5 THINGS TO KNOW

Hashtagging your way out of the closet.

A new LGBT hashtag has taken Twitter by storm, and it will warm your rainbow-coloured soul. There is nothing quite as wonderful as seeing LGBT youth embrace their identities and celebrate them with other out people.

HEALTH

How did they get their names? 9 transgender people share their stories.

Choosing a new name can be a big part of transitioning for transgender and gender non-conforming people, who often aren’t comfortable still being called by their birth name (also sometimes called a “dead-name”). But just like parents choosing a name for their newborn, the decision isn’t always easy.

BUSINESS

Barilla makes amends for past anti-LGBT comments.

The pasta company Barilla is opening a restaurant on the campus of the University of Southern California – and there hasn’t been a backlash from the LGBT community. Why not? The school finished work on its $700 million “USC Village,” a commercial area open to the public during the day. Many big retail chains are moving into the space, including Trader Joe’s, Target, and now Barilla.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Canada’s dark LGBT past.

Todd Ross came out in front of a two-way mirror as strangers lurked. When he repeated the word moments later, at last giving those men in grey pants and sportcoats what they had long sought to push out of him, Ross was strapped to a polygraph machine.  “Yes,” he said. Finally.