So
here’s the thing, you gays. This Saturday (March 8th) is International Women’s
Day. This is probably something you wouldn’t have in your diary – even if you
had heard of it – unless you were highly into feminism or ladies, but it should
be something we celebrate together more widely.
This year’s theme for International Women’s Day
is “Inspiring Change”. For your (hopefully educational) pleasure, I’ve taken
the time to compile my top 3 personal favourite ladies who have really changed
the course of history, politics, entertainment, and the like. So here goes!
There was a bunch of amazing stuff that happened for the LGBTQ community in 2013 that it's hard to keep track of it all. Here are just a few of our favourite gay moments from last year. Tammy Baldwin Becomes the USA's First Openly Gay Senator
If politics isn't your thing, you may have missed this. But we all know that being gay in the most powerful country in the world is still (unfortunately) often seen as a taboo.
This year, Baldwin made history by becoming the first openly gay senator (for her home state of Wisconsin) - such a monumental achievement for our community.
The United Kingdom Legalizes Gay Marriage.
You probably didn't miss this one, but we all know gay marriage should have come sooner in the Land Of Hope and Glory. Hell yeah, the Brits!
The above image was actually taken from a super anti-gay website, which is why I've chosen to use it here: because they definitely did not create this image for good... But look how great it is! The Queen is officially a supporter, get over it.
Gay marriage will begin starting March this year - and I am so excited and proud to be going to my Aunt's wedding to her girlfriend! Bring on the festivities.
Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, Hawaii, Illinois and New Mexico Get Gay Married.
That's right, the USA also finally got a move on with their legalization of same-sex marriage.
6 more states (please correct me if I'm wrong here!) legalized same-sex marriage, proving that the USA really is becoming the land of freedom and equality once and for all.
Here's to hoping that this will only continue in 2014 - it looks like Utah could be next!
2013 Gave Us Some Great Gay TV.
There are most definitely too many great gay TV moments to mention in this post.
However, some of the best gay on-screen happenings in 2013 came from the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black, in which we see Taylor Schilling and Laura Prepon (above) makin' out and doin' the nasty to no end.
BBC America's Orphan Black also gave us the ever-talented Tatiana Maslany who, whilst playing an army of other characters, brought us the delightfully nerdy queer Cosima.
On top of that, shows such as Grey's Anatomy (ABC), Lost Girl (Showcase Canada/SyFy) and Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family) continue to wow us with their portrayal of strong, female gays. And we just can't get enough!
Jodie Foster Comes Out... Officially.
Though homosexuals and heterosexuals alike could have probably told you this years ago, way back in January one of the greatest actresses of her time came out of the closet in an elaborate way: while collecting her award at the Golden Globes.
It's always great when celebs tell the world they are proud of who they are, but even better when they are as high profile as the lovely Jodie. Who do you reckon will come out next in 2014?
***
Of course there have been many more amazing moments for the LGBTQ community in 2013, but what was your favourite?
What did we miss? Let us know what you thought about 2013 in the comments!
I am based in Canada right now; a place where they don't care who you marry, as long as you both like hockey. AMIRIGHT?
Today, my country became a place where we don't care who you marry, as long as you both like tea and crumpets.
Okay, I'm playing on stereotypes here. (But it's true. Shush.)
At a time when only 11 countries (not including the UK) have national legal gay marriage, this is historic. Yes, the United States are one fifth of the way there, and Mexico and Brazil are following suit too, but the UK just became the 12th country to pass a same-sex marriage bill on a national scale. (Okay, not entirely true as Scotland are not included. But two of our four countries are 100% gay approved.)
Today in the House of Commons, there were intense debates on the issue. Some crazy religious people used the same old "Adam & Steve" argument, whilst others claimed they were "protecting marriage."
One MP claimed he was opposing the bill in an attempt to "protect the sanctity of marriage." Said MP has also been divorced and is now re-married. I wonder which marriage he was protecting the sanctity of?
Anyway, the best argument in my opinion came from Kate Green, an MP who represents Stretford and Urmston (a constituency within Greater Manchester).
Green - a straight, married woman dedicated to equal rights for all - used her wisdom to turn all of the opposing arguments face down. She was correct in saying that all of the opposing arguments are not valid. HELLS YEAH.
In the end, the commons voted and the bill was approved, 400-175. A huge majority!
We're still waiting to hear from the House of Lords (a.k.a. the Senate, for you North American folk), but chances are, they will not overturn the bill.
Fingers crossed!
Once again, I am so proud of my country today. Thank you all for being such awesome people.
Those of you in the States will know that today is crucial to the future of your country.
Let's quickly take a look at a genuine quote from Mitt Romney himself:
I do not favour marriage between people of the same gender and I don't favour civil unions.
I'd like to ask you one question: If Mitt Romney is saying things such as this, why are you voting for him?
A vote for Romney is a vote for turning back the clock. A vote for Romney is a vote in favour of discrimination against who you are and against those you love.
Now, I don't care if you don't want to get married. I don't care if you don't think marriage is an important factor to you. All I care about is the fact that you should think about your LGBTQ brothers and sisters who do believe that marriage is a step towards equality for all people who come under the queer umbrella.
A vote for Romney would mean that you are taking this right away from them; a right that gay people and their straight allies have fought for for a number of years.
A vote for Romney is a vote in favour of treating gay people like second-class citizens, who are different from their straight counterparts.
Some of you may say "you are being a one issue voter". Does that really matter?
Your sexual orientation is central to who you are. I'm not saying it defines you, but it is definitely a big part of your life. A VOTE FOR ROMNEY IS A VOTE AGAINST YOURSELF.
Now, let's compare this to the current president, Barack Obama.
Remember when he supported gay marriage publicly: the first time any president in US history has explicitly stated this? Let me remind you.
Can you not see? Are you so blind as to hear Obama speak so emotionally about our LGBT family, yet vote for Romney anyway?
Not only that, but Obama has supported other legislation regarding LGBT equality.
In 2010, President Obama repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which prevented gay service members from serving openly in the US armed forced.
President Obama has constantly supported the idea that foreign nationals in the States should be low priority cases in terms of deportation, allowing them to stay with their partners.
Obama has spoken out publicly against bullying in regards to pupils who regard themselves as gay - he even released an "It Gets Better" video, to show thousands of young people that he supports them and their right to be whoever they want to be.
So, you lovely gays, I'm going to ask you one more time: If you're voting for Romney... why? You are voting against everything many people just like you believe in.
Hey gays, here's another step up the UK have made this week: Prime Minister David Cameron seems to have explicitly stated that he will "cut aid to countries who refuse to overturn their bans on homosexuality."
Cameron, who has in the past been dubbed homophobic himself, seems to have changed his attitude completely - and the Ugandan Government are already furious.
As homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda and the majority of other African countries, this could be a huge threat to their continent. However, the fact that Mr. Cameron is standing up for gay rights on a worldwide scale appears to be one of the best things he's done for the country.
Furthermore, although he once said that legalizing gay marriage was not an option, there have now been several reports implying that Cameron wishes to make same-sex marriage legal by the year 2015.
Personally, I did not support him in the last UK election, but it seems that I am changing my mind about him. I wouldn't consider myself a Conservative party member, yet it is clear that Cameron's intentions are positive for the LGBTQ community.
Now we just have to see whether he lives up to his word...
What do you gays think about Cameron and how do you think he will go about handling these issues in the future?
If LGBT issues are really important to you, you would vote Labour simply because of the statistics shown in these pie charts.
You'll notice that the Liberal Democrats also do quite well in the charts, but honestly, if you're from the UK, you know they're never going to win. Especially this time round.
UPDATE: I understand now, upon reflection, that saying the Liberal Democrats will not win was really quite anti-change of me. However, I simply meant to state that I feel that we need to start with the easier things (getting Labour into power) than the harder things (the extremely hard task of getting the Lib Dems to the top). One day, I'd love to see them take over, I swear! For now, I'm just concentrating on keeping the Conservatives OUT!
So please, please vote the Labour in this election. They're our best shot at equality.
The votes are almost in! The election ends on November 4th! (God forbid anyone who votes for John McCain and Sarah Palin!)
For those of you who don't know, proposition 8 is the law that, if approved, will deny the right of same sex marriage in the state of California.
I'm hoping that all of those reading this (if you live in California, of course) are voting 'no' on this preposterous proposition, and if not, then why?! Seriously. I have a few ideas why you may be voting for prop 8, but I also have some ideas why your reasons are utter bullsh*t.
1) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay. What?! Are you stupid?! This is basically the same as saying 'Hanging with tall people will make you tall' or 'Working with white people will make you white.'
2) Straight marriage would be less meaningful if gay people could marry too. Hmm yeah, and straight people such as Britney Spears who get married for 55 hours just for fun don't take the sanctity out of straight marriage.
3) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Wait a sec, didn't we already over-populate the Earth and fill up orphanages to the brim?
4) Gay parents will raise gay children, obviously. And straight parents only raise straight children...
5) Religion does not support gay marriage. And everyone in the world has the same religion, who's values are imposed on the entire continent of Northern America.
6) Children can't succeed without a male and female role model in the home. So how come we don't forbid single parents from raising children?
I'm sure you see where I'm getting at. I could go on, as there are many reasons why I oppose Proposition 8.
So if you're not already, I encourage you to vote NO ON PROP 8. Not allowing gay marriage is making a hole in the American way of life: everyone is equal.
