This Sportswear Brand Released a Sneaker Line for LGBTQ Pride Month

To celebrate Pride Month, Nike released three sneakers under the Be True collection as they continue to support the LGBTQ community—and of course, it features the colors of the rainbow.

The first of the three is their new colorway for the Air Max Zero which comes in all white, but with a subtle rainbow design on the heel. The tongue features a pink label and you’ll also see “Be True” on the insoles to complete the look.

Next up is the running staple LunarTempo2 that comes in contrasting black and white finished off with rainbow done in graphic prints along with a pink sole. Now this looks more like a party.

Finally we have the basketball performance model Hyperrev 2016 also done in contrasting black and white with the upper that features a gradient rainbow.

Hurry now and swipe these pairs as they will be available on the Nike SNKRS app today.

[Hypebeast and SneakerNews]


Photos courtesy of Nike

source: preen.inquirer.net

Pacquiao attacker references LGBT controversy

HOLLYWOOD—Security is going to be tight for Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas from now on after a man attacked the eight-division champion at a parking lot of a Japanese restaurant Sunday afternoon.

Pacquiao had just finished lunch at Kabuki Restaurant on Vine St., here and greeted well-wishers before heading for the parking lot where his Ferrari was stationed. According to some witnesses, all of a sudden, a tall, decently dressed man around 35 to 40 years old lunged at the boxer and tried to throw a punch.

Fortunately, Edward Lura, Pacquiao’s longtime friend, was able to ward off the Caucasian-looking attacker.

Other members of Pacquiao’s security detail joined the fray and subdued the man, according to David Sisson, Pacquiao’s personal assistant, who witnessed the incident that occurred around 3 p.m.

The attacker continued screaming at Pacquiao, referencing the LGBT controversy he sparked with his comments about same-sex marriage.

“F**k you, f**k you Pacquiao. You homophobic…”

Pacquiao remained calm and told his security not to hurt the man.

“Let him go. Don’t hurt him.”

Other eyewitness accounts, however, said the attacker merely verbally abused Pacquiao before he was whisked away by security personnel.

Security personnel heeded his call and just pushed the man away as Pacquiao left the premises of the Japanese restaurant where members of his entourage usually had lunch after attending church service.

Sisson, son of American missionaries based in General Santos City, added that Johnny Bantilan, a former boxer and Pacquiao’s friend, had to be restrained from going after the attacker.

The commotion, which drew the attention of restaurant personnel and customer, was apparently an offshoot of the LGBTbrouhaha involving Pacquiao last February.

Pacquiao remained calm throughout the incident and even joked that the attacker was not an enemy but a fan.

“He’s a fan. He was saying Pacquiao, not f**k you,” Sisson quoted Pacquiao as saying.


source: sports.inquirer.net

Say ‘Konichiwa’ to ‘Ototo no Otto': Japan’s gay-themed manga

Literature on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) is still blossoming in different areas of the world. Although LGBT literature is not a mainstream labyrinth compared to women’s literature or Shakespearean literature, glistening stories of struggles and joys of the queer society mesmerize many avid readers.

LGBT in the country is a vibrant topic in movies and novels, such as J. Neil Garcia’s “Philippine Gay Culture: the Last Thirty Years” and the popular movie “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros).” Melodramas such as “My Husband’s Lover” and the first lesbian soap opera “The Rich Man’s Daughter” sprouted an aisle of opportunities for Filipinos to conceptualize LGBT-themed literature and drama.

In Japan, LGBT-themed manga is tepidly gaining popularity among readers. One of the newest gay comic series, “Ototo no Otto (My Brother’s Husband),” joins transgender manga “Wandering Son” and other yaoi (a manga depicting male-to-male relationships) and yuri (the female counterpart).

Ototo no Otto narrates the life of Yaichi, a single father who lives with his primary-school daughter, Kana. Ryoji, Yaichi’s twin brother, died in Canada after staying there for ten years. Mike Flanagan, Ryoji’s same-sex partner, travelled to Japan to visit his partner’s family.

Feeling estranged from his twin brother for a long time, Yaichi was uncomfortable with the reality that Ryoji was a member of the LGBT community and that his daughter Kana is happily bonding with his “brother in law.”

The manga’s artist Gengoro Tagame is a notable artist in Japan’s gay-themed literature. His manga would be the first he would publish before a general audience, according to The Yomiuri Shimbun (The Japan News). The manga brews a different home setup as the partner of the protagonist’s brother is not a woman but a man. The crucial point of the series is how Yaichi would understand and totally accept his twin’s brother’s personality, his partner and Western gay culture.

Since the Japanese LGBT, which comprises 7.6 of the population, is not as open as compared to Western countries, this manga can be a tool for people to fully comprehend the LGBT community and empower them, politically and socially. RAM

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Hong Kong LGBT protesters say city lags behind in gay rights

HONG KONG, China—Hong Kong’s streets were a sea of rainbow flags on Saturday as protesters marched in the city’s annual gay pride parade to call for equality and same-sex marriage.

Around a thousand demonstrators paraded through downtown Hong Kong, with many complaining that the city lags behind other major Asian hubs in terms of LGBT rights.

“There’s still a lot of room to improve, compared to Taiwan and even to Japan,” Carol Yung, a 40-year-old marketing officer in the music industry, told AFP.

“These days they are … already discussing about same-sex marriage, but in Hong Kong we’re still very far behind,” Yung said.

Taiwan, which held a massive pride parade attended by nearly 80,000 people last month, is one of the most progressive Asian countries when it comes to homosexuality, but a bill to make same-sex marriage legal has been stalled in parliament since it was first proposed in 2013.

Hong Kong’s LGBT community has for years sought a ban on discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

LGBT issues are in the spotlight again this month after comments from the city’s Catholic bishop, which angered many in the community.

Cardinal John Tong, in a letter published Thursday, said concepts of marriage and family were being “challenged” by what he called “the gay movement.”

If a Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance were enacted, or gay marriage legalized “this would force our society into undergoing a change that would turn it upside-down,” Tong said.

In another development, the judgement for a landmark court case, in which a gay British woman challenged the government’s refusal to grant her a visa to live in the territory with her partner, is expected in November.

QT, as she is referred to in court, had called the authorities’ decision to be “discriminatory.” She entered into a civil partnership in Britain in 2011 and moved to Hong Kong in the same year after her partner was offered a job in the city.

One of Saturday’s marchers, Mark Green, 54, who works in the city’s fashion industry, told AFP however that things were progressing.

“I think Hong Kong is making enormous progress. We’re seeing changes … in the way that people react and respond to gay people in the work place and society,” Green said.

But “the government is really a little bit behind the times when it comes to recognizing LGBT rights,” he said, adding that even China recognizes the need to give same-sex couples dependent visas.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Lady Gaga supports LGBT people in Russia, invites arrest from authorities

US superstar Lady Gaga has revealed her support for LGBT people in Russia, after it was recently revealed that she had been accused of spreading 'gay propaganda' in the country during her 2012 visit.

The 'Marry The Night' singer has been criticised by Russian politicians of promoting homosexuality during her 2012 Born This Way ball tour, as well as travelling to the country without the appropriate paperwork. The country has also come under scrutiny in the press recently concerning its treatment of gay and lesbian people, where homophobia is still a widespread issue among the population.

Lady Gaga took to Facebook and Twitter to address the Russian situation, and the accusations levelled at her.

"Sending bravery to LGBTs in Russia," she wrote on Facebook. "The rise in government abuse is archaic. Hosing teenagers with pepper spray? Beatings? Mother Russia? The Russian government is criminal. Oppression will be met with revolution. Russian LGBTs you are not alone. We will fight for your freedom.

"Why didn't you arrest me when you had the chance, Russia? Because you didn't want answer to the world?"

She also took to Twitter to repeat her message.




An investigation has recently been launched into Gaga's time spent in Russia following the second allegation that she broke the law by possessing the incorrect visa.

The star has been accused of performing in the country on a tourist visa, another illegal act, as the singer was making money.


A statement from Russia has been released claiming "The visas issued were of the basic cultural exchange sort, which does not grant their bearers the right to engage in any commercial activity."

The cases will now be forwarded to the Foreign Ministry and the Federal Migration Service for further investigation.


source: gigwise.com

LGBT Fil-Ams hail same-sex marriage triumphs

SAN FRANCISCO—Darwin Dayan and his husband, Deo Patrimonio-Martin, who have been together for 18 years and wed five years ago, screamed with delight when they heard that DOMA had been struck down.  Their union in 2008 remains valid because they luckily wed during the brief period when same-sex marriage was legal in California.

The United States Supreme Court on June 26, the last day of its session this term, issued two stunning decisions on same-sex marriage that were heard around the world.

It overturned the Defense of Marriage Act’s (DOMA) federal ban on same- sex marriage as unconstitutional, thus allowing married same-sex couples in states where same sex-marriage is legal to receive federal benefits. The highest court of the land also ruled that proponents of California’s Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriage, had no standing or right to appeal the district court’s ruling that the initiative violated the state Constitution, thus facilitating the resumption of same-sex marriages in the country’s most populous state.

Elated

Like Dayan and Patrimonio-Martin, other members of the Filipino LGBT community were elated by these historical rulings, which brought them a step closer to achieving full equality.

Dayan welcomes the ruling, which not only recognizes their marriage on the federal level, but also makes it easier for him and Patrimonio-Martin, a pharmacist, to handle their estate and file taxes like any straight couple. Dayan, a consultant for a human resources firm in San Francisco, has had a long history of activism in the LGBT community. In the 1990s, he served as co-chair of the board of directors of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance and the Filipino Task Force on AIDS.

Jay and Shirley Mercado, who are advocates for marriage equality and the comprehensive immigration reform bill, were watching the morning news on TV when they heard the Supreme Court decisions.

“We jumped for joy, tears in our eyes, and could not believe what we were hearing,” Jay Mercado recalls. Jay, who works in the insurance industry, and Shirley, who manages a day care center at their home, have been together for 27 years and married in San Francisco in 2004 when same sex-marriage was legal for a few months in California.   However, the passage of Proposition 8 in 2008 invalidated their union. The Mercados have 16-year-old twin sons, Jashley and Joriene.

Jay says, “The decisions brought our family honor and dignity, and now we do not have to worry about Shirl’s immigration status in the future.”  The Department of Homeland Security has already issued an official statement confirming that in view of the DOMA decision immigration visa petitions may now be filed on behalf of a same-sex spouse in the same manner as an opposite-sex spouse. Mercado, who is a US citizen, will be able to file a petition for US residency for her wife, Shirley.






Far-reaching effects


The Supreme Court’s decisions will have far-reaching effects throughout the rest of the country. The demise of DOMA paves the path for legal challenges against the remaining 37 states that still ban same-sex marriage. But the Court ruling, which only allows federal benefits to married same-sex couples that reside in states that allow such unions, still poses a real dilemma for couples that decide to move to states that do not allow them.

The Supreme Court’s decision on California’s Proposition 8, which was based on technicality rather than its constitutionality, also promises to trigger a tsunami of lawsuits from same-sex couples living in those 37 states. Though the Court fell short of declaring a sweeping endorsement of same-sex marriage in the two cases, it is clear that the country would never be the same again.

As same-sex marriage is now legal in 13 states, including California and the District of Columbia, 30 percent, or about one-third of the country’s population, now lives in states where same-sex marriage is allowed.  David Boies, a lead attorney in the challenge to Proposition 8, said in a statement published in the San Francisco Chronicle, “The principles the court articulated today mean that we are going to have marriage equality in all 50 states. It’s just a question of time now.”



Unfinished fight
Nevertheless, the LGBT community and its supporters are aware that there is still lot of work ahead. Anti-same-sex marriage groups and individuals, including Republican politicians like Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have vowed to continue their crusade against marriage equality. Graham was quoted as declaring, “Today’s Supreme Court ruling will not change South Carolina law, and I will continue to fight for and defend the traditional definition of marriage.”

In view of this polarizing political landscape, Jamie Manson, an award-winning columnist for the National Catholic Reporter, issued a cautionary tale. Manson stated, “If right-wing lawmakers are successful in restricting voter eligibility among the disenfranchised, LGBT civil rights will be as vulnerable as government entitlement, civil liberties, collective bargaining and protections for immigrants.”

Manson notes that a mere 24 hours before announcing the same-sex marriage decisions, the Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that had subjected states that have historically practiced racial discrimination and want to amend their voting laws to strict scrutiny.

Voting rights and gay rights

Manson says, “The fight against voter suppression laws and the fight for LGBT rights share some deep connections. At the most fundamental level, both are civil rights battles for equal protection under the law.”

Thelma Estrada, a San Francisco attorney and Filipino community activist, agrees with Manson. Estrada, who is the current president of a local union of attorneys and a longtime supporter of gay rights, states, “The struggle of the LGBT community for equal protection under the law is part of the civil rights struggle. Just as we demand for equality for gay rights, we should also demand for equality at the voting booth. We need to affirm our commitment to fight discrimination of any kind.”

Fighting for equality is something that the Mercados, Dayan and many members of the Fil-Am LGBT community have shown they could do very well. They campaigned tirelessly against Proposition 8 and supported the battle for marriage equality by fundraising, making speeches, joining rallies and lobbying Congress. While pledging to continue the struggle for LGBT rights, they also see the need to defend other civil rights issues.

Jay Mercado says, “The LGBT and other communities should fight for any issues that will make us all equal.” Dayan echoes Mercado, stating, “As minorities, we need to watch out for laws and edicts that affect each of us. That’s why it’s often perplexing to me when people of color would make homophobic comments or be against marriage equality when we are all fighting for fairness and equality under the law.”

source: globalnation.inquirer.net