Syphilis infection rates have increased 30% in #Denver County since 2014. Testing is easy and treatment works! Find a location here DenverPublicHealth.org/GetDown.
Monday, December 10, 2018
STDs are Up in Denver. Get Down with Testing Today!
Syphilis infection rates have increased 30% in #Denver County since 2014. Testing is easy and treatment works! Find a location here DenverPublicHealth.org/GetDown.
Bearracuda Denver is Back!
WalletHub Names Denver One of 2018’s Best Places for New Year’s Eve
Source: WalletHub
With New Year’s Eve around the corner and the majority of Americans spending up to $200 each on the occasion per year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018’s Best Places for New Year’s Eve Celebrations (as well as accompanying videos) to go along with its 50+ New Year’s Eve Facts – Traditions, Spending & More infographic.
To help Americans ring in the new year without breaking the bank, WalletHub compared the 100 biggest cities across 28 key metrics. The data set ranges from legality of fireworks to average price of a New Year’s Eve party ticket to forecasted precipitation for Dec. 31.
| Best Cities for New Year’s Eve | ||||
| 1 | New York, NY | 11 | Miami, FL | |
| 2 | Los Angeles, CA | 12 | New Orleans, LA | |
| 3 | Atlanta, GA | 13 | Philadelphia, PA | |
| 4 | San Diego, CA | 14 | Birmingham, AL | |
| 5 | Las Vegas, NV | 15 | Seattle, WA | |
| 6 | Denver, CO | 16 | San Antonio, TX | |
| 7 | Orlando, FL | 17 | Dallas, TX | |
| 8 | Chicago, IL | 18 | Louisville, KY | |
| 9 | Washington, DC | 19 | Nashville, TN | |
| 10 | San Francisco, CA | 20 | Virginia Beach, VA | |
HIV Activists Announce Alternative 2020 Conference in Mexico City
The International AIDS Society's (IAS) decision to host their 2020 event in the San Francisco Bay Area sparked vocal protests and calls for an "AIDS2020 For All" and an "HIV Power Shift" at the 2018 International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam this July. IAS's decision went against the recommendations of community advocates worldwide, including the national networks of people living with HIV in the U.S., creating a dilemma for many in the global HIV movement. The HIV2020 Alliance's decision to hold an event parallel to the 2020 International AIDS Conference is not without precedent. When the IAS hosted their last event in the U.S. in 2012, sex worker activists and people who used drugs organized their own events in India and Ukraine in protest. In fact, key populations have been organizing their own pre-conferences at IAS events to specifically address the needs of their communities for over a decade.
"It is irresponsible to put on an event of this size in a country that is inhospitable to people most affected by HIV and AIDS. The IAS's decision resurfaces questions about the importance and community-relevance of large, multi-million-dollar conferences in the face of shrinking investment in the global HIV response," said George Ayala, executive director of MPact Global Action for Gay Men's Health and Rights. "Their decision to move ahead with a conference in the U.S. suggests a willingness by mainstream HIV actors to tolerate the discrimination of people from Muslim, African, Caribbean and Latin American countries, people who use drugs, sex workers, and transgender people. We plan to rectify this and to work with community members to reclaim the global HIV response at the HIV2020 conference."
HIV2020 will be a community-centered, key population-led, interdisciplinary, intersectional, and sex positive event. Its aim is to: build safe and friendly space for the equitable exchange of information, knowledge, experiences and expertise by ensuring diverse voices are heard and reflected; promote community-led solutions and good practice in sexual health and human rights; amplify community voices in calling out the inequities experienced across key populations and specific legal restrictions on some key populations' right to freedom of movement; demonstrate the importance of meaningful involvement of communities in health and human rights responses; reaffirm community commitments and priorities to global health and human rights responses (inclusive of HIV); and model an innovative approach for deliberating new research, tools, and strategies and their real-life implications, with communities as equal partners.
Organizers are calling for statements of solidarity with HIV2020. Advocates, community-based organizations, healthcare and service providers, researchers, public health officials, and funders are invited to endorse the event in writing, on social media, and during high-level global meetings.
Visit St. Pete/Clearwater becomes the first Florida destination in the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association’s Global Partner program
“St. Pete/Clearwater’s partnership with IGLTA brings with it a level of global recognition in the LGBTQ+ tourism space like no other,” said David Downing, CEO & President of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater. “We’re honored to work with IGLTA to continue growing as an authentically LGBTQ+-inclusive destination.”
LGBTQ+ inclusion is built into the destination’s DNA. St. Pete Pride is the largest Pride event in the state of Florida, drawing some 200,000 visitors annually, and the city is home to a year-round LGBTQ+ welcome center. In 2017, St. Pete hosted IGLTA’s 34th Annual Global Convention, attracting tourism professionals representing 36 countries—the most globally diverse convention that the association had hosted at the time. That same year, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater was honored during Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Business of Pride awards for its LGBTQ+-focused marketing efforts.
As an IGLTA Global Partner, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater will have increased engagement with the association’s global business members and its progressive offerings will receive enhanced visibility among LGBTQ+ travelers.
"One of the most exciting aspects of holding our Annual Global Convention in St. Pete was being able to share this LGBTQ+-welcoming gem with so many industry leaders from around the world who had not yet experienced its charms,” said IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella. "Through this global partnership we can continue building upon that success and showcase St. Pete/Clearwater—from its gorgeous beaches to its world-class museums—to an even wider network of global LGBTQ+ tourism professionals and travelers.”
Transgender Military Ban Plaintiffs Argue in DC Circuit Court of Appeals Today to Keep Preliminary Injunction
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral arguments today in Doe v. Trump—the first legal challenge filed in opposition to Trump’s transgender military ban—brought by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). GLAD Transgender Rights Project Director Jennifer Levi presented arguments on behalf of plaintiffs, urging the court to keep Doe’s preliminary injunction in place, which prevents implementation of Trump’s transgender military ban while the case is being heard in court.
There are four lawsuits challenging the ban, and all four federal judges in these cases have issued nationwide preliminary injunctions blocking it. In issuing those orders, the courts each determined that the plaintiffs challenging the ban—including current servicemembers, ROTC, military academy students, and enlistees—would likely prevail on their claim that the ban violates their constitutional guarantee of equal protection. Today’s argument concerned the government’s appeal of D.C. federal district court judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly’s forceful denial of its request to dissolve her injunction after the administration released its implementation plan for the ban in March. Judge Kollar-Kotelly reiterated her finding that there has been no change in circumstances to invalidate the injunction in a November 30 ruling denying the government’s subsequent request for a stay while the Supreme Court considers its application for cert before judgment.
“The government is playing word games by arguing that transgender people can serve in their birth sex. That is a contradiction in terms,” said GLAD Transgender Rights Project Director Jennifer Levi.“ This is not a game. What’s at stake here is the lives of dedicated servicemembers, who are willing and able to serve—and are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country.”
“Throughout this case, I have been privileged to meet and represent courageous young people who want nothing more than to meet the military’s high standards and to serve their country,” said NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter. “Instead, they have been swept up in a discriminatory political firestorm that has nothing to do with either what’s best for the military or their ability to serve. Their futures and who we are as a country are at stake.”
There are four lawsuits challenging the ban, and all four federal judges in these cases have issued nationwide preliminary injunctions blocking it. In issuing those orders, the courts each determined that the plaintiffs challenging the ban—including current servicemembers, ROTC, military academy students, and enlistees—would likely prevail on their claim that the ban violates their constitutional guarantee of equal protection. Today’s argument concerned the government’s appeal of D.C. federal district court judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly’s forceful denial of its request to dissolve her injunction after the administration released its implementation plan for the ban in March. Judge Kollar-Kotelly reiterated her finding that there has been no change in circumstances to invalidate the injunction in a November 30 ruling denying the government’s subsequent request for a stay while the Supreme Court considers its application for cert before judgment.
“The government is playing word games by arguing that transgender people can serve in their birth sex. That is a contradiction in terms,” said GLAD Transgender Rights Project Director Jennifer Levi.“ This is not a game. What’s at stake here is the lives of dedicated servicemembers, who are willing and able to serve—and are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country.”
“Throughout this case, I have been privileged to meet and represent courageous young people who want nothing more than to meet the military’s high standards and to serve their country,” said NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter. “Instead, they have been swept up in a discriminatory political firestorm that has nothing to do with either what’s best for the military or their ability to serve. Their futures and who we are as a country are at stake.”
Friday, December 7, 2018
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We Did It!
Let’s tell our newly elected officials how happy we are! Please sign the National LGBTQ Task Force's e-card welcoming them to DC so they know we support them as they head to represent all of us at the state, federal, and local level.
But there’s more good stuff your vote and support made happen. Massachusetts passed the first state-wide anti-discrimination statute supporting transgender rights. And Florida voters gave the right to vote back to people who served their time incarcerated – a disproportionate amount who are LGBTQ people of color.
That’s a lot of awesome queer voting!
Thursday, December 6, 2018
OUT on DVD/VOD: A Moment in the Reeds
The feature debut of Finnish writer/director Mikko Makela is a moving gay romance between a young Finnish academic and a struggling Syrian refugee,set against an idyllic Finnish summer. Filled with nuanced and sexually charged performances from the film's two openly gay leads, Finnish theatre actorJanne Puustinen, and openly gay Syrian actor Boodi Kabbani (who fled Syria and eventually settled in Finland, where he is based - he is one of the very few openly gay Syrian actors in the world), A Moment in the Reeds is a potent, inherently political, and remarkably mature exploration of an LGBT immigrant refugee's experience in today's world.
One of the first LGBT-themed films made in Finland, Makela's intimate drama places at its center the freedom and acceptance of sexual and ethnic minorities, amidst the backdrop of breathtaking Finnish lake country.
Indiewire called it "one of the best queer international films of 2018," and Edge said the film is "a fresh new voice in queer cinema...pitch perfect performances." Film Inquiry wrote "one of the most moving gay romances of recent years...full of sexually charged, intimate moments."
After world premiering at the 2017 London Film Festival and a year of critical success on the worldwide festival circuit, the film was nominated for The Discovery Award at the British Independent Film Awards. It also opened theatrically to critical acclaim in Finland this past summer. A Moment in the Reeds will now be available for all U.S. and Canadian audiences.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin, Gov.-Elect Jared Polis, and Virginia Delegate Danica Roem to Kick-Off International LGBTQ Leaders Conference
Tune in at 2pm to watch live on Facebook Live.
Senator Tammy Baldwin will present the 2018 Tammy Baldwin Breakthrough Award to Virginia Delegate Danica Roem, which will be followed by Senator Elizabeth Warren receiving the Congressional Ally Award. Colorado Governor-elect Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the United States, will then provide remarks on his historic win and the “Rainbow Wave” of LGBTQ people who won on Election Day.
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
One Colorado: We're so close to our goal!
By Daniel Ramos, Executive Director, One Colorado Education Fund
I just wanted to take a moment to share my gratitude to those who supported One Colorado yesterday for Colorado Gives Day. Thanks to folks all across the state, our organization raised over $36,000. We couldn’t have done it without loyal supporters like you. Thank you.
If you missed the opportunity yesterday, it’s not too late to donate now and help us make our $40,000 fundraising goal before the end of the week!
With just $3,900 away from our goal, we’re asking you to dig deep. Yesterday, four of our staff received pies in the face as we got closer to our goal.
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I will be next if we cross the $40,000 mark. Will you chip in today?
Thanks for all you do!
I just wanted to take a moment to share my gratitude to those who supported One Colorado yesterday for Colorado Gives Day. Thanks to folks all across the state, our organization raised over $36,000. We couldn’t have done it without loyal supporters like you. Thank you.
If you missed the opportunity yesterday, it’s not too late to donate now and help us make our $40,000 fundraising goal before the end of the week!
With just $3,900 away from our goal, we’re asking you to dig deep. Yesterday, four of our staff received pies in the face as we got closer to our goal.
I will be next if we cross the $40,000 mark. Will you chip in today?
Thanks for all you do!
Do You Want To Reach Denver's Gay Community? Advertise With Denver's Best Gay Blog!
Just click the Advertising page or email sales@milehighgayguy.com to get started today.
Ellen DeGeneres is 'Relatable' on New Netflix Special
Ellen DeGeneres is "Relatable" in her debut Netflix original comedy special premiering December 18. Filmed at Seattle's Benaroya Hall, Relatable marks Ellen's return to stand-up after a 15-year hiatus.
Applications Open for Lambda Literary Emerging Writers Retreat
Lambda Fellows will have the opportunity to study with Danez Smith (pictured), Tim Murphy, Linda Villarosa, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, and Mfoniso Udofia.
The Retreat will be held August 4-11, 2019 on the campus of Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.
Mary Queen of Scots: In select theaters this Friday
In select theaters this Friday, “Mary Queen of Scots” explores the turbulent life of the charismatic Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan). Queen of France at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. But Scotland and England fall under the rule of the compelling Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie). Each young Queen beholds her “sister” in fear and fascination. Rivals in power and in love, and female regents in a masculine world, the two must decide how to play the game of marriage versus independence. Determined to rule as much more than a figurehead, Mary asserts her claim to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth’s sovereignty. Betrayal, rebellion, and conspiracies within each court imperil both thrones – and change the course of history.
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