LGBTQ

The Wickes float at Brighton Pride. (Twitter/ FlouncyMcGee) Hardware store Wickes has been praised by the queer community for its powerful float at Brighton Pride. A Wickes float joined the Brighton Pride parade on Saturday (6 August), featuring two huge signs – one which read, “No LGB without the T, we stand by our trans siblings now and forever”, and another which demanded: “Ban conversion therapy for all!” The straightforward message of trans inclusion was a far cry from the half-hearted rainbow washing seen from many companies during Pride season....

Christina Aguilera's headline set at Brighton Pride took aim at 'Don't Say Gay'. (Twitter) Christina Aguilera hit out at Florida’s hateful ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law during her headline Brighton Pride performance. Aguilera headlined Brighton Pride on Saturday (6 August), blessing fans with her greatest hits from the stage in Preston Park, including “Dirty”, “Genie in a Bottle”, “Express”, and the queer anthem “Beautiful”. While performing “Glam”, Aguilera was joined on stage by Drag Race UK star Bimini Bon Boulash. What an amazing few days. From going backstage at @theo2 to...

Christian fundamentalist Ken Ham, in front of his "life-size" ark. (Luke Sharrett /For The Washington Post via Getty) Fundamentalist Ken Ham is suing his insurance company after his life-size Noah’s Ark museum was hit by too much rain. Ham owns the Ark Encounter, a Noah’s Ark–themed creationist amusement park with a “life-size” ark, as well as the Creation Museum, which teaches visitors of all ages that humans and dinosaurs co-existed, that humans did not cause climate change, and that our planet is just 6,000 years old. Both attractions are located in Kentucky....

Top Ghanaian doctors are spreading anti-LGBTQ+ health information. (Hannah McKay - Pool/Getty Images) Doctors in Ghana promoted conversion therapy and dubbed homosexuality an “abnormality and a mental disorder” at a training workshop. openDemocracy found high ranking doctors spread dangerous misinformation about LGBTQ+ people in Ghana at a two-day training workshop, held in the city Accra. The workshop, purportedly on providing “treatment, care and support” for LGBTQ+ people, was aimed at nurses, psychologists, counsellors and midwives. It was organised by the National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values (known as...

Drag Race Down Under season two contestant Faúx Fúr says it was "tough" being eliminated in the first episode over an outfit design fault. (WOW/Stan) Drag Race Down Under queen Faúx Fúr “broke down” after being eliminated in the first episode of the Aussie spin-off’s second season.  RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under season two spoilers below. The self-professed loud queen from Sydney was the first queen to sashay away from the show after a brief, if not memorable, stint on the second season. But it was a single fault in her outfit...

Theo Germaine as Jordan in the slasher film They/Them. (Blumhouse/Peacock) The Politician’s Theo Germaine has said shooting They/Them was “challenging” because of their own experience with “conversion tactics”.  They/Them, the new slasher flick from Blumhouse, follows a group of LGBTQ+ teenagers as they arrive at an isolated conversion camp run by an eerily charming Owen Whistler (Kevin Bacon). At the centre of the story is Jordan (Germaine), a trans and non-binary camp-goer who immediately runs into trouble with gender-segregated dormitories. For Germaine, the script felt like a challenge – something they’re...

Monkeypox cases have spiralled in the US. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) The US federal government has declared monkeypox a public health emergency as the outbreak becomes the largest in the world. Health and human resources secretary Xavier Becerra issued the declaration Thursday (4 August) at a time when the US grapples with more than 6,600 cases. It comes as officials across the globe rush to raise the alarm over monkeypox. The World Health Organisation has already declared the breakout, which started in May, a global health emergency. “In light of all...

Marisela Castro's friend said the trans woman was "always so happy" and mourned her tragic death. (Human Rights Campaign) Marisela Castro, a trans woman who had a “bright and sunny” demeanour, was shot and killed just weeks shy of her birthday celebrations.  Castro was killed early Friday (29 July) when a man got out of a car she was in and shot her in the back as she walked down a street in the Northshore neighbourhood of east Houston, Texas, the Houston Chronicle reported.  The man, who has not yet been identified...

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson once told "influential" Hollywood figures to "f**k off" after they said playing a gay character would "ruin" his career. (Araya Doheny/WireImage) Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson had an absolutely iconic response when some “few influential folks” told him that playing a gay character would “ruin” his acting career.  The revelation came after former Out editor Jeffrey R Epstein spoke about his favourite cover stories in honour of the magazine’s 30th anniversary. This included an interview he did with Johnson in 2005 when the actor was promoting his crime-comedy film Be...

Jill Scott of England celebrates with the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Trophy during the England Women's Team Celebration at Trafalgar Square on August 01, 2022 in London, England. (Leon Neal/Getty) England hero Jill Scott interviewed the Women’s Euro 2022 trophy in a hilarious clip. The England team descended on London’s Trafalgar Square on Monday (1 August) to celebrate their stunning victory over Germany, and England’s first major football trophy in 56 years. During the celebrations, commentator Jacqui Oatley spotted Scott’s interview moment and posted it to Twitter, saying: “Jill Scott...

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, speaks at the 2022 Lambeth Conference held at The University of Kent. (Neil Turner for The Lambeth Conference) A influential group of Anglican bishops are calling for “homosexual practice” to be “rejected” at the Lambeth Conference, insisting that “God’s power” will help gay people with the “ordering of relationships”. On Tuesday (2 August), bishops of the Anglican Communion from across the globe held a confidential discussion on sexuality and human dignity. The once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, which brings together international bishops of the Anglican Communion to pass resolutions...

Far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks that the monkeypox outbreak is something to “laugh at”, according to an interview. In a clip published by right-wing extremist watchdog PatriotTakes, Greene is heard saying that because the outbreak is only a “threat to some of the population”, people should dismiss it as another “scam.” “It’s not a threat to most of the population, and so it’s not a global pandemic, it’s really not, and people just have to laugh at it, mock it, and reject it. It’s another scam,” she said. Greene...

Harley Quinn showrunners promise they are "never going" to break up Harley and Poison Ivy in the HBO Max animated series. (YouTube/HBO Max) Harley Quinn showrunners have vowed that Harley and Poison Ivy “will never break up” as long as they’re in charge of the HBO Max series. Patrick Schumacker, showrunner on the animated show, explained during an interview with AV Club that the series won’t feature a Harley and the Joker romance, despite some whines from fans. Instead, Schumacker said the focus was all on the notorious villain’s relation with Poison Ivy....

Jinkx Monsoon filmed the moment she found out she had won. (Screen captures via Twitter) Jinkx Monsoon found out she won RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars in the most adorable way possible. Monsoon and fellow Drag Race alum BenDeLaCreme took a break from their Australia tour to tune into Friday’s (29 July) season seven finale. In order to keep who wins an ironclad secret, Drag Race producers film multiple versions of the ending with each queen reacting to winning the crown without knowing if they’ve actually won. The true finale...