LGBTQ news and entertainment
In this week’s episode of The Randy Report podcast – the Trump administration has removed all members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS. Plus… Continue reading “Podcast: Revry’s New Series “Unconventional” + Grindr Burglaries + More News”
Sources close to Vice President JD Vance say UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer Starmer will need to repeal hate speech laws that protect LGBTQ people in order to get a trade deal with the Trump administration. Continue reading “Trump Admin: UK Must Repeal Hate Speech Laws That Protect LGBTQ Or Lose US Trade Deal”
Rishi Sunak (photo: official UK Parliament portrait/Chris McAndrew – CC license)
Some news items you might have missed: • Edge Media: A California judge has ruled in favor of a bakery owner who refused to make wedding cakes for a same-sex couple because it violated her Christian beliefs. Continue reading “Judge Rules In Favor Of Homophobic Baker + More News”
Juraj Krajcik (via Twitter)
“The introduction of same-sex civil marriage says something about the sort of country we are. It says we are a country that will continue to honour its proud traditions of respect, tolerance and equal worth. It also sends a powerful message to young people growing up who are uncertain about their sexuality. It clearly says ‘you are equal’ whether straight or gay. That is so important in trying to create an environment where people are no longer bullied because of their sexuality – and where they can realise their potential, whether as a great mathematician like Alan Turing, a star of stage and screen like Sir Ian McKellen or a wonderful journalist and presenter like Clare Balding.
“Together we should be proud to live in a country judged to be the best place to live in Europe if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans. But we should equally be far from complacent about the challenges that remain – and I am just as committed as ever to working with you to challenge attitudes and stamp-out homophobic bullying and hate crimes.
“We are a nation that is growing stronger economically because of our long term economic plan. But I hope we can also be a country that is growing stronger socially because we value love and commitment equally. Let us raise a toast to that – and all those getting married this weekend.”
– British Prime Minister David Cameron on the arrival of marriage equality to England and Wales
“It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning,” Thatcher’s spokesman said Monday. “A further statement will be made later.”
President Obama has released a statement on the death of Margaret Thatcher.
With the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend. As a grocer’s daughter who rose to become Britain’s first female prime minister, she stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered. As prime minister, she helped restore the confidence and pride that has always been the hallmark of Britain at its best. And as an unapologetic supporter of our transatlantic alliance, she knew that with strength and resolve we could win the Cold War and extend freedom’s promise.
Here in America, many of us will never forget her standing shoulder to shoulder with President Reagan, reminding the world that we are not simply carried along by the currents of history—we can shape them with moral conviction, unyielding courage and iron will. Michelle and I send our thoughts to the Thatcher family and all the British people as we carry on the work to which she dedicated her life—free peoples standing together, determined to write our own destiny.
For the LGBT community, Thatcher will be remembered in great part for Section 28, the 1988 bill which banned the “promotion” of homosexuality.
Dan Savage was living in Londond at the time. Savage recalls today on his blog, “It felt like this law might the first of many anti-gay laws to come. Instead Section 28 was the beginning of the end for political homophobia in the UK. Because Ian McKellen wasn’t the only gay person to come out in protest. And you know what happens when gay people come out.
Section 28 was not repealed until 15 years later in November 2003. In 2009, Prime Minister David Cameron (then Tory leader) officially apologized for the law saying “I’m sorry for Section 28. We got it wrong. It was an emotional issue. We have got to move on and we have moved on.”
Margaret Thatcher, the first and only female U.K. prime minister, had struggled with declining health for the past decade.
(via Buzzfeed)