Netflix’s first Arabic original film accused of promoting “homosexuality and betrayal”

A brand new LGBT+ Music Festival is coming to Portugal this summer from July 1st-3rd 2022. Put together by the Apollon Group in partnership with MTV and Attitude Magazine, the festival will be 72 hours of non-stop fun honoring the LGBT+ community.

federal officials recently visited sites across the Mississippi Delta associated with Emmett Till’s life and death to gather local input on the creation of a national park dedicated to Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. He should not be forgotten.The initial federal hate-crimes legislation was signed into law by Lyndon Johnson as far back as 1968; yet there was little execution of the law since it had many loopholes, and many states and municipalities were unwilling to bring hate-crimes charges, some because the charges can be difficult to prove, and for others a glaring lack of interest in pursuing them.In 2009, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr.

Gov. Greg Abbott told state health agencies in Texas on Tuesday that medical treatments provided to transgender adolescents, widely considered to be the standard of care in medicine, should be classified as “child abuse” under existing state law. His statements, made in a letter to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, followed an opinion on Friday by Attorney General Ken Paxton that said providing medical treatments like puberty-suppressing drugs and hormones to transgender teenagers should be investigated as child abuse.

Greg Abbott has become the target of death threats on social media as news of his order to have the parents of trans children investigated for child abuse hit the trending page of Twitter, prompting an outcry from users.A Tuesday letter sent from Abbott to the state's Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), saw the Republican governor demand that the agency look into parents who have supported gender-affirming procedures for their children.The letter read that reassignment surgeries, puberty blockers and hormone treatments violated state law and amounted to "child abuse," adding that doctors, nurses, and teachers held a responsibility to report parents who violate this law.Outrage around this measure sparked violate comments from Twitter users, with one person stating "[I] will personally beat [G]reg [A]bbot to death. [I] do not care that [I] live in a different country [I] will personally fly to [T]exas and beat the ever loving s**t out of him."i will personally beat greg abbot to deathi do not care that i live in a different country i will personally fly to texas and beat the ever loving shit out of himA separate user tweeted, "'Vote out Greg Abbott!' b**ch we need to KILL him." Another user wrote, "[M]fs in [T]exas are so stupid, all u gotta do is kill Greg Abbott." Other tweets, including one where a user wrote "I'm going to kill the governor of Texas" have since been taken down."Vote out Greg Abbott!" bitch we need to KILL him.mfs in texas are so stupid, all u gotta do is kill greg abbottThough actual surgery is rarely used, some trans children do use puberty blockers, a measure that medical professionals report to be "completely reversible," The Texas Tribune wrote.

The Courier-Journal of Louisville reports. Herron, like Meeks a Democrat, beat Republican Judy Martin Stallard by 1,959 votes to 119 in the Louisville-based district. She will be sworn in shortly.Herron was previously a policy strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorTroye Sivan remembers that first time he got tested for HIV. “I was in a new relationship and I wanted to have sex,” he recalls on this week’s episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. “We both went and got tested and once we were all clear, it was all good to go.”He also remembers learning about the virus that causes AIDS while growing up in Australia.

Joe Tom Easley, the gay rights activist and lawyer who worked to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and whose 2003 wedding was among the first same-sex unions announced in The New York Times, died on Feb. 13 at a hospital in Miami Beach. He was 81.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors last week approved putting a charter amendment on the June ballot that would change the rules for the city recall elections. We think the proposal is undemocratic in principle, particularly because, in the event that an officeholder is recalled, the candidates appointed by the mayor would be prohibited from running for the seat themselves in the next election.District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin came up with the proposed amendment.

South Los Angeles resident Jamaal Gulledge is aiming to be California's first gay Black state senator. But the first-time candidate faces an uphill climb in raising enough money to get his name and message out to voters.Gulledge is seeking the open 28th Senate District seat that represents West and South Los Angeles as well as Culver City, Mar Vista, Palms, and Ladera Heights.

Rates of sexually transmitted diseases rose in San Francisco in 2021, according to a year-end report released by the city's Department of Public Health.Dr. Stephanie Cohen, a straight ally who is the medical director of DPH's City Clinic in the South of Market neighborhood, told the Bay Area Reporter that "the impact of COVID-19 on sexual health services" led to statistics that were probably lower than the real rate of community infections."In 2021, we fortunately saw an increase in engagement with sexual health services," Cohen said.

Ryan Murphy and director Andrew Rossi have teamed up to create an intimate six-part series for Netflix about the life of Andy Warhol, using the iconic pop artist’s own posthumously published diaries.Per Netflix:Beginning with his childhood in Pittsburgh, the series traces Warhol’s almost unbelievably diverse journey fluidly moving between mediums and through eras as an artist —both revered and reviled — director, publisher, TV producer, scene maker, celebrity and much more. While he was a larger than life figure, Warhol was intensely private regarding his personal life.

Rosie O’Donnell has issued an apology for her first attempt at apologizing to Priyanka Chopra following an awkward encounter with her and her husband Nick Jonas.O’Donnell initially posted a TikTok video over the weekend, recounting her run-in with Chopra and Jonas at Nobu restaurant in Malibu.In that first post, the comedian said embarrassed herself (and her son, his girlfriend, and Fran Drescher) when she approached the famous couple for a chat.O’Donnell explained: “I just embarrassed my son and his girlfriend Theresa and Fran Drescher because seated next to us in Malibu Nobu was Nick Jonas and his wife, someone Chopra.“Which I always assumed was Deepak Chopra’s daughter, so when I said ‘hi Nick Jonas you were great in Kingdom and hi I know your dad’, she goes ‘you do? Who’s my dad?’“I said Deepak, and she said ‘no and Chopra is a common name.’ I felt so embarrassed, didn’t you think Nick Jonas was married to Deepak Chopra’s daughter, am I the only one who thought that?“To Nick Jonas I apologize, and to the Chopra wife, I apologize too.”nick jonas at nobu #sunday ? original sound – Rosie ODonnell Comments started pouring in criticizing O’Donnell for referring to Priyanka as both “someone Chopra” and “the Chopra wife,” which prompted O’Donnell to post a followup video.In the second video, she said: “Good morning everybody, I was reading the comments about Nick Jonas and his wife Priyanka Chopra, who I mistakenly thought was Deepak’s daughter, and people thought she was rude, she wasn’t rude it was just awkward.“I’m sure she gets sick of that, I’m sure I’m not the only one.

For the first time, U.S. regulators have officially authorized a condom to be used for anal sex, not just vaginal sex. The decision, announced by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday, has long been sought by sexual health experts, who said it could encourage more people who engage in anal sex to use condoms to protect themselves against H.I.V.

Getting to Zero Activist Academy will host a symposium to provide education about the national movement to decriminalize sex work entitled, “Decrimpact” on Saturday, February 26 from 11am-2:30 p.m. ET.

A post shared by Priyanjul Johari • // (@141.269)As Bollywood continues to follow Hollywood’s trend toward embracing more queer-inclusive stories, a gay Indian couple has taken to the internet to describe their harrowing experience seeing a new romantic comedy.Badhai Do has secured strong buzz thanks to its inclusion of LGBTQ characters. The film tells the story of a so-called “lavender wedding,” that is, a marriage between a lesbian and gay man for the purposes of social acceptance and obligation.So far, the movie has earned praise for the performances of its two leads, Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar, as well as for its blending of drama and humor.Boyfriends Agniva and Priyanjul Johari decided to see the film together, but they ended up having an experience they didn’t expect.

That’s a rhetorical question, but you’ll be able to answer it if you join more than 2000 guys and girls at the 20th anniversary of Elevation Mammoth Gay Ski Week from March 16-20th, 2022.  You’ll have fun (read: sexy, silly, adventurous fun in the outdoors and indoors) figuring out the answer.  After all, Daddies are “in” right now.Speaking of Daddies, LA event producer Tom Whitman put his love of producing big gay events together with his lifelong love of skiing and snowboarding and remixed the two to create the first Elevation in Mammoth exactly two decades ago.  Since then, he has added Elevation Utah and Elevation Tremblant to the family.  (Breaking news…he’s thinking about adding another location next year.  Keep it on the DL…or not.)Mammoth is one of our favorite mountains in the US, for a lot of reasons, but partially because size does matter, no matter what anyone tells you.  As Ski Magazine said in 2022 “Mammoth Mountain is BIG…hosting an amazing range of terrain and snow, Mammoth aims to please skiers of all types…it’s no surprise it earns the #3 spot for Terrain.”Almost as large as Mammoth, the Elevation Utah event has grown incredibly over the last 12 years, and takes Park City by gay storm each February.  The baby sister of the family, Elevation Tremblant, is on a timeout this year due to COVID, but we look forward to her return in 2023.The Elevation Gay Ski Weeks have become the gold standard of gay getaways, and are now the largest series of gay ski events in the world.  Their legendary status is due, in large part, to Whitman’s uncanny ability to be always dependable but never predictable.Whether you attend Elevation Mammoth (the friendly Cal-centric snowboarder and ski-bro heaven with bluebird spring

Gov. Greg Abbott, left, and Attorney General Ken Paxton

A woman in New York City who has no detectable HIV after undergoing a new type of stem cell transplant may represent another rare cure, researchers reported February 15 at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.The woman, who has leukemia, received a combination of umbilical cord blood cells with a rare mutation that blocks HIV entry and partially matched adult stem cells from a relative. She stopped antiretroviral therapy three years after the transplant, and 14 months later her viral load remains undetectable.

A court has stopped, for now, Russia's attempt to shut down the parent organization to the country's largest LGBTQ organization.Russia's Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit February 8 against the Sphere Foundation, the parent organization of the Russian LGBT Network, in the Kuibyshev Court of St. Petersburg, according to the St.

The Seattle Times reports.Fahlberg had returned to his hometown of Spokane from London after the death of his husband, Michael Rittiman, from cancer in 2018. Fahlberg had lived in Europe for 17 years.When he joined Amazon, he told the Times, “I literally got, ‘Here’s your computer, do your job.’ From the very beginning, it was a very negative experience.”He tried befriending his supervisor, a woman who was new in Spokane.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterFritz Peters, a post-WWII literary heavyweight and unsung LGBTQ icon, will see his work adapted into feature films and repopulated on bookshelves.Production label Hirsch Giovanni Entertainment has acquired movie and publishing rights to novels and memoirs by Peters, who lived as a commercial author beloved by glitterati like Gore Vidal. His work included themes of mental illness, homosexuality and spiritual growth in the ’50s and ’60s.

Aston Villa midfielder Thomas Hitzelsperger says that an organised collective coming out of gay footballers could help ‘take the pressure off’ individuals.Ex-Germany international Hitzelsperger came out as gay after ending his playing career in 2013 following a short stint with Everton, and his idea has been inspired by a similar movement in the Catholic Church in Germany.The #OutInChurch movement saw 125 priests, religious personnel and other staff members come out as a group last week, in a move designed to allow each individual to make their sexuality clear in public without having to deal with the pressure and media scrutiny of doing so alone.Hitzelsperger was 31 when he told he the world about his sexuality, having been advised against doing so when he originally wanted to as a Wolfsburg player a couple of years previously. In doing so, Hitzelsperger became the first German player and first former Premier League player to come out.In 2014, Hitzelsperger said: ‘It really helped me to see that other professional sports people were acknowledging their sexuality.

Gemma Collins appeared fresh-faced as she displayed her makeup free complexion at an event, after the star received praise for her recent self-harm documentary.The former TOWIE star, 41, wore a black jumper with frilled sleeves and leggings as she attended a wellness brunch on Wednesday with former Hollyoaks actress Davinia Taylor and other celebs. Gemma arrived at the event with a pair of dark, oversized sunglasses but soon took them off to reveal a make-up free look.

Netflix series The Andy Warhol Diaries sets out to illuminate the man behind the mystery through interviews with friends, collaborators, fans, and by means of his own words from his diaries.The series comes from executive producer Ryan Murphy and director Andrew Rossi. “This breathtakingly expansive, six-part portrait of a legend chronicles the remarkable life of Andy Warhol from the intimate vantage point offered by the artist’s own posthumously published diaries.

A Non-Agency, which describes itself on LinkedIn as "a curated creative collective consultancy of technology, content, fabrication, audio & visual, spatial and experiential design entrepreneurs."The company is hosting a "Palm Springs escape" in California this March. A Non-Agency's second showroom social (following a sucessful 2021 launch of the concept in Miami, Florida), the event provides travelers a unique comingling  opportunity with a curated group of some of the hottest local designers, artists, craftspeople, and wellness experts.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed state agencies to carry out investigations into the use of gender-affirming care for transgender youth, following an opinion issued last Friday from the state attorney general that the treatments constitute a form of “child abuse.”The Republican governor referenced Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s opinion, which states gender-affirming treatments like gender reassignment surgery and puberty-blocking meds “can legally constitute child abuse under several provisions” of state law, in a letter sent Tuesday to the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS).The agency, Abbott wrote in his letter, “is responsible for protecting children from abuse.” In a tweet, he added that it will “refer for prosecution any such abuse.”A spokesperson for the DFPS told the Dallas Morning News that it “will follow Texas law as explained [by Paxton’s opinion].”Abbott added that doctors, nurses, teachers and the general public are obliged to report such “child abuse,” and that failure to do so is a punishable crime.The move is the latest attack on trans youth in Texas. Last October, Abbott signed a law banning transgender girls from playing on female sports teams in public schools.

On the heels of the news that she’s been fired from her own talk show, embattled TV host Wendy Williams is reportedly considering legal action as a result of producers replacing her. On top of that, her publicist is raising questions about whether the TV icon is in control of her own social media accounts.Thus far, 2022 has not been kind to Williams.

Lauren Mutti

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

Perfect Strangers,” has quickly hit No. 1 in several countries across the Middle East and won critical acclaim, but it’s also been the subject of controversy and outrage from more conservative citizens and even lawmakers in Egypt.Attacks on social media against one of the film’s Egyptian stars, Mona Zaki, spread online since its debut on Jan.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Arabic adaptation of hit Italian movie “Perfect Strangers,” which is Netflix’s first Arab original film, is sparking controversy in Egypt and across West Asia due to a gay character and taboo-breaking storylines, prompting the U.S. streaming giant to respond.Since its release, the Beirut-set “Perfect Strangers” redo has been among the top trending topics on social media in West Asia, a region also referred to as the Middle East.

Perfect Strangers (Ashab Wala A’azz), the first-ever Arabic film made by Netflix, has set off a wave of controversy across the Middle East, as critics contend that plot elements of the film, including homosexuality and infidelity, violate regional cultural values.The film has sparked anger amongst conservatives who took offence to several plot lines, although it is the character who identifies as gay who has been the target of the most outrage.The film, a remake of the 2016 Italian filmof the same name, stars Muna Zaki, Nadine Labaki, Eyad Nassar, Adel Karam and Georges Khabbaz, all of whom are major stars in the Middle East.Zaki has also been the target of a wave of online abuse as a result of appearing in the film. Zaki is shown in one scene removing her underwear, although no nudity is present in the entirety of the film.Not everyone has objected to Zaki’s appearance in the film, with one user saying, “muna zaki is killing it.