PRIDE

Jersey City Pride focuses on transgender rights.

After decades of fighting for basic rights and finally obtaining the freedom to marry, the LGBT community is gearing up for yet another battle to retain some of their gains. Faced with a hostile U.S. president, this year’s Jersey City’s Pride Festival will become the focal point of that struggle.

PRIDE

The Pride Parade kicks off in Montreal today

The festivities celebrating Montreal’s sexual diversity and plurality are nearly over, but not before the colourful and large-scale Pride Parade takes over downtown streets today. The parade started at noon at the corner of Drummond Street and make its way east along René-Lévesque Boulevard. The event will wrap up at Alexandre-DeSève Street in the city’s Gay Village.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Luvs gets it right when connecting with LGBT parents.

Finding an “insight” is the holy grail of marketing. Brands spend years and dollars mining data to find exactly the right way to connect with their target audience. The “insight” becomes the unique aspect of the target where the brand can find an even more unique connection. Finding the “insight” is a big part of what I teach in my class at NYU. It’s a big part of the work I do with clients. And there’s no better example than that of the brand Luvs.

HEALTH

Finally, a national standard for gay & bisexual men health.

When it comes to the health of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, the absence of a national standard of care leaves a critical gap for a population already at risk for sexually transmitted diseases and related health disparities. A blue-ribbon panel of national public health professionals, co-chaired by a University of Mississippi Medical Center professor, is changing that scenario.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Internet dads are the first LGBT family to rep a high-fashion clothing line.

You may find many parents playing in the park or taking a dunk in the pool with their kids. But one Atlanta couple has a slightly different agenda. They’re modeling with their little ones, and they’ve just made history as the first black LGBT family to represent a high-fashion European clothing line. Kordale Lewis and Kaleb Anthony first entered the spotlight in 2014 when they posted a photo on Instagram of themselves and their daughters getting ready for school. The pic went viral, garnering more than 50,000 likes.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Broadway comes to LGBT senior group in NYC.

Sing For Your Seniors brought cast members of Broadway hit “War Paint” to perform for senior members of the LGBT community in SAGE’s midtown headquarters on August 10th. They sang numbers from their show and some of their favorite Broadway standards for their enthusiastic audience. “So many of these people grew up with Broadway being one of the few places that celebrated differences and diversity, and LGBT stories and people, so it has a special place in people’s hearts,” says Christian Appel, SAGE’s Women’s Program Coordinator.

HEALTH

HRC conference in Orlando to focus on LGBT youth.

Working to support LGBTQ youth, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, in partnership with the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Counseling Association (ACA), will hold its nationally-acclaimed Time to THRIVE Conference February 16-18 at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek in Orlando. Toyota will again be a presenting sponsor. In its fifth year, this premier event of the HRC Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, will address the safety, inclusion and well-being of LGBTQ and questioning youth.