Archives for September 2015

A neo-Nazi group in Ukraine have destroyed an LGBT+ organisation’s office and almost killed a man in the process.

03/09/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

11:00 2nd September 2015 by Dean Eastmond

Queer Home Kryvbas, the only LGBT group in Kryvyi Rih that openly welcomes the gay community, was attacked by six masked men with iron poles and fire sticks on Sunday night. The masked figures threw smoke bombs inside the office while seven victims were allegedly trapped inside.

One man tried stopping the attackers, but was beaten savagely and is now in hospital with a concussion.

A spokesperson from Gay Alliance Ukraine said: “One of the main functions of the state is to protect its citizens.

“Gay Alliance Ukraine appeals to the law enforcement authorities with the demand to not only to punish the guilty in these two incidents, but to also do everything in their power to protect the lives, health and basic rights of the citizens of Ukraine.”

The incident came a day after 20 neo-Nazis descended on a cafe in Kryvyi Rih to attack a group of gay men.

The swell of neo-Nazi groups and extremist views spreading across Ukraine has posed an immediate risk to the country’s LGBT community – as well as the larger society. Yesterday, three policemen were killed after violent clashes between security forces and ultra-nationalist protesters.

Tom Daley shows off his six pack in steamy 2016 calendar

01/09/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

By Plymouth Herald | Posted: August 29, 2015
and
by Kyler Geoffroy
August 28, 2015 | 2:15pm

Outside of the Warwick Rowers, Tom Daley might be the best way to keep track of your dates, deadlines, and other calendar-related needs.
daley3 The Olympic diver, who last month stripped own and transformed into a naked shark for SeaWorld, just wrapped his 2016 calendar shoot and brought a camera behind the scenes for our viewing pleasure.
The shots all look great and feature Daley in various poses and states of undress. There’s also a trampoline.

Just Where In The World Do British Mens Penises Rank?

01/09/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

By The Gay UK, Aug 31 2015 03:14PM

Willies… Some are big, some are tiny and have their own micropenis festivals… However where exactly does the UK place in the world in terms of penis size.

Now according to Mandatory.com average erect penis sizes have been collected and collated from 80 countries across the world and a table of length has been drawn up and the UK’s placement? Well it’s exactly average.
The longest average erect penises are apparently in the African country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (7.1 inches) and the smallest are in North Korea with 3.8 inches.
The average of the averages is 5.5 inches and that’s exactly where the UK are, beating the likes of the US (5.1 inches) and China (4.3 inches) but drawing with New Zealand, Ukraine and Canada.

According to Mandatory.com the correct way to measure the penis is from tip of the penis to the very bottom of the pubic bone and apparently only 3% of the world’s men have a dick over 8 inches.

Gay marriage, abortion, euthanasia: 3 charts that show what Catholics and Protestants really think about the moral issues dividing Christianity

01/09/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

PUBLISHED31/08/2015

Catholics more liberal towards gay marriage than Protestants

Catholics have a more liberal attitude towards gay marriage than Protestants – but are more conservative when it comes to euthanasia and abortion, a survey suggests.

YouGov questioned 863 Catholics and 1,707 Protestants in Great Britain – who strongly agreed with the statement “my faith is important to me” – on the three issues.

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The results show that both groups are less accepting on the issues than the public as a whole.
Both same-sex marriage and euthanasia have been widely discussed within sections of the two churches recently.
Pope Francis is widely perceived to be a liberal influence on the Catholic Church – in 2013, when asked if there was ‘gay lobby’ in the Vatican, he replied: “If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?”
Last year meanwhile, the Church of England opposed legislation to legalise gay marriage in the UK.

More Catholics support gay marriage than Protestants

_{Source: YouGov Get the data}
Same-sex marriage was made legal in the UK in March 2014, with the exception of Northern Ireland.
It remains illegal for the Church of England to carry out same-sex marriages.
Previous YouGov research found 38 per cent of the Church of England clergy said same-sex marriage was right while the majority, 51 per cent, said it was wrong.

Protestants are more likely than Catholics to support euthanasia

^{Source: YouGov Get the data}
Both groups remain more conservative than the general population on voluntary euthanasia.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has previously said that it is a “profoundly Christian and moral thing” to allow people to “end their lives with dignity”.
An assisted dying bill is expected to be debated in Parliament on 11 September.
Former Crown Prosecution Service chief Sir Keir Starmer has said it is time for politicians to legalise assisted dying.

Catholics want more restrictions on abortion laws

_{Source: YouGov Get the data}
Both Protestants and Catholics are more opposed to abortion than the general population.
While abortion is legal in Britain, it is illegal in Northern Ireland, where it remains a contentious issue.
Last month, a United Nations committee said Northern Ireland’s abortion laws were putting women’s lives at risk.
The report concluded by calling upon Northern Ireland’s authorities to amend the country’s laws on abortion “with a view to providing for additional exceptions to the legal ban on abortion, including in cases of rape, incest, and fata foetal abnormality”.
_Independent
Full Story at Belfast Telegraph

Kremlin Shuts Down Russia’s Only LGBT Film Festival

01/09/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

BY SUNNIVIE BRYDUM

AUGUST 31 2015 3:32 PM EDT

Government officials cited a ‘difficult economic situation,’ but organizers of the film festival see further evidence of the country’s crackdown on LGBT visibility.

Pictured: Two men kissing at the Side by Side film festival in 2012.

Less than two weeks before Russia’s only LGBT film festival was set to begin, government officials have cancelled the program, reports ThinkProgress.

Citing a “difficult economic situation,” the Kremlin’s “culture committee” rescinded funding from Moscow Premiere, a film festival that, for the past 12 years, has hosted free screenings of films addressing LGBT issues in Russia and abroad.

Moscow Premiere organizers were notified of the abrupt change in plans on Tuesday, just eight days before the festival’s scheduled launch on September 2. That letter from Kremlin officials claimed the cancellation was necessary because “the culture department of Moscow has to limit the use of budgetary resources in 2015,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

However, the funds earmarked for Moscow Premiere have reportedly been shifted to a different, government-approved festival, organized by a Moscow city councilor who is a member of the nation’s ruling United Russia party. The new event, titled the Youth Festival of Life-Affirming Film, will reportedly feature an entirely distinct program, Moscow Premiere organizer and film critic Vyacheslav Shmyrov told a local paper.

“We cannot affiliate to the new festival — not least in terms of our self-esteem,” Shmyrov told newspaper Noviye Izvestia.

“Moscow Premiere is primarily a social festival and a charity project that exists for those people, especially the older generation, who can not afford to go to the movies,” Shmyrov added. “It is mainly a social mission.” Shmyrov does not believe he will have time to salvage any of the films that had been scheduled to screen at Moscow Premiere.

The festival’s cancellation is unfortunately par for the course in a nation that is increasingly hostile to LGBT visibility, amplified by the 2013 passage of a nationwide ban on so-called “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations,” which criminalizes any positive depiction of LGBT identities or issues in spaces that could be visible to minors.

Last year, the International Queer Culture Festival, known as QueerFest, took place in St. Petersburg, despite ominous threats from public officials and reports of physical harassment of attendees. In 2013, St. Petersburg’s Side by Side Film Festival faced bomb threats on its opening night, but ultimately carried on, screening Russian and U.S. films, including the Oscar-winning Milk, about LGBT trailblazer Harvey Milk. Side By Side Film Festival had been cancelled in 2008, with organizers given notice of the cancellation just hours before the festival was scheduled to open, but took place in 2012 and had scheduled events earlier this spring.

Gay Teens Fall In Love In Dustin Lance Black’s Short Film For Coca-Cola

01/09/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

It’s a whole new world.

JamesMichael NicholsDeputy Gay Voices Editor, The Huffington Post

Posted: 08/20/2015 12:44 PM EDT | Edited: 08/21/2015 01:40 PM EDT

A compelling short film by Dustin Lance Black takes a look at young, queer romance and the choices teens have today in responding to those who may be different from them.
One of three short films written by Black for the Latin American ad campaign for Coca-Cola, “The Text” is a beautiful short that encourages teens to choose empathy over bullying — specifically aimed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
“The Text” depicts a young teen learning a close friend of his is in a romantic relationship with another teenage boy.
“Are you going to go the way of kindness, or are you going to go for the easy joke when someone’s having a tough time?” Black told Ad Week. “If you do something with acceptance and kindness, you can create a true friendship.”
Coca-Cola has a history of showing support for the LGBT community through its advertising. Most recently, they placed ads around Amsterdam depicting queer families that read, “We choose happiness over tradition.”
We can only hope that businesses encouraging healthy, empathetic relationships among young, queer teens is the way of the future!
H/T Towleroad