Tag: LGBT Pride

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Millions Celebrate World Pride 2017 In Madrid

Organizers say approximately 2 million took part in the WorldPride 2017 festivities in Madrid, Spain, this weekend.

This year’s event coincides with the 40th anniversary of Spain’s first LGBT parade.

Via Reuters:

A convoy of more than 50 floats snaked through central Madrid amid a carnival atmosphere as part of celebrations marking the WorldPride parade, a celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights that has been held in several cities across the world since its inception in 2000.

Politicians from across the political spectrum walked ahead of the parade, passing through the Spanish capital which was decked out in rainbow flags to mark the occasion.

“Madrid wants you to remember, and to never forget, that whoever you love, Madrid loves you,” Madrid’s Mayor Manuela Carmena wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

The next WorldPride will be hosted by New York City in 2019 which just happens to be the 50th anniversary of Stonewall.

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Sen. Sherrod Brown Proposes Senate Resolution Recognizing June As LGBTQ Pride Month

Ohio Senator Sharrod Brown shared the news today that, with no presidential proclamation acknowledging June as LGBT Pride Month, he has proposed the first-ever Senate Resolution for Pride Month.

Sen. Sherrod Brown

This year, the White House broke with an 8 year tradition and did not issue a presidential proclamation acknowledging June as Pride Month.

So I’m proud to lead the first-ever Senate Resolution recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month.

And today, I’m equally proud that so many of my colleagues heartily agreed to cosponsor. An outpouring of support for the LGBTQ community.

We must always stand with our LGBTQ friends and neighbors – not just during the month of June, but year round. -SB

You may recall that while the White House didn’t find the time to issue an LGBTQ Pride Month proclamation, the folks there did name June as “National Homeownership Month”, “National Ocean Month”, “African-American Music Appreciation Month” and “Great Outdoors Month.”

Brown tagged an impressive 23 U.S. Senators along with his message as co-sponsors for the proposal.

You can see the proposed resolution below.

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Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Marches In Toronto Pride Parade And LGBTs Everywhere Go Wild

While President Trump may be ignoring Pride Month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rocked the world as he marched in Toronto’s Pride Parade this past weekend.

Let’s check the boxes in this one pic (above):

1. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
2. At Pride
3. Wearing rainbow socks
4. High-fiving a little girl dressed as Wonder Woman
5. Rainbow flag Canadian maple leaf on his left cheek

And the crowd goes wild…

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#NoJusticeNoPride Blocks Capitol Pride Parade

(image via Twitter)

The Capitol Pride parade was interrupted for a short period today as members of No Justice No Pride blocked the parade route over the corporatization of the pride event as well as protesting the participation of the Metropolitan Police Department.

From Washington Blade:

About 3:30 p.m., a couple hundred No Justice protestors were accompanied by pop hits by Beyonce, Lady Gaga, et. al., as they chanted anti-corporate slogans. Later, they joined hands with a chain-like material on P Street between 15th and 16th streets, N.W., in the planned route of the Pride parade. Ten protestors were in the chain with several other activists surrounding them. On one end, a woman chained herself to a fence; the other end to a parked vehicle.

They chanted slogans and clashed vehemently with several bystanders. Police set up a boxed parameter and informed members of the press and others to remain outside. Interactions came close to fisticuffs a few times but as far as the Blade reporters could tell, no violence ensued.

The Blade reports that parade organizers consulted with police and eventually re-routed the parade amounting to a delay of about 90 minutes.

No Justice No Pride’s demands include, per their website:

1) Capital Pride will honor the legacy of Pride and the trans women of color who inspired it by ensuring that trans women of color play a central role in decision-making processes.

2) Capital Pride will take a strong position against state violence and end its endorsement of MPD by no longer inviting police officers to march in its parade.

3) Capital Pride will address its neglect of indigenous, Muslim and two spirit communities.

4) Capital Pride will bar corporate entities that inflict harm on historically marginalized* LGBTQ2S people from participation in Pride events.

5) Capital Pride will immediately sever all ties with Wells Fargo, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, and Leidos and return any funds received from these corporations by donating them to community based organizations.

6) Capital Pride will commit to restructuring, replacing and expanding its board of directors to represent and center the leadership of historically marginalized communities.

Additionally, the Black Lives Matter movement also made an attempt to block the parade:

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Tens Of Thousands March In Warsaw “Equality Parade”

(photo via Twitter)

While Poland’s government continues to deny any legal recognition of same-sex couples, organizers of the 17th annual ‘Equality Parade’ say 50,000 people showed up yesterday in an effort to “draw attention to the rights of LGBT people, fight discrimination and promote acceptance of same-sex unions.”

Via Deutsche Welle:

Poland’s constitution is one of seven in the EU to ban gay marriage and the country is one of six in the 28-member bloc not to allow same-sex civil unions. The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party in Poland came to power in late 2015 on a ticket of promoting traditional Polish values, family and Catholic traditions.

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News Round-Up: January 26, 2017

Some news items you may have missed:

• Zac Efron (above via Instagram) is getting impatient about the release of the Baywatch movie on May 26.

• Organizers are working towards a “National Pride March” scheduled to take place on June 11th in Washington, D.C.

• Kelly Schneider, a 23 year old man from Idaho, has pled guilty to luring a gay man to a face to face meeting where Schneider savagely beat the man and left him to die.

• LGBTs stage “Queer Rage” dance party singing and dancing in the streets on the night before Republican lawmakers’ retreat in Philadelphia.

• President Trump took to Twitter (where else?) to denounce the upcoming release of document leaker Chelsea Manning.

• The night of Donald Trump’s inauguration, former Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine spent the evening officiating the wedding of Dea Jones and Sharon McLeod.

• Netflix announces a reboot of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Good idea or no?

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Bangkok Set To Celebrate Gay Pride For First Time Since 2006

The city of Bangkok is set to celebrate gay pride for the first time since 2006

Bangkok will hold its first gay pride parade later this year, a long 11 years after its last.

Via Mashable:

While Thailand has held a pride event each year in the island of Phuket, the pride parade coming back to the capital is a show of unity for the local LGBTQ community, one of the organisers said.

“It was the lack of organisation and a lack of a definite plan back then that really affected Pride to go ahead,” Paul Heymans, founder of OUT BKK, one of the LGBTQ organisations involved in Bangkok Pride, told Mashable.

The pride parades of a decade ago were organised by the business sector, and capitalised on the gay movement, and were less focused on promoting visibility or acceptance for the LGBTQ community, claims Rapeepun Jommaroeng, the deputy secretary-general of Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand (RSAT), another one of the organisers.

“It was more about promoting their businesses in the views of activists,” Jommaroeng wrote in an email. “I never perceived solidarity within this sector.”

Organisers are also hopeful that increased visibility will help the community move toward gender and marriage equality.

“(Pride) could be another opportunity to sensitise Thai society about gender diversity issues,” said Jommaroeng.

Heymans added: “Getting married legally is a basic human right and one many Thai LGBT organisations set as a main priority.”

In that Thailand’s largest northern city, Chiang Mai, has seen anti-LGBT protests in the past, perhaps this renewed sense of celebration will help foster a more open sensibility of inclusion for LGBTs across the country.

The event will take place at some point in November. Originally slated for May, the delay is in honor of a one-year mourning period following the October death of the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The six-day Pride event will include a lineup of workshops, film festivals, social events and a pride march. More info can be found here on Facebook.

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LGBT Pride Parade Proceeds Without Incident In Belgrade, Serbia

Despite being cancelled several times in past years, with helicopters in the air and thousands of police deployed, an LGBT Pride parade took place without incident in Belgrade, Serbia, this past Sunday.

Taking part in the celebrations were mayor of Belgrade Sinisa Mali, Democratic Party DS and Cedomir Jovanovic, President of the Liberal Democratic Party, LDP.

Via Pink News:

Previous parades have been cancelled, and the four years leading up to 2014 saw the parade banned after violent clashes took place between extremists and police.

Back in 2014, hundreds of people took part in the first Belgrade Pride parade permitted to go ahead in four years.

The previous time police allowed Belgrade Pride to go ahead was 2010, when it was marred by violent stand-offs with far-right extremists. Around 100 people were injured at the event, as extremists threw petrol bombs at the police and gay rights activists.

The event has been cancelled every year since, with the 2011, 2012 and 2013 parades all being banned by authorities over fears of violence.

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Anti-LGBT Flip Benham Holds A Rally Of One Ranting About Penises At Charlotte Pride

Flip Benham flips out

Anti-LGBT loon Flip Benham spent a good part of his weekend sitting in a parking lot near one of the stages at Charlotte Pride attempting to ruin the event for thousands and thousands of attendees.

The good news is: he failed.

Armed with a loudspeaker, Benham ranted and raved about penises and rectums drawing a few folks who came to stare at the ridiculous spectacle.

I do wonder why it’s always penises and rectums? The hateful anti-Pride folks seem to have no problem with lesbian’s vaginas, only the gays penises. Hmm…

In any case, the weekend was a huge success for Charlotte. As a matter of fact, it was a record crowd thanks in part to the state’s hateful HB2 law.

From Charlotte’s CBS affiliate:

Last year, 120,000 people made it to Uptown for the Pride celebration. This year, organizers estimated closer to 200,000 people went to the Festival and Parade, including more than 3,500 marchers in the Parade. “This is amazing energy. This just brings you up so much,” said David Pable, one of the marchers.

The Charlotte Pride Festival and Parade aren’t just about the attendance records for the LGBT community. Instead, it has become a safe haven for free expression.

“You see all the people out here enjoying Pride and celebrating who they are, and have a chance to truly be who they are,” said Michelle Money, who went to both the Parade and Festival.

Because of the growth of both events, they were declared extraordinary events for the first time ever, meaning a larger police presence was required. There was pushback by Charlotte Pride, but worries were eased after discussions with CMPD.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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LGBT Pride Celebrations Aboard The USS Ronald Reagan

With all the Pride pics we’ve seen over the past few weeks, here’s a couple that are really quite remarkable and wonderful.

From the Navy Office of Community Outreach, I received these pics from Pride celebrations held onboard the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, which has a crew of nearly 6,000.

Top: PHILIPPINE SEA (June 25, 2016) Lt. Jon Fujiwara, from Westminster, Colorado, speaks to Sailors about being proud of who they are as individuals during a pride month observance event in the aft mess decks aboard the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). “It’s awesome to see everyone come out and support the community, and it was an awesome event,” said Fujiwara. The USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is on patrol in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jamaal Liddell/Released)

Bottom: PHILIPPINE SEA (June 25, 2016) Yeoman 2nd Class (SW/AW) Elexis Rogers, from Jacksonville, Florida, sings the National Anthem during a pride month observance ceremony organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Supporting Sailors (G.L.A.S.S.) association on the aft mess decks aboard the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). The G.L.A.S.S. association organizes events for the ship including fundraisers, community relations projects and morale building events. The USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is on patrol in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jamaal Liddell/Released)

Both were accompanied by the following:

On our planet, more than 70 percent of which is covered by water, being there means having the ability to act from the sea. The Navy is uniquely positioned to be there; the world’s oceans give the Navy the power to protect America’s interests anywhere, and at any time. Your Navy protects and defends America on the world’s oceans. Navy ships, submarines, aircraft and, most importantly, tens of thousands of America’s finest young men and women are deployed around the world doing just that. They are there now. They will be there when we are sleeping tonight. They will be there every Saturday, Sunday and holiday this year. They are there around the clock, far from our shores, defending America at all times.

Thank you very much for your support of the men and women in U.S. Navy, deployed around the clock and ready to protect and defend America on the world’s oceans.