Uganda's LGBTQ muny is ' shock' over new measure, gay activist says

Contents:

• BEAR NECSI: AN SIR’S LOOK AT AN ATYPIL GAY CULTURE AND MUNY
• WHAT IS GAY BEAR PRI?
• ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
• A HANDY GUI TO ALL GAY MEN
• IN POWERFUL REBE OF HATE, JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN MAK HISTORY G OUT AS GAY
• A LERATURE REVIEW OF HEALTH RISKS THE BEAR COMMUNY, A GAY SUBCULTURE
• CHICKENS AND OTTERS AND BEARS, OH MY! SIX TYP OF GAY YOU SHOULD PROBABLY KNOW BEFORE YOU TWEET
• THE GAY BEAR COMMUNY: WHICH STEREOTYPE ARE YOU?
• UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS

BEAR NECSI: AN SIR’S LOOK AT AN ATYPIL GAY CULTURE AND MUNY

Suffice to say, “bear” is often fed as more of an attu than anythg else – a sense of fort wh our natural masculy and bodi that is not slavish to the vogu of male attractivens that is so mon gay circl and the culture at large.

WHAT IS GAY BEAR PRI?

One of the many long-standg gay subcultur, a bear an LGBTQIA+ ntext is a large, hairy queer man who self-intifi wh the 'bear' label.

For those who are still the dark as to what all those labels for var typ of gay mal actually signify, this lk generoly breaks down laymen’s terms.

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.

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

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.

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.

A HANDY GUI TO ALL GAY MEN

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.

IN POWERFUL REBE OF HATE, JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN MAK HISTORY G OUT AS GAY

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. “It was really such ntrast to the stereotype of gay men, ” said Ron Surha, thor of “Bear on Bears” and another foundg member ― if one uld ll that ― of bear culture.

A LERATURE REVIEW OF HEALTH RISKS THE BEAR COMMUNY, A GAY SUBCULTURE

There was no work of gay men that he knew, so when he first h the scene, the only plac he knew to go were n-of-the-l gay dance bars, where he was hassled for his weight. ” As bears me to their own San Francis and Chigo the late ‘80s, the HIV/AIDS crisis further galvanized—and ravaged—the muny, jt as had the gay muny as a whole.

CHICKENS AND OTTERS AND BEARS, OH MY! SIX TYP OF GAY YOU SHOULD PROBABLY KNOW BEFORE YOU TWEET

“There are plenty of bears who are actual blue-llar gay men as well as ral gay men, who see bears as a way of intifyg that is not middle class, i. His experience also illtrat the divi between generatns that mirrors the gay muny’s transformatns before and after the worst days of the HIV/AIDS crisis. For gay men, groups like Bears, who are characterised as mascule, hairy men, have sce grown om a datg preference to a full-fledge brotherhood.

THE GAY BEAR COMMUNY: WHICH STEREOTYPE ARE YOU?

Vcent and the Grenad, where gay sex is still homelsns to ongog physil and verbal abe, the gay muny the small natn of some 100, 000 people says is unr nstant threat. While rarely voked, the rights group and a lol activist said the laws help legimize hostily and abe agast gay people.

Vcent who are livg abroad filed a se to challenge lol laws crimalizg gay sex that activists say should be stck down. ”Human Rights Watch terviewed more than 20 members of the island’s LGBTQ muny who shared their stori but were not intified to protect them, notg that lol police are often openly discrimatory toward gay people who seek help.

UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS

Several reported that their fai are homophobic and physilly and verbally abed them, g them to bee homels and promptg some to nsir suici. Many also stggle to fd jobs amid a high unemployment rate and said they face discrimatn, cludg a 19-year-old gay man who said he has rorted to beggg: “Sometim I am so hungry. ”González wh Human Rights Watch noted that 2019, the ernment held a workshop for public employe on the importance of rpectg gay rights, a rare move for a nservative Caribbean natn.