Saudi Arabia: YouTube stars call for gays to be executed

Popular Saudi Arabian YouTubers posted a shockingly homophobic video to YouTube. Uploaded by Fe2aFala – popular Arabic vloggers who have more than 500,000 subscribers, racking up over 45 million views 

In a shocking video uploaded to the video site, the young men rant about “Deviant marriage in Riyadh”, apparently after a local raid of a ceremonial gay wedding. They added: “We would like to thank the police for beating their asses.”

The men continue to insist that gays are “disgusting and nasty”, asking Allah to send his “godly wrath” upon them. The men then discuss whether gays are “mentally ill” and needing a “cure” – or whether they are “animals” who need to be “executed in the most horrific ways”. After outcry, YouTube took action to pull the video, with a message now explaining though it has been re-uploaded. Read more via Pink News 

UK: Absolute fear’ keeps gay athletes in the closet

Athletes, business leaders and influential figures from the world of sport took part in a ground-breaking conference yesterday at the Aon offices in the iconic Leadenhall Building in the city of London. Team Pride: LGBT in Sports was created to bring the business world and sports world together to share resources, best practice and open up a dialogue on LGBT inclusion in the sporting world.

Why should the business world care about LGBT inclusion in sport? Chiefly because commercial sport depends on major sponsorship. According to former NBA player John Amaechi, ‘the business world is starting to look at the people they’re spending £45billion worth of sponsorship on, and they’re saying “How can we spend with you if what you stand for is opposed to what we stand for?”’ Read more via Gay Star News

Thailand: A new gay web series that is worth your health

Have we been waiting too long for a realistic storyline of native Asian gay men coping with their sexual health issues? The answer is yes. Despite efforts to expand the visibility of LGBT individuals on mainstream TV series and webseries, there's still not a lot out there that truly empower sexual health and rights of gay men who are living in Asia – the region that’s progressing sluggishly, if not the least, in standing up for health and rights of its sexual minorities.

The tide, however, will turn. GAYOK BANGKOK The Series, a webseries following the lives of six diverse gay men living in Bangkok and their drama – relationship, career, family and, most of all, sexual health – in a manner that Asian gay men can truly relate. 

Read more via Test BKK
 

Manoj Bajpayee And Rajkummar Rao Are Urging India To Be More LGBT-inclusive

Aligarh actors Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao, and director Hansal Mehta, released a video in support of the movement to slash Section 377 which criminalises homosexuality in India. 

They urged viewers to challenge the law, and to embrace open-mindedness about sexualities. Read more

German film: The first ever ‪Gay‬ Sex Commercial!

Russia: Watching the country's strangest documentary

When Boris Nadezhdin, a former Russian Duma deputy, suggested that homosexuality was biological, an audience member cried out, “that’s a lie!” reigning in the rogue guest. I watched “Sodom,” along with dozens of hours of Russian television, to try and understand the narrative on homosexuality being disseminated across the country. Major television networks, all of which are either state-owned or firmly under the influence of the state, spread a narrative that goes beyond homophobia into a surreal, parallel universe of logic. It is a world that has sprung up relatively recently. 

Four years ago, the idea that homosexuality was linked to pedophilia was something that only cropped up in news coverage of the handful of politicians who espoused that view. Now, across the full spectrum of Russian media, that theory is presented as scientific fact. TV hosts across the networks regularly discuss homosexuality as a problem that needs to be solved. Three quarters of Russians now consider homosexuality a psychological disorder, and theories for “treatment” are popular on-air conversation starters. 

Read more via Coda Story
 

Spain: Free metro passes for transgender people

Madrid's metro has announced it will give away a batch of free annual travel passes to transgender people in the city. Thirty-eight passes will be distributed as part of an effort to promote the social integration of transgender men and women across the Spanish capital, according to the metro's website. "Madrid Metro considers it a priority to raise awareness among the public so as to avoid any type of discrimination and prejudice," it says.

The scheme is a collaboration between the local government-run transport network and the non-profit Spanish Association of Transsexuals (AET), which campaigns for transsexual, transgender, gay and lesbian equality across Spain. The organisation doesn't specify how the recipients of the passes will be chosen, simply saying that they will be people "experiencing social exclusion".

Some social media users have reacted warmly to the plan, with one tweeting: "What a beautiful initiative! Everything that improves human relations is welcome!" But other comments are more negative. Some users think giving travel benefits to one group is unfair to everyone else, while others say that rather than being inclusive, the scheme singles out transgender men and women as different. Read more via BBC 

India’s first LGBT radio taxi service announced

The initiative by Wings Travels and Humsafar Trust will have taxis chauffeured by the LGBT community members, and is expected to start functioning in 2017.

India’s first radio taxi service for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community, Wings Rainbow, was flagged off on Wednesday. The initiative by Wings Travels and Humsafar Trust will have taxis chauffeured by LGBT community members, and is expected to start functioning in 2017. On Wednesday, five volunteers from The Humsafar Trust, an LGBT rights organisation, signed up to drive radio cabs.

Under the pilot programme, five members of the gay and transgender community will apply for a learner’s licence, and complete their training in getting the All India Driver’s Licence. Read more

US: Young Hollywood’s Public Coming Out

Teen celebrities and YouTube stars live more publicly than ever, wielding social media to tell the world their coming out stories. For my partner and I—neither of us particularly ancient—coming out was awkward and messy. For a rising generation of social media stars just a few years younger than us, it’s a polished production.

Coming out videos are one of the most popular genres of videos on YouTube. According to a report published on the YouTube Trends blog, there were over 36,000 videos on the platform as of last February, 9,600 of which had been posted within the last year. For some of the most popular vloggers, like Aaron and Austin Rhodes, the view counts are in the millions.

Last October, when YouTube star Trevor Moran came out as gay, he racked up a million views and generated a dozen headlines. Shane Dawson’s bisexual coming out video attracted 7,000,000 views and an official note of congratulations from the Human Rights Campaign. Ingrid Nilsen’s “Something I Want You to Know (Coming Out)” surpassed it with 13,000,000 views. 

Read more
 

South African Toya Delazy wins international LGBT music award

Ground-breaking South African pop star Toya Delazy has won an international LGBT music award in New York.

Delazy was on Sunday announced as the winner of Best International Song for her 2014 track Forbidden Fruit at the 9th Out Music Awards.

The video for the song, from the album Ascension, features same-sex couples kissing and was seen as a major statement by the star on sexual equality and freedom.

Delazy, one of a handful of openly gay or lesbian musicians in Africa, told Mambaonline in 2014 that Forbidden Fruit “tells the story of someone discovering themselves, someone who cannot compromise on what they desire, and also exposing Africans to pan sexuality; making them understand that it’s something that exists.”  Read more 

Australia: This new drama puts LGBT teens at the forefront

Soaps like Home and Away and Neighbours have been a staple on Australian television for decades. Now, a groundbreaking new drama with LGBT teens at the forefront is hoping to find a home among the gum trees.

With a fresh Aussie cast, strong community backing, and a pilot launched on YouTube just last week, Subject to Change has picked up fans already. But now, its creators are looking for a network or streaming service to back the show – and bring episode two to life. Fundamentally, Subject to Change is about the trials and tribulations of high school. It stars three unlikely best friends: neat freak Ben (Aiden Debono), who likes guys, but can’t tell anyone; obnoxious, tomboyish Karly (Maryann Wright), obsessed with soccer and music; and Evie (Katy Avery) who is caught up with body image, bullying, and boys. 

Read more 

Olympic body changes transgender guidelines

Transgender athletes look set to compete at the Olympic Games for the first time without first having to undergo gender reassignment surgery. 

Medical chiefs at the International Olympic Committee have recommended the change allowing transgender athletes to take part in this summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as well as other international events.

Transgender athletes have been allowed to compete at the Games since 2004 but only after surgery, having undergone a minimum of two years hormone therapy and being legally recognized as their changed gender.

Headed by Professor Ugur Erdener, the IOC medical hearing's findings said that, "it is necessary to ensure in so far as possible that trans athletes are not excluded from the opportunity to participate in sporting competition," while still ensuring "the guarantee of fair competition."
The hearing concluded that insisting on surgery "may be inconsistent with developing legislation and notions of human rights."

Read more via CNN