Blog Posts | OK 2B GAY

December 31, 2019

EastSiders’ Kit Williamson says ‘being unapologetically queer’ takes power from those who want to ‘drag us back to the 50s’

Kit Williamson spoke to PinkNews about telling authentic queer stories, being a trans ally, and why we have Donald Trump to thank for the current “golden age” of bold and brave LGBT+ representation. In 2012, Kit Williamson filmed the first two episodes of EastSiders in his apartment with a group of friends and...

December 31, 2019

Man flogged 14 times in one day as ‘conversion therapy’ for being gay in Nigeria

A Nigerian man has revealed the shocking ordeal he went through, being flogged 14 times in one day, for being gay in Nigeria. In 2014, former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan signed into law the “same-sex marriage prohibition act (SSMPA)” which ruled that being in a same-sex couple in any form, including...

December 31, 2019

Almost seven out of ten US same-sex couples now meet through online dating

65 percent of same-sex couples in the US now meet online and through dating apps, compared to 39 percent of opposite-sex couples, a study has shown. Researchers Michael J Rosenfeld and Sonia Hausen of Stanford University, along with Reuben J Thomas of the University of New Mexico, gathered data from two previous studies to...

December 31, 2019

Top UN official says there’s been a human rights ‘backlash’ in the last decade

A top UN official has said that the last decade has seen a “backlash” for human rights, with LGBT+ people and women especially affected. Andrew Gilmour, who is the outgoing assistant secretary-general for human rights, told the Associated Press that the regressions seen in the 2010s did not equal the advances...

December 30, 2019

This Texas church is leaving the anti-gay United Methodist Church because it’s not anti-gay enough

A Texas church has announced that it is leaving the anti-gay United Methodist Church (UMC) because it’s not anti-gay enough. According to the UMC’s Book of Discipline, the offence of being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual” is defined as when “a person openly acknowledges to a bishop, district...

December 30, 2019

This is the first known recording of trans icons Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson

The first-ever known recording of trans icons Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson has been uncovered, hidden in the basement of New York’s Lesbian Herstory Archives. After taking part in the Stonewall uprising in 1969, the two became known as trans activists and pioneers of the gay rights movement. The taped interview...

December 30, 2019

Facebook finally pulls down ‘false’ ads attacking PrEP

Facebook has begun to pull down “misleading” adverts targeting users of HIV-preventing PrEP drugs, after strong criticism from HIV charities. A coalition of HIV and LGBT+ groups had sent an open letter earlier this month, warning that Facebook adverts were spreading false information within the LGBT+ community...

December 30, 2019

Pro-Trump judicial candidate who claimed gays ‘face eternal damnation’ suspended

A Trump-supporting Florida judicial candidate has had his law license suspended after saying that gay people will “face eternal damnation.” Attorney Donald McBath has been suspended from the Florida Bar for violating the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct while running to become a state circuit court judge. In a...

December 30, 2019

US national soccer teammates Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger get married

Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger, US national soccer players who helped the team achieve its 2019 World Cup victory, got married on Saturday December 27. Harris proposed to Krieger while the pair enjoyed a picnic on Florida’s Clearwater Beach in September last year. As the two posed for a selfie against the sunset, Harris...

December 30, 2019

Marvel ‘absolutely’ plans to introduce trans and queer characters ‘very soon’

Marvel boss Kevin Feige has said that there will “absolutely” be more queer and trans characters in the franchise’s upcoming films. Feige appeared at a Q&A event at the New York Film Academy, where he was quizzed on diversity and representation within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). When asked if...