Prague will next month host its first-ever Gay Pride parade, organizers announced Thursday, adding that government approval for the event offered proof that politicians welcome gays in the city, Prague Pride 2011 will run from August 10-14 and include some 60 separate events, including a colourful parade through the major streets of the Czech capital, organiser Czeslaw Walek told AFP. "Here we have proof that for politicians we are also a part of this city," Walek said, adding "Prague is one of the last great capitals where a Gay Pride parade has never been held." In 2008, in the Czech Republic's second city Brno, a pride parade was spoiled by right-wing extremists threw eggs and fireworks into the midst of the marchers as they gathered in a central city square."This will not be a protest march, but a colourful carnival with music and joy," said Katerina Saparova, another member of the organizing committee.
A new website documents the douchebags of Grindr (and they are many).
Wednesday, same-sex marriage supporters were cleared to begin collecting signatures on a petition to repeal Colorado's same-sex marriage ban, The Associated Press reports that a state board charged with approving proposed ballot measures voted 3-0 to allow a measure to repeal the ban, which voters placed in the state constitution in 2006. The measure would strike the ban and say marriage is allowed regardless of the participants' gender. Gay-marriage activists would need to collect about 86,000 valid signatures to make the 2012 ballot. Proponents of the measure have conceded it will be a challenge to gather enough signatures. A similar attempt for the 2010 ballot failed, and prominent gay-rights activists in Denver have said they plan to try to pass a civil-unions measure in the state Legislature before seeking a change to the state constitution.
The hepatitis C virus, normally thought to be transmitted exclusively through blood (such as by sharing of needles among intravenous drug abusers) can also be transmitted through sexual activity, principally through anal sex among gay men, a growing body of evidence suggests, The Los Angeles Times reports that the most recent evidence was reported Thursday by New York City researchers who documented an outbreak of the virus, commonly known as HCV, among gay men. Hepatitis C can cause severe liver disease and even death if left untreated, affects an estimated 3.2 million Americans. Many infected people show no symptoms, but others have severe disease that can require liver transplants. The infection can be cured in most people with a combination of the drugs pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin, plus a recently approved drug called Incivek, but treatment is most successful when started early in the course of the disease. Dr. Daniel Fierer, an infectious diseases expert at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and his colleagues first observed two cases of HCV that they believed to be caused by sexual transmission in late 2005. They requested referrals of similar patients. The team reported Thursday in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that they found a total of 74 cases. All the men reported having receptive anal sex and none had any other risk factors for HCV, such as intravenous drug abuse. When the team compared the infected men to other gay men who were not infected with the virus, they found that those who became infected were 23 times more likely to have had unprotected gay sex and 29 times more likely to have had anal sex while using crystal methamphetamine. Moreover, genetic analysis showed that there were five separate clusters of the virus, indicating that the virus was getting transmitted through groups of interconnected men. "While hepatitis C is not sexually transmitted among stable heterosexual couples, this is clearly not the case among HIV-infected [men having sex with men] in New York City," Fierer said in a statement. Such men, "and to some extent their healthcare providers, are generally not aware that having unprotected receptive sex can result in HCV infection .... Our study suggests that HIV-infected [gay men] should take steps to protect themselves and others by using condoms and by avoiding crystal methamphetamine."
Chris Pine spotted Tuesday in Los Angeles attending the opening of the Rebecca Minkoff shop, Pine fine as always.
Also Tuesday, also in Los Angeles, Robert Pattison seen alongside a bearded Tom Sturridge, the two walking Robert’s rescue dog, Bear.
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