'White' Canadian Idol?

Just an observation...Because when you're of color, sometimes you notice things that other people don't.

Two weeks ago, Mila Miller, a black Canadian woman was the first top ten finalist eliminated from Canadian Idol.

Last week, Khalila Glanville, another black Canadian woman, was the next to go.

This week, Martha Joy Lim, a Portuguese-Filipina Canadian was sent packing.

Hmmm.

What does all this mean? I'm not sure, but I suspect it's complex, simple, surprising, or predictable depending on who you are.

Montreal Pride

OK Go, On Treadmills

Just for fun...

Québecois and Swedish LGBT groups recognized by UN

Pinknews is reporting that the Coalition gaie et lesbienne du Québec (CGLQ) and the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL) have been given consultative status in the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Great news to have our voices heard at the United Nations.

Happy Montreal Pride everyone!

Read more.

Montreal Gay Pride Parade

Just a reminder that this Sunday 29 July is the Montreal Gay Pride Parade organized by Celebration Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and all Friends (LGBTA). The parade promises to be a fun, family-friendly event. What's pride like in the most liberal city in North America? Check it out and read more.

Ziggy, Céline Dion, and gays in sports

Flashback.

Check out this 1993 video of Céline Dion's cover of "Ziggy" (from the 1978 musical Starmania) about her longing for a man she knows she can never have (i.e. he's gay). The video is pretty landmark I'd say, with its normalizing depiction of gay men, not to mention the locker room and shower scenes...



For those who don't understand French, here are the lyrics translated (not by me):

Ziggy. His name is Ziggy
I'm crazy about him
He's a boy like no others
But I love him, it's not my fault
Even if I know
That he will never love me

Ziggy. His name is Ziggy
I'm crazy about him
The first time I saw him
I approached him on the street
I simply told him
That I wanted him

It was four o'clock in the morning
I was alone and I needed
To talk to someone
He said, "Come have a coffee"
And we told each other about our lives
We laughed, and we cried

Ziggy, his name is Ziggy
He's my only friend
In his head there's only music
He sells records in a boutique
We could say he lives in another galaxy

Every night, he takes me dancing
In very very gay places
Where he has lots of friends
Yes, I know, he likes boys
I should find a reason to
Try to forget him, but...

Ziggy. His name is Ziggy
I'm crazy about him
He's a boy like no others
But I love him, it's not my fault
Even if I know
That he will never love me

Enjoy!

C'est So Paris - Kissing Rugby Players

Check out this advertising campaign to attract Londoners to Paris.



The Paris region will be hosting several 2007 Rugby World Cup matches, including the final at the Stade de France.

Visit the official French tourism web site C'est So Paris for more fun and games.

Victory for gay rights in Hong Kong

Some good news!

Gay City News is reporting that the highest court in Hong Kong has decriminalized gay public sodomy. The court of Final Appeal ruled that two men, who in 1991 acknowledged engaging in anal sex in a parked car, should not be subject to the penalty of five years in prison because the existing law, which bans sodomy between gay couples but not their heterosexual counterparts, denied the men their basic rights to equality.

Read more.

Significant rise in HIV in Australia

ABC News is reporting that a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia shows a 31 per cent increase in the number of new HIV cases in the six years leading to 2006. The growing incidence apparently mirrors the situation in some cities in Europe and North America.

Read more.

Mad World

Just because...



From 2004 - Director Michel Gondry, and musicians Gary Jules and Michael Andrews.

Gay Asian beaten to death in California

Thanks Racialicious!

Check out this article about the murder of a gay Asian man in California.

"Satender Singh was having a picnic with some friends celebrating a promotion in his job. Days later he was pronounced dead because of a vicious attack on him because of his racial and sexual identity."

Sad. That attack could have happened to me or you...

Read more.

Common myths about bisexuality and homosexuality

Check out this short quiz that addresses common myths about bisexuality and homosexuality, and see how well you do!

Outfest Legacy Project - Paris is Burning clip

Read more about the Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation, Outfest, and the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

And here is a clip from the 1990 documentary film, Paris is Burning, which explored race, class, and gender in the United States through a chronicle of ball culture in New York City.



"...This is white America...And when it comes to the minorities, especially black, we as a people for the past 400 years is the greatest example of behavior modification in the history of civilization. We have had everything taken away from us, and yet we have all learned how to survive..."

Lest we forget.

L'Oréal found guilty of racism in France

The Guardian is reporting that a part of the French company L'Oréal has been found guilty of racial discrimination after it sought in a 2000 campaign to exclude non-white saleswomen from promoting its Garnier Fructis Style shampoo line in supermarkets outside of Paris.

The group SOS Racisme brought the case against the cosmetics giant.

A recent survey, according to The Guardian, found that three out of four French firms preferred white workers. Not good.

Read more.

Sesame Street on MADTV

Thanks Racialicious!

Carmen, at the great Racialicious blog, posted this hilarious video.

I hope you all enjoy it!

Gay man in Trinidad compensated

In Trinidad, a 29-year-old gay man was awarded $28,400 Trinidad/Tobago Dollars ($4,800 CAD) as compensation for being kept naked at a police station for over three hours while police officers ridiculed him about his penis size.

Read more.

Pride Night for the San Diego Padres

Baby steps for America's pastime.

PinkNews is reporting that the San Diego Padres baseball team has designated this July 8th as "Pride Night," where San Diego Gay Pride supporters can attend the baseball game at a discounted price and hear the Gay Men's Chorus sing the American national anthem.

Typically, some local religious and anti-gay groups vehemently oppose the event, which coincides with the Padres floppy caps giveaway day for kids 14 years and younger. This year's floppy cap features silhouettes of the team mascot - The Swinging Friar.

Nice.

Read more.

HIV breakthrough in Germany

PinkNews is reporting that researchers in Germany may have may found a way to remove HIV from infected cells. The new study published in Science magazine offers hope to the over 40 million people in the world who are HIV positive.

Read more.

Homosexuality in Bermuda

PinkNews is reporting that a group in Bermuda has launched a campaign to include sexual orientation in the country's human rights legislation. The campaign includes a poster showing a father and baby son with the text:

"I don't know what my son's sexual orientation is going to be and because I don't know, I am about the business of creating a world where he can express himself in ways that are healthy and where he is safe to be who he is."

Read more.