Tag Archives: Pride Month

Your New Pride Anthem Has Arrived

Rapper-singer-songwriter Chika Oranika, a 20-year-old from Montgomery, Alabama, took Ed Sheeran’s massive hit Shape of You and turned it into a Pride anthem that’s quickly going viral.

The singer transform the lyrics into a plea for LGBT acceptance and a recognition of the community’s struggle.

Let me tell you ’bout pride, the struggle to survive, living everyday with our lovin’ under fire. Questioning the ways that you self identify, but who you choose to date isn’t ever on your mind. But people so fascinated, they passive hating, they all repeat the rhetoric like a class they’re taking.”

Since posting a clip of the video on Twitter, it’s been re-tweeted more than 20,000 times and liked almost 45,000 times.

Here’s the full version:

New Rainbow Underwear Lets You Save the World One Thong at a Time

In June, which is Pride month, corporations start becoming vocal about their commitment to LGBT rights. Often, for June only, they make Pride-themed items and donate a portion of the proceeds to charity.

We won’t pretend that they do it out of the goodness of their heart. Corporations realized, a long time ago, that the “pink economy” is a thriving resource of money that they can tap into with a rainbow sticker. If they really cared about LGBT rights, they would donate proceeds to human rights organizations year-round, instead of just in June.

But hey, at least they’re doing it. So for one month, you can feel good about buying things that you might not necessarily need, like rainbow Smirnoff vodka or #betrue Nike sneakers.

And…high-end underwear?

MeUndies prides itself on being a high-end yet affordable underwear brand whose products contour themselves to your specific shape, for maximum comfort. EliteDaily calls them the “ultimate feel good underwear.”

MeUndies Creative Director Andrew Teague says that last year, he was struck with an intense desire to be part of LA Pride. In the past, his company often handed out free underwear during Pride. That was fun but they wanted to do more. Right after Pride 2016, in the wake of the Pulse shooting, he and his team began working on their largest campaign to date. After a year, their big project is finally ready for launch.

The pro-LGBT “Celebrate Yourself” underwear is here. Each pair is white with rainbow-colored polka dots. For every pair sold, MeUndies will donate $1 to the LA LGBT Center, which is the world’s largest organization for LGBT health and advocacy.

The LA LGBT Center gets 70% of its funding from federal grants. However, with the Trump administration threatening to slash funding, organizations like them are in trouble, which means that this MeUndies campaign will be a great boost. And if MeUndies keeps selling the underwear after Pride month is over, then that will be even better for their bottom line.

Try on your own snug pair at the official website.

100’s Of Leading LGBTQ Activists Sign An Open Letter To Reject ‘Blackface’ Performance At UK Prides

Leading LGBT activists have signed a letter urging pride events to stop booking blackface acts.

It comes after Durham Pride was criticised for booking a woman who darkened her skin to impersonate Beyoncé.

Durham dropped the act from its lineup and apologised for the booking after several groups threatened to boycott the event.

A letter signed by LGBT activists including Jack Monroe, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, Ruth Hunt and Peter Tatchell expressed concern that similar artists are being promoted at other events.

Blackface is a form of racism that dehumanises Black people turning them into objects that can be “performed”. It is a modern form of minstrelsy and has no place at Pride.”

It said the upcoming Pride season was about “celebrating diversity” and the ongoing issue “continues to be an embarrassing stain” on the LGBT community.

As we are coming into Pride season, a time of year where we should be celebrating our diversity, this ongoing issue continues to be an embarrassing stain on the LGBTQIA+ community.”

The letter also offers recommendations for how pride organisations in the UK can commit to ending racist performances, including a suggestion that they diversify their lineups.

In the last year we have seen homophobia and racism rise dramatically, these struggles are connected, they often stem from the same hatred of difference.

The repercussions of this have been particularly felt by BAME LGBTQs. We must come together as a community and stand up to racism as well as homophobia so that every LGBTQIA+ person in the UK feels welcome at their local Pride to celebrate their love and lives.”

Stonewall also posted in a new blog to their website;

LGBT POC (people of colour) continue daily, within the wider LGBT community, to be fetishized, excluded or subjected to stereotyping. For that reason, we should double down on our efforts to make sure all Black, Asian and other ethnic minority LGBT people feel included at events like Pride.”

The charity added:

We must all learn better how to recognise our privileges and be allies to LGBT people who are marginalised or experience discrimination based on other factors. We must champion their specific rights to equality and inclusion.”

Stonewall called for ethnic diversity within the teams who put together Pride events, so they have “the necessary experiences and knowledge to ensure you get it right”.

Let us be very clear for those who don’t know or understand: blackface is always unacceptable and is a degrading and hurtful form of racism, regardless of the performer’s intent. It will always be insensitive and should never be treated as a part of a performance. The act itself dehumanises and humiliates the ethnicities that it imitates, often as negative stereotypes. It has no place in society, let alone at Pride events, where LGBT people and allies should feel free to be their authentic selves.”

Evan Rachel Wood Looks To Shatter The Misconceptions About Bisexuality With Her Coming Out Story

Evan Rachel Wood made a name for herself in Thirteen and The Wrestler, and the cult TV shows like True Blood. But recently the openly bisexual actress shared her thoughts on being bisexual and Pride month.

There are so many grey areas in this world, especially when it comes to gender roles, especially when it comes to sexuality.”

In a self published YouTube post, she discusses some alarming statistics regarding bisexuals, particularly the large percentage of people who have contemplated suicide, experienced abusive relationships and/or struggle with depression and addiction.

Wood goes on to describe the negative reaction she faced the first time she kissed a girl as a kid, and the internalized biphobia she also faced throughout her adolescence.

Like a frighteningly large number of bisexual women, she considered suicide while struggling to understand her sexuality.

She describes her struggle with her sexuality frankly and openly. Although she seems much more at ease with herself as an adult, Wood positions herself as a “flare” for the bisexual community — a visible representation, something that bisexuals need.

AirBnB Celebrates Pride Month With a Short Documentary About The Travel Challenges LGBT Couples Face (Video)

The ability to travel safely and free of prejudice is something that most heterosexual couples take for granted.

As LGBT couples we face something very different. Wherever we visit or stay, there is a possibility that we could be discriminated against us.

That’s not something that even a service like Airbnb can necessarily end, but with its new short documentary, “Love Is Welcome Here,” as part of the company’s #HostWithPride campaign, they make clear that they’re aware of the issue.

The documentary, created in partnership with Molecule, features several queer and same-sex couples – a cisgender woman and a transgender man, and young and old same-sex couples with different kinds of families – as they talk, first, about their love stories.

It’s always charming to hear people recount the joy they felt when they first held their child, or the exciting adventures they’ve had together, but the film quickly takes a sharp turn toward the dark side of sharing experiences as a queer couple: Namely, that some of those experiences can be scary in ways that have nothing to do with you, and everything to do with how the people around you see you.

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AirBnB Celebrates Pride Month 01

As one woman in the film says,

Planning a honeymoon as a queer couple, we have to be really careful about where we go.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by all of the other couples in the spot – “Some countries are less friendly than others,” “Your ultimate fear is your safety,” “If people knew that I was trans and we were queer, would these people talk to us?”

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While Airbnb’s anti-discrimination policy seeks to address such concerns, the company seems to recognize within the ad that no corporate policy can eradicate bigotry, and instead keeps its eye focused on a better day. It ends with the words

We look forward to a world where all love is welcome.”

And that’s something that everyone should be able to get behind.

Facebook Pride Celebrates around the World

100’s of Facebook employees have joined forces to celebrate and support pride across the world. The Facebook LGBT employee group took part in pride’s in Seattle, London, Dublin, Chicago, SF, and NYC.

Not only this but Facebook also launched new custom gender optionin the UK, to help users better express thier own identity on Facebook.

When you come to Facebook to connect with the people, causes, and organisations you care about, we want you to feel comfortable being your true self. An important part of this is the expression of gender especially when it extends beyond the definitions of just “male” or “female.”

So today – following a successful launch in the US earlier this year – we’re proud to offer the UK a new custom gender option to help you better express your own identity on Facebook.

Earlier this year we collaborated with our Network of Support – a group of leading LGBT advocacy organisations in the US – to offer an extensive list of gender identities. We’ve now teamed up with UK experts Press For Change and Gendered Intelligence to update the list of ways people can choose to describe themselves so it’s relevant to people in the UK.

Facbook

Photo by Jason Agron

#ProudToPlay – YouTube Celebrates Pride Month

Yesterday, YouTube along with with parent company Google, launched the huge #ProudToPlay campaign, which honours LGBT athletes, and celebrates LGBT Pride Month.

“Sports bring together people from all backgrounds and experiences through a shared passion, and YouTube shares that spirit of connecting diverse communities to make a difference. In celebration of the upcoming games in Brazil and LGBT Pride month, we’re honoring the LGBT athletes, their supporters, as well as the YouTube Creators who stand up for diversity in sports and elsewhere-all of whom help create an equal and inclusive playing field for everyone.”

Raymond Braun, YouTube Marketing Manager

They are also now encouraging YouTubers to create videos about LGBT sports issues that YouTube will highlight over the next month. The YouTube pride logo, featuring a rainbow soccer ball, will be on every YouTube page.

This is huge statement by the top two sites and continues to build momentum for 2014 as the year of the gay athlete.

LGBT athletes including Jason Collins, John Amaechi, Kobe Bryant, Brittney Griner, Robbie Rogers, John Amaechi and Darren Young will be sharing their stories on YouTube.

Organizations including GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign, You Can Play, Laureus, and the LGBT Sports Coalition are supporting this campaign and work to promote equality.

“As athletes from across nations and leagues come out, sports fans throughout the world are embracing LGBT players and ejecting bias from the game. GLAAD is thrilled to support Google and YouTube in this landmark initiative to help tackle stereotypes and build understanding.”

Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President & CEO

YouTube released the following press statement:

From the Sochi Olympics to the recent NFL draft, this year has seen a growing, global conversation about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in the world of sports. Many LGBT athletes are sharing their stories on YouTube, and the support they’re getting from teammates and fans has helped others find the courage to do the same.

Sports bring together people from all backgrounds and experiences through a shared passion, and YouTube shares that spirit of connecting diverse communities to make a difference. In celebration of the upcoming World Cup in Brazil and LGBT Pride month, we’re honoring the LGBT athletes, their supporters, as well as the YouTube Creators who stand up for diversity in sports and elsewhere—all of whom help create an equal and inclusive playing field for everyone. Inspired by #ProudToLove last year, we’re calling this effort #ProudToPlay.

We applaud the courage and openness of athletes at all levels who have come out and admire their teammates, friends, families, and supporters who are all proving that it doesn’t matter who you are or who you love—what matters is that you put forward your best effort. We stand with our community in the belief that youth everywhere should all have the same opportunities to grow up and pursue their dreams and passions, on or off the field…

Sports bring together people from all backgrounds and experiences through a shared passion, and YouTube shares that spirit of connecting diverse communities to make a difference. In celebration of the upcoming World Cup in Brazil and LGBT Pride month, we’re honoring the LGBT athletes, their supporters, as well as the YouTube Creators who stand up for diversity in sports and elsewhere—all of whom help create an equal and inclusive playing field for everyone.

Inspired by #ProudToLove last year, we’re calling this effort #ProudToPlay.

Join the conversation by uploading a video talking about what being #ProudToPlay means to you. Over the course of Pride month, Logo (our parent company) will share a collection of videos about the LGBT community and sports on theYouTube Spotlight Channel.

Facebook Gets LGBT-Themed Stickers For June’s Pride Month

Facebook is celebrating Pride month this June, by releasing a new sticker set to the Facebook messenger store.

Over 20 LGBT-themed stickers are included in the free set.

“We’re celebrating Pride by adding these free Facebook Messenger stickers to the Sticker Store. We see this as one more way we can make Facebook a place where people can express their authentic identity. Happy Pride!”

LGBTQ@ Facebook

Here’s what they’ll look like…

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