French Court Rules On Infamous Gay Hate Crime Case

"Violence, cowardliness, and hate of difference all condemned by the court today" Wilfred de Bruijn wrote on Twitter this afternoon as Paris's Criminal Court announced their sentence to the four young men who beat Wilfred and his companion Olivier Couderc on their way home one cold April night last year.

The case soon became infamous when this photograph went viral on social networks, and media around the world published articles about the shocking story.

Here's What French Highschool Students Did When Anti-Gay Protesters Picketed Their "Skirt Day"

A student stands on a wall in a skirt to mock anti-equality
protesters opposite. AFP (S)

Lets stop the stupid jokes about the French "being gay", and stand up and applaud this just a minute.

"Skirt Day" is held in France every 16th May after the film by the same name. It's an opportunity for many students to denounce sexism in school, at the workplace, and sexism in general. However, needless to say, the idea of men in skirts didn't please the 'Manif Pour Tous' too much; one of the leading French anti-LGBT equality groups, or Le Figaro, the right-wing paper.

EXCLUSIVE: An Interview With Singer-Songwriter Ray Isaac - "Who I Am"

If you’ve been to London Pride, some of the after parties, or if you’re just a general gay-party-goer, the chances are you’ve probably been in the presence of Ray Isaac, singer, songwriter and DJ. But after seeing Ray do all of these things in one concert and seen the crowd go wild, I've come to the conclusion that Ray is so much more, he’s a performer.

Recently promoted as a VEVO artist on YouTube, having been invited to mix with Laurent Wolf late last year, and with concerts coming up all the time, Ray is going from strength to strength and is certainly, without a doubt, an artist to look out for in the near future, not just in London but around the world.

Ray stands by his belief that no matter what, we have to be proud of who we are and know that happiness only manifests itself when we truly love and accept who we are from deep within, and this is why I've taken my chance to share his story with you so you can discover his upcoming album and new music video for “Who I Am” (see below).

Everyone, Stop Boycotting Mozilla!

I don't know how many times I've read of people
who've uninstalled this

STOP! Argh!

Sorry. I've just been really annoyed about this whole Mozilla CEO situation recently. Ever since Brendan Eich was chosen as CEO there's been this giant sh*tstorm around Mozilla for (in my opinion) nothing.

I'm gay, I'm as activist as they come, I founded this LGBT blog, and I'm STILL using Firefox. This site was even built using Firefox! "Shock!" "Horror!" No. I've been trying to avoid writing this post for over a week now, but earlier on today I found that now the anti-gay camp is boycotting Mozilla because they fired Eich from his position.

I'm really not amused by any of this. I've used Firefox from day one. Why? Because I don't want to feed all of my browsing history to data-hungry Google. Gmail scans your emails to give you "personalized" adverts (as if you care). And I don't support that.

Google's Olympics Doodle and the Movement Toward Equality

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It’s been a big week for the gay rights movement worldwide, so I feel the need to mention all of the major events I’ve been hearing about this week. First, Scotland legalized gay marriage. Then, Google posted a rainbow doodle for two days leading into the Olympics, proclaiming to the world its support for equality. Capping off the week, the U.S. government announced the expansion of legal benefits and services for same-sex marriages. Each of these on its own is an important, blog post-worthy topic. But since they all occurred in such quick succession, I wanted to make sure they all got at least a mention, even if I can’t be the one to go in-depth about all of them. You can follow the links to read more about all three, but for today, I’m going to focus mainly on the Google doodle.

Issues With Atlantis

(x)

This past weekend saw the premiere of a new fantasy drama on the BBC, Atlantis. I was incredibly excited to watch this show, as it fills the time slot that used to be occupied by the shows Robin Hood and Merlin, both of which I very much enjoyed. So, on Saturday night I sat down at 8.25 with great anticipation and, arguably, expectations that were way too high.

It turned out to be a good show, entertaining, watchable, CGI of less than top quality, solid cast, amusingly predictable; everything I’d expected of the show; everything you’d want in a prime time Saturday night slot on BBC One. Despite all of this, and despite how much I generally enjoyed the show, I still finished the episode feeling upset, and hard done by.

How I got two homophobes fired

As some of you may know, I wrote a post a few months ago about how I lost my job simply because my boss saw me holding my boyfriend’s hand in the street. You’ll be glad to know I have found a new job since then, but also that there’s another employment story I haven’t told you about yet.

Luckily, this one turns out well.

It was coming close to midnight and I was in a café/restaurant in my city with my boyfriend and my best friend. There were only two other tables with people at them in the restaurant and it was about 10 or 15 minutes from closing time. It was clear the employees just wanted to clean up and leave.

What happened next left us in total shock.

Pride London



The parade en route to Trafalgar Square (x)

This weekend was London Pride and I, for the first time, went along. It wasn’t only my first London Pride, but indeed my first ever Pride. So, naturally, I was excited and ridiculously nervous as I took the train into the city.

Same Sex Marriage UK: Where it's at and what people think

(S)

This week I had to write an article for uni about a local or central government issue, and for me the decision was easy. I wrote about same sex marriage. I then thought I might as well post it here as it sort of summarises what is happening about the issue currently in the UK. While other countries are busy legalising it, we're still talking about it, and there's a reasonable way still to go. So here we go, my summary of our current position and people's feelings about it.

 

 

FRANCE: Senate Adopts Gay Marriage Bill, Homophobia Grows

The French Senate adopted the bill last night (S)

With 179 for and 157 against, France's senate decided in the late hours of Tuesday night to pass article 1 of the equality bills that are on the table at the moment.

But all has not yet been won. Same-sex couples will be able to marry as soon as this summer, but French activists know that this is only the beginning of the end of their fight for equality. The senate is yet to adopt articles on adoption, partnership laws, and once those have passed the fight will be reignited by the demand for same-sex equality when it comes to Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP).

Law with Ginsburg, Breyer, and Thomas: What the Court Means to the LGBT Community

 Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, the day is upon us. For months the LGBT community has been preparing for this week. The Supreme Court of the United States has heard its first oral arguments in the case of Hollingsworth v Perry, the case that challenges Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage. While the decision will have far ranging impacts, the real show begins tomorrow with United States v. Windsor, the case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act which forbids married gay couples from recieving federal benefits. Implications of both these cases after the break

The Dangers of Being an Outspoken LGBT Activist

Russia? Ukraine? Nope! France. (S)

Activism by nature, means expressing your point of view on a topic when you believe something needs to be done to protect a so-far unprotected group, whether it's the LGBT community or animals.

It's obvious that if you decide to do activism you have to expect to meet the people who are against you in your fight for equality, and these people will either stand around and have a heated debate with you in which neither side will step down, or they'll punch you in the face.

Unfortunately, the situation in France is worsening by the day. Most of the people left in the anti-equality camp are fascists.

This Week in France: Gay Rights Debate Starts in National Assembly

"Article 1 passed - Equality Moves Forward" reads a banner at a counter-protest during an anti-equality demonstration,
Saturday in Bordeaux. Source: AFP

FRANCE -- This week in France the ongoing national debate around equal marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples stepped up a gear as it came to the floor of the National Assembly. The bill, an initiative of Justice minister, Christine Taubira, is being heatedly scrutinized and eulogized by over 300 ministers and deputies as we speak, night and day, who - according to the official records - spoke over 246,000 words last weekend only; the equivalent of half of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, also a world-renowned musical.

Found! Instant and Efficient Cure for Homosexuality.

The common drug has new-found rainbow-busting properties

Homosexuality was first removed from the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) in 1973 amidst controversy, but was replaced with "ego-dystonic homosexuality," which was highly criticized. It wasn't until 1986 when the diagnosis was removed entirely from the manual.

Countless methods have been tried to cure homosexuality over the years by some governments, health services and religious organizations, but this week in France scientists finally reached the end of an eight-year-long study researching the genetics of homosexuality in an effort to determine whether or not it can be cured.

This Week In France: Fight Continues, Antis get Angry

Xavier Bongibault, a very troubled young man, compares France to Nazi Germany at an anti-equality conference, Friday

FRANCE -- It's been a very busy week in France for both pro- and anti-equality activists with the anti-equality demonstrations around the country drawing to a close, and two weeks of equal rights rallies being planned. The last of the anti demonstrations was held last weekend (13th January) in Paris with over 340,000 demonstrators according to the police, and 800,000 according to the organizers, their discourse growing more radical in a last-ditch attempt to spread their message of hate before the bill hits the floor of the National Assembly to be voted upon at the end of the month.

My Experience With Religion

If you don't want to read the post, this picture sums it all up

I'm currently writing this as a queer person. And as a Christian. And well..yeah the two can actually co-exist happily.

Our Year in Review: 2012

Gays can now serve openly in the US military

2012 has been a mixed year for the LGBT community around the world.

While some countries had their "ups" with marriage equality being signed into the law in some States of the US and countries around the world, Macklemore's gay-friendly hip-hop video racking up millions of views, and India legalizing homosexuality.

Other countries saw the other extreme with some Russian cities and Eastern European countries banning pride parades, and Uganda attempting once more to pass it's homophobic "kill the gays" bill.

But we here on Freedom Requires Wings have had a successful year with tens of thousands of you reading, sharing and commenting on our articles which have made you happy, angry, brought laughter or tears, pushed you to make a donation to help save gays in Iraq from brutal kill-lists, and helped many of you through some of the hardest days of your lives. To thank you for your support and belief in our work we've put together this post.

Happy New Year! Here are the articles that you all liked the most...

"Gaie Paris": The Fight for Equality Comes to the City of Love

Supporters cross a bridge by the Notre Dame
© Freedom Requires Wings

FRANCE -- Between 60,000 to 150,000 people waving rainbow flags, chanting slogans, and blowing whistles filled the Place de la Bastille, Paris, Sunday; the same square where interim president François Hollande stood not 7 months ago during his election night speech before a similar scene and assured them all the points of his program would be carried out.

Marriage equality was one of those points, making Sunday's rally the most symbolic one yet in the French fight for equal rights. The rally was to support equal marriage, adoption and Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP) bills due to be voted on in Parliament in the New Year, and to denounce the recent surge of homophobia in the country since the debate started.

60,000 people took to the streets of Paris according to police estimates, and 150,000 according to the organizers. Some papers estimated 80,000 participants, others 100,000, the numbers still unclear. In November, 70,000 anti protesters took to the same streets to protest against the bills.

Everyone Wants Things No Exceptions

The elusive majority of a population, maybe? (S)

America voted to reinstate Barack Obama this month, despite the almost universal belief that the polls were running (however slightly) in Mitt Romney’s favour. A lot of people believed that the right wing’s views on certain sensitive subjects actually made up the majority of the country. Now we can see that what we thought they wanted, they don’t.

So how sure can you be when you say “the majority of the population want this”? 

No Time to Back Down

Time to (wo)man the barricades. (Artist: Kathe Kollwitz)

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, it doesn't take me a lot to make me actively angry. I threw the remote at my TV and started screaming during a 40 minute anime that failed to live up to my exacting artistic standards. The rendering was awful, the voice acting was stale, and the inconsistencies in the incredibly simplistic plot almost made me flip a table. Here's the thing, though: It only lasted 40 minutes. Those feelings of rage, helplessness, and injustice were only valid for less than an hour. If worst comes to worst tomorrow, I could be feeling like that for the next four years. Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, welcome to The Day Before the End. Welcome to the Day Before Election Day.