Pink News - David Cameron

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David Cameron: I’m proud that allowing gay couples to marry will strengthen this country

28^th March 2014, 10:00 PM
David Cameron

David Cameron celebrates same-sex marriage in
England and Wales

Writing exclusively for PinkNews, Prime Minister David Cameron celebrates the introduction of same-sex marriage today, comparing same-sex marriages to his own, and noting the work still to be done for equality.

This weekend is an important moment for our country. For the first time, the couples getting married won’t just include men and women – but men and men; and women and women. After all the campaigning – not least by readers of PinkNews – we will at last have equal marriage in our country. Put simply, in Britain it will no longer matter whether you are straight or gay – the State will recognise your relationship as equal.

This is something that has been very important to me. I have been so lucky to find the most incredible lifelong partner in Sam and our marriage has been a very special part of the commitment we have made to each other. Of course any marriage takes work, requires patience and understanding, give and take – but what it gives back in terms of love, support, stability and happiness is immeasurable. That is not something that the State should ever deny someone on the basis of their sexuality. When people’s love is divided by law, it is the law that needs to change.

The introduction of same-sex civil marriage says something about the sort of country we are. It says we are a country that will continue to honour its proud traditions of respect, tolerance and equal worth. It also sends a powerful message to young people growing up who are uncertain about their sexuality. It clearly says ‘you are equal’ whether straight or gay. That is so important in trying to create an environment where people are no longer bullied because of their sexuality – and where they can realise their potential, whether as a great mathematician like Alan Turing, a star of stage and screen like Sir Ian McKellen or a wonderful journalist and presenter like Clare Balding.

The campaign for equal marriage brought many people together – gay and straight, in and outside Parliament – and it is right to recognise them for their work. People like Mike Freer, Guy Black, Peter Tatchell, Benjamin Cohen and Tina Stowell; campaigns such as Freedom to Marry, the Coalition for Equal Marriage, Out4Marriage and Lobby-a-Lord; colleagues from across the political spectrum; and the Ministerial and Civil Service team who did such a good job on it.

Together we should be proud to live in a country judged to be the best place to live in Europe if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans. But we should equally be far from complacent about the challenges that remain – and I am just as committed as ever to working with you to challenge attitudes and stamp-out homophobic bullying and hate crimes.

We are a nation that is growing stronger economically because of our long term economic plan. But I hope we can also be a country that is growing stronger socially because we value love and commitment equally. Let us raise a toast to that – and all those getting married this weekend.

David Cameron is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party

10 Horrific Videos Of Russian Violence Against LGBTs - Queerty

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10 Horrific Videos Of Russian Violence Against LGBTs

It’s been nearly a year since Vladimir Putin’s staunchly anti-gay regime passed legislation allowing the beating and assault of any LGBT person for any reason.Despite a number of charitable campaigns and viral news stories designed to raise awareness and spark resistance, as well as political pressure abroad, Russia continues to allow shocking human rights violations against LGBTs or anyone merely perceived to be LGBT.

Below are some of the most horrific instances of anti-gay enforcement in action. None of the aggressors below have or will ever be charged with a crime.



Last August, a video surfaced on the Putin-friendly Russian social network VK.com showing a gang of five men brutally beating a trans woman in the middle of a park in broad daylight. In the video above, she is referred to as a “homosexual,” kicked in the head and body, thrown onto the grown, and stripped of her clothes.



Gay activist Kirill Kalugin was attacked and punched by a group of paratroopers last August while standing in St. Petersburg’s Dvortsovaya Square with a rainbow flag in support of Russian LGBTs. As you can see in the video above, police intervened only to arrest Kalugin for the promotion of “homosexual propaganda,” allowing his attackers to walk away scot-free.

#Ukraine Alexander Bohun, jeune star de X Factor a été attaqué par une bande de néo nazis russes (extraits) sur WAT.tv

Ukrainian X-Factor contestant Alexander Bohun was captured by skinhead vigilante group Occupy Pedophilia in December 2013 and filmed being tortured by the extremist group’s leader, Maxim Martsinkevich. In the video above, Bohun has his head shaved, is forced to suck on a dildo and drink a cup of urine. “I was referred to as ‘pedophile,’ mocked, and forced to admit actions and desires that I have not committed in any circumstances,” he later said in a police report.



Members of the feminist punk rock protest group Pussy Riot were immediately beaten, whipped and pepper sprayed after staging an impromptu protest of Russian anti-gay legislation outside an Olympic venue in Sochi this February. Russian police forces even whipped and beat some who were not involved in the protest, including photographers and reporters, and subsequently arrested the Pussy Riot members involved.



Members of extremist vigilante group Occupy Pedophilia made headlines last summer when they began luring gay men to meet so they could bully, harass, and sometimes beat them — acts that are completely legal under Putin’s anti-gay regime. In the video above, Occupy Pedophilia members capture, taunt, kick, and pour urine on a 15-year-old boy they found in a park.



Two weeks after Russia’s legislation banning “gay propaganda” was passed, LGBT activists met in St. Petersburg to urge President Putin not to sign the bill into law. Demonstrators were soon met with brutal force, detained, and beaten by Russian riot police.



A video showing Occupy Pedophilia members torturing 20-year-old South African student David Smith surfaced on VK last November, prompting Smith’s immediate expulsion from Shukhov State Technological University. In the video, antagonizers can be seen humiliating Smith by shaving his head, smashing watermelon in his face and forcing him to perform fellatio on a beer bottle.



In March 2013, gay activist Artem Kalinin was assaulted and punched in the face during a television interview in Syktyvkar. Kalinin was discussing his attempt to get clearance to hold a Pride parade in the city when neo-Nazi activist Alex Kolegov lurched at him, bringing him to the ground. Kolegov was never arrested.



Last weekend, a group of homophobic thugs assembled to take down students performing in a dancing flashmob to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The performance was not related to the LGBT community in any way, but participants were attacked because they were merely perceived to be gay.



The granddaddy of all videos documenting human rights violations in Russia was compiled by Human Rights Watch early last month. The four and a half minute video above documents a number of acts that would be considered criminal offenses anywhere else in the world, from brutal assault to kidnapping and, in extreme cases, attempted murder. These things are all perfectly legal in Russia, so long as they are directed toward someone who is perceived to be “promoting nontraditional sexual relations.”

By:          Matthew Tharrett
On:           Mar 29, 2014

Advocate.com - Tyler Glenn comes out

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Tyler Glenn, Frontman of Neon Trees, Urges Fans: 'Come Out as You'

The 30-year-old gay singer revealed conflicts with his Mormon faith and how he was inspired by NFL hopeful Michael Sam.

March 24 2014 4:09 PM ET               UPDATED: March 25 2014 3:10 PM ET

The lead singer of Neon Trees has come out as gay, and he's urging his fans to strive for an honest life as well.

After first revealing his sexual orientation in a Rolling Stone interview, musician Tyler Glenn posted a long note on the Neon Trees Facebook page late Monday night thanking his fans old and new for "so much compassion and love." He then urged them to "come out as you."

"I guess the last thing I want to say tonight and for now is if you're like me, a wanderer, a questioner, a soul searcher, a dreamer, or misunderstood for any reason at all: Come out," Glenn concluded. "Come out as a wanderer. Come out as a questioner. One day it wont matter. But it still does. Come out as YOU. That’s all I really can say. That’s what i’d say to me at 21, the scared return mormon missionary who knew this part of himself but loved God too. You can do both. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t."

Read the full note on the Neon Trees Facebook page.

In an interview to be released Friday in the upcoming print issue of Rolling Stone, Glenn, 30, revealed his sexual orientation and the conflicted emotions he had toward his Mormon faith, which resulted in years of repression.

"I had my crushes on guys throughout high school, but it was never an overwhelming thing until my 20s," the frontman revealed. "Then I'd be dating girls and in love with my straight friend and it was the worst feeling in the world."

"We were always taught, and I hate this word, 'tolerance,'" he said in reference to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint’s opposition to same-sex love both morally and politically. "The only time that felt different was when the Prop. 8 thing came up.”

Glenn began coming out privately to family and friends in October 2013 while writing music for the upcoming Neon Trees album Pop Psychology, which includes lyrics that speak about his experiences as a closeted gay man. He says his coming out was partly inspired by athletes like NFL hopeful Michael Sam, who recently came forward about his sexual orientation.

"I really love all of the sports figures that are coming out recently," he said. "I appreciated Michael Sam was like, 'I want to be able to go to the movies and hold hands with my boyfriend.' Even hearing him say 'boyfriend,' I was just like, 'that's cool.'"

Neon Trees - Facebook

[Source]

Neon Trees

I don’t think I’m special for being a gay man. That’s not why I came out. I didn't come out so all of you could say “i knew it” based on the clothes I wear or the way I dance. I never even thought I’d have to come out.

I’d be the 50 yr old living with dogs hiding my relationships living on a beach somewhere. Maybe then i’d be comfortable with it. But it was last summer, writing songs for the new album, being so fed up with “hiding” and being so ready to be “free” that I poured my heart out into music more than I’d ever had before. Music indeed was my first love. Not a boy. It was music that I had always had a torrid love affair with. I felt I owed him, the music, or her, the song. I had to be honest with that relationship.

It was the moment I let myself write about the years spent in falling for my straight friend or the song I let myself write about thinking it was ok to be alone forever because it was better than explaining myself. It was those truths that came out before I decided to. You can’t hide away forever. I don't think i was even trying. But music never let me lie. Something always would come out in the songs.

So now you know what you may have always assumed. Good for you. How does it feel? Do you want a “gaydar” award? Do you want to be pat on the back because you can “spot them”?

It is not news. It is not meant to be salacious. Until you know what it’s like to hide, to keep away true happiness out of fear. That’s when you truly understand what it’s like. It’s not about coming out to wave a flag in another’s face. At least it’s not for me. For me its about finding the purist of peace. The absolute settling of my soul. The clearest vision of the road I want to take.

I’m 30. I don’t want to die anymore. I want to really live. Honestly, and fully. What an amazing place to be. For me it was a place I never cared about. Now all I want is to be honest.

That’s what this whole “coming out” thing is for me. It’s been quite a real and beautiful day to have so much compassion and love coming from strangers, fans that have been there since the beginning, new fans, family, friends. For someone like me, the eternal self deprecator, i just want to say thank you.
I guess the last thing I want to say tonight and for now is if you're like me, a wanderer, a questioner, a soul searcher, a dreamer, or misunderstood for any reason at all: Come out.

Come out as a wanderer. Come out as a questioner. One day it wont matter. But it still does. Come out as YOU. That’s all I really can say. That’s what i’d say to me at 21, the scared return mormon missionary who knew this part of himself but loved God too. You can do both. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t.

All my love and hope, and for now, back to the music.

XO Your friend, Tyler.

CNN - Neon Trees singer comes out as gay

[Source]

Neon Trees singer comes out as gay

By Caryn Ganz, Rolling Stone
March 24, 2014 -- Updated 2203 GMT (0603 HKT)

(RS.com) -- Tyler Glenn — lead singer for Provo, Utah New Wave-pop quartet Neon Trees and a Mormon his entire life — reveals he is gay in the new issue of Rolling Stone (on stands Friday, March 28).

"I've always felt like I'm an open book, and yet obviously I haven't been completely," he tells the magazin Caryn Ganz.

But he is now: Glenn speaks candidly about his first gay experiences, his band's reaction to his coming out and his complicated relationship with his conservative religion.
Artist of the Week: Neon Trees

Glenn says he's known he was gay since he was a young child, but kept his sexuality a secret — until now. "I had my crushes on guys throughout high school, but it was never an overwhelming thing until my 20s," he admits. "Then I'd be dating girls and in love with my straight friend and it was the worst feeling in the world."

"We were always taught, and I hate this word, 'tolerance,'" he says, regarding his church's stance on homosexuality, which is notoriously fraught. "The only time that felt different was when the Prop 8 thing came up," he says, referring to when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spent an estimated $22 million fighting same-sex marriage in California in 2008.

Neon Trees talk about wanting to always sound like Neon Trees

Glenn started to tell close friends and family members his big news in October 2013, as he was finishing up writing songs for Neon Trees' upcoming third LP, "Pop Psychology," many of which address his years in the closet.

Today, he's inspired by the variety of men and women from all corners of pop culture who have been coming out publicly, especially athletes facing high stakes.

"I really love all of the sports figures that are coming out recently," he says. "I appreciated (that) Michael Sam was like, 'I want to be able to go to the movies and hold hands with my boyfriend.' Even hearing him say 'boyfriend,' I was just like, that's cool."

Read the full story for reaction from Glenn's Neon Trees bandmates and his mother, plus Glenn's take on straight artists acting as the gay community's spokespeople and his explanation of the events that led to his big coming out.

See the original story at RollingStone.com.

Rolling Stones Magazine - Tyler Glenn comes out

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Neon Trees' Tyler Glenn Comes Out as Gay in Rolling Stone

Mormon frontman speaks for the first time about his lifetime in the closet in our new issue

Tyler Glenn of Neon Trees performs in New York City.
Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

March 24, 2014 2:00 PM ET

Tyler Glenn — lead singer for Provo, Utah New Wave-pop quartet Neon Trees and a Mormon his entire life — reveals he is gay in the new issue of Rolling Stone (on stands Friday, March 28th). "I've always felt like I'm an open book, and yet obviously I haven't been completely," he tells RS' Caryn Ganz. But he is now: Glenn speaks candidly about his first gay experiences, his band's reaction to his coming out and his complicated relationship with his conservative religion in our new story.

Gay, Mormon & Finally Out: read our full Neon Trees feature

Glenn says he's known he was gay since he was a young child, but kept his sexuality a secret — until now. "I had my crushes on guys throughout high school, but it was never an overwhelming thing until my twenties," he admits. "Then I'd be dating girls and in love with my straight friend and it was the worst feeling in the world." (Read the full feature on here).

"We were always taught, and I hate this word, 'tolerance,'" he says, regarding his church's stance on homosexuality, which is notoriously fraught. "The only time that felt different was when the Prop 8 thing came up," he says, referring to when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spent an estimated $22 million fighting same-sex marriage in California in 2008.

Glenn started to tell close friends and family members his big news in October 2013, as he was finishing up writing songs for Neon Trees' upcoming third LP, Pop Psychology, many of which address his years in the closet. Today, he's inspired by the variety of men and women from all corners of pop culture who have been coming out publically, especially athletes facing high stakes.

The Hidden War Against Gay Teens

"I really love all of the sports figures that are coming out recently," he says. "I appreciated Michael Sam was like, 'I want to be able to go to the movies and hold hands with my boyfriend.' Even hearing him say 'boyfriend,' I was just like, that's cool."

Read the full story for reaction from Glenn's Neon Trees bandmates and his mother, plus Glenn's take on straight artists acting as the gay community's spokespeople and his explanation of the events that led to his big coming out.

Boy George - Out in the City Issue 84