2017 Archives - The LGBT Sentinel

WeHo Halloween: World’s Largest Carnival

Published on October 14, 2017 in Entertainment & LifeStyle

Home to the largest Halloween carnival in the world, West Hollywood’s notorious festival draws in crowds of over half a million people each year and counting. This event has been taking place since 1987, just 3 years after West Hollywood was officially incorporated as its own city. It remains the city’s largest and most inclusive LGBTQ event. A pioneer of LGBTQ rights, West Hollywood (WeHo as known locally) delivers one of the most diverse events of the year. Located on a part of the historic Route 66, people come together and take to the streets to express themselves and mingle…

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Doing Just Fine Inside The Closet

Published on October 13, 2017 in Opinion

It’s that time of year again—the season when LGBTQ+ people are called upon to identify themselves to the masses. National Coming Out Day, October 11th, has just passed. In addition, the entire month has been dedicated to leaving the closet behind. Ever since I recognized my own queerness, I’ve felt uncomfortable on NCOD. But to be fair, it’s an event with a history we can all be proud of. The concept of “coming out” dates back to the 1800s, when early German advocates like Karl Heinrich Ulrichs and Magnus Hirschfeld promoted self-disclosure as a means of working towards equity for…

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Will & Grace: For Us

Published on October 3, 2017 in Uncategorized

Nearly two decades ago, Will & Grace took television by storm. The premises focuses on two best friends, a gay male and straight female, living together and experiencing daily antics. At this time, in 1998, LGBT representation on television was scarce. Will became a leading character that was loved not only by the gay community, but by those in the straight community as well. The show was largely relatable because it shed light on the dynamic of their friendship. Over the 8-year run, Will & Grace would prove to promote tolerance of those in the LGBT community. The audience got…

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Going Back Into The Closet: Retirement

Published on September 27, 2017 in Blog/Real Talk/Weekly

Partners of many years, Christopher Ross and Allan Keech are both 68-years-old. As they approach the typical challenges that must be faced with age such as health issues and retirement, they must also cope with discrimination. Upon their search for an appropriate retirement community, they have found them all to not have valid resources for including those in the LGBTQ community. Keech expressed that many gay people decide to go back into the closet during this time because of not wanting to feel ostracized. Both Ross and his partner Keech are not alone. Les Geller of the LGBT Center of…

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From LA To NYC: DragCon With Holly 2017

Published on September 14, 2017 in Blog/Entertainment & LifeStyle/Weekly

Five months ago, during his Keynote speech at the end of an incredible two days of RuPaul’s DragCon in Los Angeles, RuPaul instructed us to pack up our lashes and tuck tape, as they would be flying to New York City for the first ever East Coast DragCon. After an overwhelming response resulted in an early date change, this past weekend it finally happened, and of course, I flew across the country to be there. After L.A. DragCon completely exceeded all my expectations, the idea of an East Coast Con was exciting, but felt a journey into the unknown. L.A.…

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Hurricane Harvey: Who’s Affected?

Published on September 5, 2017 in Real Talk/The-Nation/Weekly

All of us. That’s the answer. On Monday, in response to a Politico article linking Hurricane Harvey to climate change, conservative TV personality Ann Coulter tweeted the following: “I don’t believe Hurricane Harvey is God’s punishment for Houston electing a lesbian mayor. But that is more credible than ‘climate change.’” — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) Of course! How could we have thought that the worst rainstorm in U.S. history was caused by an unwillingness to take climate change seriously, when it’s clearly just God’s way of putting Houston in a time-out for electing a qualified official who happens to be gay?…

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The Consumer You Can’t Ignore: Our $3.7 Trillion Spending Power

Published on August 22, 2017 in Blog/Real Talk/Weekly

Moneytalks: Recent studies show that the global LGBTQ+ market is growing rapidly. In 2015, the yearly “spending power” of LGBT people globally was estimated at $3.7 trillion, according to LGBT Capital. Global LGBTQ+ tourism in particular has been on the uptick for years, with an annual worth upwards of $211 billion, according to WTM London in 2016. As context for these numbers, the spending power of black consumers in the United States is averaged at $1.3 billion, and the spending power of women in the United States lies somewhere between $5 and $15 billion, according to Nielsen Consumer. However, in…

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Giving Back: A History & Guide

Published on August 18, 2017 in Blog/Real Talk/The-Nation/Weekly

LGBT charities and non-profits, which can be the same organization, exist to provide advocacy, awareness, and a safe haven for those individuals in the LGBT community that need a place to turn to. LGBT charities in the United States have been around for many years now, but they got their real start in the 1920’s. In 1924, Henry Gerber founded the Society for Human Rights, which was the first officially recognized gay rights organization in the United States. Twenty-six years later, the Mattachine Society was founded in 1950-51 by Harry Hay. This was the first major gay rights organization in…

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Sexual Education Lacking for Today’s Youth

Published on August 10, 2017 in Blog/Real Talk/The Nation/The-Nation/Weekly

While overall the world has become a more open and progressive place to live for today’s LGBT youth, the sexual education system still falls behind. Adolescence is difficult as is for heterosexual and cisgender (a gender identity in which gender matches the physical sex) youth. Imagine how difficult it must be for youth in the LGBT community when the education that could very well save your life can’t even be applied to you. Some schools worldwide still do not teach a sexual education curriculum, and among those that do, most do not include education about same-sex partnerships. According to…

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Global Gay Rights

Published on August 9, 2017 in Blog/Real Talk/Weekly

With the progressive nature of society, it seems barbaric to think that the LGBT community could be treated as criminal in the year 2017. For many citizens, this is the case. Currently, there are 8 countries in which being a homosexual can result in the death penalty. Additionally, there are 72 countries where simply being a part of the LGBT community is still criminalized and can result in legal punishment. If action is taken against someone in this geographic location, it could end in harsh retribution such as a prison sentence. Although, many countries over the last century have made…

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