Hillary Clinton Makes Surprise Visit to NY Pride (Video)

www.advocate.com/pride/2016/6/26/hillary-clinton-makes-surprise-visit-ny-pride-video

Olly Alexander Delivers Inspiring Speech at Glastonbury: ‘Shove a Rainbow in Fear’s Face’

Years & Years singer Olly Alexander asked fans at the Glastonbury Festival to join him in solidarity with the gay and queer community in light of recent events, presumably the Orlando massacre, and tell fear to shove it.

Said Alexander:

“As you might be able to tell by the way that I’m dressed, I’m gay. And in fact, I’m really really super gay…What I keep thinking about is how in the last year a lot of pretty scary and messed up stuff has happened. Now, as a queer person, as queer people we know what it’s like to be scared. We know what it’s like to live with fear. As part of our every day. But, tonight at Glastonbury, I would like to ask you to join me on Pride weekend, and say ‘no thank you fear.’ To say, ‘bye fear, bye.’ To literally shove a rainbow in fear’s face. And all I have to say to finish is, I’m here, I’m queer, and yeah sometimes I am afraid but I am never ashamed because I am proud of who I am!”

Watch the inspiring speech:

The BEST advice from Olly @yearsandyears: “Shove a rainbow in fear’s face” 🌈 #Pride2016 #Glastonbury2016 t.co/X0i6NFBsnP

— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) June 26, 2016

The post Olly Alexander Delivers Inspiring Speech at Glastonbury: ‘Shove a Rainbow in Fear’s Face’ appeared first on Towleroad.

feeds.towleroad.com/~r/towleroad/feed/~3/6Wqg-5NHH-c/

Hillary Clinton Makes Historic Surprise Appearance in NYC Pride Parade: WATCH

Joining New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton stepped in to the NYC Pride March on Christopher Street, just steps from the recently designated Stonewall National Monument.

Clinton marched for four blocks, waving and greeting onlookers.

It was the first time a presumptive presidential nominee from any major party has marched in the parade.

Here’s an Instagram post shot by former Clinton aide Richard Socarides:

And some additional video:

The scene around @HillaryClinton @NYGovCuomo @BilldeBlasio marching in the #NYCPrideParade pic.twitter.com/Kkgf7H4jS9

— Monica Alba (@albamonica) June 26, 2016

The parade also featured Gays Against Guns (GAG) a group formed in the wake of the Orlando massacre which took the lives of 49 people at the LGBT nightclub Pulse on June 12.

The group held a “die-in” while marching down Fifth Avenue and were followed by veiled marchers holding photographs of the 49 victims of the shooting.

Police provided increased security for this year’s parade, but they also took part in it, and accompanying their contingent was a patrol SUV painted in rainbow logos which featured a message of solidarity for the victims in Orlando.

The post Hillary Clinton Makes Historic Surprise Appearance in NYC Pride Parade: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

feeds.towleroad.com/~r/towleroad/feed/~3/iO9VpCcqOhY/

Pope Francis: Catholic Church Should Apologize to Gays and Seek Forgiveness

Pope Francis was asked about the June 12 Orlando massacre aboard the Papal plane on Sunday as it traveled from Rome to Armenia. The Pope “looked sad” according to Reuters, when asked about the massacre and whether he thought the Church should apologize to gay people for the way it has treated them.

He added: “I think that the Church not only should apologize … to a gay person whom it offended but it must also apologize to the poor as well, to the women who have been exploited, to children who have been exploited by (being forced to) work. It must apologize for having blessed so many weapons.”

The Church teaches that homosexual tendencies are not sinful but homosexual acts are, and that homosexuals should try to be chaste.

Francis repeated a slightly modified version of the now-famous “Who am I to judge?” comment he made about gays on the first foreign trip after his election in 2013.

“The questions is: if a person who has that condition, who has good will, and who looks for God, who are we to judge?”

By “condition”, Francis meant “a person in that situation” according to a Vatican spokesman, and did not mean anything mental or physical.

Francis added that “there are traditions in some countries, some cultures, that have a different mentality about this question (homosexuals)” and there are “some (gay) demonstrations that are too offensive for some”.

The post Pope Francis: Catholic Church Should Apologize to Gays and Seek Forgiveness appeared first on Towleroad.

feeds.towleroad.com/~r/towleroad/feed/~3/la2jhdEOV6c/