Google doodles – the artistic renderings that replace Google’s classic logo in accordance with major holidays, events and commemorations – have become a standard feature of cyber life, bringing variety and cultural recognition to even the most mundane web activities. However, as of June 1, 2011, the colors of the rainbow were notably absent from…
Union Bank has teamed up with KPBS to recognize cultural diversity by launching several exciting new videos saluting San Diego’s ‘Local Heroes’ in celebration of LGBT Pride Month. The most recent video features local hero Nicole Murray-Ramirez, a gay rights activist who has been a champion for the Latino gay community for over 45 years….
Amina Araf, an American-Syrian lesbian woman and author of the popular blog ‘A Gay Girl in Damascus,’ was kidnapped late Monday while walking with a friend in the capital city. MSNBC reports that Araf, who blogs under the pen name Amina Abdallah, was seized by three armed men and forced into their vehicle. A witness…
San Francisco – Equality California and its Board of Directors announced today that Roland Palencia, a trailblazing LGBT activist with extensive experience in leading and managing multi-million dollar non-profit organizations, will serve as the new executive director for Equality California and Equality California Institute. Palencia will begin his tenure on July 5. “I am deeply…
Barbara Streisand published an official statement today in response to recent media buzz pitting her against gay rights activist and playwright Larry Kramer. The two prominent figures have been locked in a public feud regarding failed efforts to film Kramer’s celebrated play, ‘The Normal Heart.’ Since purchasing the rights to the play in 1985, Streisand…
Since its installation in 2008, the popular exhibition entitled ‘Creating the United States’ has drawn more than 1.5 million visitors to the Thomas Jefferson building in the Library of Congress. The display is designed to demonstrate how the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are “living instruments” integral to the evolution of the…
Anti-gay groups across the country will see an increase in funding during the next two years due to a new plan called ‘Ignite an Enduring Cultural Transformation’ – an anti-civil rights campaign without a named sponsor. The campaign will focus on Republican states and Republican supporters such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Louisiana Gov….
UNITED KINGDOM – Facebook has apologized for removing a photo of a gay kiss, that was posted to accompany a post in support of a gay couple that were kicked out of a pub. Facebook warned Richard Metzger who had posted the story, and subsequently removed the image. According to NYULocal.com, the photo was quickly…
Recent pressure to remove a controversial art work from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery exhibition “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture” has sparked a debate concerning the over-arching issues of free expression and artistic censorship in the nation’s capitol. After a video component of the exhibit depicting ants crawling on a crucifix drew complaints…
Ah, the summer of 1969: a time of social change, free love, flower power and radical revolution. These days, we may think of hippies and beatniks whenever we wax nostalgic for the late sixties and early seventies – and yet these were also some of the darkest days of discrimination for the American gay community….
