LGBT News

Via press release: Provincetown Bears is saddened to announce the suspension of Bear Week Provincetown 2020. Members of our board have watched the rampant developments of the coronavirus pandemic and we believe that it is not advisable for us to host the crowded parties this summer that are the hallmark of Bear Week. Although we are suspending the events scheduled …

Global News reports: The City of Toronto has cancelled events through June 30 amid the coronavirus pandemic, including the annual Pride Parade. Toronto Mayor John Tory made the announcement during an update on the city’s response to COVID-19 Tuesday afternoon. “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Toronto is cancelling all city-led major events, festivals, conferences, and cultural programs …

ABC News reports: A gay rights leader in Uganda says 20 members of the local LGBT community have been detained after police raided their shelter and accused them of violating coronavirus-related social distancing measures. “It is evident that they were arrested because of their homosexuality,” Frank Mugisha [photo] said Wednesday, expressing concern for their safety as “some of them are …

Courthouse News reports: Idaho Governor Brad Little Monday evening signed into law two bills that place new restrictions on transgender individuals in the state. The first of the two bills the Republican governor signed targets a transgender person’s ability to request a birth certificate change. Under the new law, transgender individuals will no longer be able to change their listed …

Coconuts Singapore reports: Members of Singapore’s LGBT community reacted with dismay today to word that gay sex remains a criminal offense after the high court dismissed three challenges to the antiquated law. The court’s reported ruling comes four months after the court heard arguments from attorneys representing three men: DJ Johnson Ong; a retired doctor named Roy Tan; and Bryan …

The Guardian reports: A teenager who lured a “gentle, kind-hearted” sales assistant to a remote beauty spot on a date and stabbed him to death has been locked up for a minimum of 24 years. Alex Davies, 18, was murdered in Parbold, Lancashire, by Brian Healless, also 18, after they agreed a rendezvous through the dating app Grindr. Healless, from …

Broadway.com reports: Terrence McNally, the celebrated playwright and librettist who penned an award-winning body of work ranging from drama to farce to musical comedy, died on March 24 at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, FL, according to publicist Matt Polk. The cause of death was complications due to coronavirus; McNally was a lung cancer survivor who lived with chronic obstructive …

YouTube star Randy Rainbow is back this weekend with a typically blistering take on Trump’s virus response, all set to the tune of Frank Loesser’s Adelaide’s Lament, from his enduring 1950 Tony-winning musical Guys And Dolls. The number was originated on stage by Vivian Blaine, who reprised the role in the 1955 film version. Of special interest is that Blaine …

Our friends at San Francisco Pride reached out with a statement after seeing my post about NYC Pride still being on for now. They write: As many of you are aware, last week the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) announced assertive recommendations for large gatherings to help reduce the spread of Coronavirus, or COVID-19, over the next two …

Just in via email from New York City Pride: The safety of NYC Pride’s members, volunteers, staff, and the community at large is our highest priority when it comes to creating Pride events and programs. Because of this, it is important that we share with you the steps we are taking to ensure your health and safety as the coronavirus …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: The coronavirus pandemic has claimed another major event: L.A. Gay Pride. The Twitter account for the festival, @LAPride, posted the announcement Thursday afternoon in what marks one of the first major events postponed months from now. Gay Pride was scheduled to run June 12-14 in what was to be a commemorative event celebrating its 50th anniversary. …

The New York City Eagle just announced on their Facebook page that they will be closed until further notice. To my knowledge, this is the first major LGBT nightspot to make such a decision regarding the coronavirus. If you know of others, please share them in the comments below.

Just in via press release: Given GLAAD’s long-standing commitment to the safety of our members, sponsors, and guests, the GLAAD Media Awards will no longer take place on March 19th in New York City. The team at GLAAD has been in communication with the City of New York and is following the latest recommendations from Governor Cuomo. We were planning …

The BBC reports: Pixar’s latest animation Onward has been banned by several Middle Eastern countries because of a reference to lesbian parents, according to reports. The family film will not be shown in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Hollywood media have reported. Police officer Specter, voiced by Lena Waithe, has been heralded as Disney-Pixar’s first openly gay character. Her …

CTV News reports: Justice Minister David Lametti has added another bill to the government’s agenda, tabling new amendments to the Criminal Code, to impose a ban on conversion therapy. The legislation — a campaign promise and evolution on the government’s position last parliament — is proposing to prohibit religious counselling seeking to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, …

Roll Call reports: Aaron Schock came out as gay on Thursday, and a famous former resident of Illinois’ 18th District, Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness, isn’t here for it. “The amount of queens I’m seeing like Aaron Schock’s insta is such a lol,” the star wrote Friday on Instagram. “This man lived in the closet while voting against LGBTQ interests …

Gay City News reports: Rod Townsend, who most recently served as president of the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City, is running for the City Council in Queens, he told Gay City News in an exclusive interview this week. Townsend is eying the seat occupied by term-limited Councilmember Costa Constantinides in the 22nd District, which encompasses Astoria, East Elmhurst, …

Reuters reports: Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd said on Friday that it has agreed to sell Grindr LLC, a popular gay dating app it acquired in 2016, for about $608.5 million. The deal comes after a U.S. government panel set a June 2020 deadline to sell the app. The panel, dubbed the Committee on Foreign Investment in …

Chris Johnson reports at The Washington Blade: Biden’s plan is consistent with priorities on LGBTQ rights Biden has articulated on the campaign trail, including making the Equality Act, international LGBTQ human rights and banning conversion therapy nationwide his top priorities. But the plan goes into further detail, pledging to apply laws against sex discrimination to cases of anti-LGBTQ discrimination, creating …

Posted today to Schock’s Instagram page: I am gay. For those who know me and for many who only know of me, this will come as no surprise. For the past year, I have been working through a list of people who I felt should finally hear the news directly from me before I made a public statement. The fact …