Weekend Hashtag Project: #WHP? Weekend Hashtag Project is a…

Weekend Hashtag Project: #WHP?

Weekend Hashtag Project is a…

Weekend Hashtag Project: #WHP?

Weekend Hashtag Project is a series featuring designated themes and hashtags chosen by Instagram’s Community Team. For a chance to be featured on the Instagram blog, follow @instagram and look for a post every week announcing the latest project.

Celebrate the uniqueness and style of unicorns for this Weekend Hashtag Project: #WHP?

  • Capture your real-life unicorns, the individuals that really stand out. With an action-packed #Boomerang or playful portrait of a friend (humans and animals both work), show us their true personality.
  • Look for light and colors that pop. An everyday place can transform into a magical location with the addition of a single light beam spilling into a dark room or an orange boat that jumps out against a blue sea.
  • Focus on the little things. Get close to capture special details of a new hair style or handcrafted origami. Include the written details in your caption, too.

PROJECT RULES: Please add the #WHP? hashtag only to photos and videos taken over this weekend and only submit your own visuals to the project. If you include music in your video submissions, please only use music to which you own the rights. Any tagged photo or video taken over the weekend is eligible to be featured next week.

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Project Pride opens tomorrow nite: “Down the Rainbow Brick Road,” this Sat, Mar. 10 (7pm) & Sun, Mar. 11 (5pm) #ProjectPride #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #pride? #loveislove #thisisme #kcmo #kansascitymo #kansascity #teenactors #theatre #activism

Project Pride opens tomorrow nite: “Down the Rainbow Brick Road,” this Sat, Mar. 10 (7pm) & Sun, Mar. 11 (5pm) #ProjectPride #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #pride? #loveislove #thisisme #kcmo #kansascitymo #kansascity #teenactors #theatre #activism

TheCoterieTheatre posted a photo:

#ProjectPride #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #pride? #loveislove #thisisme #kcmo #kansascitymo #kansascity #teenactors #theatre #activism‘>

on Instagram ift.tt/2oYbJlV

Project Pride opens tomorrow nite: “Down the Rainbow Brick Road," this Sat, Mar. 10 (7pm) & Sun, Mar. 11 (5pm) #ProjectPride #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #pride🌈 #loveislove #thisisme #kcmo #kansascitymo #kansascity #teenactors #theatre #activism

Milwaukee’s alarming HIV outbreak is being called the largest STI cluster In U.S. history

Milwaukee’s alarming HIV outbreak is being called the largest STI cluster In U.S. history
At least 125 people, including a small group 0f high school students, have tested positive for HIV, syphilis, or both.

www.queerty.com/milwaukees-alarming-hiv-outbreak-called-largest-sti-cluster-u-s-history-20180309?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Tears Are Shed When Adults React to the Gay-Themed Film ‘Love, Simon’ – WATCH

Tears Are Shed When Adults React to the Gay-Themed Film ‘Love, Simon’ – WATCH
adults react love simon

The upcoming coming-of-age-coming-out romance Love, Simon is apparently a movie for everyone if the reactions from a set of adults who were shown the film are to be believed.

Followers pushed the ‘Adults React’ YouTube page to post a video about the film, which sneak peeks tonight in selected theaters and premieres nationwide a week from tonight.

The verdict: it’s a tearjerker.

Said one affected viewer: “I came out in 1990 when I was 20 years old and there were no laws that protected gay people and I can’t believe that in only 27 years that a major movie production company has made a film so impactful…”

Greg Berlanti (Dawson’s Creek, Brothers & Sisters, Green Lantern, Everwood, Political Animals, Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow) directed the film.

The film also features Katherine Langford, Jennifer Garner, Miles Heizer, and Tony Hale.

WATCH THIS NEXT: Dad Makes His Gay Son a Shocking Grindr Offer in New Clip from ‘Love, Simon’ – WATCH

The film’s synopsis:

Everyone deserves a great love story. But for seventeen-year old Simon Spier it’s a little more complicated: he’s yet to tell his family or friends he’s gay and he doesn’t actually know the identity of the anonymous classmate he’s fallen for online. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, terrifying and life-changing.

Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, who co-executive produce the new NBC show This Is Us, wrote the script.

Said Berlanti to EW about choosing to direct the film: “There’s this one section of the film where Simon imagines this one boy and imagines them kissing underneath the mistletoe at Christmas. In every other major studio film, it’s always the guy and the girl. And there was something so powerful about it being just a guy imagining himself with this other guy in a film again that was going to be marketed and sold as a mainstream romantic comedy.”

The post Tears Are Shed When Adults React to the Gay-Themed Film ‘Love, Simon’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.


Tears Are Shed When Adults React to the Gay-Themed Film ‘Love, Simon’ – WATCH

HIV Outbreak in Milwaukee Underscores Importance of Funding Critical Prevention Programs

HIV Outbreak in Milwaukee Underscores Importance of Funding Critical Prevention Programs

Milwaukee health advocates are calling for the restoration of funding to combat the epidemic of HIV and STDs in the wake of a shocking uptick in their city. More than 125 people, including teenagers, recently contracted HIV and/or syphilis, a situation that the National Coalition of STD Directors characterized as  “a symptom of under-resourced STD programs.”

In 2012, Governor Scott Walker signed an abstinence-only sex education bill, which experts like Advocates for Youth say are ineffective at stopping sexual activity or reducing teen pregnancy. Reinstating evidence-based in-school sexual health education programs, which Walker cut, is also essential to addressing the epidemic. Wisconsin has also rejected expanding Medicaid, which provides critical health care to at-risk populations.

News of the epidemic comes just two months after the Trump-Pence administration proposed to slash more than $60 million for HIV & AIDS prevention programming from the federal budget.

“These numbers are alarming and clearly indicative of a disturbing gap — not only in the provision of services, but in public education among Milwaukee’s young people,” said HRC Wisconsin State Manager Wendy Strout. “The failure to fund critical prevention programs leads to outbreaks like this, ultimately costing us more in terms of dollars and lives than any public education campaign ever would. To achieve an AIDS-free generation, we must fight for it. Here, and across the nation, we must insist that our elected officials treat this epidemic like the national emergency it is, and ensure that cities and states have the tools to combat it.”

The outbreak in Milwaukee exemplifies what sexual health advocates already know: failure to fund critical prevention programs can have devastating effects — just ask Mike Pence.

During his term as governor of Indiana, Pence repeatedly ignored warning signs that there was a potential for an infectious disease outbreak of HIV in his state, and fought against programs designed to slow the surge of HIV cases in the state’s hardest-hit communities. It was only under enormous pressure that Pence was dragged “kicking and screaming” into taking action.

“As we have seen before in places like Indiana, in order for the public to stay safe and healthy, communities need comprehensive, fully-funded, evidence-based public health programming. HRC hopes that the Milwaukee community, working with leading HIV & AIDS prevention experts, can curb this outbreak, get those affected the treatment that they need, and put in place more community health resources to prevent a similar public health crisis in the future,” said Peter Cruz, HRC Foundation Associate Director of HIV & Health Equity.

To learn more about the HIV epidemic and HIV prevention and treatment, visit What Do I Do? A Handbook to Understanding Health & HIV, a resource by HRC and AIDS United.

www.hrc.org/blog/hiv-outbreak-in-milwaukee-underscores-importance-of-funding-critical-preven?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Don’t miss these LGBTQ-inclusive films and VR experiences at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival

Don’t miss these LGBTQ-inclusive films and VR experiences at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival

Featured Image Attribution: 
Photo Credit: The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Jeong Park

The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival will take place in New York City next month, April 18-29. The festival’s lineup was announced earlier this week, and includes several LGBTQ-inclusive films that will be either premiering or screening during the 12-day festival. The year also marks a record for the festival, 46% of the 96 movies in the feature film program are directed by women, an all-time high for the festival. The lineup also includes 46 first time directors.

Tribeca also includes a smaller program highlighting stories told through virtual and augmented reality and 360-degree video, Tribeca Immersive. One of the five Storyscapes competitors this year is Queerskins: a love story, which puts the participant into a haptic touch virtual reality experience as a mother in Missouri in the early ’90s who is getting to know Sebastian, the estranged son she lost to HIV and AIDS, through a diary and a box of his belongings. Another Immersive experience is the world premiere of She Flies by Her Own Wings, a virtual reality experience telling the story of transgender Air Force veteran Shannon Scott.

Below, check out the LGBTQ-inclusive films coming to Tribeca this year. These are listed in alphabetical order, and synopses are taken directly from the Tribeca website. We will update this post as further announcements are made.

Call Her Ganda, directed by PJ Raval, written by PJ Raval, Victoria Chalk. Produced by PJ Raval, Lisa Valencia-Svensson, Marty Syjuco, Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala. (USA, Philippines) – World Premiere. When a transgender Filipina woman is found dead in a motel room with a U.S. Marine as the leading suspect, grassroots activists demand accountability. The ensuing case lays bare a constellation of social and political tensions between the United States and the Philippines.

Disobedience, directed by Sebastian Lelio, written by Sebastián Lelio, Rebecca Lenkiewicz. Produced by Frida Torresblanco, Ed Guiney, Rachel Weisz. (UK) – U.S. Premiere. After the death of her estranged rabbi father, a New York photographer returns to the Orthodox Jewish community in North London where she grew up and, in doing so, reignites long-dormant passions and controversies. With Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Alessandro Nivola. A Bleecker Street release.

Duck Butter, directed by Miguel Arteta, written by Miguel Arteta, Alia Shawkat. Produced by Mel Eslyn, Natalie Qasabian. (USA) – World Premiere. Two women, jaded by dishonest and broken relationships, make a pact to spend 24 uninterrupted hours together, having sex on the hour. Their romantic experiment intends to create a new form of intimacy, but it doesn’t quite go as planned. With Alia Shawkat, Laia Costa, Hong Chau, Kate Berlant, Kumail Nanjiani, Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Lindsay Burdge. A release from The Orchard.

Every Act of Life, directed and written by Jeff Kaufman. Produced by Jeff Kaufman, Marcia Ross. (USA) – World Premiere, Feature Documentary. Every Act of Life presents a revealing portrait of four-time Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally’s ground-breaking, six-decade career in the theater, fight for LGBTQ rights, and triumph over addiction. With Terrence McNally, Audra McDonald, Nathan Lane, Larry Kramer, Angela Lansbury, Christine Baranski. After the movie: A conversation with director Jeff Kaufman, playwright Terrence McNally, actor/director Joe Mantello, and actors F. Murray Abraham, Christine Baranski, and Chita Rivera. Moderated by New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich.

The Gospel According to André, directed by Kate Novack. Produced by Kate Novack, Andrew Rossi. (USA) – New York Premiere, Feature Documentary. From the segregated South to the fashion capitals of the world, The Gospel According to André recounts fashion editor André Leon Talley’s storied life and career through intimate conversations, rich archival, and testimonials from fashion luminaries including Anna Wintour, Tom Ford, and Marc Jacobs. With André Leon Talley. A Magnolia release. After the movie: A conversation with director Kate Novack and subject André Leon Talley, producer Andrew Rossi, executive producer Roger Ross Williams, and producer Josh Braun.

Howard, directed and written by Don Hahn. Produced by Don Hahn, Lori Korngiebel. (USA) – World Premiere. Howard Ashman, the once-in-a-generation songwriting talent, penned the lyrics for Little Shop of Horrors and revitalized Disney with his work on The Little MermaidBeauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. Howard is a tribute to the lyricist and to the power of musical storytelling. With Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bill Lauch, Sarah Gillespie, Peter Schneider.

Mapplethorpe, directed by Ondi Timoner. Screenplay by Ondi Timoner. Produced by Eliza Dushku, Nathaniel Dushku, Richard J. Bosner, Ondi Timoner. (USA) – World Premiere. In the late 1960s, art-school dropout Robert Mapplethorpe moves into the Chelsea Hotel with dreams of stardom. He quickly becomes the enfant terrible of the photography world as the downtown counterculture of 1970s New York reaches its zenith. With Matt Smith, Marianne Rendón, John Benjamin Hickey, Brandon Sklenar, McKinley Belcher III, Mark Moses.

McQueen, directed Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui, written by Peter Ettedgui. Produced by Ian Bonhôte, Andee Ryder, Nick Taussig, Paul Van Carter. (UK) – World Premiere. Legendary couturier Alexander McQueen’s rags to riches story is vividly brought to life by his closest friends and family, and through his revolutionary body of work, as inspired, tortured, and visionary as the man himself. A Bleecker Street release.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post, directed by Desiree Akhavan, written by Desiree Akhavan, Cecilia Frugiuele. Produced by Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtlelaub, Cecilia Frugiuele, Jonathan Montepare. (USA) – New York Premiere. After Cameron is caught having sex with another girl on prom night, her conservative guardians send her to gay conversion therapy. There, she forges an unlikely community with her fellow teens in this Sundance-winning coming of age story. With Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, John Gallagher Jr., Jennifer Ehle.

The Party’s Just Beginning, directed and written by Karen Gillan. Produced by Mali Elfman, Andru R. Davies, Claire Mundell. (Scotland) – International Premiere. Liusaidh is a sharp-witted, foul-mouthed, heavy-drinking twenty-something who is still reeling from a recent loss. This surreal coming-of-age tale is a love letter to Gillan’s hometown in the Scottish Highlands. With Karen Gillan, Lee Pace, Matthew Beard, Paul Higgins, Siobhan Redmond, Jamie Quinn, Rachel Jackson.

Studio 54, directed by Matt Tyrnauer. Produced by Matt Tyrnauer, Corey Reeser, John Battsek. (USA) – New York Premiere. In 1977, Studio 54 and its founders, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, epitomized New York hedonism. But by, 1979 the fantasy was over. Studio 54 goes inside that meteoric rise and catastrophic fall. With Steve Rubell, Ian Schrager, Nile Rodgers, Norma Kamali, Karin Bacon, Myra Scheer. An A&E release.

We the Animals, directed by Jeremiah Zagar, written by Dan Kitrosser. Produced by Jeremy Yaches, Christina D. King, Andrew Goldman, Paul Mezey. (USA) – New York Premiere, Feature Narrative. This lyrical coming-of-age tale, based on the acclaimed novel, weaves magic realism into an exquisite portrait of three brothers, their troubled parents, and the secret that the youngest of them holds. With Raul Castillo, Sheila Vand, Evan Rosado, Isaiah Kristian, Josiah Gabriel. A release from The Orchard.

Ticket packages are available now, with single ticket sales launching on March 27. 

March 9, 2018
Issues: 

www.glaad.org/blog/dont-miss-these-lgbtq-inclusive-films-and-vr-experiences-2018-tribeca-film-festival