New Doc, “We Exist: Beyond Binary” To Premiere at Boulder Pridefest

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Viva the gender revolution! As we evolve so does our idea of gender so thank goodness for ongoing conversations on the topic. Like Lauren Lubin’s new film We Exist: Beyond the Binary which explores life outside the gender binary. Lauren’s work shatters traditional, antiquated constructs that defines gender as either male or female. Lauren identifies as gender neutral and uses they/them/theirs as their pronouns. Lauren says,“One of the most valuable assets that has helped me to fully come into my own is unequivocally education. Education is knowledge and it is such knowledge which has empowered me to understand myself as well as another. Gender identity and expression are two important components of a well-rounded education. I hope to shed light on both the importance and inclusion of having such education throughout the education system and simple ways we can begin to do just that.” The film will step into the spotlight as it kicks off Boulder Pridefest with two exclusive screenings on September 6 in Boulder. Lauren is also an avid runner and athlete. They made headlines in 2015 with their“WE RUN” campaign by becoming the first ever non-binary Marathoner, to come out and openly compete on the international stage in efforts to raise recognition in the sporting world. In November 2016, Lauren will be the first non-binary Marathoner to compete in the coveted New York City Marathon. Lauren is also the founder of New York City’s first non-binary running group, Andro Runners, which is dedicated exclusively to non-binary athletes.

For more information on the screenings of We Exist and Boulder Pridefest visit the website here!

Paris Pride Celebrates Trans Rights

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Marche des Fiertés, Paris’ annual LGBT Pride parade took place last Saturday. With street performers, protesters and partiers, Paris’ pride looked a lot like celebrations across the globe. Except one thing was different this year. According to Washington Blade,

For the first time ever, Inter-LGBT, the group that organized the annual event, allotted the most prominent spot in the parade, which is usually reserved for politicians and celebrities, to emphasize trans rights.
The Gay and Trans Collective Association for Equality, an LGBT group known by the French acronym ACTHE, marched front and center. It brought attention to the issues facing the transgender community with this year’s motto: “The rights of trans people are in a state of emergency: Stop forced sterilizations! Stop violence! Stop insecurity!”
French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo were among the prominent politicians who took part.
“Our city will always be a bulwark against homophobia because openness and tolerance are part of its DNA,” Hidalgo told Têtu, a French gay magazine.

Despite recent terrorist attacks in Paris, the city of lights wanted to celebrate pride. A shorter parade route and beefed up police protection were a few of the precautionary measures Paris took to make sure the parade was safe.

“This year’s Pride parade was under heavy protection, and all of us were determined for it to take place, despite the risks we had been warned about,” Flora Bolter, co-chair of the LGBT Center of Paris-Île-de-France, told the Washington Blade. “The atmosphere in the days leading up to the parade was quite electric, and for the first time we had to have security checks for all people entering the area. You could feel the tense determination everywhere.”

Bolter told the Blade that this year’s parade reinforced the necessity of equal protection under the law for LGBT people.

“This was a very political parade, with clear and urgent calls for action, and it was nonetheless a great success, in spite of many difficulties, and perhaps even thanks to them,” she said, “The very real possibility that our parade could be canceled made people realize how important it was to take part, be proud of who we are and face those who would silence us.”

Justin Trudeau Becomes First Prime Minister to March in LGBT Pride

Over the weekend, the Toronto Pride Parade made headlines with a very special guest: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau made history at the event by being the country’s first sitting Prime Minister to march in the parade. Per the Ottawa Citizen:

Other notable politicians marching include Ontario’s premier, Kathleen Wynne, and the mayor of Toronto, John Tory.

Before the parade, Trudeau attended an outdoor church service in the heart of the city’s gay village where he sang along to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.”

The parade wraps up a month of Pride festivities in Toronto, which saw entertainment heavyweights like George Takei and Lindsay Lohan participate.

But the month has also been shadowed with grief. In early June, 49 people — who were predominantly LGBTQ people of colour — were killed in a mass-shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

The month’s celebrations were dedicated to the victims of the massacre, and there will be a moment of silence during today’s parade to remember them.

Shots of Trudeau at Pride have flooded social media since the parade. From LGBT police officers to parade entertainers, everyone wanted a picture with he prime minister. No one was more thrilled to snag a photo with Trudeau than Bassel McLeash, a gay Syrian refugee. McLeash expertly photo-bombed the Prime Minister and now his story has gone viral too! “Not in my wildest dreams would I ever have thought about having a day like this, marching next to the prime minister or marching in a Pride,” he said in an interview with CBC.

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Monday Meme: Reduce

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Is there a better time than now during Pride month to celebrate LGBT leaders and activists? We think not! Today’s Monday Meme celebrates a true pioneer in not just the civil rights movement but in the gay rights movement too. Bayard Rustin is best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the United States. Rustin was inspired by Gandhi’s protest techniques and brought them to the American civil rights movement, while helping Martin Luther King, Jr. become an international symbol of peace and nonviolence.Being an openly gay man in an incredibly homophobic era, Rustin was beaten, imprisoned and cast out of huge leadership positions. His behind the scenes work during the civil rights movement in the 1960’s gave way for a role as a public advocate of LGBT causes in the 1980’s. Rustin was honored posthumously with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 by President Obama.

Celebrate Pride and do something good for the community! Now thru June 30, Proudly Yours will donate 50% of the proceeds of all card sales to the Pulse Victims Fund.

Skittles Gives Its Rainbow to London Pride Goers

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Skittles, the candy famous for inviting us to “taste the rainbow”, has temporarily lost its color. This weekend, the brand is handing out black and white packages of its formerly Technicolor candy. In a clever online commercial, the company says, “You have the rainbow … we have the rainbow … and usually that’s just hunky-dory. But this Pride, only one rainbow deserves to be the centre of attention – yours. And we’re not going to be the ones to steal your rainbow thunder, no siree. That’s why this weekend, we’re giving up our rainbow.” In the spirit of letting Pride’s rainbow shine, a colourless Skittles float will “join in the Pride in London parade on Saturday and Skittles will be giving out monochrome packets along the route,” according to Creative Review. “Ads will also be displayed on outdoor sites along the parade route and a social media campaign will run online using the hashtag #onerainbow, with an animated version of the ad created for Facebook and Twitter.”

What a delicious and inventive way for a brand to celebrate Pride!

Rainbow Flag Flies at Houses of Parliament for First Time

On Tuesday, the rainbow flag flew high above the UK’s Houses of Parliament for the very first time in celebration for London’s upcoming Pride weekend. Per Pink News David Geary, Head of Political Engagement for Pride in London, said:

“It was in the Houses of Parliament that homosexuality was decriminalised, equal consent laws were introduced, the bigoted Section 28 was repealed, where civil partnership and ultimately equal marriage were adopted. This powerful institution, right at the heart of British democracy has become a powerful tool for equality in recent times.The rainbow flag flying above serves as a testament to this legacy and a reflection of how far we have come as a community – with more LGBT+ politicians than any other country in the world.”

The flag was gifted to Parliament from LGBT group ParliOUT and will fly through June 26. ParliOut will also be marching in the Pride Parade this weekend. Some 75+ Parliamentary staff members have signed up to march in the parade. They will be wearing Houses of Parliament t-shirts along with white roses in memory Member of Parliament Jo Cox, who was killed earlier this month. Rob Truelove and Jenny Radcliffe, Co-Chairs of ParliOUT said: “On behalf of all ParliOUT members, we would like to thank Mr Speaker and the Lord Speaker for their full support, as well as all ParliOUT members who generously donated money to buy the LGBT+ rainbow flag as a gift to Parliament. While we recognise that there is still more to do, this is a very positive symbol of how far we have come in becoming a more inclusive workplace.”

Monday Meme: Victory

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As part of Pride month, we’d like to give a shout out to gay trailblazer Magnus Hirschfeld in today’s Monday Meme. As a homosexual and a Jew, Hirschfeld was advocating gay rights back in the late 1800’s. Hirschfeld spoke out against the German government and pushed for the legalization of homosexuality long before it was even a conversation in most parts of the world. As a sexologist and researcher, he published volumes on homosexuality, gay rights and equality for women, many of which were later burned by the Nazis. Hirschfeld died in Nice, France in 1935 but the groundwork he set down as an early LGBT pioneer won’t ever be forgotten.

Buy a Proudly Yours card now until June 30 and we will donate 50% of the proceeds to Equality Now to help the victims of the Orlando attack.

The White House Proclaims June LGBT Pride Month

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It’s that time of year–Pride Month! And even the White House says so. In his annual proclamation, President Barack Obama declared June 2016 LGBT Pride month. “NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2016 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people,” the president wrote in an official White House Proclamation. In this proclamation, the president spoke passionately about his administration’s commitment to LGBT rights.

Despite the extraordinary progress of the past few years, LGBT Americans still face discrimination simply for being who they are. I signed an Executive Order in 2014 that prohibits discrimination against Federal employees and contractors on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. I urge the Congress to enact legislation that builds upon the progress we have made, because no one should live in fear of losing their job simply because of who they are or who they love. And our commitment to combatting discrimination against the LGBT community does not stop at our borders: Advancing the fair treatment of all people has long been a cornerstone of American diplomacy, and we have made defending and promoting the human rights of LGBT individuals a priority in our engagement across the globe. In line with America’s commitment to the notion that all people should be treated fairly and with respect, champions of this cause at home and abroad are upholding the simple truth that LGBT rights are human rights.

There remains much work to do to extend the promise of our country to every American, but because of the acts of courage of the millions who came out and spoke out to demand justice and of those who quietly toiled and pushed for progress, our Nation has made great strides in recognizing what these brave individuals long knew to be true in their hearts — that love is love and that no person should be judged by anything but the content of their character. During Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, as Americans wave their flags of pride high and march boldly forward in parades and demonstrations, let us celebrate how far we have come and reaffirm our steadfast belief in the equal dignity of all Americans.

Read the entire proclamation here.

And Happy Pride Month!

Obama to name Stonewall Inn National Monument

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The legendary Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village bar at the center of the gay-rights movement, was granted landmark status last year but according to the Associated Press the Obama administration plans on naming the bar the country’s first national monument for gay rights. Per the New Yorker, Obama is, “considering proposals that would involve cordoning off Christopher Park, a small sliver of land near Stonewall Inn, and surrounding areas.” Federal officials are travelling to NYC next week to discuss the proposal while city officials iron out the details of the land’s title. If no complications arise, the Stonewall Inn should be declared a national monument in June, just in time for Pride month and the city’s famous parade.

New Yorkers and lawmakers alike “have long pushed for the national-park designation, and last year, Congressman Jerrold Nadler and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer introduced legislation that said as much,” wrote the New Yorker. “It’s time for the Stonewall Inn to take its place in the panoply of sites and events that were sparks in the march to the kind of freedom and equality that is the very wellspring of the American Dream,” Schumer said. “Making the Stonewall Inn site a unit of the National Park system is the right thing to do.”

Antarctica Declared First LGBT Friendly Continent

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Non-profit organization Planting Peace has declared Antarctica the world’s first LGBT-friendly continent. Planting Peace hopes to “instill full fundamental rights to LGBT people inhabiting or visiting the continent of Antarctica.” Founder Aaron Jackson has set social media ablaze recently with images of him travelling around Antarctica carrying a Pride flag “to raise awareness for the need for action across the planet because basic rights are still denied to the LGBT community in so many countries across the world.” The group wants to shed a light on the 76 countries which continue to ignore the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, six of which still consider homosexuality a crime punishable by death. Jackson and company first made headlines a few years back when they purchased a house in Topeka, Kansas directly across the street from Westboro Baptist Church and painted it in the colors of the Pride flag. original