COVID Recoverees Can Give Blood After 7 Days. Gay Men Still Must Wait 3 Months

Since the release of her debut album Let Go in 2002, Avril Lavigne has seen an unfathomable amount of success. Her album sales exceed 40 million worldwide, with her singles racking up 10 million more than that. She is the third-best-selling Canadian female artist of all time, behind only Celine Dion and Shania Twain, and is widely seen as one of defining artists of the 2000s alongside the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and P!nk. Her impact can still be felt today, as artists like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo credit the singer-songwriter as a major influence of theirs.

Egypt.Bashtaalak Sa’at (Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day?) screened at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this month. Written and directed by Egyptian-born Mohammad Shawky Hassan, it delves into gay relationships in Arab society, looking at a number of folk tales through the queer lens.Despite a warm reception at the festival, government officials in Hassan’s native Egypt have already denounced the movie, and are taking steps to make sure it never screens in the country.Arabian-language website Fil Fan reports:The film will not be screened in Egypt for several reasons.

Call Me Nathan, a new LGBTQ+ graphic novel written by Catherine Castro with art by Quentin Zuttion, will be hitting the bookshelves on March 2022. Set in the universally-troubling time of puberty, Nathan finds himself at a crossroads when his body begins to change and doesn’t feel like it belongs to him. His peers and […]

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott is hopeful legislation that decriminalizes loitering for adults with the intent to engage in sex work becomes law this year. While it passed out of the California Legislature in 2021, the bill has yet to be sent to Governor Gavin Newsom for him to either sign or veto.Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) authored the controversial legislation, Senate Bill 357.

By the time you read this column, Florida's House of Representatives may have already voted on House Bill 1557/Senate Bill 1834. The legislation is officially called the Parental Rights in Education bill, but you might better know it as the "Don't Say Gay" bill.Taking more than a few pages from the same organizers that brought the Briggs initiative to California in the 1970s (the failed ballot measure to ban LGBTQs from teaching in public schools), the bill would bar teachers from discussing LGBTQ issues or people in schools.

February 12, 2022Richard Bell passed away on February 12, 2022 as a result of a massive heart attack. He is survived by his loving partner and husband of 30 years, Stephen Hein; by his brothers Patrick and Thomas Giorgilli; his niece Ashley Giorgilli; and hundreds of friends.

It was August 2017 when San Francisco activists and officials got word far-right Patriot Prayer group planned to hold a "free speech" rally at Crissy Field. Organizer Joey Gibson apparently got cold feet, however, and abruptly canceled the event and sent counterprotesters scrambling.

The GLBT Historical Society Museum in San Francisco's LGBTQ Castro district reopened this week after being closed for a month due to the Omicron surge of the COVID-19 pandemic.According to a news release, the reopening also inaugurates a new schedule for the museum, which will now be Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Without a recall or other election to help drive up voter interest, turnout is expected to be significantly lower for the April 19 runoff race for San Francisco's vacant 17th Assembly District seat. Even with ballots being mailed out to registered voters in the city's eastern neighborhoods, the race is likely to be decided by less than half of those eligible to vote.According to the city's elections department, a little less than 35% of the 287,636 registered voters in the Assembly District cast ballots in the February 15 special election to fill the seat vacated by David Chiu, who in November became San Francisco's first Asian American city attorney.

Rand Paul’s wife, Kelley, took a break from her usual rage tweeting about Black Lives Matter and mask mandates to defend JK Rowling this week.Mrs. Paul used Twitter to voice her outrage over a New York Times ad seen in a Washington, D.C.

letter to DFPS.In 2021 the Texas legislature tried and failed to pass S.B. 1646, a bill that would codify any gender-affirming care, including hormone replacement therapy and surgical procedure for minors as child abuse under state law, making it illegal for parents to seek medical care for children experiencing gender dysphoria.While the bill, fortunately, failed in committee, that didn’t stop Gov.

We caught the fabulous Fashion Freak Show at the Southbank Centre back in 2019 when it made its London debut, following an acclaimed premiere at Folies Bergère in Paris. After a two-year break we’re delighted it’s back to light up the London stage once more, this time with a new home at the iconic Roundhouse in Camden. We’re told the production has been re-imagined and re-staged for this venue and now incorporates a catwalk – we can’t wait to see how that turns out!

Pangina Heals has defended Blu Hydrangea from trolls sending her hate over the outcome of the latest Drag Race UK vs the World episode.

A speeding ticket is the least of congressional candidate Martin Hyde’s worries after footage of him interacting with a police officer has gone viral.The British-born, Florida Republican, who is is running to represent the state’s 16th Congressional District in the U.S. House, was pulled over on Valentine’s Day for driving 57 mph in a 40 mph zone while texting on his phone.Officer Julia Beskin’s body cam captured Hyde’s response.Michael Flynn and Roger Stone backed congressional candidate not backing the blue in new traffic stop: “I’ll just call your Chief.

The New York Times. The judge's statement came two days following a jury’s verdict in the suit that was originally filed in 2018.Goldring was arrested by two officers — Vladimir Henry and Juan Restrepo — in Atlanta, Ga.

Greg Abbott has officially ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate families whose transgender children underwent certain sex change procedures.In a letter addressed to the DFPS on February 22, Abbott enacted the agency to consider some of these procedures as examples of child abuse. These surgeries include sterilization or mastectomies, as well as the administration of certain doses of testosterone or estrogen.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers) By Michel K. Lavers  |  Washington Blade

(Image via Warner Books)

Three Months, which lands on Paramount+ today.Related: What to Watch: Troye Sivan in love, a dance club for the deaf and a Queerty exclusiveThe movie tells the story of Caleb (Troye Sivan), a South Florida teenager exposed to HIV on the eve of his high school graduation. So begins three months of HIV tests to see if he’s contracted the virus. To wait out the interval, he joins an HIV support group and immediately falls for Estha (Viveik Kalra), a handsome Indian immigrant going through a similar scare.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticFittingly enough, “Three Months” is a movie about waiting, and while 12 weeks may seem like an eternity to its openly gay lead character, Caleb (Australian pop star Troye Sivan), it’s nothing compared to the decades others have spent waiting for a project like this to come along. Here, readily available to anyone with a Paramount Plus subscription, is a frank, affirmational portrait of a contemporary queer teenager.

The ‘Save Women’s Sports’ Bill is seeking to ban Trans athletes from single-sex sports by amending Australia’s Sex Discrimination act. Essentially, the bill means that no legal action can be taken against women’s sports clubs for excluding Trans persons. The new legislation was proposed by Senator Claire Chandler and backed by Scott Morrison, the Australian […]

Drama! (Image by Matthew Rettenmund)

Elton John endured a terrifying in-flight ordeal when his private jet encountered a hydraulic failure at 10,000 feet and was forced to make an emergency landing.The “Rocket Man” singer was on his way to New York from the UK when trouble hit. About an hour into the journey, the pilot was forced to turn around near the coast of southern Ireland.To make a bad situation much worse, 80 mph winds made the emergency landing a harrowing ordeal. The plane had to abort landing twice as firefighters from six local stations and ambulance crews waited on the Farnborough Airport tarmac.“The terrible weather and epic gusts made it almost impossible to land.

If you haven’t been paying close attention to the situation in Ukraine, now would be a good time to start.This week, Russian troops started moving into the eastern region of the country, claiming the area is “independent” and, therefore, theirs for the taking. The Ukrainian government is now preparing for an emergency, calling up military reservists and urging any of its citizens in Russia to immediately evacuate.

David Cicilline of Rhode Island in 2016, according to the Federal Election Commission.Taub, 33, has been imprisoned after he was convicted of defrauding political donors a few years ago.In a recent unearthed documents from the FEC first reported by The Providence Journal, U.S. officials say Taub sent a direct message to a Twitter account known to be used by Russian intelligence, Guccifer 2.0.“Can you get a list of Republican donors for me. I am running for office myself,” Taub asked the account.

Apple is currently testing a new Siri that would be less gendered and voiced by a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

A Florida lawmaker has withdrawn an amendment to the so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill that prohibits discussions about LGBTQ+ topics in school. The amendment would have required teachers and school officials to ‘out’ students to their parents within six weeks after having discovered they are LGBTQ+. The controversial measure was proposed by State Rep. Joe […]

The Florida House held a contentious debate on the dangerously anti-LGBTQ “Don’t Say Gay” bill Tuesday afternoon, and despite numerous reports, one of the bill’s core tenets – outing LGBTQ+ children to parents – remains intact.

Related: Trump’s messy week just got worse and it’s only TuesdayHowever, Trump, in an interview on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, said Putin’s recognition of the breakaway was “smart” and “pretty savvy.”“I went in yesterday, and there was a television screen,” said Trump, “and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.”“I said, ‘How smart is that?’ He’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper.

The Feminist Society of NUIG, along with a number of other local women’s rights groups, are organising a Reclaim the Night march against gender-based violence, commencing tonight in Eyre Square, Galway, at 7.30pm. This comes after the growing mobilisation around men’s violence against women since the murder of Ashling Murphy and the multiple other attacks […]

Nearly one in four LGBT+ sex crime victims were attacked by people trying to ‘convert or punish’ them, a study has found.Some 23.5% said they were assaulted in a bid to force them to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.That rose to about a third if the victim was asexual, non-binary or transgender, LGBT+ anti-abuse charity Galop found.The 18 to 24 age group reported the highest level of attacks, the poll of 1,020 people aged 16 and over reported.The findings mirror claims made to the charity’s front-line staff of family members or others raping victims or arranging for third parties to do it, in attempts to ‘correct their sexuality’.Chilling CCTV shows solicitor injecting his blood into food at Sainsbury'sSolicitor injected food at Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose with his own bloodStudent, 21, 'dropped off dead at hospital after taking Uber home on night out'The government has vowed to introduce a legislative ban on the ‘abhorrent practice’ of conversion therapy, with a consultation closing on February 4.But Galop boss Leni Morris said the new research demonstrates the need for a ban on so-called conversion therapy ‘without delay’.‘This is happening to LGBT+ people of all cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds right now in the UK,’ she added.Jayne Ozanne, an ex-government aide who survived 20 years of conversion therapy, called the findings ‘shocking’.She urged No.10 to ban the therapy with ‘no exceptions, no loopholes’, saying: ‘It is an act of evil’.Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.For more stories like this, check our news page.Not convinced? Find out more »

Spencer.The role has landed Stewart, who is bisexual and engaged to the screenwriter Dylan Meyer,  with a heap of award nominations. This includes a ‘Best Actress’ nod at the forthcoming Academy Awards.

Cypress Ramos was found dead in Texas, making her at least the third trans or gender non-conforming person to be killed in America in 2022.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear an appeal from a Colorado web designer who objects to providing services for same-sex marriages, returning the justices to a battleground in the culture wars pitting claims of religious freedom against laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The court last considered the clash in 2018, when a similar dispute between a Colorado baker and a gay couple failed to yield a definitive ruling. The precise question the justices agreed to decide in the new case is “whether applying a public-accommodation law to compel an artist to speak or stay silent violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.” The court will hear the case, 303 Creative LLC v.

The Australian singer-songwriter will be joining a new HBO series titled The Idol which is set to star The Weekend and Lily-Rose Depp.

A pair of queer siblings have been found guilty of “complicity with illegal armed formations” in a local court in Chechnya – charges that have been described as “fabricated” by Human Rights groups. Salekh Magamadov (21) and Ismail Isaev (19) were sentenced Tuesday, 22 February, for smuggling goods to an alleged Chechen militant, although it’s […]

Stonewall has released its Top 100 Employers List in celebration of those bringing LGBTQ+ inclusion to the forefront of the workplace.

The post Exclusive: Pangina Heals addresses her “triggering” Drag Race UK vs the World exit appeared first on GAY TIMES.

Two brothers who fled Chechnya’s anti-LGBTQ+ crackdown have been given lengthy prison sentences for alleged “illegal” activities.

Instagram page this week.The clip has amassed more than 50,000 views since it was posted on Twitter by Patriot Takes, a group that says its mission is to "expose the far-right disinformation machine.""This is like, very disturbing to me... like, the Black History and then the LGBT stuff," Schmidt says to a store employee folding clothes in the video."It's really disturbing to me. Like, why don't they have like white history month and like, why don't they celebrate straight pride? You know? Why aren't they more inclusive?"“It’s disturbing, man.

The post Winter Olympics: Here’s every medal-winning LGBTQ+ athlete from the Beijing 2022 Games appeared first on GAY TIMES.

A Republican legislator withdrew a controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill amendment that would have seen students forcibly outed by schools.

Good morning. Today we’ll look at New York State’s surge in the newly legalized world of online sports betting (and how bettors used ‘Twosday’ to play the numbers). Also, Mayor Eric Adams is criticized for some appointments.

A local Chechen court on Tuesday jailed queer siblings Salekh Magamadov (21) and Ismail Isaev (19) to almost a decade behind bars after finding them guilty of “complicity with illegal armed formations”.The siblings had first come to the notice of authorities in 2019 after an officer found an LGBTQI Pride flag on Ismail’s phone. Chechen authorities had detained Salekh and Ismail last year, after the siblings tried to flee persecution. “Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, in a statement released prior to the sentencing.

It's had a good run. (GIF via GIPHY)

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics has announced its Dorian Award nominations for the best in movies.  Netflix and Neon dominate the nominations this year.

The L.A. Pride Parade, canceled for the past two years, is returning and taking a new route in the community where the event started.

In 2014, as Uganda was promulgating a law that made some homosexual behavior punishable by life in prison, a councilman from the Bronx traveled to the country and hailed its “godly” governance. “Gay marriage is not accepted in this country,” the councilman, Fernando Cabrera, said approvingly, sitting among palm trees in a video posted to YouTube. “Why? Because the Christians have assumed the place of decision-making for the nation.