Gay Pride has become a huge worldwide celebration of the LGBTQ community that takes place usually in the month of June. The festivals and pride is the positive attitude against discrimination and violence toward LGBTQ people to promote their own beliefs, dignity, equality rights and increase their visibility as a group in society. Building a community is very important
Gay icons are very important to the LGBTQ community. Many people feel they don’t have a voice and as a result it’s so important if the celebrity or celebrities support their choices that they could possibly represent them and stand beside them. It could be said they are advocates to the cause. A gay icon is
There are several stages in the process of coming out. It’s your life so take your time – do things for you and only when you are ready.
Coming out to yourself
Acknowledging that you are gay can take many years alone. Some of people have hoped those feelings were “just a phase”. In time, you’ll realise that these feelings are not just a phase and you have to find a way of accepting them and dealing with the fact that you are sexually attracted to members of your own sex.
There are
Stage 1: Discovery – you start to question if you might be LGBTQ because of feelings you’re having
Stage 2: Acceptance – you start to accept that you are LGBTQ. Telling the first person is a sign of acceptance
Stage 3: Integration – you begin to get comfortable expressing your LGBTQ identity and living your life accordingly. Getting into a same-sex relationship is a sign of integration.
Realisation is the first stage of coming out. There is no hard and fast rule when this point is reached. For some it happens in their teens, for others it may happen much later in life.
Everyone’s experience of discovering their LGBT identity is different as is their experience of the stages of coming out. It is normal to experience feelings of anxiety and worry especially in relation to how people might react when you tell them.
Some people describe this time of accepting their sexuality as though they were riding an emotional rollercoaster. One day they felt happy and confident and ready to tell everyone; the next they felt confused, scared and relieved that they hadn’t. You may want to talk to someone who understands what this is like – there are plenty of websites and places where you can contact them for help or talk to other LGBTQ members.
So you still want to come out?
This is a nerve racking time – the fear of rejection is likely to be immense. Bear in mind that there are many ways to tell someone that you are gay.
Like this video by Connor Franta which has over 7.6 million views there are many videos to watch online that may give you courage. Connor Franta from America, Troye Sivan from Australia(5.2 million views) and Tom Daley(11.4 million views) from England have all posted videos of their stories to share with and help others.
Good luck on whatever you decide to do, hopefully coming out makes you happy and gives you a sense of relief.
Openly gay designers, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, hit a nerve recently over unconventional families.
So what actually happened?
During an interview them men revealed their opinions on gay marriage and families. They don’t believe in either of those things it turns out. They were quoted as saying, “The only family is the traditional one. No chemical offspring and rented uterus. Life has a natural flow; there are things that cannot be changed.” “Procreation must be an act of love.” Dolce also said “I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Uteri for rent, semen chosen from a catalogue.” They don’t feel it’s right for children to grow up with 2 gay parents.
They don’t believe in family but why are they against marriage? Although they are together, in 2013 they revealed they would not get married as Dolce is a “practicing Catholic.” Each to their own it seems.
In relation to children, ‘synthetic’ babies are not restricted to gays. Straight parents who are unable to conceive naturally turn to IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) in order to have the children they can’t so why can’t gays. They also do not agree with same-sex adoption. Many gay celebrities were angered by this especially Elton John and David Furnish as they have children together. Ricky Martin also has biological children and didn’t receive their opinions very well.
Dolce and Gabbana ‘revised’ their opinions days later saying “We love gay couples… We are gay. We love gay adoption. We love everything.”
The situation is not an ideal one but everyone is entitled to their own opinions – we do live in 2015 and a democracy. It seems you are never going to please someone and will always hit a nerve whether that is intentional or not.
As the Republic of Ireland gets ready for it’s May referendum on gay marriage, a paper company in Dublin city centre has decided to publicly take on the negative output of anti-gay campaigners and turn their distasteful messages into a positive symbol.
Daintree Paper has launched a campaign called ‘A Shred of Decency’ which takes leaflets and printed out tweets containing misleading and anti-gay protests aimed at persuading people to vote against the legalisation of same-sex gay marriage in the referendum, and turns them into wedding “confetti made from 100 per cent recycled lies”.
The packets of heart-shaped confetti cost €5 and 100% the money is donated to the Yes Equality campaign.
Daintree says paper is its “favourite thing in the whole world”, and it wasn’t “one bit happy” to see it used “to spread some ugly lies” about gay people and same-sex marriage”.
Containing unfounded statements suggesting that gay people “contract cancers earlier in life” and that children adopted by same-sex couples are “50 times more likely to die of injuries inflicted on them,” many of the pamphlets have upset the people they’ve been given to in Dublin.
While the company is shipping its confetti internationally they cannot collect leaflets other than in Dublin. To fix this issue they have come up with another idea to support gay marriage.
“If you see any negative and dishonest tweets about the marriage referendum on Twitter, we can shred these Tweets for you too!” reads the campaign website. “Just reply to the dishonest tweet and add #shredthistweet. We will then print the tweet off and add it to the pile.”
“We’ll also send a tweet to the source of the dishonesty and thank them for their very generous help in supporting YES Equality,” the company notes. “We will try (and probably fail) to suppress a tiny smile whilst doing so.”
This campaign to support gay marriage has only just launched and has attracted worldwide attention from plenty of newspapers and journalists.
LGBTQ health is important to address – but not just sexual health. The community’s health was thrown into the spotlight after Freddie Mercury was the first major rock star to died of AIDS in 1991. Nowadays it’s important to be concerned about mental health and well-being.
International research has found that gay, lesbian and bisexuals tend to smoke more and consume more alcohol. There is a possibility this could be linked to the stresses of fighting stubborn societies and the need to try relax and re-group. Other studies have made note of taking care of the individuals mental health- some feel they aren’t getting any closer to equality and develop anxiety and even depression(not linked only to the LGBTQ community). Being stigmatised in society and experiencing discrimination over sexual orientation is a difficult issue to try and accept – problems with society’s discrimination can have psychological repercussions and in some circumstances has led to suicide – which in unacceptable in the 21st century.
Sexual health is important whatever your sexual orientation is. STIs, ovarian cancer, HIV are just some risks to be aware of concerning your sexual health.
Family rejection and domestic abuse issues are still very high numbers and there are plenty of examples online. Support from those closest to you is essential when you’re facing unsupportive societies and even religious group, especially if you have a strong faith. A feeling of loneliness and bullying are not issues you want to go through alone, it is bad for mental and physical health.
It is difficult and brave to be open about your sexual orientation and choice to society nowadays as you face so much negativity towards your own personal life. Homophobia is still a huge issue but it seems as same-sex marriages are being passed worldwide, the mentalities of people(and society) are changing which is a positive step in the right direction.
Marriage Equality
There are plenty of advocacy organisations worldwide whose goal is to achieve equality, especially marriage equality, for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) people in a country through the extension of civil marriage rights to same-sex couples. The overall end aim is to allow same sex couples, their families and their children enjoy equality.
Civil Marriage Equality Referendums and Laws
Winning social issue referenda is not easy. Across the globe, more often than not, referenda restrict civil marriage rights rather than expand them. The only two European referenda on LGBT relationships, in Slovenia and Croatia, both restricted partnership rights for gay and lesbian couples.
Ireland is on the brink of major social change with an equal marriage referendum scheduled for 2015. Ireland will be the first country in the world where equal civil marriage rights will be put to a popular vote. A winning referendum will show that progress is possible in a country that only 20 years ago decriminalised homosexuality.
In the U.S, same-sex couples have the freedom to marry once and for all in 37 states . Additionally, same-sex couples can also marry in some Kansas counties but is not recognised statewide. Missouri only acknowledges same-sex marriage in St.Louis. Some of the remaining states have appealed decisions and are awaiting the rulings from their respective Supreme Courts.
More countries that have legalised same-sex marriage are listed below – although some have technicalities and Slovenia’s decisions has yet to come into effect.
Argentina,Belgium,Brazil,Canada,Denmark,Finland,France,Iceland,Luxembourg,Mexico(certain areas),Netherlands,New Zealand,Norway,Portugal,South Africa,Slovenia,Spain,Sweden and the United Kingdom(England,Scotland,Wales).
Since 1994 Australian has been moving towards same-sex marriage by submitting bills, creating amendments and just making progress. However some Australian regions passed a marriage bill in 2013 which has since been nullified – as a result it has reverted back to only acknowledging same-sex partnerships.
As already mentioned South Africa has passed laws, however North,East and West Africa are behind the times. Sexual activity is allowed in some areas(some places have never had any laws against same’sex sexual activity) but in the majority of regions it is illegal and will result in jail time, fines and possible death penalties. Small numbers of regions have passed laws in the past few years.
Across the globe, most places are making progression towards global same-sex marriage equality. Although it is challenging and has taken too long, it can be said that the 20th and 21st centuries are paving the way for the future of the LGBTQ community.
