Gay Water, a new nned cktail, wants to be the anti-Bud Light | CNN Bs

Contents:

• GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
• ADVOCY GROUPS: ETHPIAN ERNMENT’S ANTI-GAY RHETORIC SPURS ONLE ATTACKS
• LAKERS AMONG TEAMS LKED TO RUDY GAY
• KEV MAXEN, JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH, OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR U.S.-BASED PRO LEAGU
• A RARE GLIMPSE INTO IRAN’S UNRGROUND GAY COMMUNY

GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT

In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out.

In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them, ” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. Gay Water, however, is out and proud.

ADVOCY GROUPS: ETHPIAN ERNMENT’S ANTI-GAY RHETORIC SPURS ONLE ATTACKS

The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny.

“Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self, ” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry.

LAKERS AMONG TEAMS LKED TO RUDY GAY

The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail. Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water.

“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg. For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails, ” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns, ” Roth said.

KEV MAXEN, JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH, OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR U.S.-BASED PRO LEAGU

Of urse, other drks e the word “gay, ” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. Meet like-md members wh terts Gay Arabs, Gay Mlim Datg, Gay Mlims, Gay Arabic, Gay Iranians, Gay Egyptians, Gay Persians, Gay Armenians, Gay Afghans, Gay Iraqis.

Iranian Print Ebrahim Raisi this week praised his Ugandan unterpart for signg the untry’s Anti-Homosexualy Act.

“Wtern untri are puttg prsure on pennt untri by attackg the fay foundatn, promotg the ugly phenomenon of homosexualy, the spread of extremism and terrorism, and the e of human rights as a tool, for which the velopment of cultural teractns and cultural operatn between Iran and Uganda will be very effective nontg the plots of the enemi of the two natns, ” said Raisi. Meveni on May 29 signed the Anti-Homosexualy Act that ntas a ath penalty provisn for “aggravated homosexualy. Advocy groups: Ethpian ernment’s anti-gay rhetoric spurs onle attacks.

A RARE GLIMPSE INTO IRAN’S UNRGROUND GAY COMMUNY

An advocy group Ethpia has sharply cricized ernment stutns for homophobic statements they say have spurred onle attacks agast LGBTQ and tersex people. “In a dramatic expansn of the threat of vlence; there have also been lls to kill, burn, and beat up fai of those of who are openly LGBTQIA+ and live abroad orr to make their fai unrstand the ep shame and wound that Ethpian homophob the diaspora feel due to the outspokenns of those openly LGBTQIA+ dividuals, ” reads a statement that Hoe of Guramayle issued this week. A recent study found 97 percent of Ethpians believe homosexualy is a “very harmful way of life that society should not accept” and anyone a same-sex relatnship should be punished.