This Sweet Ad About a Gay Soccer Player and His Boyfriend Will Melt Your Heart – WATCH

A new ad for Germany’s high speed rail celebrates the company’s 25th anniversary with a moving story about a gay soccer player and his boyfriend who goes to great lengths to support him.

The ad was created for rail line Deutsche Bahn and centers on the ICE, or InterCity Express train, which connects all major cities in Germany. Posted on Wednesday, the video shows one man traveling around Germany to see a soccer star at various matches, often finding himself surrounded by rival fans. At the end of the video, we see that the two are in fact boyfriends. They share a warm embrace and hold hands at a train station as they walk off into the distance.

Franzi Heusel, CEO Advertising agency BBDO, the agency who created the ad, said, “The film is a cinematic love letter.” The company added that their goal was to create “a film that shows an unusual and surprising love story.” The tagline shown in the video translates to, “Connecting more than A and B.”

Watch the ad, below.

[h/t GSN]

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Gwen Stefani Leaves ‘Misery’ Behind in New Video: WATCH

Good luck getting misery off your mind after watching Gwen Stefani’s new video.

“Misery” is the third single off her latest (and third solo) album This Is What The Truth Feels Like. Directed by longtime friend and collaborator Sophie Muller (their first collaboration, No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak”,  won Best Group Video at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards) “Misery”, unlike its title, is an upbeat pop song with a teenager-in-love feel, and it’s about her “her newfound happiness with boyfriend Blake Shelton.”

As she told Entertainment Weekly last month:

“I’ve never had a record that’s been about happiness, so that feels really good and different. And I’ve never had records come out while it’s going on.” Lyrics like “Put me out of my misery/ hurry up come see me” and “You’re like drugs to me/ I’m so into you totally” echo the sentiment.

The video is a gorgeous high-fashion affair. It’s got glamour, drama, a lot of smoke and, naturally, a horse. It shows Stefani in nine different looks, all of them major showstoppers: Lady Liberty, Frida Kahlo, Harajuku Girl, innocent ballerina, bad-ass Met Gala and perhaps even a little nod to Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita” video.

Check it out:

Thankfully, Bustle has already ranked all of the fabulous fashion looks from most wearable to most out-there, in case you need some guidance — for your sister, of course.

This is the second video for “Misery”. In March, she released a lyric video with hand-drawn illustrations by Stefani, herself.

On its release day, the video topped the iTunes charts.

#MiseryMusicvideo #Misery Number one on iTunes!! #thanku 🙌Gx pic.twitter.com/YPluLfpYGX

— Gwen Stefani (@gwenstefani) May 31, 2016

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Meet the Woofy Winners of This Year’s Bingham Cup – VIDEO, PHOTOS

The Melbourne Chargers came out on top as the victors of this year’s Bingham Cup in Nasheville, Tennessee. Named for fallen United 93 hero Mark Bingham, the Bingham Cup is the World Cup of gay rugby.

The Chargers trounced rivals the Sydney Convicts 20 to 7 last weekend.

News Channel 5 Nashville reports: 

There were 48 teams from 28 countries competing. The tournament is named after Mark Bingham, a gay rugby player, but many know him as one of the heroes who stormed the cockpit of Flight 93 during 9-11.

His mother was in town to hand over the cup to the winning team.

Not every player in the cup is gay, but all the players agree the message of the tournament has been one of acceptance and respect.

More from The Star Observer: 

The Chargers’ club founder Ben Lancken said he couldn’t be more proud of the team.

“This isn’t my moment, it’s theirs,” he told the Star Observer.

“It’s a moment to be relished by anybody who has ever pulled on the jersey, fundraised, supported, volunteered, or contributed in any way.

“I couldn’t be prouder… eight years and we’ve done it.”

Watch a news report on the Chargers’ victory, below.

And check out snaps of the team via their Instagram.

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BREAKING: Massachusetts House Advances Bill Extending Crucial Protections to Transgender Community

Today, HRC hailed the Massachusetts House of Representative’s vote extending commonsense non-discrimination protections to the state’s transgender residents and visitors. While Massachusetts state law already prohibits anti-transgender discrimination in housing and employment, the new legislation will extend the same crucial protections to public accommodations.

The bill now goes to conference committee where it will be reconciled with the version the Senate passed in early May, and will then head to the desk of Republican Governor Charlie Baker who according to reports has spoken positively of the legislation.

“We commend the House for advancing protections for transgender people, and urge Governor Baker to join the growing list of fair-minded Republicans standing up for fairness and equality,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs. “Transgender people in Massachusetts, and around the country, deserve full equality under the law — including the same protections in public places afforded to other groups. Despite the lies being peddled by anti-equality activists, there’s been absolutely no increase in public safety risks from providing these anti-discrimination protections, many of which have been on the books for decades. We hope Governor Baker will affirm the dignity of all Bay State residents by signing the bill into law when it reaches his desk.”

If  Baker signs the bill, Massachusetts will join 18 other states and more than 100 cities that have explicit non-discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations, housing and employment.
The bill has overwhelming support throughout the state and the region. All New England  professional sports teams and Massachusetts education groups have endorsed it, along with U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, Attorney General Maura Healey, and the Boston Globe’s editorial board.

HRC is a proud member of the Freedom Massachusetts campaign, mobilizing our in-state members, as well as donating staff and other resources to the effort over the last year.

www.hrc.org/blog/massachusetts-house-advances-bill-extending-protections-to-trans-people?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Appeals Court Denies School’s Request to Rehear Transgender Student’s Rights Case

Yesterday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request by a Virginia school district to rehear the lawsuit filed by transgender student Gavin Grimm.

Grimm’s discrimination claim against Virginia’s Gloucester County School District alleged the district violated Title IX by denying him use of the boy’s restroom. In April, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 decision to instruct the federal district court to give deference to​ the Department of Education’s interpretation of Title IX of the Education Act of 1972 as protecting transgender students like Grimm from discrimination. Following th​at​ ruling, the Virginia school board appealed for a rehearing ​by the entire 15-judge panel.​  Yesterday, the full panel refused to rehear the case.​

The ruling comes as a number of states — most recently South Carolina and Oklahoma– have introduced legislation attacking transgender students by preventing their access to appropriate restroom and other facilities in schools.

In March, North Carolina became the first state in the country to enact a law attacking transgender students (one of several discriminatory provisions of the infamous HB2)​, even after similar proposals were being rejected across the country — including a high-profile veto by the Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota.

The case now goes back to federal district court in Virginia for a decision more deferential to the Department of Education’s interpretation.

​HRC congratulates Gavin Grimm and his legal team at the ACLU.

www.hrc.org/blog/appeals-court-denies-schools-request-to-rehear-transgender-students-rights?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Canada's National Anthem May Become Gender-Neutral

Lawmakers will decide whether to strike the word “sons” from “O Canada.” 

www.advocate.com/politics/2016/6/01/canadas-national-anthem-may-become-gender-neutral

See What Pride in the Heartland Looks Like

www.advocate.com/pride/2016/6/01/see-what-pride-heartland-looks

“Straight” Guys Are Having More Bisexual Sex Than Ever Before, Study Finds

Have you found your bedroom batting average on an upswing lately? It’s not just you–researchers have found that more Americans are having gay and bisexual sex than ever before. Hooray!

The findings appear in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. Researchers studied surveys about sexual behavior from 30,000 people, spanning from the 1973 to 2014.

Related: Straight Men Are A Lot More Bisexual Than You Might Think

From 1990 to 2014, both men and women doubled the rates at which they had sex with someone of the same sex. Men rose from 4.5 percent for men to 8.2 percent. For women, it went from 3.6 percent to 8.7 percent. Notably, the percentage of people who reported having sex with both men and women went from 3.1 percent to 7.7 percent.

It’s getting harder and harder to believe that bisexuals don’t exist. Maybe soon, we’ll drop the G and L and we’ll just all be B.

It is believed that a lot of this change was driven by more sexual liberation in the Midwest and South, where religion and conservative attitudes kept people from experiencing the full range of fulfilling relationships.

Welcome to the 21st century, Minnesota and Mississippi.

Related: 4 Things Everyone Should Know About The Science Of Bisexuality

Americans have grown significantly more accepting of gay sex during that period. In 1990, only 13 percent of people thought that there was no problem with such activities. Now, that’s at 49 percent, and 63 percent among young people.

(Side note: What is wrong with those 37 percent of millennials? They must the the most repressed of repressed 20-somethings.)

Ultimately, what we’re seeing are the death throes of dumb old taboos that once shamed and controlled our bodies. Everyone’s starting to figure out that life’s a lot more fun when you take off your clothes with whoever you like. So if you happen to run into one of the scientists who worked on that study, consider giving them a little hand job of thanks.

Related: On The DL: Straight-Identifying Men Speak Candidly About Their Sexual Relationships With Other Men

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Neo-Nazis Terrorize Pro-Gay Vegan Café By Throwing Plump Sausages

Neo-Nazis are notorious for their violent ways, searing ignorance, and abysmal taste in music. (Oi!)

Now, adding to their list of affronteries, a league of blowhard bulletheads have used a handful of plump, juicy sausages to terrorize unsuspecting vegans.

Related: Gay Russian Teen Reportedly Dies After Being Kidnapped, Tortured By Neo-Nazis

Kiwi Café is a vegan oasis located in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi in Eastern Europe. Highly popular with the local LGBTQ community, it’s suddenly found itself the target of vicious Neo-Nazi attacks, who apparently found the coffeeshop by wandering through town in their Doc Martens and suspenders, asking passersby if they knew of any pro-gay stores that might need to be reviled and defiled.

The squadron of social terrorists allegedly stomped into the café with links of sausages hung around their necks. Next, they taunted startled diners with slabs of meat poked through with skewers, hurdling them at customers before assaulting staff and patrons.

Related: Gay Former “X Factor” Contestant Filmed Being Tortured By Russian Neo-Nazis

The meat-festooned minions of mayhem managed to escape before police arrived. Some of the shell-shocked victims sustained minor injuries.

Kiwi Café released a statement about the incident, which they describe as “anti-vegan provocative action.”

“These people were neo-Nazis,” they write. “Participants of Bergmann movement, who support fascist ideas.”

In spite of the situation and everyday negative attitude to us and other people, who visit us, the café is continuing to work and is ready to accept all costumers regardless of nationality, race, appearance, age, gender, sexual orientation, religious views, etc. Equality is the most important thing for us.

During these hard times you can support us just by visiting our café, we will be very grateful if you come to show everyone that here are a lot of us who care about the issue!

Though this meat attack is utterly absurd and surreal, these attacks are, of course, no laughing matter.

As Pink News reports, Georgia has suffered a number of neo-Nazi attacks in recent months, particularly during their Pride parade, which has been haunted by repeated acts of violence.

In 2012, The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the country was neglecting to protect marchers from acts of violence:

Given the attitudes in parts of Georgian society towards sexual minorities, the authorities knew or should have known of the risk of tensions associated with the march.

They had thus been under an obligation to use any means possible to ensure that it could be held peacefully.

Related: Boyfriend Experiment Ends In Violent Attack By Neo-Nazis

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