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Billy Porter Makes History as First Openly Gay Black Man to Win Acting Emmy

Billy Porter took home an Emmy for his role in FX’s Pose, becoming the first gay black man to receive the honor. Read more: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/09/23/billy-porter-first-gay-black-man-emmy/

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Thailand Could Be First Country in Asia With Same-Sex Unions

Thailand is expected to become the first Asian country to legalize same-sex partnerships, with a bill up for debate this week and a legislative decision expected by the end of the year. https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/11/06/thailand-same-sex-civil-unions-2018/

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London Hosts City's First Trans+ Liberation March

A year after anti-trans feminists protested London’s annual Pride parade, the city hosted the world’s first Trans+ Liberation March this month. Learn more: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/london-hosts-city-s-first-trans-liberation-march-n1055091

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How This HIV+ Actor Is Using His Diagnosis to Tell Overlooked Stories

“I hope that people watch this show and see black, queer gay men who are HIV-positive, thriving and who will live long lives,” says actor Dimitri Moise, who appears in As Much as I Can, which premiered this month at Joe’s Pub in New York. Through his work, Moise is bringing greater visibility to HIV-positive gay and bisexual men and combating internalized stigma surrounding the virus. “The person I am today is because I'm queer and now because I'm positive. All of these different intersections in my life make me who I am.” https://www.them.us/story/dimitri-moise-as-much-as-i-can

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Mean Girls Star Wants More Sexy Plus-Size Gay Men on Screen

“There’s a huge dilemma right now with guys that don’t want to take their shirts off this summer and don’t wanna be comfortable in their own skin because they’re used to trying to identify with what the media thinks is attractive,” says Mean Girls star Daniel Franzese, who advocates for greater body positivity and increased size representation of gay men on screen. https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/09/12/mean-girls-star-wants-more-sexy-plus-size-gay-men-on-screen/

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Gay and Bi Blood Donation: What You Need to Know

Here’s why it’s legally easier for lesbians to donate blood than trans people and men who have sex with men: http://blog.lighthouse.lgbt/gay-bi-blood-donation-need-know/

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These Rising LGBTQ+ Designers Are Rewriting the Rules of Fashion

“I think there will be a lot more queer designers, a lot more designers of color, a lot more differently abled designers coming to the forefront,” says queer designer Rio Uribe, the visionary of deconstructed streetwear brand Gypsy Sport. Uribe says that when it comes to queer designers inverting the status quo in the fashion world, “it’s just the beginning of the revolution.” https://www.them.us/story/lgbtq-designers-fashion-week

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LA's New Intergenerational Queer Culinary School Teaches More Than Cooking

“They’re having dishes like stuffed pork loin, potato gratin and really gorgeous salads,” says Susan Feniger, a famed restaurateur and board member of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, who helped develop the culinary program at the organization’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus, where queer student chefs of all ages prepare gourmet meals to serve to LA’s homeless LGBT youth and low-income seniors. “It’s all meant to make you feel like, ‘Okay, I have value, I’m respected, I’m a person,’” she says. Read more: https://www.them.us/story/lgbt-center-culinary-school

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This Groundbreaking Trans Actress Will Soon Premier in an Award-Winning Broadway Musical

Transgender Pose star MJ Rodriguez will soon star alongside gay actors Matthew Wilkas and Kevin Chamberlin in a production of “Little Shop of Horrors” at the state theatre of California, the Pasadena Playhouse: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/09/groundbreaking-trans-actress-will-soon-premier-award-winning-broadway-musical/

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The Eternal Sunshine of Harry Styles

In Harry Styles’ recent Rolling Stone interview, the pop icon opened up about his sexual ambiguity — and about being an ally to LGBTQ people and POC: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/harry-styles-cover-interview-album-871568/

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No Distractions: An NFL Veteran Opens up on His Sexuality

“The career you choose shouldn't dictate the parts of yourself that you embrace,” says NFL veteran Ryan Russell, who came out as #bisexual in a moving personal essay. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27484719/no-distractions-nfl-veteran-opens-sexuality

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New large scientific study shows that sexual orientation is the end product of many factors, genes included

The New York Times report on a new large scale study on how genetics may affect same-sex behavior. The study confirms what many of us have argued for some time now, that sexual orientation and behavior are most likely caused by an interaction between genetic, hormonal, environmental, social and psychological factors. I suspect the same is true for transgender and nonbinary identities.

Pam Bullock writes:

An ambitious new study — the largest ever to analyze the genetics of same-sex sexual behavior — found that genetics does play a role, responsible for perhaps a third of the influence on whethersomeone has same-sex sex. The influence comes not from one gene but many, each with a tiny effect — and the rest of the explanation includes social or environmental factors — making it impossible to use genes to predict someone’s sexuality.

The study analyzed the genetic data of 408,000 men and women from a large British database, the U.K. Biobank, who answered extensive health and behavior questions between 2006 and 2010, when they were between the ages of 40 and 69. The researchers also used data from nearly 70,000 customers of the genetic testing service 23andMe, who were 51 years old on average, mostly American, and had answered survey questions about sexual orientation. All were of white European descent, one of several factors that the authors note limit their study’s generalizability. Trans people were not included…

There might be thousands of genes influencing same-sex sexual behavior, each playing a small role, scientists believe. The new study found that all genetic effects likely account for about 32 percent of whether someone will have same-sex sex.

In an op-ed  Steven M. Phelps and Robbee Wedow (gay men and researchers in biology and sociology) argue that it is important not to overstate the role of genes:

The study found that genetically related people tend to be similar in their behavior, which tells us that sexuality has influences buried somewhere in the DNA. But when the researchers tried to add up the contributions of each DNA variant they examined, they could predict less than 1 percent of the variation among study participants.

Many LGBTQA activists have argued against this kind of research as it may be used by transphobes and homophobes in their attacks against rainbow people. Phelps and Wedow discusses this problem, but concludes that “bigotry needs no data”: 

No facts will sway those who want to police the intimacies of consenting adults. Rather than consign ourselves to ignorance out of fear, we should use these powerful new data ethically and thoughtfully to arrive at a fuller understanding of who we are.

Photo: AmberLaneRoberts

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Dreaming of Adopting Someday? Here’s How You Can Make It a Reality.

For LGBTQ people looking to adopt, it can be challenging navigating all of the options — from licensed private adoption agencies or overseas adoption to second parent adoptions, foster care and more. Here’s what you need to know: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/08/adopting-child-expensive-heres-can-make-work/

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After 17 Years, Bachelor Franchise Finally Has a Same-Sex Romance

After 17 years, the American version of the Bachelor franchise has witnessed its first same-sex relationship. https://www.advocate.com/television/2019/8/21/after-17-years-bachelor-franchise-finally-has-same-sex-romance

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Hung Vanngo Is Making Beauty Industry Waves - And He’s Doing It From the Heart

Meet Hung Vanngo, the queer celebrity makeup artist championing the freedom and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people within the beauty industry: https://www.them.us/story/hung-vanngo

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Illinois Mandates LGBTQ Inclusion in Public School Curricula

The enactment of the Inclusive Curriculum Law has made Illinois the fifth state that will require public school curricula to include the LGBTQ+ history education: https://www.advocate.com/youth/2019/8/12/illinois-mandates-lgbtq-inclusion-public-school-curricula

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LOVELOUD Isn't Just a Concert, It's a Revelation for LGBTQ+ Youth

At this years LOVELOUD music festival, local charities like The Trevor Project and Provo Pride were supported: https://www.advocate.com/music/2019/7/12/loveloud-isnt-just-concert-its-revelation-lgbtq-youth