Blog Posts | OK 2B GAY

June 13, 2022

Ariana DeBose kicks off Tony Awards with incredible Broadway medley filled with queer energy

Queer icon Ariana DeBose kicked off the Tony Awards with an absolute banger mashup performance of songs from Broadway’s biggest shows. The West Side Story star performed a rousing musical number to open the 2022 Tony Awards on Sunday (12 June) night. Ariana DeBose, who was also the host of this year’s awards, paid tribute...

June 12, 2022

31 suspected members of white supremacist group arrested at Idaho Pride parade

A group of 31 people, suspected to be members of the white supremacist neo-Nazi group Patriot Front, have been arrested at a Pride parade in Idaho. On Saturday (11 June), North Idaho Pride Alliance held the Coeur d’Alene Pride in the Park event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, a “family-friendly, community event celebrating...

June 12, 2022

Mennonite Church USA acknowledges ‘harm’ of LGBTQ+ members, revokes ban on same-sex marriage

The Mennonite Church USA has passed a resolution acknowledging the harm it has done to LGBTQ+ folk, and removed a ban on same-sex marriage. The denomination is the largest Mennonite denomination in the United States, with 530 congregations and more than 60,000 members. On the first day of Pride month (1 June), the...

June 12, 2022

Texas judge temporarily blocks child abuse investigations into families of trans kids

A Texas judge has granted a temporary restraining order blocking “child abuse” investigations into some families who support their trans kids. In February this year, anti-LGBTQ+ Texas governor Greg Abbott issued a directive ordering the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to...

June 12, 2022

Remembering the 49 lives violently stolen in the Pulse nightclub shooting, six years on

June 12, 2022

Wonder Woman Lynda Carter shuts down anti-LGBTQ+ Republican Lauren Boebert

Lynda Carter, AKA Wonder Woman, flawlessly shut down anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theorist and Republican Colorado representative Lauren Boebert. On Monday, Boebert took to Twitter to wade into the latest bizarre debate favoured in US religious conservative circles – children and drag performances. This month has seen Republican...

June 12, 2022

More young, Hispanic Americans identify as LGBTQ+ than ever before, survey reveals

New data has confirmed that young Hispanic Americans are driving an increase in the LGBTQ+ population. The percentage of Americans who identify as LGBT+ is now 7.1 per cent, more than double the 3.5 per cent that did in 2012, according to a survey from Gallup released in February. The polling company released new analysis...

June 12, 2022

Uzbekistan police torture, extort and threaten LGBTQ+ people with rape, disturbing report finds

A new report has found that the LGBTQ+ community in Uzbekistan is under renewed threat as many face persecution, imprisonment, abuse, and brutal human rights violations. Thirty-six LGBTQ+ people were convicted under the Article 120 of the Uzbek Criminal Code, which criminalises homosexuality in the majority Muslim country,...

June 12, 2022

Queer community ‘shocked’ after LGB Alliance handed National Lottery grant

The queer community has been left “shocked” after LGB Alliance announced that it had been handed a National Lottery grant to set up a helpline for young people. In a statement released on Friday (10 June), the group said: “LGB Alliance has been successful in its application for a gran from the National...

June 12, 2022

What it was really like to live through the height of the AIDS crisis: ‘There was beauty and humour’

Almost four years ago, Tucker Shaw was on a train when he overheard a young gay couple discussing the early years of the AIDS epidemic. One of the men explained to the other that the crisis had “galvanised” the community, that it had “spurred change”. In the long run, he said, it had made things...