The Daily Sting, Thursday: South Africa Protects Civil Unions, Facebook Gets Less Sexy
The weekend is nearly here, but before you dream about cocktails and Netflix binges, let’s take a look at the day’s big gay stories, starting with a historic vote that just protected South Africa civil unions from religious exemptions. And a new Facebook rule has pissed off the gays. See what it is below.
In other news, it’s awards seasons, and we have two big stories: First, nominees for the 2019 Golden Globes have been announced, and they’re plenty queer. And people are upset at the announcement that Kevin Hart — a comedian who has made some homophobic remarks in the past — will be hosting next year’s Oscars. Also, more bad news for Milo Yiannopoulos. (It just seems to keep coming, doesn’t it?)
From South Africa civil unions to an unpopular new Facebook rule, here are the day’s big gay headlines:
1. South Africa Civil Unions Protected From Religious Exemptions Under New Bill (News)
South Africa civil unions have existed since 2006, but many gay couples in the African nation were finding it difficult to find marriage offices who would actually marry them. An exemption allowed the officials to refuse to marry gay couples on the basis of “conscience, religion or belief” (and nearly half of officials exempted themselves). But a historic vote has said that exemption no longer applies. The bill still needs to be voted by the other house in the legislature, but according to Gay Star News, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa is then prepared to sign it into law.
It should be noted, of course, that civil unions are by definition not marriage, which should be a right for all LGBTQ people.
2. Kevin Hart Announced as Oscars Host, Met With Outrage From LGBTQ People (Film)
I wonder when Kevin Hart is gonna start deleting all his old tweets 🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/ZbYG6SI3Xm
— Benjamin Lee (@benfraserlee) December 5, 2018
A day after comedian Kevin Hart was announced as host of the 2019 Oscars, tweets in which he said grossly homophobic things have been dug up and are making the rounds on social media. (Give them a look above.) It seems he loves (or loved at one point) to throw the word “fag” around with abandon, and had strong feelings about not wanting to have a gay son. About the “gay son joke,” he kinda-sorta apologized for it (not really) during a Rolling Stone interview in 2015.
3. Milo Yiannopoulos Is More Broke Than We Thought, Was Kicked Off Patreon (Culture)
We previously reported that Milo Yiannoupoulos was a hefty $2 million in debt, but it turns out that number is closer to $4 million … if you believe the gay alt-right poster boy himself. (Hilariously, he remarked about his debt, “Do you know how successful you have to be to owe that kind of money?”) Yiannopoulos was also removed from subscription content service Patreon, which remarked, “We don’t allow association with or supporting hate groups.” Before he was removed from Patreon, he was selling things like “exclusive invitations to drinks when Milo is in your city (you’re buying),” giant posters of his face, a voicemail greeting by Milo and an “exclusive elite-tier Milo T-shirt” for those who pledged to give him $750 or more per month.
4. Nominees for 2019 Golden Globes Announced, More Queer Than Ever (Film, TV)
The nominees were officially announced this morning, and the roster is full of queer stars and projects. Among the nominees: Bohemian Rhapsody for Best Film and its star Rami Malek for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury; Ryan Murphy’s Pose and The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story for many awards, including one for ACS star, Darren Criss, who portrayed gay serial killer Andrew Cunanan; The Favourite, about a queer queen and her handmaids, scored noms for its female cast; Lucas Hedges was nominated for his role in gay conversion therapy drama Boy Erased; pop star Troye Sivan was nominated for Best Song for “Revelations” from that same film; and Can You Ever Forgive Me? star Melissa McCarthy, who plays a lesbian in the amazing film, was also nominated.
5. New Facebook Rule Has the Gay Community in a Tizzy (Web)
Facebook’s community standards were reportedly updated back on Oct. 15, but people are only know realizing just how puritanical they are. Among the things now banned by the standards are posts about sexual positions, mentions of sexual roles (so no more telling people you’re a “bossy bottom” or “pig top,” we suppose) and requests for Facebook users to “send nudes,” which now violates a ban on “offering or asking for nude images.” These new rules are being widely discussed over social media, while people are still coping with the recent decision by Tumblr to ban all adult content.
