Monday, April 28, 2014

Japan’s First Lady took part in Tokyo’s Gay Pride Parade


Akie Abe, wife of the country’s conservative Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, appeared atop a float in the ‘Rainbow Pride’ parade, which more than 3000 people marched in.

She went on to post colourful pictures on her Facebook page of her on a pride float next to a drag queen, smiling and waving to the crowds.

Some of the participants at the parade held banners which read: ‘AIDS is not over’ and Abe has been involved with the fight against AIDS since joining a commission set up by UNAIDS and the Lancet medical journal last year. 

The First Lady later wrote on her Facebook page: “I want to help build a society where anyone can conduct happy, enriched lives without facing discrimination.

Japan does not allow same-sex marriage, defining marriage as “based only on the mutual consent of both sexes”, and a recent poll found there is still a majority opposed to the issue.










Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Real Life Hunk of the Month April: Devon Spence


Devon Spence (Florida, 1989) was the 2013 January's Hunk of the Month in my blog. His post was one of the most viewed of that year. After more than one year, I want to highlight him again.

Yes, I admit, I have a fondness for him. He is not only handsome outside but especially inside. I like all he does, as dancer, model, actor and jewels designer.

He is a lover of life and spreads his vitality.

Awesome guy!

















Monday, April 21, 2014

Spain is the First Country Accepting Homosexuality


Spain is the nation tops a list of 40 countries most accepting of homosexuality, according to a Pew Research Center's Global Views on Morality poll.

Catholic Spain came out on top with only 6% saying they found homosexuality to be morally unacceptable while 55% said it was acceptable and another 38% said it was not an issue of morality.

Germans were the next most approving despite not yet allowing same-sex couples to marry, with only 8% saying homosexuality was morally unacceptable while 51% said it was acceptable and 38% said it was not a moral issue.

French and Czech people tied in disapproving of homosexuality for moral reasons with 14% disapproving in both countries. The numbers for moral disapproval were 15% in Canada, 17% in Britain and 18% in Australia.

Americans were the 12th least nationality to disapprove morally of homosexuality with 37% saying they disapproved, only 25% saying it was acceptable and 35% saying it was not a moral issue.

In the Palestinian territories 94% disapproved but in Israel 43% disapproved compared to 27% who approved and 25% saying it was not a moral issues, showing a stark difference of views among the two neighbors.

The results were less optimistic in nations like Ghana and Russia, where 98 percent and 72 percent of participants deemed homosexuality morally unacceptable, respectively.

Read more about the survey here.


 Madrid's pride parade

 Foam party at Gay Pride Barcelona

LGBT Pride Parade in Sevilla

Gays can marry and adopt in Spain since 2005


Sunday, April 20, 2014

#WeAreAllUVa


Students at the University of Virginia have started a photo campaign #WeAreAllUVa hoping to show togetherness and acceptance.

One of the campaign’s creators said: "Diversity includes the differences we can’t see. It’s more than race and ethnicity. Diversity is meant to be an inclusive concept; the point of challenging it is that it can be a very polarizing conversation".

One student who took up the challenge was Parker Camp, a swimmer, who publicly came out as gay last year. He asked four other teammates to join him for the photo which reads: 2 of us are gay, the other 3 don’t care.






Friday, April 18, 2014

Picking up People of the Same Sex


In these two videos, a man and a woman individually approach different people of their same sex asking for their numbers and insinuating that they'd like to take them on a date. 

Oftentimes awkward, the differences between the responses of the men and women are perhaps the most interesting part of these videos.

Watch below what happens when someone try to ask out random members of the same sex.





Thursday, April 17, 2014

Forcing Equality


When Vice President Joe Biden voiced support for marriage equality back in May 2012, he threw the White House staff into a panic and forced President Obama’s hand on the issue, says a new book, Forcing the Spring, by prize-winning journalist Jo Becker.

Biden's marriage equality endorsement was no trial balloon, but it forced the president to take a pro-equality stand.

Biden has backed equal rights for the LGBT community throughout his career, and he has publicly acknowledged his support of full marriage rights.

He said: "Who do you love? Who do you love and will you be loyal to the person you love? And that’s what people are finding out what all marriages at their root are about. Whether they are marriages of lesbians or gay men or heterosexuals.  And he added: "I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men marrying women are entitled to the same exact rights. All the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that".


Biden's comments on same-sex marriage

Obama's support to gay marriage


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Miami Beach Gay Pride 2014


Miami Beach Gay Pride is an extraordinary two-day event that features a Beach Party and a Festival & Parade with more than 125 LGBT-friendly vendors and businesses, exciting celebrities, musical performances, refreshments, food and a family-friendly play area.

Established by former Miami Beach Mayor, Matti Bower, as an initiative of the Miami Beach Gay Business Development Council, Miami Beach Gay Pride is a not-for-profit organization that produces free, safe, quality mass-appeal events that are open to all, and that include the Parade, Festival, Expo, and adjunct, officially sanctioned Miami Beach Gay Pride events.

Coming into its 6th year, Miami Beach Gay Pride has grown into the largest, two-day event of the year in Miami Beach. The hugely successful event in 2011 attracted more than 40,000 people, in 2012 more than 60,000 people and in 2013 more than 80,000 people from all walks of life, all parts of the country, and all age groups.
















Monday, April 14, 2014

Judge orders Ohio to Recognize Gay Marriages Performed in other States


A federal judge in Ohio has ordered that the state must recognizing same-sex marriages legally performed in other jurisdictions.

Federal District Magistrate Timothy Black's ruling declares that Ohio's statutory ban on recognizing legal same-sex marriages performed in other states violates the U.S. Constitution. The ruling does not require Ohio to begin performing same-sex marriages.

"The record before the court, which includes the judicially-noticed record in Obergefell, is staggeringly devoid of any legitimate justification for the State’s ongoing arbitrary discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and, therefore, Ohio’s marriage recognition bans are facially unconstitutional and unenforceable under any circumstances”, Judge Black ruled.


Federal Judge Timothy Black


Love is Love Regardless of Gender


Although this is a commercial of Andrew Christian's underwear, it's a lovely brief love story with awesome Colby Melvin and Brandon Brown.

Enjoy it!



Sunday, April 13, 2014

The Day of Silence


April 11, 2014 is the National Day of Silence, a student-led action sponsored by Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) in which thousands of students around the country will remain silent for all or part of the school day to call attention to the harassment and discrimination faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. 

Founded in 1996, the GLSEN's Day of Silence is designed to draw attention to the chilling effect anti-LGBT bullying has on campuses nationwide. Social media, advocates young and old keeping silent today can find thousands of others doing the same at the click of a mouse.