to extend those protections to service members in the US military. When proposing the amendment, Senator Gillibrand stated, “Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that LGBTQ people are protected from workplace discrimination, we must ensure these protections are extended to every American, especially transgender service members…
The documentary film A Secret Love tells the story about professional female baseball player Terry Donahue and her wife Emma Marie Henschel. The two had to keep their love a secret for decades due to homophobia from both their family and the public. In fact, despite being together for almost 70 years, the couple didn’t actually get married until 2015, when it was finally legal to do so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghv3-lpFOcc Donahue played for the Illinois-based women’s baseball teams the Redwings and the Admiral Music Maids back in the 40s. Though Donahue played almost every position in the game, she was most commonly…
Back in July of 2019, the African nation of Gabon criminalized sex between two people of the same gender. The crime was punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of 5 million CFA francs ($8,664 USD), a huge sum of money for Gabon residents. However, the country has now decriminalized same-sex relations less than one year after enacting the law. The motion passed in Gabon’s Lower House 48-24, and received even more support in the Senate, gaining 59 votes. This is a huge moment for Africa, a continent that unfortunately has been historically plagued by colonial-era…
Reddit, the internet’s most infamous and scandalous social networking platform has banned the site’s largest pro-trump group that had over 790,000 users. The New York Times reports that Reddit is strengthening its commitments to anti-harassment and anti-hate guidelines. As a response, the site will now be banning over 2,000 subreddits (group message boards), the largest being “The_Donald”. For years, The_Donald subreddit group was responsible for creating the foulest and most disgusting alt-right memes, GIFS, and videos. Some of which have even been retweeted by Trump himself. According to CNN, Reddit moderators state that the group has consistently broken Reddit rules…
Five years ago today, LGBTQ history was made when same-sex marriage became the law of the land in the United States of America. The results of the Obergefell v. Hodges case was a giant step forward for gay equality. Before 2015, same-sex marriage in America was a messy hodgepodge of different rules. Some states allowed marriage, some only allowed civil unions, and some banned both. It was a blatant display of the lack of respect given to LGBTQ people in America. Seven years ago today, the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which allowed states to…
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…
This month is Pride month. However, because of the global coronavirus outbreak, almost every single pride celebration around the world had to be canceled…except for one. Taiwan, which will host its full Pride celebration in October, is putting on a special party and parade on June 28th in Taipei to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the world’s first pride parade in 1970. The festivities will also honor countries around the world as well as the tenacity of the LGBTQ community. On June 20th, WERK!, Taiwan’s biggest gay party, will be putting on a pre-pride celebration where partygoers can dance the…
Last week, the Trump administration rolled back yet another Obama-era law. This time, they attacked the protections granted to trans people in the Affordable Care Act. In what is known as the Health Care Rights Law, groups were protected from discrimination based on things like sex, race, and gender. The trans community was included in this list. However, last week, the Department of Health and Human Services claimed that there was no authority to create such protections, and so they will now, “enforce Section 1557 by returning to the government’s interpretation of sex discrimination according to the plain meaning of…
In yet another shockingly discriminatory move by the Trump administration, the Department of Justice has just sent a brief to the Supreme Court, asking them to allow organizations to discriminate against LGBTQ people because it’s part of their “religious freedom.” The Background This all has its roots in a 2018 case in Philadelphia: Fulton vs. City of Philadelphia. The case centered around the city of Philadelphia contracting a group, Catholic Social Services, to handle issues of adoption and fostering. The city discovered that the organization was breaching its contract of non-discrimination and was denying LGBTQ parents from fostering and adopting.…
The UK is implementing new laws as lockdown measures begin to ease up. In certain parts of the country, retailers are allowed to open back up at limited capacity, schools will begin to reopen, and certain people will be going back to work. To “keep citizens safe” during the easing of the coronavirus lockdown, however, the UK government has implemented some rather strange policies. Now, groups of up to six people from different households are allowed to gather outside, but no two people from different households can congregate together inside (unless it’s for special circumstances like a funeral). The law…
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…
Larry Kramer died at age 84 today, leaving behind a body of work that changed not only the LGBTQ community, but the world as a whole. Kramer came to prominence in 1969 when he was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for the movie Women in Love. Almost a decade later, Kramer would make waves again for his shocking and controversial 1978 novel, Faggots, which was based on his own life. The novel focuses on a young man trying to make it in New York City, all while feeling alienated by his fellow gays who partake in the hyper-sexualized, drug-obsessed nightclub…
Marie Cau made history by becoming the first openly transgender person to be elected as mayor in France. Cau is now the mayor of the village of Trilloy-lez-Marchiennes, a town of just 550 people. Cau’s background was in engineering and she ran on a platform of environmental sustainability and boosting the local economy. On top of being mayor, she will continue running her IT consulting business on the side. The election of Marie Cau also provides a new dynamic to the idea of rural vs. city values. If a small town of just 550 people can vote for a transgender…
AIDS Walk New York, one of the largest fundraisers of the year, won’t be stopping for the pandemic. This year, on June 7th, at 10 am ET, the event will commence online with AIDS Walk From Home! The event will be star-studded with surprise celebrity guests, special performances, and even a live DJ set so you can dance the day away in your PJs. This year, supporting the AIDS Walk and Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) is more important than ever. GMHC has begun partaking in emergency COVID-19 efforts to help the community, especially those suffering from HIV and AIDS.…
At midnight on May 26, 2020 same-sex marriage became law in Costa Rica, making it the first Central American country to legalize it. As we stated in our previous article, this moment has been a long time coming. The country set the parameters for gay marriage back in 2018, but set the date far in the future in order to give the population time to adapt and adjust. Throughout those two years, the measure was challenged, but at midnight the moment finally arrived and gay marriage is now legal in Costa Rica. Couples around the world held celebrations overnight, but…
For years now, Disney has been accused of purposefully excluding the LGBTQ community from its lineup of characters. Within the last six months alone, the studio faced criticisms for not making Elsa gay in Frozen 2, and more recently, for choosing not to air the highly-anticipated show Love, Victor on Disney+, claiming the show wasn’t “family-friendly.” Now, the streaming platform Disney+ just released the Pixar short film Out, which follows the story of a young man about to move away from his hometown with his boyfriend. His parents don’t know he’s gay, and he prefers it that way. However, when his…
The popular San Fransisco LGBTQ+ film festival, Frameline, returns this June in partnership with the Castro Theatre. Because of lockdown restrictions, the event will mostly be digital, with a special premiere taking place at a drive-in. This year, Frameline44 will take place June 25th-28th. The organizers have teamed up with filmmaker HP Mendoza (known for the popular movie Fruit Fly) to work as a creative partner and bring life to the digital festival. The main highlight of this year’s event will be the screening of Ahead of the Curve, which is set to have its premiere at the West Wind…
Costa Rica, the Central American nation known for its gorgeous beaches, lush jungles, and abundant wildlife, is about to be known for something else: The first Central American nation to legalize same-sex marriage. Back in August 2018, the country voted to implement same-sex marriage, and that ruling is set to go into effect at the end of this month on May 26th. Despite widespread acclaim for the ruling, some conservatives are trying to delay the implementation of the law. In fact, recently, two members of Costa Rica’s National Liberation Party (PLN) got into a physical altercation over the matter. David…
Timmery is a writer, designer, and artist based in Nashville. She rose to prominence in the fashion world with her underground Sugar Art and Fashion shows that would pop up in abandoned warehouses throughout Downtown Los Angeles. Now, she lives in Nashville with her husband and beautiful baby daughter. She’s just completed her first children’s book, Nova’s Pink Boots, and continues to create art, jewelry, and more, all of which she sells through her website. Recently, Timmery has also been creating gorgeous works of art featuring her favorite drag queens. I was able to chat with Timmery to ask what…
Although New York City’s live, annual pride parade and celebration was cancelled because of the coronavirus, the event will continue on TV and online. On June 28th, from 12-2 pm ET, ABC New York will air a special star-studded broadcast celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first pride parade that took place in 1970. Grand Marshal’s will include Dan Levy (star of Schitt’s Creek), The Ali Forney Center, which provides services to the LGBTQ+ community and vital support for homeless youth, Yanzi Peng (rights activist), and Victoria Cruz (LGBTQ and anti-violence advocate). Along with the Grand Marshals, there will be…