On May 28, the LGBTQ Domestic Violence Foundation launched its #SeenAndBelieved campaign to shine a light on the prevalence of DFV (domestic and family violence) in LGBTQ communities, aiming to break down the barriers to victims and survivors seeking and gaining support, MirageNews.com reported. Founder of LGBTQ Domestic Violence Awareness Day, DVConnect Board Member and Queensland police officer Senior Constable Ben Bjarnesen, said, "Domestic and family violence is an insidious issue that can affect anyone regardless of their gender, income, occupation, location, race, or religion. Now in its second year, the campaign has expanded beyond Australia and, in 2021, was commemorated by more than 300 organizations in 11 countries, including England, United States, Canada, Ireland and The Netherlands.
Lambda Legal issued a press release stating that internationally known activist Marco Castro-Bojorquez had passed. Castro-Bojorquez dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of those living with HIV, LGBTQ people and immigrants. He also was a decorated filmmaker, whose films Tres Gotas de Agua and El Canto del Colibri put a spotlight on the often untold stories of family relationships and acceptance in Latinx and immigrant communities. According to POZ.com, there is a GoFundMe page to raise funds to bring Castro-Bojorquez back to his family in Mexico; visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/our-beloved-marcos-return-home.
Chanting for equality and holding aloft brightly painted signs supporting LGBT rights, approximately 7,500 people marched in Jerusalem's annual pride parade, The Times of Israel reported. The event demanding LGBT equality began with a ceremonial prayer for Shira Banki, a 16-year-old who was stabbed to death by an ultra-Orthodox extremist during the 2015 parade. The 1.5-mile march, from the city's Liberty Bell Park to Independence Park, began at 2:30 p.m., signaling the start of pride month events in Israel. The parade did not go ahead last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic; even this year, organizers canceled a mass event at Independence Park that usually concludes the event.
The committee organizing the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo declined to say if Japanese lawmakers' anti-LGBTQ comments violated the Olympic Charter's nondiscrimination clause, The Washington Blade noted. The Japanese publication Mainichi reported members of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party who attended a meeting about an LGBTQ-rights bill described LGBTQ people as "morally unacceptable" and said "from a biological perspective, human beings must preserve the species; LGBT people go against this." The International Olympic Committee, in 2014, added sexual orientation to the Olympic Charter's nondiscrimination clause, after Russia's LGBTQ-rights record overshadowed the 2014 Winter Olympics that took place in Sochi.
In Spain, lawmakers voted against a bill that would have allowed transgender people to legally change their gender without medical or psychological interventions, The Washington Blade noted. By a vote of 143-78 (with 120 abstentions), the Congress of Deputies rejected the "Proposed Law for Real and Effective Equality of Transgender People," which Human Rights Watch in a press release noted "would also have allowed non-binary and blank gender markers on identity documents, acknowledging the rights and dignity of people who do not identify with a rigid gender binary."
Chile President Sebastian Pinera said he would seek to expedite a same-sex marriage bill that has languished in the historically conservative South American nation for years, Reuters reported. Chile's LGBT community has long pushed for the legislation, but the country's ruling conservative coalition has until now been slow to advance the bill in Congress. "I think the time for equal marriage has come in our country," Pinera said during his yearly address to lawmakers. "All people, regardless of their sexual orientation, will be able to live, love and form a family with all the protection and dignity they need and deserve."
YouTube Originals revealed major additions to "YouTube Pride 2021," a multi-hour, star-studded livestream event celebrating the LGBTQ+ community on Friday, June 25, a press release noted. The virtual celebration will feature celebrity emcees Demi Lovato, Olly Alexander with Mawaan Rizwan, Trixie Mattel and Daniel Howell, with each hosting his/her/their Pride party from his/her/their respective YouTube channels. (Special guest Tyler Oakley will also join the list of previously announced talent including Kim Chi, Monet X Change, Peppermint and Denali Foxx.) Throughout musical performances, giving challenges, special guests, live moments and much more, viewers will be encouraged to help the LGBTQ+ community by raising funds for the The Trevor Project in the United States and akt in the United Kingdom.
Capgemini was named Employer of the Year at this year's Australian LGBTQ Inclusion Awards, held May 28 in Sydney, according to the Australian Workplace Equality Index
website. Oliver Wyman was Small Employer of the Year, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation was named Most Improved Employer and Liberty Financial was deemed Most Improved Small Employer. IBM, Deloitte, Woolworths Group, Accenture, Macquarie Bank, The University of Queensland, Baker McKenzie, Gilead Sciences, Boston Consulting Group and Deutsche Bank were just a few of the other businesses that were recognized.
More than 100 members of Mexico's LGBTQ community participated as candidates in the June 6 mid-term elections that will fill the 500 seats of the lower chamber of the Congress, as well as state and local posts across the country, ABC News noted, citing the AP. It is the largest number of LGBTQ candidates in Mexico's history, according to Carla Humphrey, an official with the National Electoral Institute.
In the weeks since President Joe Biden asked her to take charge of immigration from Central America, Vice President Kamala Harris and her staff have sought to make one thing clear: She does not manage the southern border, CNN.com reported. Two White House officials familiar with the dynamic said Harris and her aides have emphasized internally that they want to focus on conditions in Central America that push migrants to the United States' southern border, as Biden tasked her to do in March. A record number of unaccompanied children crossed into the States this spring.
The Cannes Film Festival unveiled its Official Selection lineup for the 2021 event which will run July 6-17 on the Riviera, Deadline noted. Fest President Pierre Lescure and General Delegate Thierry Fremaux made the presentation of 61 titles in Paris, 24 of which are in competition. (Four of those are directed by women.) Jodie Foster will receive an honorary Palme d'Or this year, attending as a special guest of the opening ceremony on July 6. Among titles already confirmed coming into this morning are opening night film Annette from director Leos Carax and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, as well as Wes Anderson's Searchlight ensemble The French Dispatch and Paul Verhoeven's Benedetta.
Actor John Barrowman's husband responded to "vicious trolls" after the Torchwood star was accused of inappropriate behavior with co-workers, PinkNews noted. Scott Gill addressed the controversy surrounding his actor husband on Instagram, where he admitted that the previous three weeks had been "challenging" for them both. Gill went on to laud Torchwood actor Gareth David-Lloyd, calling him "the true hero of the story" after he publicly defended Barrowman's on-set behavior.
In Bulgaria, a group of approximately 30 nationalists attempted to halt the screening in Sofia of a film depicting a relationship between two women, BalkanInsight.com reported. The men appeared to be connected with the far-right Bulgarian National Union party and Lukovmarch, an annual event in commemoration of WWII general Hristo Lukov, often criticized for providing a forum for neo-Nazis to gather. Police were called and the film—Eggshells, by director Slava Doytcheva—was eventually screened at The Steps, a venue recently opened by the Single Step Foundation, which supports the local LGBT community.
Mexico has accused fashion brands Zara, Anthropologie and Patowl of cultural appropriation, claiming that they "made use" of designs created by the country's indigenous populations, according to CNN.com . In a series of letters written to the brands and signed by Mexico Ministry of Culture Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, the department asked for a "public explanation." It also called for "benefits" to be "given back to the creative communities" that it believes invented the embroidery techniques and design motifs.
Irish singer-songwriter Sinead O' Connor declared that she's retiring from music and touring, and that her next album will be her last, according to Deadline. "This is to announce my retirement from touring and from working in the record business. I've gotten older and I'm tired," she tweeted. "This is not sad news. It's staggeringly beautiful news. A warrior knows when he or she should retreat. It's been a forty-year journey. Time to put the feet up and make other dreams come true."
The UK shoot of Mission: Impossible 7 paused after a member of the production tested positive for COVID, Deadline noted. The shoot will stop for 14 days; safety protocols are being followed, with those impacted reportedly self-isolating. The seventh installment of the Tom Cruise franchise was impacted by COVID early on during its shoot in February 2020 when lockdowns occurred in Italy. In December, audio leaked from the set of Cruise yelling at the crew after they violated coronavirus production precautions.
Brazillian rapper Kevin Nascimento Bueno, who performed as MC Kevin, fell to his death in Rio de Janeiro after he jumped off a balcony and plunged several floors, LGBTQ Nation noted. Bueno was having a threesome with his friend, Victor Fontenelle, and fashion model Bianca Domingues in a hotel room when someone knocked on the door. Bueno thought it was his wife and ran.
