Marriage equality finally came to Germany after decades of struggle on Friday.

Sean Gallup / Getty Images

Start of the 1980s

Gay groups in East Germany begin their demands for legal recognition for marriage equality.

Gilles Leimdorfer / AFP / Getty Images

End of the 1980s

Three leaders in the LGBT community, Volker Beck, Günter Dworek and Manfred Bruns, publish a number of papers in which they demand equal rights. For the first time in West Germany, a legal construct for same-sex couples appeared within these papers. Beck, Dworek and Bruns considered the ban on same-sex marriage a serious discrimination. They emphasize that it's important for gay and lesbian partnerships to be recognized in order for homosexuals to become more broadly accepted in the society.

Sean Gallup / Getty Images

1989

Denmark becomes the first country in the world to introduce registered civil partnerships for same-sex couples.

Infocusdc / Getty Images

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“So Germany legalised same sex marriage and I’m here like ‘OH HAI AUSTRALIA!’”

Germany became the 23rd country in the world to legalise marriage equality on Friday.

A bill passed the German parliament 393 votes to 226, and will come into effect later this year. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had somewhat unexpectedly opened the door to the snap vote earlier this week, voted against the change.

Despite the quick onset of the parliamentary vote, German activists have been agitating for marriage equality for decades. It would also have been an issue in the upcoming election.

Afp Contributor / AFP / Getty Images

Polling repeatedly shows that a majority of Australians support marriage equality. Both major party leaders support reform, as do a majority of parliamentarians.

However, the country is locked in a political stalemate over whether there should be a national vote on marriage (broadly supported by the government and anti-marriage equality groups) or a vote in the parliament (broadly supported by the opposition and LGBTI rights groups).

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President Trump in Greeley, Colorado, in October.

Evan Vucci / AP

The White House ended June on Friday by stubbornly refusing to offer even the most perfunctory act of symbolic recognition to a section of the US population, and its struggle for civil rights.

Despite attempting to position himself as a friend to the LGBT community during the election, President Donald Trump opted not to issue a statement or proclamation marking June as Pride Month.

Had he done so, Trump would have been the first Republican president to recognize pride. Yet Trump, who made history by becoming the first GOP presidential nominee to mention the LGBT community in his convention acceptance speech, remained silent.

“I’m most certainly disappointed,” Gregory T. Angelo, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, a prominent LGBT conservative group, told BuzzFeed News.

“I think it would have been a strong, symbolic, and historic gesture if he’d put out a statement,” Angelo said, noting his group had urged the administration to do so.

BuzzFeed News contacted the White House every single day in June to ask if a statement or proclamation was forthcoming — and if not, why not.

It took two weeks for spokesperson Kelly Love to respond. “We will let you know if anything official goes out,” she wrote in an email on June 14.

Responding to a subsequent June 15 emailed inquiry as to whether the White House was taking the unusual step of waiting until the end of the month to mark pride, Love again replied, “We will let you know if anything official goes out.”

Three email inquiries later, Love responded, “As I've said, if we put anything official out you'll be the first to know.” This was the last time a White House spokesperson responded to a request for comment about Pride Month. (See the full list of emails below.)

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Presidents routinely use their executive powers to issue symbolic proclamations to mark days, weeks, or months they deem to be of national value. They can also release statements through the White House press office.

So far during his presidency, Trump has issued such proclamations with zeal, marking big-ticket events for different communities — such as National African American History Month, Women’s History Month, and Jewish American Heritage Month — as well as smaller, more focused events such as National Poison Prevention Week, National Charter Schools Week, and National Hurricane Preparedness Week. (See the full list of the President Trump’s proclamations below).

In 1999, on the 30th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising that spawned the LGBT civil rights movement, President Bill Clinton became the first president to issue a proclamation marking June as Pride Month. “I encourage all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that celebrate our diversity, and to remember throughout the year the gay and lesbian Americans whose many and varied contributions have enriched our national life,” Clinton declared. He issued one again in 2000.

The Obama White House after same-sex marriage was legalized.

Mladen Antonov / AFP / Getty Images

While President George W. Bush, a staunch opponent of marriage equality, didn’t issue any pride statements or proclamations during his presidency, they were resurrected under President Barack Obama, who also hosted receptions and lit up the White House with rainbow lights after same-sex marriage was legalized.

While Trump did not mark Pride Month, his daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, tweeted her best wishes.

Angelo, of the Log Cabin Republicans, noted these tweets were met with hostility and “vile responses” from some on the left.

But, he said, “if we as a movement are truly trying to move the needle to full equality we should be welcoming the gesture of anyone and everyone who will stand with us, especially someone who happens to be the president’s daughter and senior adviser.”

Angelo also criticized LGBT advocates for what he said was an attempt to turn pride events into “resistance marches” — using the month as a vehicle to oppose the president. “One wonders if they had put out a statement if it would have been welcomed by LGBT advocates,” he said.

For Angelo, the president’s actions speak louder than words. He argued that the Trump administration has taken steps to protect and celebrate the LGBT community, and noted that the Pentagon and the Justice Department each held pride events — the latter of which had the express support of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

An "LGBTs for Trump" flag in Grand Junction, Colorado, in October.

George Frey / Getty Images

Trump’s critics, however, contend that his silence during Pride Month was a symbolic snub of a community with which he attempted to align himself during the 2016 election, albeit mostly on issues of national security.

“Ask yourself who is really the friend of women and the LGBT community, Donald Trump with actions or Hillary Clinton with her words?” he said in Manchester, New Hampshire, on June 13 last year.

“I will tell you who the better friend is, and someday that will be proven out big league,” he continued, assailing the Obama administration’s LGBT policies as a disgrace.

“Believe me, I am better for the gay community, I am better for women than [Clinton] will ever be on her best day,” he said in Raleigh, North Carolina, on July 5 last year.

Democratic National Committee CEO Jessica O'Connell told BuzzFeed News the White House was "obviously not walking the talk” when it comes to being a friend of the LGBT community.

"Here we are in Pride, we haven't heard a word from the president," she said on June 22. "I think that this is an administration that might have wagged a flag during the campaign, but it seems like they're trying to erase us right now. It's very quiet."

During the campaign, Trump distinguished himself slightly from his fellow conservatives by pledging to “fight” for the LGBT community — despite being personally opposed to same-sex marriage.

In April 2016, he criticized an anti-LGBT law in North Carolina during an appearance on NBC, and said that transgender star Caitlyn Jenner could use the bathroom of her choice at his properties. Speaking later the same day on Fox News, however, he said North Carolina had the right to enact the law.

At his July 21 appearance at the 2016 Republican National Convention, Trump made history by becoming the first Republican nominee to reference the LGBT community in his acceptance speech — and praised the conservatives in the audience for their applause.

Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted our LGBTQ community. No good. We are going to stop it. As your President, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology, believe me.

And I have to say as a Republican it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said. Thank you.

Trump also invited Peter Thiel, the openly gay Silicon Valley tycoon, to speak at the convention. "I am proud to be gay,” Thiel told the crowd.

At an Oct. 30 rally in Greeley, Colorado, Trump borrowed a pride flag emblazoned with the words “LGBTs for Trump” from a fan, holding it up with a smile to the cheering crowd.

“He's the most pro-LGBT Pres candidate ever nominated by either party,” Chris Barron, a former leader of GOProud (a now defunct gay conservative group) who launched an LGBT for Trump campaign, tweeted about the display.

Barron did not respond to requests for comment on Trump’s declining to issue a Pride Month proclamation, but tweeted on June 3, “If you voted for President based on whether or not they would issue a Pride Month declaration you might want to reevaluate your priorities.”

Trump in Greeley, Colorado, in October.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Since he was sworn in, however, the president’s record on LGBT rights has been mixed.

In January, Trump said his administration would continue to enforce Obama-era workplace protections for LGBT federal workers and contractors. The following month, however, he rolled back Obama administration guidelines designed to reduce anti-transgender discrimination in public schools and give trans students access to gender-appropriate restrooms and locker rooms. The administration also rejected calls to have the 2020 census ask questions about sexual orientation and gender identity for the first time.

Former vice president Joe Biden told a DNC gala in Manhattan on June 22 that the LGBT community needs to hold Trump to his word. “The first thing you should do, even though he won’t respond, is hold President Trump accountable for his pledge to be your friend,” Biden said.

In response to Biden’s speech, White House spokesperson Love told the Associated Press, "President Trump has been clear in his commitment to improving the lives of all Americans, including those in the LGBT community.”

Here’s a list of the proclamations or statements issued so far by President Trump for symbolic days, weeks, and months:

• National African American History Month
  
• American Heart Month
  
• Women's History Month
  
• Irish-American Heritage Month
  
• American Red Cross Month
  
• National Consumer Protection Week
  
• National Poison Prevention Week
  
• National Agriculture Day
  
• Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy
  
• National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month
  
• National Child Abuse Prevention Month
  
• National Donate Life Month
  
• National Financial Capability Month
  
• Cancer Control Month
  
• World Autism Awareness Day
  
• National Crime Victims’ Rights Week
  
• National Financial Capability Month
  
• National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
  
• Education and Sharing Day
  
• Pan American Day
  
• Pan American Week
  
• National Park Week
  
• National Volunteer Week
  
• Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust
  
• Loyalty Day
  
• National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
  
• National Charter Schools Week
  
• Small Business Week
  
• Older Americans Month
  
• Jewish American Heritage Month
  
• National Foster Care Month
  
• Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
  
• Law Day, USA
  
• National Mental Health Awareness Month
  
• National Day of Prayer
  
• Earth Day
  
• Armenian Remembrance Day 2017
  
• National Hurricane Preparedness Week
  
• Public Service Recognition Week
  
• Military Spouse Day
  
• National Defense Transportation Day
  
• National Transportation Week
  
• Cinco de Mayo
  
• Mother’s Day
  
• Women’s Health Week
  
• Peace Officers Memorial Day
  
• Police Week
  
• National Maritime Day
  
• National Safe Boating Week
  
• Emergency Medical Services Week
  
• World Trade Week
  
• Third Saturday of Each May as Armed Forces Day
  
• Memorial Day, Day of Prayer for Permanent Peace
  
• Cuban Independence Day
  
• Ramadan
  
• National Caribbean-American Heritage Month
  
• African-American Music Appreciation Month
  
• Great Outdoors Month
  
• National Ocean Month
  
• National Homeownership Month
  
• National Flag Day
  
• National Flag Week
  
• National Cancer Survivors Day
  
• Men’s Health Week
  
• Father’s Day
  
• Juneteenth
  
• Eid al-Fitr
  
• International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
  
• National HIV Testing Day
  
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Day
  

Here’s the entire email exchange between BuzzFeed News and the White House in June on the subject of Pride Month:

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NOTE: This was, in fact, the correct general email address for seeking comment from a White House press official. We're not sure what they're talking about here.

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A pride flag with the Star of David in Jerusalem in 2015.

Nurphoto / Getty Images

It's a flag that LGBT Jewish Americans have used for decades to express their identity, but when three women unfurled it at Chicago's Dyke March last weekend, it sparked a heated confrontation that led to them being kicked out of the event — and exposed ugly tensions within the left on the national stage.

The controversy that ensued after the June 24 march points to deeper strains and squabbles among a leftist movement attempting to collectively stand up to President Trump, LGBT Jewish Americans told BuzzFeed News.

"What runs through my mind is the tension between politics and identity — and the frustration that I have that the progressive community in the US cannot figure out how to create a united front," professor David Shneer, who teaches history and religious studies at the University of Colorado and co-edited the book Queer Jews, told BuzzFeed News.

The flareup offers a particularly sharp glimpse of the stress on the left between the attempt to create a united front of progressive causes — "intersectional" politics in the current language — and the fact that not all members of each group accept that mandate.

Idit Klein, executive director of the prominent Jewish LGBT group Keshet, said she is no longer "surprised nor particularly upset" when her queer Jewish identity is attacked from those on the right. "But to learn that three Jewish women with Jewish pride flags were asked to leave a Dyke March because their flags were triggering to others made me feel vulnerable as a Jew in a community that I consider my home," she said. "I immediately thought, 'What does this mean for the place of LGBTQ Jews in the broader queer community?'"

Two of the women ejected from the Chicago Dyke March alleged march organizers told them their rainbow flags with blue stars were "triggering" others in attendance at the demonstration, which bills itself as "a grassroots mobilization and celebration of dyke, queer, bisexual, and transgender resilience."

"They told me my choices were to roll up my Jewish Pride flag or leave," Ellie Otra, one of the women ejected, wrote in a Facebook post. "The Star of David makes it look too much like the Israeli flag, they said, and it triggers people and makes them feel unsafe. This was their complaint."

Organizers of the Dyke March, which is distinct from Chicago's main LGBT Pride Parade, did not respond to a request for comment. However, in a statement on Tuesday, they maintained the flags were welcome, but that the marchers were asked to leave for "expressing Zionist views that go directly against the march’s anti-racist core values."

The organizers said the marchers were heard replacing the world "Palestine" in the chant, "From Palestine to Mexico, border walls have got to go," with the word "everywhere." After seeing their flags, marchers confronted the women to inquire about their views, the organizers said.

"There was an earnest attempt at engagement with these marchers, and the decision to ask them to leave was not made abruptly nor arbitrarily," organizers said. "Throughout a two-hour conversation, the individuals were told that the march was explicitly anti-Zionist, and that if they were not okay with that, they should leave."

"We welcome and include people of all identities, but not all ideologies," organizers said. "We believe in creating a space free from oppression, and that involves rejecting racist ideologies that support state violence."

Fed Up Fest, a punk music festival organized "by a collective of radical queer and trans activists and musicians," said it supported the Dyke March's decision, but also acknowledged "the violent reality of anti-Semitism that our Jewish queer and trans community members face, and hold space for these struggles, especially in light of our current political climate."

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In a post for A Wider Bridge, the pro-Israel LGBT group where she works, Laurie Grauer, one of the women ejected, said she proudly stated her support for Israel (and an independent state for the Palestinians) when asked.

"Because of one belief I have that I shared when asked, because of the one symbol I carried, I was asked to leave," she wrote.

Grauer told BuzzFeed News she never changed the word "Palestine" to "everywhere" during a chant. She said the conversation with organizers did not last two hours and was, at times, not civil. She also stressed that the reason she and her fellow Jewish Americans were confronted was because of their flags.

The incident quickly generated national headlines and scorn from prominent Jewish LGBT advocates.

"I am so angry I am nearly at a loss for words," Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, told BuzzFeed News. "The organizers should hang their heads in shame."

Goldstein, a prominent gay activist, said march organizers should have distinguished between the ancient Star of David symbol and the Israeli flag (although he maintained demonstrators should have been able to march with the Israeli flag, too).

He attacked the march organizers for being fixated on intersectionality (the concept that different forms of social oppression must be seen as interconnected) at the expense of religious tolerance.

"How can you claim to be an LGBT leader and not know the most basic symbols of different religions that reflect the diversity of our country?" he said. "Are you so wrapped in your own nonsensical, non-real-world commitment to diversity — that you don't practice in reality — that you never took time to educate yourself?"

Author and City University of New York distinguished professor Sarah Schulman, who helped to found the original Dyke March in the early 1990s, said support for Zionism ran counter to the demonstration's spirit.

Schulman said her fellow Jewish Americans must recognize the Star of David symbol has been inextricably bound up with Israel, which she called "an apartheid state," and its military.

"It's disappointing that Israel and the Jews have been conflated, but this is the work of the Jewish state and this is the consequence of their actions," she said.

She said Israel and its supporters use the country's friendly LGBT policies to "pinkwash" its oppression of Palestinians.

The Chicago Dyke March organizers, in their statement, also said the Jewish pride flag raised eyebrows "due to its similarity to the Israeli flag and the flag’s long history of use in Pinkwashing efforts."

Gregg Drinkwater, who is writing a dissertation on the history of Judaism and homosexuality at the University of Colorado, said LGBT Jewish groups have been using the Star of David to promote themselves since the gay liberation movement in the early 1970s because it was "the symbol that's most easily and quickly read as Jewish."

"I can't tell you how far back the Star of David on a rainbow flag goes, but I can tell you it well predates the idea of pinkwashing as a narrative," he said.

Pride London in 2011.

Mike Kemp / Getty Images

"What other symbol would be an alternative?" asked Amy Milligan, an assistant professor of Jewish and women studies at Virginia's Old Dominion University. "Because the Star of David exists well before the state of Israel. It's the symbol associated with Judaism, so it's the logical symbol to be used."

Milligan said she understands the star has "associations" with Israel and Zionism, "but when we see someone wearing a Star of David necklace or lapel pin, we don't label them as having political views. We understand it to be a religious symbol."

Shneer, the University of Colorado professor, said the semiotics of the flag in question — with a large blue Star of David placed in the center — did create an "echo" of the Israeli flag.

"The Dyke March organizers were not wrong to have seen the Israeli flag in there — but they also shouldn't have kicked those people out," he said.

Both Milligan and Shneer questioned what alternative symbols would be available to LGBT Jewish Americans to express their identity without the Star of David.

"If we look at pride symbols, we have the rainbow flag and the pink triangle — and that, of course, is problematic as a Holocaust symbol," Milligan said. "It leaves Jews with not a whole lot of pride symbols that they can really navigate."

For Shneer, when he sees the flag at pride marches, it is "a sign there are Jews here, not people who support Israel."

"The Star of David is more or less the universally recognized symbol today of the Jews," Shneer said, "and therefore removing the symbol from the toolbox of symbols to be used to define yourself as Jewish is taking a key symbol away. It'd be like saying, 'You can't fly the rainbow flag if you're gay because it triggers me.'"

When asked what other symbols she wanted LGBT Jewish Americans to use, Schulman, the CUNY professor, replied, "I don't know, but that's not my concern. It's disingenuous for Jews to contend that they don't have to confront the Israeli state."

What is everybody watching?

LGBT Pride Month has just ended (although we should be proud every goddamn day of the year) and xHamster has released the most popular gay porn searches for June.

For the data, gay porn is recognised as videos that include men having sex with men. It also doesn't necessarily account for the sexualities of the people watching. Now let's break that info down into a list, shall we?

xHamster / Via xhamster.com

The most popular search of the month was "daddy", which was followed by "Arab", "amateur", "bareback", and "first" respectively.

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Rounding out the top 10 searches were "teen", "gloryhole", "massage", "black", and "Turkish".

HBO

Looking specifically at America, Pornhub has shown us what the most popular categories are by state.

What's the most popular category in your state?

PornHub / Via pornhub.com

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Kori Doty/Facebook / Via facebook.com

In what could be the first such case in the world, Canadian officials have issued a baby named Searyl Alti a health card without a gender marker.

Kori Doty, a non-binary transgender person who identifies as neither male nor female, gave birth to Searyl in November and has been battling to keep the eight-month old's gender off all British Columbia government records ever since.

The health card has a "U" in the space for "sex", which could stand for "unassigned" or "undetermined." However, officials refused to issue a birth certificate without a gender.

"We’re not actually asking to have anyone’s ID changed against their will. We’re just asking to change the structure of how identification, particularly the birth certificate, starts out,” Doty told CKNW News. (Doty did not immediately respond to an interview request from BuzzFeed News.)

British Columbia is believed to be the first public authority to issue an official card without a marked gender. At least two other Canadian provinces, Ontario and Alberta, are now also considering offering a third, non-binary option on government documents.

Human rights lawyer barbara findlay, who stylizes her name without capital letters, said the gender-less health card arrived in the mail and that it is "a big deal and a major step forward."

barbara findlay QC

"It is recognizing that the state has no business certifying a child's sex at birth," findlay told BuzzFeed News. "It is something that is private and that might change."

findlay is working with Doty, a member of the Gender-Free ID Coalition, on fighting the Vital Statistics Agency's decision to refuse a birth certificate for Searyl without a gender, arguing that it violates the baby's rights to "life, liberty and security of the person, to freedom of expression, and to equality under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms."

Doty gave birth to Searyl at a friend's house, bypassing the genital medical inspection that doctors use to assign a child's sex.

findlay contends that inspecting the baby at birth does not accurately reflect or determine what sex or gender that newborn will choose to identify with as they mature.

Kori Doty / Via facebook.com

"We would prefer they take 'sex' off these documents entirely," findlay said. "A baby's gender identity develops over time, not when a doctor examines its genitals right after birth."

Doty, who is still going through the arduous experience of changing their birth certificate, told the CBC that doctors chose an "incorrect" gender assignment that "followed me and followed my identification throughout my life."

They, along with eight other people and the British Colombia Trans Alliance, have brought a case before British Columbia's Human Rights Tribunal demanding the right to change their birth certificates, arguing that the document encapsulates personal information that cannot change.

As a parent, Doty wants to spare their child that kind of stress and frustration.

"I'm raising Searyl in in such a way that until they have the sense of self and command of vocabulary to tell me who they are, I'm recognizing them as a baby and trying to give them all the love and support to be the most whole person that they can be outside of the restrictions that come with the boy box and the girl box," Doty told the CBC.

A man has been fined $10,000 for screaming "I'm going to kill you, faggot!" as he assaulted a man in a gay nightclub in Sydney.

Getty Images

In a decision published on June 30, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) ruled Paul Taufaao had engaged in unlawful homosexual vilification as he assaulted David Massa at Sydney's ARQ nightclub in 2014.

Massa and a friend, Simon Margan, were at ARQ in the early hours of the morning on September 15, 2014, when they encountered Taufaao by the dance floor.

In his evidence to the tribunal, Massa said he had had a conversation with Taufaao before heading to the dance floor. As he walked back towards Taufaao, a woman stepped between them and pushed his chest with both her hands.

"[Taufaao] stepped forward and the female stepped to the side," Massa told the tribunal. "He said – 'Fuck off, faggot'."

Taufaao then punched Massa in the head so hard that he fell backwards.

"The next thing that I remember was trying to get to my feet and could taste blood in my mouth; I could feel the blood dripping down the front of me," Massa said. "I could not move my bottom lip and the pain felt as though my lip had been ripped off."

Margan told the tribunal he had heard Taufaao make various statements as he assaulted Massa, "including the phrases 'Fuck off faggot!' and, 'I am going to kill you faggot!'"

He gave evidence that witnessing the assault and hearing Taufaao's comments left him feeling "degraded and humiliated", unsafe to go out on Oxford Street (a popular Sydney gay strip), and "less of a person".

In its decision, the tribunal wrote that Taufaao's comments were "not merely insults" but had the capacity to incite people in ARQ to feel hatred and contempt for Margan and gay men generally.

"The assault on its own could not be said to have been incitement to hatred or serious contempt on the grounds of homosexuality. However, coupled as it was with the words 'Fuck off faggot' and 'I’m going to kill you faggot', in this context the actions would constitute incitement."

Taufaao was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in October 2014, and sentenced to a two-year good behaviour bond and a $1100 fine.

Margan complained to the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW two weeks after the attack, alleging that Taufaao's actions constituted unlawful homosexual vilification. His complaint was referred to the tribunal in July 2015.

Margan told BuzzFeed News he made the complaint because "attacks on Oxford Street are still all-too-common these days".

"When gay men are attacked in gay-safe spaces, then this makes the crime much more concerning," he said.

"As an assault victim, and someone who has often seen these types of assaults occur on Oxford Street previously, I know how much of a difference it makes when those who witness such unprovoked violence sit by and do nothing about it. It is those that ‘turn the other cheek’ to this behaviour who end up ensuring assaults like this continue."

Margan said he was satisfied the $10,000 fine was an appropriate amount. The tribunal also decided not to order Taufaao to apologise – a decision Margan backed.

"Apologies have their place in mediated settlements," he said. "However, if the respondent is not participating in the process of genuinely apologising, then this is not that beneficial. It is very difficult to force an apology and it is dubious as to whether coerced and insincere court apologies achieve anything."

“It means a lot to see your own experiences reflected in a TV show that you love.”

Here are the characters that have helped them see themselves in the best light:

Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter series

"I've always considered Luna Lovegood to be ace. Outside of that little scene with Neville at the end of the last movie, we never actually saw her express any real interest in or attraction to anyone. While Harry is an extremely unreliable and frequently clueless narrator, I like to think he would have noticed if she did.

I identify very strongly with Luna, because we're both Ravenclaws who believe in extraordinary things. Like me, she's more interested in her work and her hobbies and her friendships than pursuing romance."

—Amelia Tumlin

Warner Bros Pictures

Newt Scamander, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

"I'd have to say Newt from Fantastic Beasts 😊 other than him, I haven't really found any characters on TV shows available in my country which read as ace to me."

—Josha Nill, Facebook

Warner Bros Pictures

Elsa, Frozen

"Honestly, and I know it's cliché, but Elsa from Frozen is really the only character that immediately comes to mind, probably because I see her as aromantic as well as asexual. She locks herself away in an ice palace, in an attempt to protect those she loves from her perceived 'brokenness', and ends up discovering herself and learning to love herself as she is, and that is such an incredibly powerful message for someone who doesn't fit into the heteronormative mold thrust on us from birth. Elsa is a fucking QUEEN who has the strength and fortitude to be herself in a world that tells her she's wrong for being what she is."

—nicoleg46944188e

Disney

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People have some thoughts.

So, Andrew Garfield is currently starring in Tony Kushner's theater production Angels in America, where he plays Prior Walters, a gay man in the US living with AIDS.

Christopher Polk / Getty Images

"Every Sunday I would have eight friends over and we would just watch RuI mean every single series of RuPaul's Drag Race. I mean every series. This is my life outside of this play. I am a gay man right now, just without the physical act—that's all."

"As far as I know, I am not a gay man. Maybe I'll have an awakening later in my life, which I'm sure will be wonderful and I'll get to explore that part of the garden, but right now I'm secluded to my area, which is wonderful, as well."

His statements caught backlash from a lot of people on social media:

Twitter: @jiggatravels

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We all have one. A sex toy. And a horror story.

Using a sex toy can be super fun.

giphy.com / Via gifbin.com

But sometimes things go from super fun to total disaster in seconds.

giphy.com / Via Comedy Central

Maybe you got a little ahead of yourself and lost something in the cave of wonders:

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Or maybe you didn't realize it was *that* time of the month when you got down and dirty with yourself.

FX

View Entire List ›

Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP / Getty Images

The detention of LGBT people has resumed in the Russian republic of Chechnya, where dozens of gay men were reportedly tortured or killed by authorities earlier this year, according to the activist group Russia LGBT Network.

The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta first reported that around 100 people had been kidnapped in the crackdown in April, but Russian activists reported that sources in the region said the detentions had stopped following an international outcry. Igor Kochetkov of the Russia LGBT Network, which is working to evacuate people targeted in the purge from the region, now tells BuzzFeed News the organization had gotten around ten calls reporting new detentions since Ramadan ended on June 24.

The news of new detentions comes just before President Donald Trump is due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday at the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. The US State Department issued a statement condemning the detentions, but Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told a congressional committee last month that he did not raise the matter with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during face to face talks.

Putin said he would order a federal investigation of the crackdown after being confronted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. But the Russia LGBT Network said in a statement issued in June that officials were derailing the investigation.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and his government have denied that any crackdown has occurred, arguing that Chechnya had no gay men within its borders to begin with.

1. This iconic kiss between two strangers celebrating the end of World War II in Times Square, 1945:

Alfred Eisenstaedt / Getty Images

2. This couple caught up in the Vancouver riots following the city's loss in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2011:

Rich Lam / Getty Images

3. These American heroes sharing a kiss during an LGBT rally at our nation's capitol in 1993:

Brooks Kraft / Getty Images

4. These two people responding to anti-LGBT protesters during the 47th annual LA Pride Festival in 2017:

David Mcnew / Getty Images

5. Richard Dowlin and his new husband, Cormac Gollogly, sealing the deal at the first legal same-sex wedding in Ireland, 2015:

Cathal Mcnaughton / Reuters

5. Phyllis Siegel, 76, and her wife Connie Kopelov, 84, on the first day that same-sex couples were allowed to legally marry in New York state, 2011:

Pool / Getty Images

6. Coretta Scott King giving Martin Luther King Jr. a kiss of relief following his court appearance after the Montgomery bus boycott in 1956:

Gene Herrick / AP

7. Neil Armstrong blowing a kiss to his two sons while in quarantine after being the first man to ever walk on the moon in 1969:

Anonymous / ASSOCIATED PRESS

8. This British soldier and his girlfriend who couldn't wait for his station after surviving the siege of Dunkirk in 1945:

Topical Press Agency / Getty Images

9. This gas-masked couple in London who weren't going to let the threat of a Nazi air raid ruin their holiday fun in 1940:

Fox Photos / Getty Images

10. This young couple kissing before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989:

Patrick Piel / Getty Images

11. Muhammad Ali tenderly kissing newborn son Muhammad Ali Jr. while his his wife Belinda looks on in 1972:

Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

12. Michael Jordan receiving some adorable mommy-love during breakfast in 1986:

Buck Miller / Getty Images

12. Nirvana drummer David Grohl going all in with bassist Krist Novoselic during the 1993 MTV Music Video Awards:

Time Life Pictures / Getty Images

13. This iconic kiss between two queens of pop — Britney Spears and Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards:

Kevin Kane / WireImage

14. Nancy Reagan making sure Mr. T gives her everything she wants for Christmas in 1983:

Diana Walker / Getty Images

15. This sweet kiss at the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981:

Keystone / Getty Images

16. And this kiss, 30 years later, in 2011 at the wedding of their son Prince William and his wife Catherine:

George Pimentel / WireImage

17. This precious moment between President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama during the inaugural ball in 2009:

Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images

18. And this kiss between first lady Melania Trump and her husband, President Donald Trump, at the Republican National Convention in 2016:

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

19. There's this joyous reunion between Staff Sgt. Keith Fidler and his wife Cynthia and baby boy Kolin, following his return home from Iraq in 2011:

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

20. And Carlos, who lived undocumented in Los Angeles for 28 years before being deported to Mexico, kissing his wife through the meshed US–Mexico border in 2016:

John Moore / Getty Images

22. This couple following the lead of this iconic graffiti depicting a lip-locked Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in 2016:

Mindaugas Kulbis / AP

21. And this touching moment when a refugee offered a kiss of comfort to a little girl after arriving on the shores of Lesbos Island, Greece, in 2016:

Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

What do these 13 queens all have in common?

Trixie Mattel doesn't have any appearances until August 6th, which is allegedly when All Stars 3 ends filming.

Instagram: @trixiemattel

Adore Delano, who famously left All Stars 2 and was invited back for All Stars 3, doesn't have anything scheduled until August 19th.

Instagram: @adoredelano

Courtney Act has been booked solid for months and has shows 'til the end of August—with the glaring omission of July.

Instagram: @courtneyact

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Basically everything you need to know about having fun with your penis in a safe and healthy way.

You and your penis probably have a ~special~ relationship, but do you actually give it the love it deserves?

The penis might seem like a simple enough body part to use and take care of, but making sure it's healthy and ~strong~ can take a little more effort, and that's where BuzzFeed Health comes in. No, we're not going to take care of your penis for you, BUT we can provide you with some of our best articles — full of expert tips and insight — about why the penis works the way it does, how to use it to its fullest potential, and how to keep it healthy and safe. Let's go!

Apatow Productions / Via giphy.com

For when you want to last a little longer in the sack.

While the amount of time it takes to orgasm ranges from person to person, the average time is still only about five to seven minutes. For people with premature ejaculation, it's closer to one to two minutes. Fortunately, in Here's How To Last Longer During Sex you'll find a few strategies for prolonging the time till you orgasm.

Example tip: There's the squeeze-and-pause strategy. This is when you get yourself right to the point of nearly orgasming, but then you stop, pull out, and squeeze your penis between the head and shaft to essentially hit pause. If you do it right, you might feel a few little orgasmic contractions in your pelvis and release a little bit of pre-cum, but you won't have a full orgasm.

FOX / Via giphy.com

For when you haven't gotten tested for a sexually transmitted infection (STIs) in a while, and start wondering what you're waiting for.

Having a ~healthy~ sex life means regularly getting tested for STIs and HIV regularly. After all, it's not just your health that's on the line every time you have sex — it's also your partner's. 17 Things Anyone With A Penis Needs To Know About Getting Tested lays out everything you need to know about STI testing so that you (and your partner) will only have to worry about one thing: having phenomenal sex.

Example tip: Most of the time, STIs are totally symptomless. So just because you look/feel OK, that doesn't mean you're in the clear. In fact, the vast majority of people with genital herpes don't know they have it, and some research has shown that up to 90% of men with chlamydia had no symptoms at all. So if you only get tested when something is up with your penis, you're waiting too long.

Marco Testa / Getty Images / Casey Gueren / Via buzzfeed.com

For when things are heating up, and you're not sure if you should use a condom.

Condoms are the only contraceptive method that can actually protect against STIs and HIV, and prevent pregnancy. That said, there will be times where you might not be sure if using a condom is necessary — and we can assure you that there are other situations besides penetrative sex where they're a great idea. Take this interactive quiz, Here's How To Know If You Should Use A Condom, to figure out if your situation is one of them.

@plannedparenthood / Via instagram.com

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Spoiler: she said yes.

And people really loved the moment.

Twitter: @dilllllllllllon

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“It’s kinda like going to museums or something — I don’t get much out of it but it doesn’t really bother me either.”

Asexuality is easily one of the most consistently misunderstood identities.

Twitter: @Michael_Paramo

Here's what they had to share.

"It can be extremely isolating because of society's obsession with sex."

"Sexuality is fluid and it can change over time. Sometimes I am totally sex-repulsed and other times I can feel some arousal, but generally I fall between the two. It can be extremely isolating because of society's obsession with sex. At times I feel I don't deserve to be loved."

—Anonymous/40/Aromantic

SNL

"You're still a valid asexual regardless of whether you've had sex in the past or not."

"You're still a valid asexual regardless of whether you've had sex in the past or not. You can still have sex while identifying as asexual. Also, there are some asexuals who get the occasional sexual attraction towards someone — that doesn't make them invalid."

—Lorenzo/17/Asexual

redbeardace.tumblr.com

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The much-rumored return of The L Word, which ran from 2004 to 2009, is officially in development at Showtime, sources tell BuzzFeed News.

If the new version moves forward, it will feature a new ensemble cast, but the three key original cast members (fight me!) — Jennifer Beals, Kate Moennig, and Leisha Hailey — will serve as executive producers as well as appearing as Bette, Shane, and Alice, respectively, tying the old show to the new one. There is also potential for other past cast members from the original L Word to return.

The L Word creator Ilene Chaiken will serve as the potential sequel's executive producer. But because she's busy as the showrunner for Empire on Fox, a new writer would run a continuation of The L Word.

When asked in April about the rumors of an L Word reboot, Chaiken told BuzzFeed News, "I hear from fans all the time that I should reboot the show," and that she would "love to do it."

In May, Chaiken, Beals, Moennig, Hailey, and others reunited for Entertainment Weekly's LGBT issue. At the time, Chaiken said of a reboot: "There’s certainly a chance. We talk about it all the time. When we went off the air in 2009, I think a lot of people thought, 'Okay, the baton is passed now, and there will be lots of shows that portray lesbian life.' There’s really nothing. It feels like maybe it should come back."

When The L Word originally premiered in 2004, it was part of the seismic shift in LGBT representation in popular culture that arguably paved the way for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Rather than portraying lesbians as sinister beings, The L Word's characters, inhabitants of West Hollywood, had glamorous jobs, families, and lots of sex. It was a fun soap opera, despite not always making sense — especially in its eight-episode final season, which revolved around a controversial who-killed-Jenny (Mia Kirshner) murder mystery that was never resolved.

But perhaps Chaiken was ahead of her time in more ways than her representation of LGBT life — she seems to have foreseen reboot madness as well.

In an interview in 2009 with the Los Angeles Times, Chaiken told me that she didn't see The L Word as being over. "I don't believe it, I don't see it in that way — I don't know what I'm talking about when I say this," she said. "I hope we'll do an L Word movie — there's no plan to do an L Word movie. But I would love to do that. I just believe that in some way, the show will live on."

Chaiken's belief may have been right.

Communication, people.

Threesomes are a super-common fantasy — but without proper preparation they can range from slightly awkward to a total train wreck.

There's a lot to consider: who you should have a threesome with, what boundaries you should set, and what you should do before, during, and after the actual sex.

FOX / Via society19.com

So, if you've participated in a threesome — good or bad — we want to hear your best tips and the lessons you learned.

AMC / Via giphy.com

Maybe you have advice on how to find the perfect third person to join you and your partner.

NBC / Via tenor.com

Or maybe you learned the hard way that you should always have extra condoms on hand.

NMA.tv / Via nmatv.tumblr.com

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“I can literally feel the gayness rushing through my body.”

If you didn't see the breaking news, an L Word sequel is really, truly, actually in development.

The long since rumored sequel to the Showtime series, which ran from 2004 to 2009, is now officially in the works, sources told BuzzFeed News. It would feature old favorites Jennifer Beals, Kate Moennig, and Leisha Hailey (AKA Bette, Shane, and Alice), along with a new ensemble cast.

Showtime

That means more of Bette's artistic swearing.

Showtime

And more of Shane and Alice being...Shane and Alice.

Showtime

News spread quickly through The L Word fanbase and reactions were mixed — from red hot to icy cold.

Twitter: @search

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“I have a right to my nonbinary birth certificate.”

Canadian birth certificates label everyone as either male or female, but what if you're neither?

Gemma Hickey, an activist in St. John's, Newfoundland, is nonbinary, but despite requesting a change, their birth certificate is still emblazoned with an "F." Now they're going to the courts to get it done.

Forty-year-old Hickey, who runs an arts program for at-risk youth, once identified as a cisgender lesbian. Then, two years ago, they walked across the province to raise awareness for clergy abuse. Being so in touch with their body brought a new realization.

"It was at that point that I realized that I’m actually transgender and that I don’t really identify as either male or female," Hickey told BuzzFeed Canada.

Hickey wanted their government documents to reflect their identity, so last April they made an official request to get a nonbinary birth certificate from Newfoundland Vital Statistics. Weeks later Hickey got a phone call saying the province was exploring its options, but a new birth certificate wasn't coming anytime soon.

Gemma Hickey

"My application wasn’t so much denied as delayed," Hickey said. "But by delaying, they’re denying."

They're now taking the province to court to make it happen, with the first hearing date coming up later this month. Hickey went through similar efforts in the early '00s to make same-sex marriage legal, and knew that court was the "the only real option."

"As far as I'm concerned, there should be no issue giving someone a birth certificate that’s nonbinary," said Hickey.

Gemma Hickey

Hickey was the first person in Newfoundland to apply for a nonbinary birth certificate, and they've inspired Joshua M. Ferguson to do the same in Ontario.

Ferguson (who has contributed to BuzzFeed Canada) applied for a nonbinary birth certificate on May 12, but was also told the option is simply unavailable right now. They got the news in a letter.

"​I opened the letter and honestly felt sick when I read it," Ferguson told BuzzFeed Canada.

They were told the province is "working to develop a gender-neutral option for the Ontario birth certificate and is currently conducting a policy review.” A timeframe was not provided.

Ontario offers a gender-neutral "x" designation on drivers' licenses. Ferguson doesn't understand why the same can't be done for birth certificates.

"I was expecting that the Ontario government would follow their own provincial law, which is to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression," Ferguson told BuzzFeed Canada. "I have a right to my nonbinary birth certificate."

Brian Beard

"My incorrect IDs work to reinforce a transphobic perspective that I don't exist — that all nonbinary people don't exist."

Ferguson said they have retained legal representation and are considering their next steps. Both Ferguson and Hickey said they've received numerous messages of support from other nonbinary people eager to see change.

"I will never give up fighting for my right to be recognized," said Ferguson.

Joshua M. Ferguson

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