History Resource: The Radical Activist who Took on AIDS (BBC World Service) Peter Staley was one of the ACT UP activists whose campaigns helped to turn AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Their story is told in the Oscar-nominated documentary How To Survive A Plague.
USA – Teen who set fire to Berkeley student cites homophobia. The Alameda County District Attorney in California has charged 16-year-old Richard Thomas for a hate crime, along with aggravated mayhem and felony assault, for setting fire to 18-year-old Berkeley student Luke “Sasha” Fleischman on an AC Transit bus on 3rd November.
In just a few hours All Out raised over $30,000 to show Coca-Cola they’ve got to speak up now and take a strong stand against Russia’s anti-gay laws. On Monday, Coca-Cola employees snapped pictures of the 3 trucks with massive billboards reading “COCA-COLA” “DON’T STAY BOTTLED UP” “SPEAK OUT AGAINST RUSSIA’S ANTI-GAY LAWS” that roared past their head offices in Atlanta all day.
Was Lou Reed the first Out rock star?
Soon after Lou Reed’s death at age 71 on Sunday, Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend tweeted that the legendary rock star was “maybe the first out songwriter,” an allusion to his purported bisexuality. During his lifetime, Reed was famous for his sybaritic pursuits and unorthodox lifestyle. But was he bisexual?
Spike in Russian LGBTs seeking asylum in United States A record number of Russian LGBTs are seeking asylum in the United States with over 800 applications from Russian citizens during the last 12 months
Human Rights campaigner Peter Tatchell is asking people to urge US President Obama to pardon Chelsea Manning, who was convicted of distributing US military secrets.
“Manning exposed human rights abuses by the US military. She is a courageous human rights defender and should not be in prison. One aspect of Manning’s commitment to human rights is her active support for LGBT equality. She participated in LGBT Pride marches and campaigned against the homophobic US military policy, ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’. In 2008, she attended a rally in New York to oppose attempts to ban same-sex marriage in California. The LGBT community should rally to support her. She is a hero,” said Mr Tatchell.
In a two-part documentary on BBC2 this week, Stephen Fry reports from around the world on the nature of homophobia. It makes chilling, heartbreaking and infuriating viewing, but did contain signs of hope, particularly from India.
US Postal Service to issue Harvey Milk stamp – Thirty-five years after Harvey Milk made history as California’s first openly gay elected leader, he’s closing in on another historical first.
The U.S. Postal Service has said that the late San Francisco supervisor and civil rights leader will join the likes of John F. Kennedy, Rosa Parks and Jackie Robinson by being recognized with a commemorative stamp – an honor that had apparently never before gone to an openly gay politician.
How’s Russia’s culture of homophobia was made in America – American reporter Rachel Maddow shows how the anti-gay religious right has exported their special brand of hate to Moscow, specifically how people like NOM’s Brian Brown have impacted Russia’s anti-gay legislation, and how the American religious right is helping to create “a virulently anti-gay Russia.”
Quist has a lot of exciting things going on for October.
• We are partnering with the It Gets Better Project who will be sharing Quist’s historical events with their followers every week! Watch their Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.
• We just might be releasing Quist merchandise this month.
• Quist’s founder Sarah Prager will be presenting about Quist at a high school in Connecticut and a community college in Illinois in the next few weeks. She’s booking for future engagements too.
