Transgender Pakistanis Gather En Masse For the Country’s First Trans Pride Parade

Transgender people from all over the country gathered in Lahore for the first ever trans pride march in Pakistan this past weekend.

The event took place on Saturday December 29th.

First ever Trans parade took place in Lahore-Pakistan on 28th December. So proud of these lovely people who came out despite all the challenges.#TransRightsAreHumanRights pic.twitter.com/kPS4QQ0XEX

— Sneh (@_HouseofNemesis) December 29, 2018

Gay Star News said, “Witnesses said the march attracted a big crowd, as they took to the streets through the second most biggest city in Pakistan. People held signs in support of the community and waved flags, as people on the street looked on.”

Pakistan’s first Transgender Pride March took place in Lahore yesterday and no one noticed?? pic.twitter.com/ZiK0HXieJm

— Faizan Fiaz (@Faizan_Fiaz) December 30, 2018

Pakistan offers more legal protections to transgender people than the majority of its neighbors, though they still suffer discrimination in the community.

The recent ruling in India that has decriminalized sodomy has energized LGBT activists in Pakistan.

In the meantime, the Pakistani LGBT community must continue to live with Section 377, the 157-year-old British colonial era law criminalizing homosexual sex that lives on in the Pakistan Penal Code.

TRANS PRIDE LAHORE
t.co/fXjxHi5nNl

— PSC (@PSCollective_) December 29, 2018

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Transgender Pakistanis Gather En Masse For the Country’s First Trans Pride Parade

HRC Takes a Look Back at What We Accomplished in 2018

We at HRC are filled with pride when we think about all that we have accomplished over the past year. We hope you are, too.  

We asked more of you than we ever have before, and you delivered – big time.  

You helped registered more than 30,000 voters, recruited more than 4,000 volunteers and clocked in thousands more hours for equality. Your efforts helped us elect a record number of women, people of color and LGBTQ candidates up and down the ballot on election night.

States across the country will have more diverse representation than ever before. In 2019, Arizona will have its first openly bisexual United States Senator, Colorado will swear in its first openly gay governor, Kansas will send its first openly lesbian Native American to Congress, while Washingtonians voted to re-elected their first openly LGBTQ govenror.

The new year will usher in a more diverse and accepting House of Representatives and will get us that much closer to finally passing the Equality Act. You have a lot to celebrate for your tireless work to achieving full LGBTQ equality at home, at work and in every community.  

Today, HRC is smarter, stronger and more successful because of you and our incredible family of members, supporters and volunteers. You are the backbone of this organization, and we are so grateful for your leadership and support. There are serious challenges to come, and many battles left to wage – but HRC has never been stronger, thanks to you.

As you and your family and friends gather to celebrate the holiday season, please know we are celebrating you.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-takes-a-look-back-at-what-we-accomplished-in-2018?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Hector Xtravaganza, ‘Grandfather’ of House of Xtravaganza, Dies at 60

The dancer and activist was also a consultant on FX’s Pose.

www.advocate.com/people/2018/12/31/hector-xtravaganza-grandfather-house-xtravaganza-dies-60

#MCM Hotties Strip and Offer Gay Bro-Tips to Picking Up Girls: WATCH

In the first episode of Bryan Hawn’s newly launched BroScience YouTube channel he and co-star Vlad Parker set out to teach you how to lap dance.

Brawn contacted Towleroad and said we inspired them to push their act further. So Parker strips naked for the 2nd episode of BroScience! “In this video, we give straight guys some very gay strategies on how to pick up girls,” Brawn told Towleroad, “Your readers will have their jaws dropped to the floor as  Vlad and I uncover some hilarious secrets to courting the female specimen.”

Decide for yourself below.

The post #MCM Hotties Strip and Offer Gay Bro-Tips to Picking Up Girls: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

#MCM Muscle Hotties Strip and Offer Gay Bro-Tips to Picking Up: WATCH

19 Year-Old HIV-Positive Blood Donor Kills Himself

A 19 year-old Malaysian man who frequently donated blood attempted to kill himself after learning that his own blood had transmitted the virus to a pregnant woman. He subsequently died from the attempt.

The man was not aware that he was HIV-positive when he donated.

The story raises a variety of questions about the protocol involved in how blood banks and hospitals screen donor blood and how stigmatized the disease is especially in developing countries like Malaysia. According to the United Nations, “Malaysia is one of the ten countries which together accounted for over 95 percent of all new HIV infections in the Asia-Pacific region in 2016.”

Tamil Nesan reported that the 19-year-old “boy in Tamil Nadu had been donating blood since 2016.”

He also donated blood earlier this month for a relative who needed a transfusion but it’s still uncertain if the virus was transmitted in that case.

He only found out about his HIV status when he underwent a full blood test as part of his government application to work in a foreign country.

The report says, “A 23-year-old woman in a government hospital who received the blood transfusion with the tainted blood was confirmed to have been infected.”

After the police and medical investigators questioned the teenager about his blood donations, he reportedly tried to commit suicide by drinking rat poison but survived the attempt.

Guilt wracked, he said he was unaware of his condition and would not have donated blood if he had known.

He also questioned how the blood banks and hospitals had missed such a diagnosis in their screenings.

The post 19 Year-Old HIV-Positive Blood Donor Kills Himself appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

19 Year-Old HIV-Positive Blood Donor Dies After Suicide Attempt

Lady Gaga Is Overcome with Emotion During ‘Shallow’ at Enigma in Vegas

The Golden Globe nominee for A Star Is Born couldn’t get through the movie’s hit “Shallow” without having to stop to collect herself during her Las Vegas show.
 

www.advocate.com/music/2018/12/30/lady-gaga-overcome-emotion-during-shallow-enigma-vegas

Out, Poz NYC Council Member Corey Johnson Sings ‘Full House’ Theme: WATCH

Corey Johnson made history this year and became one of the highest-ranking out, gay, and HIV-positive officials in the country when he was elected speaker of the New York City council (which is second only to NYC’s mayor).

In September in a string of emotional, sincere, and heartfelt tweets,  and the anniversary of learning his HIV diagnoses,  Johnson said overcoming his hard partying benders on cocaine and alcohol, as well as the day he learned he was HIV-positive, contributed to his success today.

The speaker traveling in the bay areas for the holidays tweeted a funny video of him and a friend driving across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco while singing the theme to Full House.

I looked for Uncle Jesse (get it?) but alas. All I found was Kimmy Gilber! pic.twitter.com/Zqhpy51A0C

— Corey Johnson (@CoreyinNYC) December 30, 2018

The post Out, Poz NYC Council Member Corey Johnson Sings ‘Full House’ Theme: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Out, Poz NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson Sings ‘Full House’ Theme: WATCH

Best of 2018: Bisexuals on TV

From Desiree Akhavan to Jay Bilzerian, it’s the year of the bisexual (at least on the small screen).

www.advocate.com/television/2018/12/30/best-2018-bisexuals-tv