Category: Archive

TODAY IN GAY | Priest comes out as gay and is fired immediately by the Vatican

Monsignor Krzystof Charamsa, who was 43 at the time, was fired by Vatican officials after coming out as gay and as having a partner. He had been a priest who worked in the Vatican’s doctrinal arm since 2003. He announced his sexuality in an interview with the Italian paper Corriere della Sera.

Charamsa held a press conference with his Spanish partner to announce his partnership and sexuality. Answering on why the Vatican decided to remove Charamsa from his post said that its decision was nothing to do with his coming out, but that giving an interview and planning a news conference was “grave and irresponsible”.

Speaking about the Church’s views on homosexuality and how the Church treats gay people he said their views were “inhuman”

Speaking about his treatment Charamsa said, “It’s time for the Church to open its eyes about gay Catholics and to understand that the solution it proposes to them – total abstinence from a life of love – is inhuman.”

In a statement about Charamsa’s announcement, the Vatican said,

“Msgr. Charamsa will certainly be unable to continue to carry out his previous work in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical universities, while the other aspects of his situation shall remain the competence of his diocesan Ordinary [local bishop].”

For all gay priests
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Charamsa “dedicated” his coming out to all gay priests, adding, “I wish them happiness even if I know that most of them will not have the courage to make the gesture I have made today.”

3rd October 2020
TODAY IN GAY | Germany celebrates its first same-sex weddings

Bodo Mende, 60, and partner Karl Kreile, 59 tied the knot in south Berlin on the first day where gay marriages were allowed. The law was changed just three months before the first weddings took place.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Germany after Chancellor Angela Merkel changed her stance on the issue, before that, gay couple were only permitted to be civilly partnered.

In 2015 Angela Merkel revealed her thoughts on same-sex marriage in an interview posted on YouTube. While she said she supported LGBT equality, it stopped at civil partnerships.

By extending existing law to gay couples, they would automatically gain the same tax advantages and adoption rights as their straight counterparts.

2nd October 2020
BLACK HISTORY MONTH | LGBT+ Icons: Marsha P Johnson

October 1st Marsha P Johnson

Our first featured black LGBT+ icon could only be this person. It’s Marsha P Johnson. Marsha was one of the prominent figures in the Stonewall Uprising in 1969. We have much to thank her for. #BHM #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/FeaTWNgNZ6
— Warwickshire Pride (@WarksPride) October 2, 2020

Our first featured black LGBT+ icon could only be this person. It’s Marsha P Johnson. Marsha was one of the prominent figures in the Stonewall Uprising in 1969. We have much to thank her for

Follow Warwickshire Pride on Twitter or Facebook

Check out all the icons here

1st October 2020
TODAY IN GAY | Historic convictions for consensual gay sex can be removed from criminal records

In 2012, men who had been convicted of having sexual relations with another man or men could apply to have that charge or conviction removed from their criminal records.

In October 2012, under a David Cameron led Conservative/Liberal Democrat-run government, men with historic convictions for consensual gay sex could apply to have them disregarded, as the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 came into force.

Under the Act men who were convicted of “gross indecency” or consensual buggery, that is no longer illegal, can apply to have their convictions disregarded.

Homosexuality or sex between men was illegal in the UK for most of the 20th century. England and Wales became the first nations with in the UK to decriminalize it in 1967. Scotland followed over a decade later to decriminalise in 1981 with Northern Ireland finally changing the law to allow men to have sex with men in 1982.

The 2012 Act also includes amendments which enable gay and bisexual men maliciously convicted of ‘loitering with intent’ under Section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824 to have those convictions removed from their criminal record too.

1st October 2020
TODAY IN GAY | Dynasty Star Gordon Thomson comes out

Best known for his role as Adam Carrington in the camp soap, Dynasty, Gordon Thomas came out as gay in 2017.

Speaking with the Daily Beast, Thomson spoke openly about his sexuality about while he never “announced” his sexuality – revealing that he assumed people just knew, saying, “I don’t go out of my way because it’s my generation, I think. I’m probably as homophobic as any gay man alive because of my background.”

He said that his generation’s views of homosexuality helped keep him in the closet, admitting, “When I was growing up it [homosexuality] was a crime, and then classified as a mental illness.

“It was not until Pierre Trudeau was prime minister of Canada when I was 23, 24 years old, did it cease being a crime, and it was not until I was nearly 30 that it stopped being classified as a mental illness in the US.

“So you’re dealing with that. And the shame, the breathtaking lack of self-esteem, has only just begun to seep out of my soul,”

26th September 2020
TODAY IN GAY | Sex between two consenting men becomes legal in Trinidad and Tobago

Laws in Trinidad and Tobago were changed in 2018 to allow consenting men to have sex.

Sodomy laws in Trinidad and Tobago were amended to allow adult men to have sex with each other.

Justice Devindra Rampersad gave a final ruling on legal challenges by LGBT+ activist Jason Jones, to amend the wording of certain sections of the Sexual Offences Act.

Two sections underwent wording change.

Wording has been amended in section 13, with the words “without consent”. The section now reads,

“13. (1) A person who commits the offence of buggery is liable on conviction to imprisonment for twenty-five years. (2) In this section “buggery” means sexual intercourse “without consent” per anum by a male person with a male person or by a male person with a female person.”

In section 16 the words “a male person and a female person” are deleted and replaced with “persons”

“(1) A person who commits an act of serious indecency on or towards another is liable on conviction to imprisonment for five years.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to an act of serious indecency committed in private between—
(a) a husband and his wife; (b) “persons” each of whom is sixteen years of age or more, both of
whom consent to the commission of the act; or (c) persons to whom section 20(1) and (2) and (3) of the Children Act apply. (3) An act of “serious indecency” is an act, other than

sexual intercourse (whether natural or unnatural), by a person involving the use of the genital organ for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire.

The changes came after judge Devindra Rampersad ruled those two sections of the Sexual Offences Act unconstitutional in April of 2018.

Other gay rights in Trinidad and Tobago?

Photo by Kenrick Baksh on Pexels.com

Despite the 2018 move to be more accepting of LGBT+ people, other laws to protect gay people from discrimination do not yet exist. LGBT+ do not enjoy the same rights and privileges as heterosexual individuals and opposite-sex couples.

LGBT+ people are not permitted to adopt, there is no recognition of same-sex relationships. Gays are not allowed to serve openly in the military and there are zero law protecting LGBT+ folk from discriminations based on sexuality or gender ID.

22nd September 2020
TODAY IN GAY | Will And Grace First Airs

TODAY IN GAY HISTORY: Will And Grace makes TV History, by becoming the longest-running mainstream sitcom in which storylines revolved around gay principal characters.

Airing on the 21st September 1998, Will And Grace made TV History. Over the course of 194 episodes over 8 seasons, American audiences began to love and accept openly gay storylines and characters.

It gave birth to characters such as Karen Walker and Jack McFarland.

Although the show opened to a certain amount of criticism the show became a staple on the NBC network and enjoyed a peak of 17.3 million viewers in the US. The first episode aired on the 18th May 2006.

The show’s popularity and reach were credited to opening the door to a wave of gay-themed programming such as Queer As Folk.

Former US Vice President Joe Biden said that the series had had a profound impact on how LGBT rights and how Americans viewed gay people. He said, “I think Will & Grace did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody has ever done. People fear that which is different. Now they’re beginning to understand”, in an interview during Meet The Press.

21st September 2020
TODAY IN GAY | The first member of the UK’s Royal Family comes out as gay

The first member of the extended Royal Family came out as gay in an interview with the Mail On Sunday in 2016.
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The Queen’s cousin, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, then 53 years old, (pictured on the right) revealed that he was gay and in a relationship with his now-husband James Coyle (not in picture) in an interview.

He is the first member of the extended Royal Family to have come out as openly gay. He is the great-great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria.

Lord Mountbatten, had been previously married to Penelope Anne Vere Thompson and together they had three children, although they separated in 2010. Lord Mountbatten went on to marry Mr Coyle in 2018, becoming the first Royal to have a gay wedding.

Speaking about his family’s reaction to his news and to his then-boyfriend, he said, “Now everyone in our family knows and could not be more supportive. Neither of us wanted to have relationships which were transitory; the stereotypical view of gay relationships is that they are too fleeting, too frequent”.

CHECK OUT THE LGBT+ HISTORY ARCHIVE

18th September 2020
TODAY IN GAY | Author Edward Albee passes away

The openly gay author and playwright Edward Albee died at the age of 88 in 2016.

Albee was probably best known for his works of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The American Dream. He died in his New York home. He was a three times Pulitzer Prize winner.

The news of his death was announced by his assistant. He died from a short illness, however, no cause of death has been revealed.
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Born in 1928 Albee became a well-known playwright after his play The Zoo Story was staged in Berlin. However, it wasn’t until Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf , a play that he wrote in 1962, that Albee had really struck gold.

His last play was written in 2007 and was called, Me Myself and I.

He was an openly gay writer who revealed that he knew he was gay from the age of 12, but did not want to be known as a “gay writer”.

He survived his longtime partner, Jonathan Thomas, who was a sculptor, and who died on May 2, 2005, from bladder cancer.

They had been partners since 1971.

17th September 2020
TODAY IN GAY | Cyndi Lauper Releases True Colors

Iconic singer Cyndi Lauper releases the album True Colors and donates a proportion of the proceeds to AIDS research.

The single became a worldwide hit, reaching number 1 in the US and Canada and Number 12 in the UK. The album was also massively successful reaching number 4 in the US and becoming a top 50 album in 12 countries. It sold over 2 million copies in the US.

In interviews, Lauper described that the song resonated with her because of the death her friend Gregory Natal, who passed away from HIV/AIDS. Many years later Lauper founded the True Colors Fund, a non-profit organisation dedicated to eradicating LGBT youth homelessness.

15th September 2020
TODAY IN GAY: Marsha P Johnson born

Marsha P Johnson was born in August 1945 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She was also known as Malcomn Michaels Jr. Johnson and had six brothers and sisters.

Before “Marsha P Johnson” became the icon that we now know, Michael’s took the drag name, “Black Marsha”, before adopting Johnson as her surname. According to reports, the Johnson name was taken from the Howard Johnson’s restaurant on 42nd Street in NYC and the P standing for “pay it no mind”.

Johnson was found dead on the 6th of July 1992. She was 46-years-old at the time of her death.

Johnson was a drag performer and LGBT+ activist and usually used female pronouns for herself, but also referred to herself as “gay, as a transvestite or simply as a queen” She was a well-known character in the New York Greenwich district and is widely considered to be a key figure in the Stonewall Riots of June 1969.

She was heavily involved in the advocacy of AIDS patients and homeless LGBT+ folx.

In 1992 Ms Johnson went missing on the 4th July, two days later her body turned up in the Hudson River, New York. Police and an autopsy ruled her death a suicide, but friends and relatives believe that she would never end her own life.

The authorities, under pressure from the community, reclassified her death as “death to drowning from undetermined causes”.

In the David France documentary film, The Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson, her death and its possible causes are discussed as large (available to stream on Netflix)

Was her death an accident, suicide or something more sinister? This is the question that activist and crime victim advocate Victoria Cruz from the New York Anti-Violence Project has set out to determine as she launches her own investigation into the death of one of New York‘s most prominent LGBT figures.

24th August 2020