PHOTOS: Up close and personal with the men of gay Bern, Switzerland

Lightyear,” which features a same-sex kiss, has been denied release in more than a dozen mainly Muslim countries.Countries across Asia and the Middle East have refused to give Pixar’s “Toy Story” spinoff a showing, in the latest development for parent company Disney as it tries to navigate differing public and political attitudes on LGBTQ issues.Regulators in the United Arab Emirates this week announced they were banning the movie for “violation of the country’s media content standards,” tweeting a picture of titular hero Buzz Lightyear in a red “No” symbol.Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, said it had not banned the film, “but suggested the owner of the movie think about their audience in Indonesia where an LGBT kissing scene is still considered sensitive.”Rommy Fibri Hardiyanto, head of Indonesia’s censoring office overseen by the Ministry of Education and Culture, told AFP that Disney has not offered a re-cut version of “Lightyear.”In neighboring Malaysia, the Film Censorship Board said if cuts were not made the film would not be screened in the country.“It is not appropriate to show the two scenes, and they are not suitable to be viewed by children,” an official, who declined to be named, told AFP.Disney is understood to have declined to make any cuts, offering the film “as is” in all markets.As a result, a total of 14 countries and territories where the company wanted to show “Lightyear” have not granted the film a release, AFP has learned.The others are: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Syria.“Lightyear” tells the backstory of the main character from the hit franchise “Toy Story,” an action figure who believes he is

President Joe Biden today (Wednesday, June 15) issued an executive order pledging to “combat unlawful discrimination and eliminate disparities that harm LGBTQI+ individuals and their families, defend their rights and safety, and pursue a comprehensive approach to delivering the full promise of equality for LGBTQI+ individuals.”

Tom Hanks opened up on straight performers playing LGBTQ characters, saying he would not accept a role in such circumstances in current times after winning an Oscar for his performance of a gay man living with the HIV virus in the 1993 movie Philadelphia.The Academy Award winner, 65, speaking with The New York Times Magazine Monday, said, 'Let's address, "Could a straight man do what I did in Philadelphia now?" No, and rightly so.'Hanks in the film portrayed the role of lawyer Andrew Beckett, a gay man who is fired from his law firm after his bosses discover details about his personal life. The latest:Tom Hanks, 65, opened up on straight performers playing LGBTQ characters, saying he would not accept a role in such circumstances in current times after winning an Oscar for his performance of a gay man living with the HIV virus in the 1993 movie Philadelphia.

Maisie Williams' beloved Game of Thrones character Arya Stark had one of the more unique arcs throughout the show, though the actress recently revealed an interesting tidbit: she always thought Arya was queer.The 25-year-old actress' character was one of the few to survive from the first episode until the last, with an arc that saw her going from pretending to be a boy to survive after her father Ned (Sean Bean) was beheaded, to becoming one of the deadliest killers in all of Westeros.Williams opened up in her first interview with Teen Vogue, where she opened up about Arya's sexuality, and her now-infamous sex scene with Gendry (Joe Dempsie). Opening up:Maisie Williams' beloved Game of Thrones character Arya Stark had one of the more unique arcs throughout the show, though the actress recently revealed an interested tidbit: she always thought Arya was queer Arya's arc:The 25-year-old actress' character was one of the few to survive from the first episode until the last, with an arc that saw her going from pretending to be a boy to survive after her father Ned (Sean Bean) was beheaded, to becoming one of the deadliest killers in all of WesterosWilliams was just 12 years old, making her professional acting debut when she was cast as Arya Stark.The Arya character was established early on as always much more of a tomboy than her prim and proper sister Sansa (Sophie Turner).

Prism Health North Texas’ Worth Street Health Center at 4004 Worth Street

Pose), actress Stephanie Beatriz (Encanto, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), writer-producer-director-actor Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In the Heights, Encanto), singer-songwriter and actor Ricky Martin, and singer, artist, and television actor Valentina.“I know firsthand what it means to have the support of a loving community as I navigated and embraced my gender identity. I am honored to be part of an initiative that will provide that much-needed support system to so many other members of the Latinx LGBTQ+ [community] who are facing their own challenges or are on their own journeys of self-discovery,” Rodriguez said in a press release.“With the hate and division so many in power are looking to create in the U.S.

Join us in wishing a happy belated birthday to American Horror Stories star and Glee alum Kevin McHale, who turned 34 yesterday.He’s a singer, a dancer, an actor, and, as we saw yesterday, an occasional thirst trap philanthropist.

All major British broadcasters have backed and pledged immediate financial support for an Independent Standards Authority (ISA) to tackle bullying and harassment in film and TV.

Singer/gay icon/occasional actress Gloria Estefan will return to the screen this week in director Gary Alazraki’s new Latin adaptation of the classic rom-com Father of the Bride.Related: WATCH: That time Gloria Estefan cast a bunch of drag queens to play her in a music videoIngrid (Estefan) and Billy (Andy Garcia) are a Cuban-American couple who are totally taken aback when their daughter Sofia (Adria Arjona) shows up at their Miami home with her new fiancé Adan (Diego Boneta).

Chris Evans is speaking out to slam the homophobic critics of his new movie Lightyear.

For decades, Mattel has struggled with how to package its Ken dolls. To this day, execs have never quite figured out how to market him in a way that appeals to little girls.

WASHINGTON — President Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday aimed at protecting L.G.B.T.Q. people from a cascade of legislation in conservative states that increasingly targets the rights of gays, lesbians, transgender youth and others. The order is designed to counter efforts by Republican politicians like Gov.

release of a teaser trailer for his forthcoming film “My Policeman.” The romantic drama sees Styles play a married cop who embarks on a gay affair with a museum curator in 1950s England. The 60-second trailer — which racked up more than 115,000 views in just a few hours — shows the One Direction alum steaming up the screen with male co-star David Dawson as their characters try to conceal their scandalous same-sex relationship. The homoerotic trailer proved too much for many viewers, who flooded Twitter to express their emotions.

Zack Sharf Chris Evans is taking a stand against anyone criticizing “Lightyear” for featuring a gay kiss between two female characters. The actor recently told Reuters that film and TV viewers who opposite diversity and more inclusive on-screen representation are “idiots” who will eventually “die off like dinosaurs.” Evans said it’s important not to pay any attention to such toxic viewers and criticisms.As Variety exclusively reported in March, Pixar restored the gay kiss in “Lightyear” after uproar from staffers over the decision to remove it. The kiss is brief and is included during a montage sequence that depicts the life of Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba).

Views expressed in The Advocate’s opinion articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, Pride Media.My favorite film is the comedy classic Arthur, starring Dudley Moore and John Gielgud, who was gay and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Arthur’s butler Hobson. I’ve seen the film almost 40 times.There is a scene in the film where Moore’s Arthur and Gielgud’s Hobson visit the super swanky Bergdorf Goodman store in New York City, where Arthur buys 30 pricey sweaters, all in the same color.When I moved to New York City in the mid-1990s, one of the first things I did was to seek out some of the locations that the film made famous, including Bergdorf Goodman; however, when I walked through the doors, I immediately felt like I didn’t belong.

Sometimes it seems like the GOP’s main export is hypocrisy, and business is booming today!A recent report by The Daily Beast reveals that anti-LGBTQ senatorial candidate and champion of conservative family values Herschel Walker reportedly has a secret son he’s taken no part in raising.As if Walker having a gay son (who is somehow more homophobic than him?) weren’t enough irony, he’s lectured the Black community on the dangers of fatherless households countless times while apparently having a son he doesn’t care to father.Related: Herschel Walker’s son says he’s not gay, he just “likes men”In an interview with right-wing duo Diamond and Silk, Walker posed the question, “What about teaching our Black men that if you lay down with a woman and you make a baby, it is your responsibility to stay there and make sure that child is raised?”What about it, indeed?This report comes after several controversies for the football player turned political hopeful, including multiple abuse allegations in which he threatened to shoot both his first wife and an on-and-off girlfriend to death.As a man not supporting children’s material needs while also allowing the threat of gun violence to run rampant, Walker may actually be a fitting representative for his party.Related: Herschel Walker: Donald Trump “never said” 2020 election was stolenThe unnamed, 10-year-old child has apparently not met his notorious half-brother Christian, who Walker does actually publicly claim.In response to this story, multiple outlets have recently cited a 2019 interview in which Walker stated that his greatest accomplishment was being a good father.

Topics: Aaon, Business, Gay Pride, LGBT Rights, Policing, Space, Sports More Posts About: Conversion Therapy, Transgender

Sick of cops treated as the enemyOn Saturday, June 11, authorities in Idaho arrested 31 alleged white nationalists who were reportedly planning a riot near a Coeur D'Alene Pride event. The police chief said they received a complaint from a local resident and stopped a U-Haul truck 10 minutes later that was filled with men. Police recovered at least one smoke grenade and an "operations plan" as well as shields and shin guards, all of which made their intentions clear.

Spurred on by a Twitter account known for its provocative nature, @libsoftiktok, a cadre of alleged Proud Boys members stormed into the San Lorenzo library in the East Bay June 11. Their target was a "Drag Queen Story Hour" event hosted by local drag artist Panda Dulce.About 10 or so of the group marched in, calling the host and others homophobic and transphobic slurs.

Waiting their turn to read names of some of those lost to AIDS, filmmaker Dante Alencastre and his co-producer, John Johnston, appreciated the somber atmosphere. A few feet away on the grass were some of the nearly 3,000 panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt that were on display last weekend in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park."I've never done this before," Alencastre told the Bay Area Reporter.

Three of the five races in November for even-numbered seats on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors have drawn well-known LGBTQ community leaders. Should out candidates be victorious in all of them then the city will see the largest number of LGBTQ supervisors in a decade.In 2012, two gay men and the city's first bisexual supervisor served on the board that year.

Clayton, a small town in the heart of Contra Costa County, will hold its inaugural Pride parade Saturday, June 25, starting at 10 a.m. on Main Street.The event will be hosted by Clayton Pride and emceed by former mayor C.W.

San Diego will see an inaugural queer arts festival this month. A queer San Francisco Bay Area native is the visionary behind the event.Former Vallejo resident Desiree Cuizon, a 36-year-old Filipina woman, is co-director of the City in Motion's Queer Mvmt Fest, scheduled for June 24-27.The art festival will wrap up June's Pride Month and kick off San Diego's month of Pride events, said Cuizon, who is a lead artist with Disco Riot, the festival's sponsor organization.

January 17, 1957 — April 4, 2022William Alan Stern, age 65, passed peacefully on April 4, 2022 in his San Francisco home.Born on January 17, 1957, Bill was raised in Bolton, Connecticut. He graduated "best dressed" and was valedictorian of his class at Bolton High School. Bill went on to the University of Connecticut and studied abroad at the University of Paris, Sorbonne, France.

In San Francisco's LGBTQ Castro neighborhood June 12, Indigenous dancers performed at the remembrance ceremony for the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. This year marked the sixth anniversary of the 2016 massacre that saw 49 people die and more than 50 others injured.

1955 — 2022Douglas (Doug) Anderson (1955-2022) died peacefully June 1, 2022, a patient at Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, while being followed by Palliative Care. Doug was one of the longest-surviving patients of the Positive Care Clinic there. Over the past few years he began suffering with ambulatory issues, osteoarthritis, bone loss, and eventually could not walk and was confined to a wheelchair.Doug was born in Minneapolis and, after graduating high school, attended St.

The Federal AIDS Policy Project Coalition and Prep4All have sent a letter, signed by 100 organizations, urging the House and Senate appropriations committees to approve $400 million to fund a national PrEP program within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While this is far short of the $9.8 billion over 10 years that President Joe Biden called for in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget, it's a meaningful start and something that HIV/AIDS advocates believe can be accomplished this year.A markup in Congress is scheduled for June 23, and we urge the appropriations committees to approve this funding allocation.Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV and Hepatitis Policy Initiative in Washington, D.C., told us that a national PrEP program would lessen disparities among Black and Brown people that have been ongoing since the advent of PrEP nearly 10 years ago.

Substance use disorder and suicide are on the rise in California. We often see the two mental health issues co-occurring, each with potentially deadly outcomes. The link between substance abuse and suicide hasn't always been known and still isn't completely understood.

In April, Martin Alperen had a breakdown. It wasn't the first time that his bipolar disorder had caused him to lose a job or spiral into depression, but it was the first time he had tried to navigate his mental health with Medicare. He had recently turned 65 and had switched to a new Medicare insurance plan provided through Brand New Day and Hill Physicians Medical Group.

COC Nederland noemt het besluit van het Openbaar Ministerie over de Gomarusschool enlsquo;belachelijkenrsquo; en roept het OM op om alsnog vervolging in te stellen. Volgens het OM was er op de school sprake van strafbare discriminatie op grond van seksuele gerichtheid, en toch besloot men om niet te vervolgen.

Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert

Netflix and Mo'Nique have settled what could be a precedent-setting lawsuit regarding sex and racial discrimination.The case stems from a 2017 meeting between the Oscar-winning Precious star and the streaming site, which was looking to ramp up its stand-up comedy content at the time.Mo'Nique, whose real name isMonique Hicks, 54, refused a 2017 offer of $500,000 for a comedy special in which the streaming service would have complete control over the one-hour show, including owning the copyright and retaining all audio-only rights. Settled: Mo'Nique and Neflix have settled a sex and racial discrimination and retaliation lawsuit three years after the actress, 54, filed the complaint against the streaming giant.

Gina Carano, the former The Mandalorian star fired after a series of offensive tweets, is making a “comeback” in the new Western Terror On The Prairie…. so says Ben Shapiro’s media company The Daily Wire, which happens to be producing the movie.Wait, a comeback? What is she returning to, exactly? More flat, uninteresting screen roles that define acting as “lifelessly glowering on camera”? Well, if the tepid trailer for Terror On The Prairie is any indication, that’s precisely what Carano is doing.

interview published in The New York Times Magazine, the Academy Award-winning actor was discussing shifting cultural attitudes as they relate to some of his previous work, including his role in Philadelphia.Related: America’s Dad Tom Hanks wants you to know: ‘We are going to be all right’In that acclaimed 1993 film, directed by the late Jonathan Demme, Hanks played a gay corporate lawyer who successfully sues his former law firm for firing him for being HIV-positive. Hanks won his first Oscar for the role in 1994.But in the Times interview, the beloved actor, who stars in Baz Luhrmann’s new biopic Elvis, agrees with journalist David Marchese’s suggestion that there’s no way a straight actor would be cast as the lead in Philadelphia today.“‘Could a straight man do what I did in Philadelphia now?’ No, and rightly so,” Hanks says.He goes on to suggest that the film’s success was due, in part, to his participation, which may have put viewers at ease.“The whole point of Philadelphia was don’t be afraid,” he explains.

Joe Biden launched his own plan to protect the health care of transgender youth after Republican Governor Ron DeSantis moved to end gender-affirming care for minors in Florida.On Wednesday, Biden will sign an executive order calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to clarify that federally funded programs are banned from offering conversion therapy and to take "steps to address the barriers and exclusionary policies" by expanding access to different types of health care and treatment.Conversion therapy, a practice seeking to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity, is already banned in at least 20 states and Washington, D.C., according to the think tank Movement Advancement Project.Biden's move comes less than two weeks after DeSantis' administration asked the state board regulating doctors to ban Medicaid coverage for minors seeking transition-related care, which includes puberty blockers, hormone therapies or gender-reassignment surgery.DeSantis is among a string of Republican state officials who have restricted access to health care for transgender youth in recent months.Texas Governor Greg Abbott also stirred controversy in February for ordering the state department of family and protective services to investigate parents who provide their children with gender-affirming care. Across the U.S., over 300 anti-LGBTQ laws have been introduced in state legislatures this year, according to the White House.Back in March, the Justice Department had warned states that blocking access to gender-affirming care could violate federal law."President Biden always stands up to bullies.

Zack Sharf Tom Hanks won his first Oscar for best actor thanks to Jonathan Demme’s 1993 legal drama “Philadelphia,” in which he plays a gay man with HIV who is discriminated against at work. Cut forward almost 30 years later, and Hanks says he or any fellow straight actor would no longer be able to play the openly gay character at the heart of “Philadelphia.” Not that at Hanks sees a problem with that change in mentality in Hollywood.“Let’s address ‘could a straight man do what I did in “Philadelphia” now?’ No, and rightly so,” Hanks recently told The New York Times Magazine.

Jerrod Carmichael is taking Dave Chappelle to task over his derogatory comments toward the LGBTQ+ community made in his controversial Netflix special. Carmichael says, in a nutshell, Chappelle's legacy is tarnished, and it's his own doing.Carmichael made the statement in a profile, where the 35-year-old comedian opened up about how the only person who acknowledged him after he came out as gay in his HBO stand-up special back in April was his 15-year-old niece.«She hit me with a quick text, 'I see you. I hear you,'» Carmichael said.

Maisie Williams was surprised by her own character.

President Joe Biden will host an LGBTQ Pride Month celebration in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday, focusing on LGBTQIA children and families, and will sign a “historic” executive order to protect them and the LGBTQIA community.

Accepting change. Tom Hanks reflected on his lengthy career in a new interview, and he admitted that he probably wouldn’t take one of his Oscar-winning roles today.

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Pride decor was set ablaze at two homes on the same street in Baltimore early Wednesday morning, leading to multiple homes going up in flames and three people in serious need of hospitalization.The investigation is still underway, but it seems that initially one home’s Pride flags were set on fire:Pride flags set on fire early this morning. 3 houses destroyed and people in the hospital.

“The real truth is those people are idiots. Every time there’s been social advancement, as we wake up, the American story, the human story is one of constant social awakening and growth and that’s what makes us good.There’s always going to be people who are afraid and unaware and trying to hold on to what was before.

San Francisco’s National AIDS Memorial, tells GayCities that nothing was being done when thousands were dying across America (and the world). “There was no place to go, no place to heal. People didn’t know what to do, but they had all this loss, all this heartbreak.

A post shared by Max Clayton (@maxmclayton)It’s been quite a week for Broadway power couple Matt Doyle and Max Clayton.First, Doyle won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as the anxious gay groom in Company. Marianne Elliott’s gender-swapping revival won five Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical.“We have been to hell and back together and I love you all so much,” Doyle said in his acceptance speech, referencing the pandemic that temporarily shuttered the production.

Life in plastic? It’s fantastic, now that we’ve seen our first glimpse of Ryan Gosling as Ken in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie movie.Warner Bros. shared a first look at the actor in full Ken Doll drag today, and it’s got us eager to hop in the pink corvette and take a trip to the Barbie Dreamhouse—take a look for yourself:#BARBIEJuly 21, 2023Only in theaters.

Since its publication in 1813, Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” has endured. The classic tale of enemies-to-lovers courtship in Regency-era England has been read, taught, adapted, and reimagined for two whole centuries, remaining largely unchallenged either because of the eternal truths therein, or because its ideals have remained aspirational to generations that have followed.

Tom Hanks is happy to see progress being made for gay representation in Hollywood.