Please enjoy thoughtfully, get fired up by, and/or giggle while reading this week’s pieces from Pride Foundation staff’s recommended reading.
When is just gay not OK?
MAGNET, Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transgender & Transsexual People, are boycotting a campaign from American Apparel and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, asking both to reconsider the ad campaign featuring model and former America’s Next Top Model contestant Isis King wearing a shirt that reads “Gay O.K.”
It raises a good question. Our community has struggled with an inclusive term for LGBTTIQQ2S with little success. It’s hard to reach out to the mainstream community with an acronym that even folks within our own community can’t fully grasp. But is just gay really OK? Check out the Advocacte story.
Frank Ocean Steps Out and Steps Up
From Beyonce’s poem of gratitude and admiration to the social media swell of interest, hip hop artist Frank Ocean’s coming out on his blog this week has been big news. Like the recent dramatic shifts in the professional team sport arena (a field not traditionally thought to be LGBTQ-friendly), the hip hop community is ever evolving, too.
Lunette of the “you’re welcome” blog writes: “Frank Ocean’s coming out is creating tectonic shifts in how we talk about LGBT people in communities of color, and in hip hop as a community and art form.” Progress.
$2.6 Billion for Family Planning
The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and other foundations, governments, and United Nations agencies announced they would increase their support of family-planning programs by $2.6-billion. That’s estimated to translate to 200,000 fewer women dying in pregnancy and childbirth, more than 110 million fewer pregnancies, and 50 million fewer abortions worldwide. Progress.
Speaking of Progress…
Congrats to Rep. Barney Frank and his partner Jim Ready for their July 7 wedding. No, they didn’t get “Domestic Partnered”–they got married.
Ab Fab Ladies to Take on the London Olympics
We’re super excited about the upcoming London Olympics for a lot of reasons. This one especially.