LGBTQ Breaking News Service

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has decided not to submit to the current Diet session a cross-party bill to promote greater awareness among the public of LGBT people.

The decision was made amid difficulties in reaching a consensus among LDP lawmakers, with some conservative factions voicing strong objection to the bill and stalling the approval process at the party’s General Council.

Tsutomu Sato, chairman of the council and one of the party’s highest ranking officials, said at a news conference after a panel meeting it would be impossible to pass the bill before the end of the ordinary Diet session on June 16 given the current split in opinions.

The debate concerns a statement within the bill stipulating that “discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is unacceptable.”

Conservative LDP lawmakers have raised concerns that the undefined scope of discrimination could lead to frequent lawsuits.

Despite the bill being approved after lengthy deliberations between the party’s Special Committee and Policy Research Council Board before Thursday, objections were still raised at the meeting on Friday.

“Deliberations in the Diet operate on a tight schedule. So the General Council can’t determine its direction,” Sato said.

With the House of Representatives election to be held by the fall and campaigning for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election to kick off late next month, an executive committee member has expressed concern over losing support among voters if disagreements within the LDP continue.

Yukio Edano, head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, criticized the LDP’s decision to postpone the bill’s submission in a virtual party meeting, saying, “As the host nation of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, it is our duty to forward legislation.”

Tomoko Tamura, policy chief of the Japanese Communist Party, said the LDP’s handling of the bill is problematic as it “goes against the elimination of discrimination.”

The bill was drafted by the LDP’s Special Mission Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, with a revision agreed to with opposition parties on May 14.

The committee had aimed to pass it during the current Diet session and before the Tokyo Games begin on July 23 to reflect the Olympic Charter, which includes a statement prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Nicky Paris is an LA Based gay comedian on the rise. 

Making waves performing throughout the country, Paris has been featured on Wendy Williams, MTV, The Daddy Issues Podcast with Dean McDermott and Adam Hunter. 

For Pride Month Paris will be performing at the legendary Laugh Factory in Las Vegas June 21-23 and opening for Eric D’Alessandro at The Mayo Performing Arts Center in New Jersey June 11-13, New York City, as well as The St. George Theater in Staten Island this October.

Paris began his comedy career at the age of 17 where he quickly became a fixture in the Big Apple’s comedy circuit however comedy was not always easy he admits. Telling The Pride LA how he was once turned away from a legendary NYC comedy club for being gay at 18 years old. 

When asked how difficult it is being a gay comic in a heterosexually male dominated field Paris said, “I don’t find it hard; I find it to be an exciting challenge. Sure, there were people and gatekeepers who may not have embraced me when I first started, heck- there was even a club in New York when I first started when I was a teenager that straight up told me they wouldn’t put me up because I was gay. Although I was disappointed, I look at every rejection as a challenge. I truly believe funny is funny and I knew that if I worked hard and was irrevocably committed, my work would eventually speak for itself. I’m a comedian because I’m funny, not because I’m gay, and I do think that’s what the game should be all about. I want to be the funniest person on a lineup regardless of race, gender, and who I’m disappointing in the bedroom.”

While the pandemic stripped many comics of their livelihoods, Paris accepted the challenge to pivot and reinvent and has been performing for the last year in unique settings around the country including the New York City subway, the back of pick-up trucks, rooftops, socially distanced indoor shows and virtual shows around  the country. 

First introduced to television viewers on The Wendy Williams Show as on-air talent at 19, Paris used his sharp wit and love for juicy, celebrity gossip for Wendy’s “Street Talk” segments where he quickly became a regular for the segment on the hit talk show. Soon after, Elite Daily tapped Paris to become one of their lead cast members for their hit web show GEN WHY, where he has represented millennials for over six seasons along with some of the biggest internet personalities on the web.

After appearing on a handful of specials such as MTV’s Epic Fails of 2015, 2016, It’s Complicated and Video Love and the Off-Broadway Production of My Big Gay Italian Funeral, he quickly carved himself a space in Los Angeles’ stand-up comedy scene after becoming a west coast resident and can be seen nightly in Los Angeles’ premiere comedy clubs. 

“I love the Los Angeles comedy scene and I feel so grateful to be a part of it. It’s been very kind to me while at the same time challenging me. In LA, I’ve been the only person on a lineup without a TV show or a special and it’s forced me to step up my game and grow to hold my own on these monster lineups.” Paris added, “In Los Angeles, you can literally be on a show at a comedy club with people you always looked up to and idolized – that never gets old for me! New York’s comedy scene is different but just as special. I will say there is nothing like a New York audience. I started doing standup in New York City when I was 17 and I used to work at Broadway Comedy Club in the heart of Manhattan when I first started. I worked for stage time instead of money. That’s how bad I wanted to do this. Every four hours I worked I got 5 minutes on stage and looking back, I was so lucky that I got that opportunity because it really gave me the chance to get up regularly and find my voice very early in my career.”

Nicky can be seen as a host on LATV’s The Zoo and as well as on the Daddy Issues podcast with Dean McDermott and Adam Hunter. Nicky most recently headlined the legendary Caroline’s on Broadway as part of their “Breakout Artist Series,” which puts the spotlight on the very best and brightest emerging stand-up comedians in their very own headlining show and was featured on Audible’s 2020 Pride Special.

When asked how being gay influenced his comedy Paris says. “Being gay has influenced my comedy because it’s a part of the prism through which I see the world. I was always different than the other kids. For example, as a kid, when I would get spanked, I was the only one who would say “And how are you paying today?” Being gay has allowed me to embrace myself authentically: on and off the stage. I knew I was gay since I saw George of the Jungle with Brendan Frazer. I’ve had those moments throughout my life where I didn’t fit in and felt different than everyone else like I didn’t belong. Doing standup has given me the opportunity to take some of the hardships I’ve endured in my life and make them funny and suddenly, it’s not that painful anymore. I can now laugh at it.”

Exactly one hour ago, Dianna Agron posted a photo on Instagram of her smooching Megalyn Echikunwoke on the mouth with the caption “I love her, I love her, I love her :balloon emoji:” and I just want to know: WHAT DOES IT MEAN? What does this mean! DIANNA AGRON, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS PHOTO? Is it gay? Is it a gay photo? Is this a gay kiss? Is this a “friend” kiss? Are you coming out? Do people “come out” anymore? Did TikTok truly turn the entire planet into a queer mob? WHAT IS THIS PHOTO, DIANNA AGRON! TELL ME!

Dianna Agron is, of course, most famous for playing Quinn “Pink Hair Don’t Care” Fabray on Glee, and being one half of probably the most famous femslash ship of all time, a lil pairing you might have heard of called Faberry. Megalyn Echikunwoke has done a lot of voice acting, is most known for her role as Edie Palmer on Almost Family, and was seen canoodling with Olivia Wilde on Instagram as recently as two months ago. I am saying that last thing because Olivia Wilde has made a lot of people gay and that’s just a fact that seems relevant at this time.

If, like me, you are a gay elder, you remember the time in 2011 when Diana Agron wore a shirt that said “LIKES GIRLS” at one of those Glee live concerts and the internet lost its entire goddamn mind. Honestly, looking back, I think that was the moment that started the whole gay discourse. It was like, oh, she can’t wear that shirt, she’s not a lesbian! What a jerk! And oh, if she’s wearing it, she’s definitely a lesbian! Leave her alone! And, like, booo you troll! And, all hail our mighty homosexual monarch! Anyway it was such a Thing, Diana Agron had to go on Tumblr — Tumblr! — and be like, “I just picked it up off the merch table to show my love to gay people, my bad.”

Which I’m saying because I feel like you don’t live through being Quinn Fabray and come away not knowing what it’s gonna do to the internet when you POST A PHOTO OF YOU KISSING ANOTHER WOMAN ON THE MOUTH!

Listen, there is no precedent for this new world we’re living in. Nobody’s coming out on the cover of Time magazine, some queer people are using labels and some queer people are not using labels, some celebs are trolling with gay-looking lip-mash photos, Tessa Thompson is out here getting photographed kissing whoever the fuck she wants whenever the fuck she wants, sometimes even on boats. There was a time, like maybe a year ago, when the Autostraddle editors would be hand-wringing all night in Slack about what to call this and can we publish it. Tonight, though, I texted our Editor in Chief, Carmen Phillips, and I was like, “Come on.” And she was like, “COME on!” And I was like, “COME ON!” And she was like, “COME ON!!!!” and now this post exists.

Dianna Agron likes girls. 🎈

Players from Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque Rugby Club point out the cheeky placement of Grindr’s logo. Photo / Twitter

French rugby club Biarritz Olympique have announced a bold new sponsorship partner – the world’s largest gay, bi, trans, and queer dating app.

The second-tier club, which takes part in the ProD2 league, has sold its primary jersey sponsorship to Grindr which will display its name front and centre, accompanied by the cheeky placement of its logo on the back of the playing shorts.

While the deal is reportedly expected to net the club €4m ($NZ6.7m) over four years, it is also part of a wider campaign by the club to counter homophobia within the sport.

In a statement shared online, the club said it had pledged to “participate in the fight against homophobia” and “to have committed to Grindr to continue its action for inclusion and acceptance at the level of its league and rugby”.

Former All Blacks centre Francis Saili is one of three New Zealanders in the club’s squad that also includes former Otago players Adam Knight and Gavin Stark.

A survey in 2020 by English rugby club Harlequins, in partnership with Australia’s Monash University, found that 69 per cent of male rugby players had heard their teammates using homophobic slurs in the previous two weeks.

Controversial cross-code player Israel Folau was sacked by Rugby Australia in 2019 for homophobic social media posts and is currently embroiled in a fight between a local rugby league club in Queensland and his French Super League club for the right to return to Australian sport.

Grindr is estimated to be worth $NZ851m and is used by more than 13 million people in more than 200 countries. The company includes outreach and support for its communities as part of its operations.

“Grindr for Equality is an ever-evolving mission to help LGBTQ people around the globe. Our wide-ranging initiatives impact communities large and small on issues that matter to them the most: safety, sexual health, advocacy, and more.”

Katherine “Kay” Lahusen, 91, a gay-rights pioneer who never gave up the fight and one of the first photographers to document the struggle, died Wednesday, May 26, in hospice care at Chester County Hospital after contracting an infection.

Ms. Lahusen, with her life partner, the late Barbara Gittings, led early LGBTQ protests in Philadelphia that paved the way for the historic Stonewall riot in New York City in 1969. Together, they helped get the American Psychiatric Association to strike homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Known as the first openly gay photojournalist, Ms. Lahusen was also one of the earliest chroniclers of the gay-rights movement, documenting scenes from the front lines as well as the dignity of LGBTQ life.

“It is impossible to overstate Kay’s importance in the struggle for LGBT rights and dignity,” said Kevin Jennings, CEO of Lambda Legal, a national gay civil rights organization. “Kay and Barbara worked tirelessly and fearlessly in the foundational fights that laid the ground for everything we’ve accomplished. We owe an incalculable debt of gratitude to their work and example.”

Ms. Lahusen’s individual contributions stand on their own, he said.

“Kay captured the indomitable, imaginative spirit of our movement as a photographer,” Jennings said, “and her courage and vision as an activist and storyteller inspired me and many others of my generation.”

“She was a force to be reckoned with,” said Bob Skiba, archives curator for Philadelphia’s William Way Community Center. “She was just an amazing woman.”

Born in Cincinnati in 1930, she was adopted as an infant by her grandparents George and Katherine Lahusen, who raised her. She attended Ohio State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English. After graduation, she left for Boston, where she met Gittings in 1961 at a picnic of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. They became partners in life and in the battle for gay rights for 46 years until Gittings’ death in 2007. They lived together in New York, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and, shortly before Gittings’ death, at Kendal at Longwood, the Kennett Square continuing care community where Ms. Lahusen last resided.

Ms. Lahusen’s many photographs documented the early protests and struggles of the gay-rights movement, but she also captured the tenderness of gay and lesbian couples, something not often depicted at the time. Her photos appeared in various publications and are archived in the New Public Library. Her book Gay Crusaders was published under the pen name Kay Tobin with coauthor Randy Wicker.

Ms. Lahusen’s advocacy continued throughout her life, including well after Gittings’ death. She sought to support young people and their efforts to continue the gay-rights movement.

One of those activists is Grete Miller, a filmmaker who worked on a documentary project with Ms. Lahusen. They became friends. But she said she also learned a great deal from Ms. Lahusen.

“I learned that activism is a daily thing,” Miller said. “It is not about glory. It is not about fame. It is about getting up every day, which is what Kay did, and fighting the good fight, doing all the things for the people you care about for something that is bigger than yourself when no one is looking.”

Generous in action and spirit, Ms. Lahusen once enlisted Miller’s help in assisting a local middle schooler with a class project on gay rights. And before she died, she asked that donations on her behalf go to a local food bank. She believed individuals could make a difference.

“When there were challenges, she would tell me, ‘Don’t let them get you down. Do something about it,’” Miller said. “Whenever I feel worn down or discouraged by the challenges we face today, or the movement itself, it’s, ‘Do something.’ You can do something about it, and make your voice heard.”

Ms. Lahusen is survived by close friends Judith Armstrong, Ada Bello, John Cunningham, James Oakes, and many others who made up her chosen family.

Her ashes will be interred along with Gittings’ at Congressional Cemetery in Washington, inside a bench designed to express their love for each other and their dedication to show that “Gay is Good,” a slogan on the bench, said Armstrong. Due to the pandemic, a public memorial will be held at a future date.

Donations in Ms. Lahusen’s memory may be made to the William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107 or to Kennett Area Community Service, P.O. Box 1025, Kennett Square, Pa. 19348, for their local food cupboard.