Latest news with #acceptance
CTV News
2 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
London police raise pride flag at headquarters
London police raised the pride flag at headquarters on June 1, 2025 (Source: London Police Service) Members of the London police service raised the pride flag in front of London police headquarters on Dundas Street on Sunday morning, June 1, marking the start of pride month. Police say that the flag raising took place alongside community partners, and posted photos on X stating, "Let's all come together to celebrate love, equality, and acceptance this month and every month!" 060125_pride flag london police London police raised the pride flag at headquarters on June 1, 2025 (Source: London Police Service)
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- South China Morning Post
New Zealand's rainbow capital sees rise in anti-LGBTQ hate
Wellington, long celebrated as New Zealand 's most inclusive city, is witnessing a rise in anti-LGBTQ attacks, leaving many residents feeling unsafe – and some contemplating leaving altogether. The mother of a 19-year-old gay student, who moved to the country's capital for university, told the Stuff news website that her son faced constant intimidation and was regularly subjected to homophobic slurs on the streets of Wellington. Paradoxically, Wellington was chosen for the son's studies because of the homophobia he had faced in the small town he previously lived in. An aerial view of Wellington, New Zealand. Photo: AP 'We thought it was the safest, most alternative and accepting city, but it's not,' said the mum, as quoted by Stuff on Monday. 'He's scared walking out in public by himself in Wellington.' According to 2023 census data cited by Radio New Zealand, 11.3 per cent of Wellington's residents identify as LGBTQ or part of the rainbow community – the highest proportion in the country. Dunedin follows at 7.3 per cent, Christchurch at 6 per cent, and Palmerston North at 5.8 per cent. Wellington's reputation for being queer-friendly has been widely publicised. Last year, an LGBTQ travel magazine named it one of the world's best destinations for rainbow tourists, while Lonely Planet ranked it among the top places for LGBTQ families to visit earlier this year. But many LGBTQ residents say Wellington's atmosphere of acceptance has shifted in recent months.
News24
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News24
Being deaf doesn't stop these cute Pit bulls from serving as therapy dogs
Chris Hannah is one lucky man, according to his thousands of followers on social media. He's the dog dad to four Pit bull mixes – Cole, CeCe, Alice and Sullivan – all of whom were born with disabilities. All of them are deaf but Alice is also partially blind and has a cleft palate and Sullivan is completely blind. Chris is a music teacher at a primary school in New Jersey in the US that caters to children with autism and other learning disabilities. Instagram/@colethedeafdog His journey as a dog dad began when he walked into an animal shelter in 2017 and four-month-old Cole stole his heart. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cole The Deaf Dog and Christopher Hannah (@colethedeafdog) When Chris said he'd adopt Cole that day, a man waiting at the shelter asked him, 'Why would you want a broken dog?' It was this question that motivated Chris to show the world that 'it's okay to be different' and that 'a disability isn't an inability'. Chris has a nephew who is deaf and as the two of them communicated in sign language, Cole soon began to understand and respond to sign too. The teacher started taking his new four-legged pal to school with him so that the children could interact with Cole. 'He began changing lives immediately, sparking the most incredible conversations with my students as I watched their young hearts open with acceptance.' 'We began a mission of showing the world that a disability is not an inability and in Cole's case it became his superpower,' Chris says. 'It was never planned, it just happened, one incredible moment after another.' Cole became a therapy dog, going to school every day to interact with learners through a unique social-emotional learning programme they created. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cole The Deaf Dog and Christopher Hannah (@colethedeafdog) 'When students are interacting with Cole I truly believe that they feel like they have something or someone there to support them,' Chris says. When Cole isn't at school he spends time with retired veterans, comforting them and going on walks and even accompanying them when they go ten pin bowling. 'What this little dog is able to do for these veterans is pretty powerful,' Chris says. Cole has won many awards including, the ASPCA Dog of the Year 2023 and Hero Therapy Dog 2022, and has become a great example to CeCe, Alice and Sullivan who are all therapy dogs too. Chris is aware of the labels that come with Pit bull breeds but says this is just another adversity that they have to overcome. READ MORE | Meet Stormi, the Umhlanga Rottweiler who's a canine-fluencer in the making The dog dad says this is 'a life I never could have imagined'. 'All of these pups were once considered underdogs but are now changing minds and opening hearts. I will never become numb to all the special moments that I am blessed enough to witness,' he says. 'I never believed in destiny until that day I first walked into that shelter and found my life path.'
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Chelsea Flower Show garden aims to tackle HIV stigma
A Welsh rugby legend has served as the inspiration for a garden that aims to tackle the stigma around Thomas, who revealed he was HIV positive in 2019, teamed up with designer Manoj Malde for the garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, which the player affectionately known as Alfie said was "two years in the making" is a celebration of how far treatment of the virus has - who was the first player to win 100 caps for Wales - said he was proud to have created a space that shared a message of acceptance in a "beautiful, different way." "I came to the Chelsea Flower Show to de-stigmatise the HIV virus. Coming here, I felt that people wouldn't understand or accept me," Thomas told Radio Wales said this garden was his way of changing that and it was a "fantastic platform" to deliver an important message in a creative way."What we've managed to do is create a story of a lived experience through the beauty of plants and sculpture," he said. He wanted it to recognise the "lives lost" to the HIV epidemic in the 1980s adding that this was a way "to remember them".About 39.9 million people worldwide are living with HIV, according to the most recent figures for 2023. The garden has a number of features, including inspirational words etched into objects associated with the stigmas attached to HIV is a bridge over the water symbolising a leap of faith and red ribbons, a universal symbol of HIV awareness and support, in a seated area. "We hit it off straight away. Our thoughts about the garden were on the same page," said men wanted it to be a message of "positivity" and Malde said it was "brilliant to take Gareth's personal experiences and translate them into something that is beautiful".He added: "If you look at the colour in this garden it is joyful. Gareth is always full of joy and that comes through in this garden." Thomas said HIV was "still misunderstood" which is why stigma still exists."I have experienced and heard first hand stories and I am determined to change this," he added."I take one tablet a day and it doesn't stop me from doing anything mentally or physically. I live a normal, happy, healthy life."
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'I was refused service in a cafe because of my face'
Subjected to brutal bullying as a child, Amit Ghose says he still has to deal with constant staring, pointing and comments, and has even been refused service in a cafe because of his face. The 35-year-old from Birmingham described how visiting an independent coffee shop in London recently "everyone was staring at me, and it was like they'd almost seen a ghost". "The person serving looked at me and said: 'Oh, we're not serving any more'. "She turned around and walked off. But clearly, clearly they were still serving." Amit was born with Neurofibromatosis type 1, a condition that causes non-cancerous tumours to grow along nerves. But after "learning acceptance" of his facial disfigurement he now shares his motivational story in schools with the aim of helping children "embrace their personalities and celebrate who they are". Another recent experience of abuse spurred him on to self publish a children's book, Born Different. "I had a couple of individuals come over to me in a park and ask me what happened to my face, and I thought they were just being curious," he said. "But actually they started laughing, giggling, saying: 'Oh my God, if I had a face like you I wouldn't even come out my house'." He said the encounter "really upset" him, "and I thought to myself, I need to do something about this. I need to get this book out. Now is the right time". "If I had this book when I was a young child, I think it would have helped me." Amit had his left eye surgically removed at the age of 11, leading to further facial disfigurement as well as abuse and bullying. In the run up to Halloween one year, a child at school told him "you don't need a Halloween mask, you've got one for life", he recalled. "That broke me to the point where I did not accept the left hand side of my face," he said. "For a very, very long time I hid the face, I just was not comfortable showing it to the world at all." Looking back, he said he had not understood the depth of depression and anxiety he experienced then. "Other children not wanting to come and sit next to me or hiding behind their parents all had a mental effect on me," he said. At school, cricket was his passion and it was through playing the game that he eventually made friends. "Cricket helped me become Amit, that boy who plays cricket, from Amit, the boy who has a funny face," he explained. But, he said, even as an adult he still experienced "constant staring". "The pointing, the tapping the friend next to them saying 'have you seen that guy's face', that is also constant," he said. "But there is kindness out there as well, and that needs highlighting." It was his wife Piyali who eventually taught him the "art of acceptance," he explained. "Really that I've got to accept myself before others can accept me," he added. She also persuaded him to start sharing his story on social media. "I thought TikTok was all about singing and dancing, and I thought maybe not, but she convinced me. "I created a video and I said to the world: 'I want to take you all on a journey to help and support and inspire you using my lived experiences.'" He started his account in early 2023, and has since gone on to gain almost 200,000 followers and millions of likes. "Me helping people on social media by sharing my story has helped me become more accepting of myself. "Now I say to the world, this is me, take it or leave it." At about the same time, he left his job at a law firm to take up motivational speaking full time. Helping young people felt so much more important, he said. He is also about to launch a podcast in which he speaks to others who have had similar experiences, including Oliver Bromley who was ejected from a restaurant because staff said he was "scaring the customers". "We're going to have lots of fun and inspire a lot of people," he said. "Disability or no disability, visible difference or no visible difference, we all have insecurities, we all have things that we're faced with, and challenges we're faced with. "I just want to give this narrative to people that if we truly celebrate who we are, accept who we are, fall in love with who we are, then we can be more confident." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. 'Restaurant ejected me due to my disfigurement' The secret I'm hiding under my baggy clothes 'You are the modern day Elephant Man' Amit Ghose TikTok Nerve Tumours UK
