Politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ community
(stock photo via Depositphotos)Some news items you might have missed:
• The Advocate: A study from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found that same-sex married couples deal with stress better than opposite-sex couples. Continue reading “Same-Sex Married Couples Deal With Stress Better + More News”
Founder of Grindr launches new gay dating app (image via Depositphotos)Some news items you might have missed:
• The Advocate: The founder of Grindr has launched a new gay dating app called Motto. The new app “focuses on finding you the right people, not just the closest – on the quality of interactions, not the quantity.” Continue reading “New Gay Dating App + Taylor Swift’s Awesome Week + More News”
Eduardo Leite (image via Facebook)Brazil’s first out gay governor, Eduardo Leite of Rio Grande do Sul, easily won re-election on Sunday night in a run-off. Continue reading “Eduardo Leite, Brazil’s First Out Gay Governor, Wins Re-Election”
(screen capture: Fate – The Winx Saga via Netflix)Some news items you might have missed:
• Instinct Magazine: Netflix dropped the trailer for Fate: The Winx Saga Season 2, and it just got sexier, and more interesting. Continue reading “Trailer For ‘Fate: The Winx Saga’ + More News”
Justice Horn (photo via Instagram)Some news items you might have missed:
• LGBTQ Nation: Justice Horn, a gay Democratic political candidate running for the Jackson County Legislature of Missouri, is speaking out after an unknown vandal defaced one of his campaign banners in Kansas City with the anti-gay slur “f**.” Continue reading “Out Candidate’s Banner Defaced With ‘FAG’ + More News”
(image via Depositphotos)Over 20 out LGBTQ candidates won primary races in Texas last night according to The LGBTQ Victory Fund. That represents a 33 percent increase from 2020 when 18 out candidates won. Continue reading “Over 20 Out LGBTQ Candidates Won Primary Races In Texas”
UPDATE: Gay rights icon Jim Obergefell, who became a gay icon as the lead plaintiff in the landmark 2015 Supreme Court case that made marriage equality the law of the land, made it official today. He is definitely running for a seat in the Ohio House. Continue reading “Jim Obergefell, Gay Rights Icon, Announces Run For Ohio House”
Brazil may have its first out gay presidential candidate, Gov. Eduardo Leite, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be standing up for LGBTQ rights any time soon. Continue reading “Brazil’s Gay Prez Candidate: LGBTQ Rights “Not A Cause I Lay Down For””
Eduardo Leite of Brazil (image via Facebook)Eduardo Leite, governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and a 2022 presidential hopeful, has come out as gay.
Leite, who hopes to challenge his country’s virulently anti-LGBTQ leader, President Jair Bolsonaro, in next year’s election, came out during an interview with Brazil’s top broadcaster, TV Globo.
“I’m gay — and I’m a governor who is gay rather than a gay governor,” Leite shared with viewers. “Just as Obama in the United States wasn’t a Black president, but a president who was Black. And I’m proud of this.”
Leite, a member of the center-right Brazilian Social Democratic Party (SDB), went on to say he has nothing to hide and wished that sexual orientation was a “non-issue” in Brazil.
The 36-year-old’s announcement was met with much support from the worlds of Brazilian politics and LGBTQ activism.
The Guardian reports Toni Reis, a longtime advocate of LGBTQ rights in the South American country, wrote on social media, “You’ve made history.”
“I know the pain the prison of the closet represents, particularly in a conservative environment like politics,” tweeted Fabiano Contarato, Brazil’s first openly gay senator elected in 2018. “Everyone must find the right moment for this gesture. Be happy and follow your great work: life will be lighter!”
Leite responded to the public show of support on Twitter writing, “The countless messages of care and support I am receiving make me absolutely safe. Love will conquer hate! Thank you very very much everyone!”
Amid the positive responses, however, were some who noted that Leite eventually came to publicly support Bolsonaro in his 2018 presidential campaign on the eve of the election although he disagreed with Bolsonaro on several policies including the treatment of minorities.
At the time, Leite called his decision a “democratic gesture.”
According to The Guardian, Jean Wyllys, the first out member of Brazil’s congress to fight for LGBT+ rights, noted that Leite has yet to disavow his previous support for Bolsonaro.
“This chap had many opportunities to defend the LGBT community and he didn’t,” said Wyllys. “On the contrary … he was a Bolsonarista until yesterday – and he’s probably still one today, because at no point has he retracted his support for Bolsonaro.”
“So I don’t celebrate this,” added Wyllys. “I’m not part of this team of people who are commemorating this chap coming out of the closet as if it was some great accomplishment for Brazil’s LGBT+ community.”
MP Luke Pollard and boyfriend (via Instagram)Some news items you might have missed:
• Instinct Magazine: Grammy Award winner Ricky Martin is now a spokesperson for the onePULSE Foundation, the nonprofit founded to honor the lives and deaths of the 49 murdered victims at the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting.
• Pink News: An episode of ABC drama The Good Doctor is winning praise for a sensitive and authentic portrayal of a pregnant transgender man. The Good Doctor cast trans actor Emmett Preciado as Rio Gutierrez, as a gay transgender man who discovers he is pregnant while also battling a brain tumor in a recent episode.
• RIP: Ground-breaking out singer/songwriter Ari Gold passed away this past weekend at the age of 47 after a lengthy battle with leukemia. Long before anything close to the acceptance of gay recording artists we see today, Gold jumped out of the box with hits like “Where The Music Takes You” and more. RIP Ari Gold.
• NY Daily News: A Manhattan judge on Tuesday dismissed all charges against a white woman who on May 25 called the cops on a gay Black bird watcher in Central Park for requesting she leash her dog. The judge found that, after attending therapy sessions “designed towards introspection and progress,” the charge of falsely reporting an incident could be dropped.
• Washington Post: A wealthy conservative donor gave $2.5 million to a group who said they were going to investigate voter fraud in the 2020 election. Now he wants his money back.
• Out: A British Minister of Parliament, MP Luke Pollard (top photo), received abuse online for a Valentine’s Day message of love for his boyfriend he posted to social media. “He looks 12 years old,” wrote one commenter. “You should be locked up.” Mind you, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 56, is currently engaged to 32-year-old fiancé Carrie Symonds, who lives with the prime minister in the official residence at 10 Downing Street. Twenty-four year difference and no one raises an eye-brow.
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