2007 Gay Philadelphia Pride

 2007 Gay Philadelphia Pride

The 2006 Minnesota Soul Essence celebration of the African American gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community was held August 11-14.

The opening ceremony was held on Friday, August 11, at the Hyatt in downtown Minneapolis on Nicollet Mall. It was an upscale, elegant affair featuring live entertainment and soul food. T. Mychael Rambo emceed, and the entertainment included various local musical talents Kevin Jackson and Margeaux Davis.

Throughout the night along with the sound of the music could be heard the occasional clink of dinnerware and the constant murmur of old friends coming together; however, within a few moments of spoken word artist Kevin Moore taking the stage, all conversation came to a halt. His thought-provoking words and eloquent presentation demanded and received the audiences undivided attention.

Ken condemns police ‘failures’ at Estonia gay pride march

The Mayor of London has added his voice to the criticism of police and politicians who failed to protect gay and lesbians from attack during a gay rights parade in Estonia.

Ken Livingstone slammed the authorities in the capital, Tallinn, calling their lack of action inexcusable.

Having permitted the parade, and being aware of the potential for violence, Tallinn City Council and the city's police should have taken all reasonable steps to robustly defend the fundamental human rights of those taking part, the Mayor said in a statement today.

At last weekends gay pride march around 15 people were injured after being attacked by groups of skinheads with sticks and stones while celebrating the countrys third gay pride event.

This follows a series of far-right attacks on gay rights events across Eastern Europe and Russia.

GENDER IS OVER-RATED

At a recent family affair, my philistine cousin was complaining about the gay sex shops in the West Village. He recently moved to New York and finds the openly gay culture "offensive" and "abrasive." Feeling the need to defend the gay community (and being bisexual myself), I said, "Intolerance is rooted in fear. Maybe you’re afraid that one day you’ll be attracted to a guy." His response: "If the guy had breasts and didn’t have a penis and looked like a woman, then maybe I would." He could have been describing a transsexual. "You see how gender is irrelevant?" I said. Ignoring my point, he reiterated his heterosexual pride: "I just want everyone to be like me. Fuck you." Of course I wanted to slap him, but I found enlightenment in his insulting comments. My cousin is an extreme example of the human tendency to perceive gender as a fixed state of being, attached to expected qualities and behaviors.