First Mr Gay China pageant unveils contestants.
This is the question everyone will soon be asking, as both foreign and Chinese press caught their first glimpse of five of the eight Mr Gay China Pageant contestants yesterday afternoon at Lantung Bar and Bistro in Solana Mall.
Gayographic, Beijing’s only gay PR and event management company, is organizing the landmark pageant that will be held this Friday evening at 8 pm on Friday at LAN Club. For Ben Zhang, co-founder and managing director of Gayographic, the message is clear.
Gay Muslim scholar tries to shift attitudes through research, education.
Junaid Bin Jahangir was such a devout Muslim that when he arrived in Canada he ate only yogurt for two days until he was sure which food followed halal dietary rules.
The university student prayed five times a day, and joined a local mosque.
Then one day, at age 27, he started to wonder why he had never been with a girl. “Why don’t I like women that way?” he asked, and it led him to a counselling office, where he sat, sobbing, with the realization that he was gay — a pariah to his community.
Mainstream Islamic leaders say gay men should be shunned and some around the world are killed each year.
Portugal passes gay marriage bill.
The predominantly Catholic nation looks set to be the sixth European country - after Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Norway - to allow same-sex marriages although many other European countries have introduced civil partnerships.
Portugal’s parliament Friday approved plans to legalise gay marriage, less than three decades after revoking the country’s ban on homosexuality, but rejected proposals to allow same sex couples to adopt.
The bill passed with limited public controversy in what has traditionally been one of Europe’s most socially conservative countries.
After less than three hours’ debate, Friday’s parliamentary vote went mainly along party lines, with the left-wing majority backing the measure proposed by Prime Minister Jose Socrates (photo) and the right-wing opposition voting against.
Celebrities. Channing Tatum’s penis is gross.
“Channing Tatum’s penis is gross. It looks like a hot dog that’s been left too long on the grill. The tip is hot-pink, singed, and shriveled. It appears angry. And it’s painful to view. My penis hurts just from looking at it. Movie stars tend to be vain, by nature and profession, but Chan—that’s what everyone calls him—does not mind one bit showing me his sad, withered wiener. ‘It was the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life,’ he says, flipping through photos on his iPhone until he lands on a grainy snapshot of a scorched member. His scorched member. ‘I’m good … now,’ he says with a grin. ‘Now my penis is fantastic! One hundred percent recovered. Put me back in the game, Coach.’”
Puerto Rico. Fortuño proposes ban on same-sex marriage.
Rejects bill that would lower age to legally consent to have sex.
Gov. Fortuño told a group of religious leaders Friday that he plans to consult voters about the inclusion of a constitutional amendment that would declare the exclusivity of marriage as the union between a man and a woman and to veto any legislation that would lower from 16 to 14 years old the age for a minor to legally consent to have sexual relations.
Fortuño made his remarks during a speech to religious leaders at the Nueva Cosecha Church in Carolina where he sought the support of conservative groups to help reduce the island’s high crime rate. The proposed vote in favor of the constitutional amendment declaring the exclusivity of marriage between a man and a woman would be part of the proposed vote that would amend the Constitution to reduce the size of the Legislature.
Italy ‘to open first prison for transgender inmates’.
Italy is to open one of the world’s first prisons for transgender inmates, reports say.
The prison, at Pozzale, near the Tuscan city of Florence, is expected to house inmates who mainly have convictions for drug-related offences and prostitution.
Gay rights groups in Italy welcomed the move to convert an almost empty medium security women’s prison into a specially equipped detention centre.
It is thought that Italy has a total of some 60 transgender prisoners.
The centre will house about 30 people, according to reports.
Pope says gay marriage threat to creation.
Pope Benedict on Tuesday linked the Church’s opposition to gay marriage to concern about the environment, suggesting that laws undermining “the differences between the sexes” were threats to creation.
The pope made his comments in an address to diplomats in his yearly assessment of world events. The main theme of the address was the environment and the protection of creation.
“To carry our reflection further, we must remember that the problem of the environment is complex; one might compare it to a multifaceted prism,” he said.
Historian: Prop 8 played on anti-gay stereotypes.
A Yale professor testifying in a case challenging California’s same-sex marriage ban said Tuesday that the 2008 campaign to pass Proposition 8 played on stereotypes historically used to portray “homosexuals as perverts who pray on young children, out to entice straight people into sick behavior.”
George Chauncey, a historian who specializes in the subject of 20th century gay life, was the second expert witness to appear for two couples unable to marry because of the state’s voter-approved gay marriage ban. Their lawsuit has led to the first federal trial to decide the constitutionality of laws limiting marriage to a man and a woman.
After viewing several television commercials produced by Proposition 8’s sponsors, Chauncey said images and language suggesting the ballot initiative was needed to “protect children” were reminiscent of earlier efforts to “demonize” gays, ranging from police raids ongay bars during the 1950s to campaigns to rid public schools of gay teachers in the 1970s.
Vermont. Former lesbian turned evangelical homophobe ordered to transfer child to ex-partner.
The biological mother of a 7-year-old Virginia girl must transfer custody of the child to her former partner, a Vermont family court judge has ruled, adding that it seemed as though the mother had “disappeared” with the girl.
Lisa Miller gave birth to daughter Isabella through artificial insemination 7 years ago after she and former lover Janet Jenkins were joined in a civil union in Vermont. Lisa Miller, Isabella’s mother, and Jenkins dissolved their civil union in 2003. Miller moved to Virginia and became a practicing Christian, saying she believes homosexuality is sinful.
Glasgow. Policeman by day, male escort by night…
A policeman exposed as a gay prostitute three years ago has still not been sacked.
Constable Suckbir Mann, 38, offered a Sunday Mail investigator £100-an-hour, three-in-a-bed sex in August 2006.
He was immediately suspended from his post at Glasgow’s Maryhill police station but is still raking in taxpayers’ cash.
His employers, Strathclyde Police, face a £16million budget deficit next year.
The force said that Mann - who used the name Master Rajj to sell sex - is on sick leave.
Interview Magazine’s 20 Most Gorgeous People (Men) Of The Decade.
One of the great things about magazines (and blogs) is the hauteur of lists. The last week of any year will find everyone scrambling to put together their list of significant events, people, deaths, and stories. Interview magazine, which was started in 1969 by Andy Warhol and Gerald Melanga has always been dedicated to celebrity. So it is no surprise that that the magazine doesn’t just make the claim for the year, BUT THE LAST DECADE!
Year of Gay China.
From the well publicised Valentine’s Day Photo Shoot in Beijing to Shanghai Pride - the first pride festival in mainland China to the opening of the first government-sponsored gay bar in Dali, Yunnan, China Daily recaps a dozen LGBT-related events in the country.
The following is an extract of “Year of Gay China” from China Daily. Click on the link below to read the article in full.
As the year 2009 comes to a close, it does so having been a monumental year for China’s LGBT community. Beijing and numerous cities across China experienced the successful completion of 12 anniversaries and public events that expose LGBT culture and related issues like never before.
China’s LGBT community, which is an acronym that refers to lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people, has adapted the terms tongzhi to refer to gays, lala for lesbians, ku’er for queer - an umbrella term for those who do not identify as heterosexual with regard to sexuality, sexual anatomy or gender identity.
Gay Games seeks contributions to fund athletes.
The international Federation of Gay Games seeks to raise an additional US$20,000 to send another 10 athletes and artists from Indonesia, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, and Sri Lanka (on top of the 34 who have already secured funding) to the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne, Germany.
The following is a press release issued by Federation of Gay Games on December 29, 2009:
Thirty four lesbian & gay athletes from countries as diverse as South Africa, China, Chile and The Philippines have even greater reason to celebrate the New Year. The international Federation of Gay Games has awarded scholarships to these 34 sports & cultural participants so they can attend and participate in the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne, Germany, from July 31 to August 7, 2010.
Ten additional deserving applicants from Indonesia, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, and Sri Lanka have been approved, but won’t be able to go to Germany unless US$20,000 in additional scholarship funds are raised. (Games Cologne is separately funding some athletes from Eastern Europe.)
Is Iran on the verge of a popular explosion?
This week saw a widening of the scope of protests across the country.
Hassan Beheshtpoor (not his real name) has been on the run since the summer. He is a Tehran University student whose political activism marked him out several years before this summer’s controversial presidential election triggered an ongoing campaign of opposition to the Iranian government. Beheshtpoor, 22, was arrested and cautioned about his activities back in 2007.
Now, this financially stretched student hailing from a traditional Azeri family from the provinces has been banned from the Tehran University dormitories. Along with yellow stars awarded to troublemakers, on-the-spot beatings by campus militiamen and even arrest, torture and long prison terms, these are the forms of pressure yielded by the regime in its campaign against the most vocal segment of the opposition movement that has surged in Iran over the past six months.
Village People threaten lawsuit over Jamie Oliver advert.
Lawyer says Channel 4 failed to seek consent for trailers featuring Jamie Oliver dressed as members of the Village People.
It could make for an interesting scenario: a construction worker, a cowboy, a traffic cop, a Native American chief, a sailor, Jamie Oliver, a leather queen, some lawyers and a judge – together in court.
The Village People are threatening legal action against Channel 4 over a promotional film used this year for Oliver’s TV show Jamie’s American Road Trip.
