Latest news with #MarriageEquality
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
AP PHOTOS: Thailand kicks off Pride Month with a parade in Bangkok
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand started its annual celebration Sunday for the LGBTQ+ community's Pride Month, with its Pride Parade, the first to be held after Thailand legalized same-sex marriage earlier this year. Participants marched with rainbow flags for hours in Bangkok. Pride Month celebrations have been endorsed by politicians including Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was attending the parade this year. The enactment of the Marriage Equality Act makes Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia and the third place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. —— This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Associated Press
a day ago
- General
- Associated Press
AP PHOTOS: Thailand kicks off Pride Month with a parade in Bangkok
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand started its annual celebration Sunday for the LGBTQ+ community's Pride Month, with its Pride Parade, the first to be held after Thailand legalized same-sex marriage earlier this year. Participants marched with rainbow flags for hours in Bangkok. Pride Month celebrations have been endorsed by politicians including Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was attending the parade this year. The enactment of the Marriage Equality Act makes Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia and the third place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. —— This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Four queer business owners on Pride under Trump: ‘Our joy is resistance'
As the first Pride month under Donald Trump's second presidency approaches, LGBTQ+ businesses are stepping up, evolving quickly to meet the community's growing concerns. Since day one, Trump has signed executive orders targeting the LGBTQ+ community, particularly the trans and gender non-comforming population. He aims to eradicate 'gender ideology' by enforcing a two-sex binary determined at conception, reinstating and expanding the military ban on transgender service members, and directing agencies to prevent gender-affirming care for youth. This leaves the LGBTQ+ community feeling apprehensive about losing further rights and protections. The Guardian spoke with four queer business owners, and one message was clear: queer businesses are here to support the community now more than ever and spread joy as resistance. Business is surging for New England-based wedding photographer Lindsey 'Lensy' Michelle as queer couples decide to take their vows, fearing the Trump administration will go after marriage equality. Michelle says she's only getting louder and even 'more queer'. 'I'm not changing anything about my business, no matter what the government says,' Michelle said. 'We elected a president who doesn't support this type of marriage, or at the very least doesn't care enough to try to protect it.' She is seeing queer couples accelerate their wedding plans in fear of Trump and the supreme court overturning 2015's ruling on Obergefell v Hodges, which recognized same-sex marriages. Michelle currently offers accessible pricing for queer couples. '[Pride] is a good time to remind wedding vendors to stop advertising to only brides or using very gendered language, or assuming that every couple has a bride and a groom,' she said. 'Performative allyship is really dangerous, and for businesses June can be a time of greater reflection on how they can be more clear and inclusive.' According to Michelle, there is an emerging trend for queer couples to distinguish legal marriage from a wedding ceremony. Many of her clients explained that they are registering their marriage now out of an 'abundance of caution' because they don't feel like 'their rights will be protected', she said. 'It's a privilege when you're able to celebrate instead of protest and queerness is always rebellious,' she said. 'You protest when things aren't welcoming to begin with and you celebrate when you're able to but I think also you have to do both. Otherwise, it becomes quite sad.' After noticing an uptick in demand, she created an LGBTQ+ wedding directory of more than 130 businesses. She didn't stop there: Michelle then teamed up with five other vendors to throw a queer mass wedding ball for six lucky couples on 5 January. 'We don't really feel like celebrating. We feel like crying and we feel helpless and all we're trying to do is get married,' Michelle said. 'We just wanted to throw a party. This event is coming out of the time of fear and uncertainty, but that's always been the queer story.' The team behind the wedding ball are 'open to the idea' of hosting a similar event in other states, particularly in Republican-led ones. Nine states are urging the supreme court to reverse Obergefell v Hodges. 'We're scared, and I don't put that lightly,' Michelle said. In Decatur, Georgia, Charis Books & More aim to alleviate the fears the queer and trans community are experiencing. 'My job is to support young people and those with children and to say: 'Look, we have spent most of our history as queer and trans people as outlaws and we can be outlaws again. But, we will survive, we are very creative and we'll figure out how to get through this time,'' said Errol Anderson, the executive director of Charis Books & More's non-profit arm, Charis Circle. Charis Circle hosts events like story time and offers support groups, especially for the trans community. They have four support groups for trans and gender non-conforming individuals across ages. Georgians in less welcoming parts of the state see Charis 'as a beacon', according to Anderson. 'We're seeing these particularly aggressive attacks on trans people for the past couple years now being mirrored in national legislation and it's very scary,' Anderson said. 'A lot of people right now feel very hopeless, but we need to remember we do actually have a lot of power to speak up for what we believe in and our voices do matter.' New York's 34-year-old queer bar Henrietta Hudson is returning to its roots as a political activist space, especially as Pride approaches. 'Acutely since the inauguration, but really since the election, there's a different tone to how people come to [the bar]. It feels more necessary,' Hutch Hutchinson said. 'People are craving to be around other queer people and to be in a safer space. We have to buckle down for the family we have here.' Hutchinson, who uses he/they pronouns, is the director of operations at Henrietta Hudson. He said Pride is already in the air as the bar has seen a surge in energy and purpose. '[Pride] often does feel like a protest and we call our Pride as occupying Hudson, a very definitive statement on us taking up space in the West Village,' he said. 'The general feeling at Henrietta Hudson is that we've just become more political. This place has been through so many eras of queer resistance and uprising. We are relighting that fire.' They lend their bar to vetted non-profits and local grassroots organizations for events giving back to the LGBTQ+ community, such as a Pride Week fundraiser benefiting the BTFA Collective for Black trans femme artists and the annual NYC Dyke March. Hutchinson explained that the bar will always take explicit stances to protect and support the community. It posted a message on their Instagram, calling out the 'immoral', 'dangerous' and 'unlawful' attacks by Trump's administration. 'We talk, as a [staff] about, what does resistance look like? Sure, resistance is showing up to rallies and supporting the ACLU, learning your rights, marching and protesting,' he added. 'But it's so important for us to dance and to see each other smile and laugh and sing. Our joy is resistance.' Down in St Louis, Missouri, art collective Swan Meadow plans to be a safe third space for the community where members can 'simply exist as who they are'. Partners Fern and Mellody Meadow, who both use they/them pronouns, emptied their savings to open the collective last fall after a close presidential election. 'We are always trying to craft events and spaces for people to come to and to sit with complicated emotions and thoughts and to talk to people about them,' Fern said. 'It can be isolating and so frustrating to know that things are wrong that are outside of our control, but when you come together as a community, so much positive change can happen.' They open their workshop multiple times a month for free community-focused events such as 'crafternoons'. Some events act as fundraisers for local mutual aid organizations like the Community Closet, which distributes free household, cleaning and hygiene items. The collective also offers branding, photography and printing services. The Meadows envision Swan Meadow taking on a larger role in political advocacy for the community. 'As pushback becomes more prevalent and discrimination becomes more normal, being visible is more important than ever,' Mellody said. 'I'm tired of living through history.'
Extra.ie
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Hilarious moment Alan Hughes confesses to taking item from VIP Style Awards
Alan Hughes admitted that he 'liberated' an item from his table at the VIP Style Awards. The Ireland AM crew were discussing instances where items would go 'missing' from events and locations, and mysteriously re-appear in your home (the most famous instance being the cupboard in most Irish homes that are chock full of pint glasses that were yoinked from the pub!) While Muireann told viewers that stealing was bad, the presenters asked if any items were 'liberated,' especially while on holiday — and while everyone's nicked the mini soaps from the hotel bathroom, some viewers admitted to taking some impressive items; ranging from a silver tray that the Godfather of Soul James Brown ate off of (and signed), as well as glasses from the 1980 Rose of Tralee. Alan Hughes admitted that he 'liberated' an item from his table at the VIP Style Awards. Pic: Virgin Media Television Alan even admitted to having sticky fingers of his own, most recently at the VIP Style Awards earlier this month. 'I took the flower centrepiece from the VIP Style Awards home,' Alan told a shocked Muireann and Tommy. 'They told me we could take them because they were all going to be thrown out!' while Tommy added 'this is why they love [stealing].' Alan said that he nabbed the white roses on the centrepieces, but admitted that he didn't actually take them home from the awards ceremony (imagine having to explain that to the taxi driver) — but rather got his husband Karl Broderick to do his dirty work for him. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ireland AM (@irelandamvmtv) 'They said that they were going to [throw them out] — beautiful white roses in a bowl,' Alan said. 'I sent Karl down to get it!' Alan headed to the VIP Style Awards with husband Karl in tow, with Karl paying a special nod to the 10th anniversary of the Marriage Equality referendum, which saw Ireland become the first country in the world to pass same-sex marriage via a popular vote. '@ style awards red carpet look,' Alan wrote on his Instagram. 'Great night as always and a huge thanks to @guyclothing for dressing both of us. Alan and his husband Karl stunned at the VIP Style Awards, with Karl paying a special tribute to the 10th anniversary of the Marriage Equality referendum. Pic: Brian McEvoy 'Love Karl's little nod to 10 years of marriage equality with his rainbow pocket sq.'
BreakingNews.ie
7 days ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Irish MEP warns of dangers to LGBT community across Europe
Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh has warned of the increasing dangers people of the LGBTQ+ community are facing across Europe. Ms Walsh was speaking on the 10th anniversary of the Marriage Equality referendum in Ireland, which saw 62 per cent in favour of same-sex marriage, on a high turnout of 61 per cent. Advertisement The Fine Gael MEP made headlines in 2014, as she was the first openly gay winner of the Rose of Tralee. Speaking to Breakingnews, Ms Walsh recalled the celebrations in Australia as Ireland voted for same sex couples to have the right to get married. "In many ways, it was a bittersweet moment", said Ms Walsh. "I wasn't in Dublin Castle for the announcement of equality for my peers and my generation, but I was on the dance floor in Perth, having just watched the new Perth Rose get selected, standing alongside a Labour politician, who is Dublin born but Australia raised of the name of Stephen Dawson. Advertisement "While he and his husband were married in 2013, he re-proposed right in front of us on the dancefloor. For him, his home country had seen this overwhelming change of welcome and removal of indifference. "It was such a unique moment to experience, but obviously I would have loved to have been in and around Dublin Castle, but probably more so the West of Ireland, where the perception coming into the election was rural communities would never see the equality that was needed." Ms Walsh admitted the referendum, combined with passing the referendum in 2018 for abortion rights in the country, were big contributing factors to her entering politics. However, she warned that referendums alone would not be enough to continue social change in the country. Advertisement "People were excited about themselves or a family member or a friend or an auntie or uncle who moved away in the 70s because of their orientation, was now being celebrated. "Repeal the eighth, just the very basic right to women's healthcare, it captured the change that was needed. It was a removal of the shackles in many ways for cultural beliefs. "That hold that we had of ourselves or of other people had of us as a country, that just lifted, which is incredible. "I remember having really deep and meaningful conversations around marriage equality and repeal the eighth, and one of the things that really frustrated me in those conversations was a general election would be coming on and I would ask if they are interested in that, and they would say "not at all, that's not really for me". Advertisement "We do know the circle of change happens when we elect people who want positive change and positive change. That disconnect was apparent in those two referendums. "They are sexy, they are trendy, they mobilised a vote, they got people home to vote. All of that became so relevant, which is fantastic. "Since then, I wonder how we can connect people to push that progressive change outside of these referendums." In the last few years, countries across Europe have seen a push from far-right politicians and groups which have targeted the rights of LGBTQ+ people. Advertisement Earlier this week, an event by the Labour party had to be postponed 'due to the threat of protest from far-right actors at the original venue'. Ms Walsh highlighted further examples of moments of feeling unsafe for herself and other members of the community, both in Ireland and across Europe. "There is a website dedicated to me from the 2019 election created by a very infamous family from the west of Ireland, that says by going to schools I brainwash children into becoming LGBTI people, which is so far away from the truth it is laughable. "In June last year, Wicklow Pride was forced to cancel due to threats from protestors. Research from the Midlands LGBTI+ project show 20 per cent of gay people feel unsafe. "Panti Bliss shared on the radio over the weekend that she has never felt more unsafe in the last 10, 15, or 20 years. "I feel safe, but I'm not walking around Dublin city all the time. I am not coming out of gay pubs or nightclubs every weekend. "I absolutely felt unsafe when I was in Belgrade in the Euro Pride parade two years ago. I absolutely felt unsafe attending Budapest pride a couple of years ago, I have no doubt I will feel unsafe when I attend again at the end of June. "There is points over the campaign where do I feel unsafe, no, but it is certainly unsafe online. It doesn't take a whole lot to shift from online to the physical space. "Equality is so hard fought, and very quickly lost, and that is the epicentre of the work we still need to do."
