LIFESTYLES

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Montreal’s Pride Parade to feature Leo Varadkar and Justin Trudeau.

August 16, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Montreal’s Pride Parade to feature Leo Varadkar and Justin Trudeau.

Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s taoiseach, or prime minister, will join Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Montreal’s Pride parade during a three-day visit that gets underway Saturday. The two leaders met in Ireland in July, shortly after Varadkar took office as the country’s first openly gay prime minister. Trudeau says he and Varadkar plan to discuss issues related to diversity and inclusion and how both countries can benefit from the Canada-Europe Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which goes into effect next month.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Social responsibility being pushed forward by businesses.

August 16, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Social responsibility being pushed forward by businesses.

With 50 Fortune 500 companies and more than 400 small businesses voicing opposition to a proposed Texas bathroom law, the phenomenon of brands taking stands shows no sign of abating. But there was a pause, immediately after U.S. President Donald Trump was inaugurated, when large companies showed signs of retrenchment from publicly advocating for progressive policies on environmental, social and governance issues, according to a poll from the nonprofit CEO-led coalition CECP.

DESTINATIONS

Manchester Pride celebration, August 26th & 27th

August 15, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Manchester Pride celebration, August 26th & 27th

Manchester Pride is one of the biggest Pride events in UK. This year, it take place in the city from Saturday 26th August to Sunday 27th August. 2017 marks 50 years since Parliament first voted to legalise homosexuality in the UK, and Pride looks to give the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community a platform to raise awareness and campaign for equality on a wide range of LGBT issues.

GayARP

Better healthcare for the aging lesbian community.

August 15, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Better healthcare for the aging lesbian community.

Lesbians are more likely to seek healthcare if they are in an accepting healthcare environment, a new opinion paper argues. “Clinicians who have an understanding of lesbian women and their unique stressors, who provide a welcoming and inclusive environment, and who provide cross-cultural care are well positioned to reduce healthcare stigma and improve clinical outcomes,” Drs. Jordan E. Rullo and Stephanie S. Faubion of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, write in Menopause, in an essay focusing on lesbians in middle age.  

BUSINESS

Travel bans hit them where it hurts, the wallet.

August 15, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Travel bans hit them where it hurts, the wallet.

Six states now prohibit their employees from taking nonessential work trips to states with laws that, in their view, discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Both supporters and opponents of these travel bans say they are mostly symbolic. Nevertheless, the people charged with attracting visitors to the affected states say the repercussions are real: Canceled conventions and hotel bookings have cost cities and states millions.

DESTINATIONS

Boston’s gay bar scene. The best of the best.

August 15, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Boston’s gay bar scene. The best of the best.

Boston’s acceptance of sexuality (of any orientation) has come a long way since the Puritans founded the city in 1630. Massachusetts was the first state to recognize gay marriage — a full decade before the country as a whole did — and its capital city quite fittingly has a host of bars catering to the LGBT community.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

A first person’s account of the early days of the AIDS Epidemic.

August 15, 2017 compassq Comments Off on A first person’s account of the early days of the AIDS Epidemic.

In 1981, I began showing symptoms of what would become known as HIV/AIDS.  It started with painful swollen lymph nodes larger than golf balls in my armpits and groin.  Tests for mononucleosis and a biopsy for Hodgkin’s disease came back negative. Next came night sweats that soaked my sheets, exhaustion despite 12 hours of sleep, skin rashes, fungal and yeast infections in body creases, Harry Leukoplakia on my tongue, and reoccurring shingles.