This weekend is the pride celebration for several cities in Europe. And while pride events are a celebration of rights acheived, they did not all go off without a hitch. At the first pride parade in Brno, Czech Republic At least 20 persons were hit by tear gas used by anti-gay activists about 20 minutes after the end of Czech homosexuals’ march at the namesti Svobody square and the Masarykova street in Brno today. The police and neo-Nazis clashed after the end of the homosexuals’ Queer Parade, the first of its type in the Czech Republic. In Sofia, Bulgaria One ...

Canadians have an obligation to try to promote their country's pro-LGBT-rights climate in places where homosexuality is not accepted, and to offer political asylum to those who are being persecuted over their sexual orientation, according to a panel discussion held as part of Toronto's pride celebration. "There are 86 countries in the world where we would be arrested just for being in this room. In 10, we would be executed," the Rev. Brent Hawkes of Toronto's Metropolitan Community Church said during the panel. The Toronto Star ...

This year, for the first time, Lansing’s Michigan Pride celebration will feature a classic, all-American summer spectacle — but with flair. You could call it ‘Queer Eye for the Fireworks,” pyrotechnic man Justin Matthews said. A special segment of Saturday’s fireworks display will explicitly celebrate gay pride. How Matthews plans to do that with sulfur and sparks, he will not reveal.  Can fireworks be gay? City Pulse, MI ...

Today is the thirtieth anniversary of the debut of the Rainbow Gay Pride flag. The original flag, hand-dyed by Gilbert Baker, first flew in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade on June 25, 1978. The original 1978 flag consisted of eight stripes, with each stripe assigned a specific meaning. From top to bottom, the stripes were:

• hot pink: sexuality
• red: life
• orange: healing
• yellow: sunlight
• green: nature
• turquoise: magic
• blue: serenity
• violet: spirit

After Harvey Milk’s assassination on November 27, 1978, demand for the flag went up sharply. But since hot pink fabric wasn’t available as a stock color, the top stripe was removed and the flag became ...

“The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis says a liberal Catholic church can’t hold its annual gay pride prayer service. St. Joan of Arc Church in Minneapolis has held the event for several years in conjunction with the annual Twin Cities Pride Celebration. The archdiocese is instead suggesting that the church hold a “peace” service Wednesday with no mention of rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.” [WCCO] ...

Flagstaff, Arizona police arrested four suspects following an assault on two people leaving a Flagstaff, Arizona Pride event early Sunday morning. The victims were in a crowd waiting for taxis along with staff and volunteers from Equality Arizona, when a group of men shouting anti-gay slurs attacked about 2:45 a.m. The most severely injured man, Michael Brown, was left unconscious and bleeding after being punched by an assailant. He was hospitalized overnight for observation and released on Monday morning. Sam Holdren, Equality Arizona’s Public Affairs Director, was there with Michael (who is a good friend of his) and helped police identify the four ...

Sam Moreland founded Gurlz on Bykes for the first Kentuckiana Pride Parade because she and her partner, Lucky, were looking for other women who shared their love of motorcycle riding. Four years later, the two were among about 20 bikers who revved their engines and kicked off Louisville's annual pride celebration yesterday for the city's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. "A lot of the time we rode alone, and now we're able to come together and play and not be afraid of people looking down on us," said the 39-year-old Jeffersonville, Ind., resident. Mike Shoust, director of the ...

So... there I was, minding my own business (and I was, too) and walking down the street. I lay eyes on this flier that has been taped to a lamp post. They do that... tape fliers to lamp posts. I see them most every day. Usually, they're just not memorable. There seems to be a cosmic rule that anything advertised by fliers on lamp posts is at least half dumb. This is not to be confused with the cosmic rule that anything advertised by fliers stuck in your mailbox or (gads) to your door is completely dumb.So anyway... this flier... ...