Queensland Apologises to Gay men

My home state of Queensland in Australia has formally apologised to those gay men who were arrested and/or persecuted in the many decades before decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1990.

The apology is below.

I love my homeland.

Damien
xxo

Neo-Nazis Attack Gay Jewish Man

in Chile who was Wearing T-Shirt Bearing Flag of Israel....

article reprinted from Towleroad... link in sidebar.

by Andy Towle
January 15, 2017 | 11:57am

Share160

A young gay, Jewish man was allegedly attacked in Bustamente Park in Santiago, Chile.

The LGBTQ rights group MOVILH reported that Jorge Arce was walking through the park wearing a t-shirt with the flag of Israel on it which his mother had given him when he was followed by three men.

The men, who wore neo-Nazi symbols, followed him, first yelling “murderer” and then punching him in the chest and slashing him with a razor.

Arce belongs to the Hod Jewish Sexual Diversity Group, an LGBT Jewish organization.

Said Arce to MOVILH: “I had 40 slashes on my arm. Some marks will last forever. Just for being Jewish. The pain is overwhelming.”

MOVILH denounced the hate attack and said it would stand in solidarity with the Jewish Community of Chile, which released a statement saying “we cannot allow hate to continue in this country.”

Why Are We Abandoning Our Venues?

So I was over at Joe My God and saw THIS article about Portland, Maine's only gay bar closing.

WHAT THE FUCK PEOPLE?

In 1990 I was bodily carried up a flight of stairs into my first gay bar by my two best friends.  I was literally kicking and screaming.  What an entrance!  Once I was in, however, I found an oasis of belonging and safety.  My experiences of POSITIVE gayness now began.

The argument is being made that we don't necessarily need our own venues as the "acceptance" level of the community at large continues to grow.  You know what I say about the acceptance level of others? FUCK THEM.

I'm painfully aware that I shouldn't be one to lecture on external validation but SERIOUSLY?!  We are deserting our own small businesses so that we can have the breeders pat us on the back and say "Oh I love those to homoxual men"  right up until you decide you want to be as affectionate with your partner as they are with theirs and BOOM you are being asked to leave because the majority of patrons don't mind you being there until you decide to kiss your partner and they heave up their cocktail.

See.  THIS is why we need to continue our patronage of our OWN venues.  Because we cannot be 100% ourselves even in 2016.

So go ahead.  Go to your str8 bar where they lerv you.  Then watch the level of affection the str8's engage in, and you match it.  You'll be kissing pavement before your tongue leaves your mouth.

Oh....and if you think we shouldn't be affectionate when we are out and about having fun, grow up.  There is NOTHING we should be prevented from doing when out and about (law permitting).  And yet, there are incidents every damn day in this country and across the globe of our LGBT family being harassed, assaulted and killed because they only wanted to be able to do what everyone else around them was.

Our venues deserve better.

Damien

First Out Gay Member of the Royal Family

**article reprinted with thanks from Towleroad - link in sidebar

 

Lord Ivar Mountbatten, the Queen’s cousin, has come out as gay in an article in the Mail on Sunday and is the first member of the Royal Family to come out of the closet.

It is a decision which has the blessing of his ex-wife and children, his wider family and his life-long friend Prince Edward, to whose eldest child he is a godparent, as both the Earl and Countess of Wessex are to two of his daughters.

‘Being a Mountbatten was never the problem,’ he says, ‘it was the generation into which I was born. When I was growing up, it was known as “the love that dare not speak its name”, but what’s amazing now is how far we have all come in terms of acceptance.

‘”Coming out” is such a funny phrase but it’s what I suppose I did in a rather roundabout way, emerging to a place I’m happy to be. I have struggled with my sexuality and in some ways I still do; it has been a real journey to reach this point.’

Mountbatten, who is the great-great grandson of Queen Victoria, also introduced his partner, James Coyle. The couple met at Verbier, a resort in Switzerland.

The couple seems a bit stiff. You’re definitely not going to be seeing any PDA:

Both Lord Ivar and James grew up in an age when to be gay was to conform to what they call ‘a John Inman stereotype’, something they are determined to avoid. They have a pact: no public displays of affection unless it’s a hello or goodbye hug, never holding hands and no dancing together at parties. Today there are no endearments or pet names. ‘Soppy? Ugh, no, not us,’ says James.