LGBTQ news and entertainment
Some news items for you as we get over this Hump Day:
• Gay City News: CVS is now covering Gilead’s long-acting, highly effective injectable PrEP lenacapavir, marketed under the brand name Yeztugo.
• Queerty: Comedian Joel Kim Booster tied the knot with his partner John Michael Sudsina after four years together. Continue reading “CVS Now Covers Injectable PrEP + Joel Kim Booster Marries + More”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen clapped back at the United States for its aggressive tone hours after Vice President JD Vance visited an American military base in Greenland. Continue reading “Denmark Claps Back At VP Vance’s Greenland Remarks”
(photo: Henrik Ohsten/VildMedDans via Facebook)
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Stort tillykke, Jakob og Silas ⭐️ 📸Foto: Henrik Ohsten #vmd19 #vildmeddans
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A new study shows suicide rates among LGBTQ people in Sweden and Denmark fell significantly after same-sex marriage was legalized in the Scandinavian countries.
From The Guardian:
The joint study by the Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention and researchers from Stockholm University compared suicide rates for people in same-sex and heterosexual relationships in the periods 1989-2002 and 2003-16.
Denmark became the first country in the world to allow same-sex civil partnerships in 1989, with neighbouring Sweden following six years later. Same-sex marriage, now authorised in 28 countries, became legal in Sweden in 2009 and Denmark in 2012.
The researchers found that between the two periods, the number of suicides among people in same-sex unions fell by 46%, compared to a decline of about 28% in the number of suicides by people in heterosexual relationships.
Annette Erlangsen, the lead author, suggested that along with other gay rights legislation, same-sex marriage may have reduced feelings of social stigmatisation among some homosexual people. “Being married is protective against suicide,” she told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
While the decline is certainly welcome news, the researchers noted that the suicide rate for people in same-sex relationships is still more than twice that of people in opposite-sex marriages.
A 2018 report that compared data from 35 studies across 10 countries showed LGBTQ people are at least three times more likely to attempt suicide than straight people of the same age.
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| Joachim B. Olsen of Denmark (images via Facebook) |
I think American politics could use a little bit of this politician’s lighthearted sense of humor.
A former Olympic shot-putter-turned-politician in Denmark has placed campaign ads on porn website PornHub in advance of the general election.
Joachim B Olsen, who scored a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, was elected to the Danish parliament at the 2011 election, representing the Liberal Alliance in the Greater Copenhagen constituency.
By the way, did I mention he’s hot???
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| Olsen in 2012 shortly after being elected to Parliament |
With this year’s general elections looming on the horizon (June 5), Olsen made the unusual move of buying campaign ads on Pornhub which read, “When you’re done wanking, vote for Jokke.”
Jokke is the 41-year-old’s nickname.
When a Twitter user argued Olsen was receiving more attention than his opponent, Rasmus Paludan, the founder and leader of the anti-immigrant party Hard Line, Olsen tweeted: “There is no limit to how far I will go for the nation. If it takes an ad on pornhub to keep Rasmus Paludan out of the foreign media, I’ll take one for the team.”
In an interview, Olsen told the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, “You have to be where the voters are.”
He also admitted his campaign is 95% serious, but makes a point to leave room for a little “fun.”
“I hope people get a good laugh,” he said. “I have received a very positive response to it. I don’t know if there are votes in it.”
And yes, he knows the unconventional campaign ad buy might upset some conservative folks.
“I am well aware that some people are outraged,” he offered. “One cannot say anything today without people being outraged. Those who know me as a politician, they know I’m a serious politician. But I also have humour, and I think this is fun.”
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| Olsen in 2015 during a radio interview |
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| Eigel Axgil and Axel Axgil became the first couple in the world to enter into a same-sex civil union. Photo – Francis Joseph Dean |
On this day, October 1st, in 1989, the very first same-sex civil union took place in Denmark.
The legal name was “registered partnership.”
Sounds loving, doesn’t it? But it was the first step in a long journey.
At the time, Eigil Axgil said, “Be open, come out, keep fighting. This is the only way to move anything. If everyone comes out of the closet, then this will happen everywhere.”
Check out this site with lots of pics.
Denmark’s Parliament today voted that same-sex couples there can have a full marriage ceremony in church, rather than having truncated, “less-than” ceremonies.
From ABC News:
Denmark’s Parliament has approved a law allowing same-sex couples to get married in formal church weddings instead of the short blessing ceremonies that the state’s Lutheran Church currently offers.
Lawmakers voted 85-24 on Thursday to change Denmark’s marriage laws.
The law takes effect June 15 and will put Denmark on par with countries such as Iceland and Sweden that allow full wedding ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples.
Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt on Tuesday said the government will introduce draft legislation this week to legalize same-sex marriages later this year, a move which had been expected for years.
ut Thorning said the Danish government will submit a draft legislation on Wednesday which will allow same-sex couples to get married at both City Hall and the Church of Denmark if they find a priest who is willing to perform the wedding. Although some church leaders have spoken out against same-sex marriage, previous surveys have suggested that as many as 70 percent of priests are willing to marry same-sex couples.
The Danish Government is ready with the Law Proposal, which will take effect in June 2012. It is important step for our society, which recognizes the individual’s differences and the individual’s equality within the society, regardless of who you are, and regardless of who do you love, says PM Thorning. She calls the Law Proposal a completely natural and the right step in the moden Denmark. It will be up to individual priest though to decide, whether they would want to bless the homosexual couples in the church, the PM informs.
In 1989 Denmark was the world’s first nation to offer federal domestic partnership recognition.
Denmark is the latest European nation to announce plans to introduce gay marriage, with same-sex couples to be allowed to marry on Church of Denmark premises.
The Danish coalition Government’s church minister, Manu Sareen, said publicly that gay men and women will soon be able to marry when legislation is introduced early next year.
“I look forward to the moment the first homosexual couple steps out of the church. I’ll be standing out there throwing rice,” he said.
Denmark was the first country in the world to allow gay civil partnerships with legislation in 1989. Public polls suggest around 69-percent of the population supports same-sex marriage according, The Copenhagen Post reports.
The first same-sex weddings could take place as early as March, 2012 after the legislation is passed.