HEROES

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Butler Bulldog’s linebacker comes out to overwhelming support by teammates.

August 28, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Butler Bulldog’s linebacker comes out to overwhelming support by teammates.

When Xavier Colvin stood on a stage in front his teammates with a microphone earlier this month, he knew there was no turning back. The Butler Bulldogs linebacker had finally become comfortable with being gay, and he wanted his entire team to know who he truly was. It had been a long journey for Colvin from childhood to that stage. Like every other young football player in America, he grew up with images of what a “real man” was supposed to be, how he was supposed to behave, and whom he was supposed to love. Being gay seemed like none of that.

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Canada’s top general marches next to Trudeau at Ottawa’s Gay Pride Parade.

August 28, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Canada’s top general marches next to Trudeau at Ottawa’s Gay Pride Parade.

When Scott Poll signed up to join Canada’s armed forces in 1989, he couldn’t let it be known he was gay. Why? Because it was illegal in 1989 to be a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender armed forces member. In fact, it was not until 1992 that the rule was changed and LGBTQ members could be, well, straight about their sexuality.  

HEROES

New program in Hartford supports LGBT children.

August 27, 2017 compassq Comments Off on New program in Hartford supports LGBT children.

By the time she was 13, Robin McHaelen knew she was a lesbian, but she didn’t come out until she was in her early 30s. In the meantime she attempted suicide more than once, used drugs heavily through high school and college and felt continually depressed.

HEROES

Pakistani transgender community fights inaccurate data.

August 27, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Pakistani transgender community fights inaccurate data.

The transgender community has rejected the count of transgender population revealed in the latest census carried out earlier this year by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistic (PBS) , and called the data inaccurate and misleading. As per the provisional summary of the results of the 6th Population and Housing Census released by the PBS, the country’s transgender population stands at 10,418 — 0.005% of the total population of over 207 million.

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Will and Grace’s return brings much needed LGBT visibility to TV.

August 27, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Will and Grace’s return brings much needed LGBT visibility to TV.

US television is set to welcome back two flag-bearers of LGBTQ representation as NBC returns to a series that made history for the network in 1998: Will & Grace. The cast of Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes, Debra Messing and Megan Mullally have reunited to bring back a series that didn’t just devote one episode or designate a minor character as LGBTQ, but featured two gay main characters (McCormack, who plays Will, and Hayes, as his flamboyant friend Jack).

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Burning Man, where no body cares if you’re gay.

August 27, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Burning Man, where no body cares if you’re gay.

This year’s Burning Man — the wild, weeklong, annual festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert — will start on August 27. Tens of thousands of people are expected to venture to the desert and follow a 31-year tradition of creating a temporary city, making art, throwing nonstop parties, and burning “the man” (a 100-foot flammable structure that resembles a stick figure).

5 THINGS TO KNOW

A shelter for Britain’s LGBT homeless.

August 26, 2017 compassq Comments Off on A shelter for Britain’s LGBT homeless.

A fundraising campaign has been launched to open Britain’s first homeless shelter for LGBT people. The shelter, based in London, will comprise a former tour bus previously owned by the rock band Status Quo remodelled to temporarily house those most at risk from the dangers of rough-sleeping – many of whom also face compound problems resulting from hate crimes, domestic abuse, family rejection, and poor mental health.