As part of the Love is GREAT campaign, the UK government will participate in local Pride events in 10 cities across the US to highlight the UK as a champion of LGBT equality and a global leader in human rights across policy, business, arts and culture, and tourism.
The UK is proud to be recognized as one of the most progressive countries in the world for LGBT rights and a welcoming destination for all. To celebrate this, between June and October 2016, the British Embassy Washington, the UK Mission to the UN, and each of the eight British Consulates will participate in marches and events in their consular regions – Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco.
The UK is the first foreign government to participate in Pride on such a significant scale. This will be the British Embassy’s fourth year participating in DC’s Capital Pride; in 2015 the British Ambassador was the first-ever Ambassador to walk in the parade.
Powered by GROWLR, MIDTOWNE SPA & MILEHIGHGAYGUY, Bearracuda returns for Denver Gay Pride
on Friday, June 17 with headlining DJ TONY MORAN, opening set by John
Cross, GO-GO BEARS & LASER SHOW at Summit Music Hall.
Vampires: Lucas Rising tells the ongoing tale of the
immortal vampire lovers, Lucas Delmore and Toby Brighter and their
battle to save the world and defend their love, against the Powers of
Darkness. Bigger, bloodier, sexier, Vampires: Lucas Rising takes the next step in the sensual dark Vampires fantasy saga!
Rosaline, a fairytale with an LGBT twist - premiered this week on Hulu. This new take on the old-fashioned fairytale comes from best-selling children's author Daniel Errico. In 2015, Errico wrote The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived that followed Cedric, a humble pumpkin farmer who ends up saving a prince and a princess from a fire-breathing dragon and finding love.
The story of Rosaline once again incorporates LGBT themes in a fun fairytale adventure through the woods. To find her sweetheart, Rosaline must first get by a witch, a wolf, and even a fairy godmother.
Ahead of Equality Forum 2016, scheduled to take place during this summer’s Democratic National Convention, the nation’s premier lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights summit today released 31 LGBT History Month Icons – seven of whom relate directly to politics and the Democratic National Convention.
“As part of this year’s list of LGBT History Month Icons, we thought it was important to mark the close connection and historic role our community has played in the democratic process,” said Malcolm Lazin, Equality Forum’s Founder and Executive Director. “Since the 24th annual Equality Forum will take place July 25th through July 28th during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, several of this year’s LGBT History Month Icons were selected for the important role they have played in representing the LGBT movement within the Democratic Party and politics in general.”
Equality Forum 2016 recently announced that this year’s summit will be held July 25th through July 28th during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, PA. Equality Forum 2016 will bring together elected officials, newsmakers and LGBT experts for groundbreaking panel discussions on the state and future of the LGBT movement, as well as two historic marker dedications and award ceremonies.
LGBT History Month, coordinated by the Equality Forum, celebrates the achievements of 31 national and international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) icons. Each day in October, a new LGBT icon is featured with a video, bibliography, downloadable images and other resources for use in classrooms, educational institutions, community groups and other venues throughout the country. A downloadable database of previous LGBT History Month Icons dating back to 2006, as well as additional information, is available at: www.lgbthistorymonth.com
The Ally Awards will be held on August 20th, 2016 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Denver. The evening will culminate in an awards presentation to several Coloradans who have worked to advance equality and made a substantive difference in the lives of LGBTQ Coloradans. When an ally takes a stand, it can change the lives of people in our community. One Colorado celebrates the contributions of allies at the annual Ally Awards because their courage is an incredible asset to our work. The 2016 People’s Choice Ally Award is an opportunity to honor someone who may not have received public recognition, but whose work has made a positive impact on the lives of LGBTQ people. This is YOUR chance to help make sure we recognize that unsung ally in our community.
Directed by renowned photographer and filmmaker Rankin, the video for ‘Nasty”
is a mesmerizing and tongue-in-cheek experience, described by Brooke
Candy as "one part Charlie Chaplin...one part John waters...one part Pam
and Tommy's sex tape.... the 2016 pop music version of ‘How to Marry a
Millionaire’".
For the sixth year in a row, the LGBT Confex International Business & Tourism Forum will provide a meeting place for professionals and suppliers who see the LGBT community as an important market segment, as well as for businesses that offer an inclusive workplace.
The World Trade Center in Mexico City will be the venue for the event, which will take place October 26-27 with 60 exhibitors in attendance. They will be joined by 30 featured speakers, who will explain the realities and trends affecting the principal theme for this year’s LGBT Confex: “Inclusive Innovation: We create, we innovate and we revolutionize.”
“This year, we wanted to go further than ever before, to address the situations that LGBT topics present in the world today,” said Rubén Sandoval, CEO of LGBT Confex. “Questions like ‘what is diversity?’ and ‘what is inclusion?’ These topics are creating a scenario that’s generating great changes.”
Following past editions in Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Guadalajara, Vallarta-Nayarit and Mérida, the 2016 LGBT Confex arrives in Mexico City, where it will be presented by Scotiabank and AT&T, with support from Mexico’s federal Secretary of Tourism.
LGBT opinion leaders, both national and international, are scheduled to participate in the Forum’s 10 platforms: Tourism, Corporate, Film, Academics, Fashion, Entrepreneurs, Technology, ONG and Media, as well as the most recent addition, Talent.
“The goal of LGBT Confex is to collectivize, disseminate and promote inclusive strategies in various sectors of society, from social, entrepreneurial and labor to commercial aspects, always through innovation, because it’s not enough to simply be an agent of change,” said Sandoval. “You have to be the change.”
Logo today announced that legend of stage and screen Harvey Fierstein and seminal LBGT news outlet The Advocate will be honored during the third annual “Trailblazer Honors,” a television special that celebrates pioneers at the forefront of LGBT equality. For the first time, VH1 and Logo will simulcast the “Trailblazer Honors,” the largest televised LGBT Pride event, on Saturday, June 25 at 8pm ET/7pm CT. The one-hour special is an official event of NYC Pride Week and will be held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, one of the first religious institutions in New York City to champion the causes of LGBT people. Fierstein and The Advocate join previous years’ honorees including the Obama Administration, Edie Windsor, Judy and Dennis Shepard, as well as Laverne Cox and the cast of “Orange is the New Black.”
During the event, Judith Light, Matthew Broderick, Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Edie Falco, Joel Grey, Matthew Morrison, Michael Musto and Tony Kushner, among others will share personal accounts of working with Fierstein as well as his legacy. Troye Sivan, Cheyenne Jackson, Tegan & Sara, Jason Collins, Alex Newell, and former Editors-In-Chief will speak to The Advocate’s nearly 50 year history of groundbreaking journalism that not only inspired community members, but became a platform for celebrities, politicians and athletes to speak out in favor of LGBT people.
The Democratic National Convention Committee’s Platform Drafting Committee today launched the first in a series of regional events designed to engage every voice in the Party. Platform Drafting Committee Chair Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Democratic National Convention CEO Rev. Leah D. Daughtry, welcomed committee members, Democrats from all walks of life, and the general public to the forum, outlining the critical role public hearings and meetings will play in informing the Democratic National Party Platform.
"We are 47 days away from our Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia and this public forum is vital to shaping how our party shares its ideas and values with the American people," said DNC Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz. "Today we kick off a process that brings together voices from across our Party, from both of our campaigns, and from our voters. By the time this committee is done, there will be no doubt that our Party shares the values and speaks to the aspirations of the American people.”
“We are excited to begin this unprecedented effort to engage as many Democrats as possible in the process of creating the vision of our Party – and our nation’s future,” said Chairman Cummings. “Our approach of an open and transparent process that provides ample opportunity for every viewpoint to be expressed is not only consistent with our values but it is also essential to the long-term interest and vitality of the Democratic Party.”
During the first of the two-day forums being held June 8-9 at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, D.C., members of the Platform Drafting Committee will hear testimony from 19 speakers on ways in which Democrats can address the needs of Americans through sound public policy that will create opportunity and remove barriers to individual, family and community success.
“Whether they live in cities, suburbs, Indian Country, rural or indigenous communities, all people want to feel safe, secure and empowered and they want their families to thrive,” said DNCC CEO Daughtry. “Our first group of speakers will share with the Committee the approaches and vehicles needed to make that happen.”
The following individuals were invited to present testimony under the theme “Leveling the Playing Field: Creating Opportunity and Removing Barriers" in the order as listed below:
Sister Simone Campbell NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Honorable Eric Holder Covington & Burling LLP
Honorable Raúl Grijalva United States House of Representatives
Dalia Mogahed Institute for Social Policy and Understanding
Christopher Kang National Council of Asian Pacific Americans
Fawn Sharp Quinault Indian Nation
Angela Glover Blackwell PolicyLink
Don Cravins, Jr. National Urban League
Gayle Manchin Reconnecting McDowell
Lucy McBath Mother of Jordan Davis, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
Tianna Gaines-Turner Witnesses to Hunger
Ben Jealous Center for American Progress
Roxana Orellana Deferred Action for Parental Accountability-eligible
Sheila Crowley Formerly, National Low Income Housing Coalition
James Obergefell Plaintiff in Obergefell v. Hodges
Hilary Shelton NAACP
Sabrina Shrader West Virginia Healthy Kids and Families Coalition
Hector Sanchez National Hispanic Leadership Agenda
Democrats are invited to go online at www.demconvention.com/platform to either submit written or video testimony, or to request an opportunity to testify in person.
LGBT rights and immigration are two hot topics of the upcoming Presidential election, and the official Democratic and Republican party candidates have very different opinions on both issues. Regardless of your personal stance, it’s undeniable that members of the LGBTQ community still face discrimination at home AND abroad. In Iraq in particular, LGBTQ people face discrimination in the form of abuse, “honor killings” and murder, and many have found it near impossible to escape the country that hates them and emigrate to America. In LOGO Documentary Films documentary “Out of Iraq,” airing on Monday, June 13 at 9pm ET/PT, Iraqi solider Btoo and Iraqi translator for the American army Nayyef, find love in the very country where their love is banned.
The couple’s love story begins in war-torn Ramadi in 2004 and continues through Nayyef’s escape to Seattle; Btoo and Nayyef’s five year+ long distance relationship; Btoo’s desertion from the Iraqi military and hiding in Lebanon; Btoo’s numerous interviews with the UNHCR, who miscommunicated his story on several occasions; Btoo and Nayyef’s eventual reunion years later; and their aspiration to sponsor other LGBT Iraqi refugees in need.
It was spring time. When I lost my virginity. Well, the first time it was Spring as well. Kevin Allen and I, were rummaging around a pile of tossed out items left behind from tenants who were evicted out of a house next door to Kevin. Pulling open a box, the sun just beginning to set behind one of Colorado’s famous “fourteeners” the local nick-name for a series of mountains surpassing fourteen thousand feet tall. From our small town these mountains were on the edge of the world. The box gave way, and Kevin and I peered into the box. The golden-setting sun highlighting a naked man’s torso on the cover of a porn mag. A gay porn mag. We both attempted to play it cool, yet this was difficult as both our hearts had stopped beating. It wasn’t long before we sat in his bedroom viewing the stack of magazines noticing the rising bulges in each other’s jeans. By the time it was completely dark out, I was welcomed inside of Kevin. Forced deep inside of him to scratch an itch he had just realized needing scratching.
It was also Spring when I lost my “other” virginity. Just last Spring to be precise. From a dashing smile on a rugby player. Built like a brick house, solid in build and mind. He corrected me, quickly when we began to chat. “Not rugby, I play Lacrosse. A coach actually.” He said with a solid voice that made me melt. I then knew how Lacrosse coaches were supposed to sound. He was a straight-up and grounded man. He was straight-up too, about being Trans.
It was in my bedroom when I pulled the tee-shirt from his massive frame. The cotton of the shirt didn’t stand a chance against his rippled and veiny biceps. I stuttered a little. Just as I had done with Kevin. Imagining the unknown. “How would I do this?” With Kevin, it was easier. I knew all the parts; they were the same as mine. I knew I wanted to be inside him, I knew how to accomplish the task. But…. with the Coach, I… had never seen, I mean not in real life… a vagina. “oh god.” My eyes darted everywhere. “Just relax.” The Lacrosse Coach said. We’ll take it easy. This was unfamiliar to me, as I am always the one in charge in the bedroom. Me the one to ensure my partner to relax. Now I wanted to be the one in charge, but had to listen for instruction. I listened intently to how the device worked. I practiced. The Coach praised me for picking up so quickly, assuring me I was a natural. It. Was. Amazing. I finally figured out what the fuss was all about. Why those vagina things were so popular. Of course, only if they’re attached to a fireplug of a man. I mean, it truly helps if your vagina is attached to a solid muscle-bound Lacrosse player. If you’re gay, and had no intention in ever seeing one in real life.
This post originally appeared on Steven Bennet's website Nice to See StevieB. Republished with permission.
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