Activism

“In the past year, there have been seven assassination attempts. But I also realize, if they kill me, that’s probably the stupidest thing they could do to try to end the movement. Because that would make it even more successful in the end. Because it would invigorate us and create f—ing change. Honestly, I realize that it’s horrible that I …

Agence France-Presse reports: One of the world’s largest LGBT Pride parades took center stage in Sao Paulo on Sunday with the carnivalesque festivities tinged with unease over Brazil’s conservative political climate under President Jair Bolsonaro. As many as three million people took part in the annual march through the heart of Brazil’s economic capital, traditionally an exuberant celebration of camp, …

Reuters reports: Ukrainian politicians and foreign diplomats joined thousands marching in a gay pride parade in Kiev on Sunday, the biggest and most peaceful ever in the former Soviet country. Crowds of people, many dressed in bright colours, paraded along streets in the centre of the Ukrainian capital, holding up banners saying “Diversity is beautiful”, “Human rights = happy country”, …

The BBC reports: Mark Field has been suspended as a Foreign Office minister after grabbing a female Greenpeace activist at a black-tie City dinner. The MP has apologised for confronting Janet Barker and marching her away as protesters interrupted a speech by Chancellor Philip Hammond. But he said he had been “genuinely worried” she may have been armed. Ms Barker …

Time Magazine reports: “Freedom,” sings Madonna, “is what you choose to do with what’s been done to you.” This lyric from the artist’s new song “I Rise,” off her 14th studio album Madame X, is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. A new video inspired by the song, created by Madonna and TIME Studios, weaves together footage …

The Washington Post reports: When President Trump ascends the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to address the nation on Independence Day, a group of activists want him to see the scowling, splotchy face of a giant orange baby floating above the crowd. The blimp known as “Baby Trump,” which has appeared at protests during the president’s visits to London, might …

Gentle readers, I’m rerunning my annual Pride rant for the fifteenth year. I wrote this post in 2005 a couple of days after attending Pride in NYC. In the following years I’ve reposted it in advance of NYC Pride in the hope of encouraging you to attend your local events. Have a wonderful Pride Month. Love each other. Watching The …

Variety reports: Taylor Swift literally did not let a minute of Pride Month go by without taking a strong stand on LGBTQ rights. The pop superstar took to Instagram as the calendar turned over into June on the east coast to post an open letter to her Tennessee senator urging passage in the U.S. Senate of the Equality Act, a …

Miami’s ABC News affiliate reports: An independently organized show of gay pride ended with several arrests in Havana on Saturday afternoon. The march started in Old Havana’s Parque Central, where activists had been urged to meet at 4 p.m. Under significant police presence, some with dogs, activists and their supporters started arriving with gay flags and other rainbow-type expressions. Half …

Religion News Service reports: The Almighty may not think the Satanic Temple is a church. But the taxman has given it the thumbs-up. The Satanic Temple, which is featured in a documentary called “Hail Satan?,” announced this week that the IRS now recognizes it as a church. That recognition means the group can now get the same benefits as religious …

The BBC reports: Brunei should be “chucked out” of the Commonwealth if it does not revoke its anti-LGBT laws, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has said. Dozens of protesters chanted “shame on you” outside the Brunei-owned Dorchester hotel in London on Saturday. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he had expressed “deep UK opposition” to the new laws to Brunei’s government. …

The Mirror tabloid reports: The House of Commons public gallery was taken over tonight by topless protesters covered in slogans about saving the environment. Twelve protesters paraded in the gallery and pressed their mostly bare buttocks against security glass that separated them from MPs debating Brexit. Ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband was caught on TV looking boggle-eyed at the Extinction Rebellion …

The Hill reports: David Hogg, an activist who survived the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, requested on Friday that a photo of his death be publicized if he is ever a victim of gun violence. Hogg took to Twitter to share a photo of a sticker placed on the back of his ID card, part of a gun violence prevention project …

Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate reports: A group of young LGBTQ rights activists staged a sit-in outside Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s office over a gutted bill that banned conversion therapy. The changes were so dramatic that HB399’s sponsor, Rep. Craig Hall, R-West Valley City, said he could no longer support his own legislation. On Wednesday, he told FOX 13 he …

Let’s take a break from Trump World for a hot sweaty moment for some photos of our people celebrating their lives and raising money for a good cause down in sunny Miami Beach. Via press release: The Winter Party Festival produced by the National LGBTQ Task Force is one of the world’s largest and best-loved celebrations for the lesbian, gay, …

The Hill reports: Activist David Hogg on Wednesday urged former first lady Michelle Obama to run for president in 2020. “I wish @MichelleObama would run for president and end this madness already,” Hogg, who survived last year’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Fla., said on Twitter. Hogg helped organize the March for Our Lives rally …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump and Beto O’Rourke are speaking less than half a mile — but worlds apart — from each other on Monday night. And hours before the dueling El Paso events, the president started in on his potential 2020 challenger. “We have a line that is very long already, I’m mean you see what’s going on,” …

The Guardian reports: Art photographer and activist Nan Goldin brought the Guggenheim Museum in New York to a standstill on Saturday night as thousands of fake prescriptions were dropped into the atrium to protest against the institution’s acceptance of donations from the family who owns the maker of OxyContin – the prescription painkiller at the root of America’s opioids crisis. …

The Washington Post reports: A survivor of last year’s mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., will attend President Trump’s State of the Union address next week as a guest of Rep. Eric Swalwell, the congressman said Friday. Cameron Kasky, 18, became an activist following the Feb. 14, 2018, school shooting, which killed 17 people. He co-founded …

The South China Morning Post reports: On a hazy day this week, a convoy of three white trucks is making its way through the streets of Nanjing, in eastern China. They are covered in huge red banners with black lettering that look like billboards from a distance. “Treating a ‘disease’ that doesn’t exist,” reads one. “Chinese classification of mental disorders …