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People love this straight Australian guy's chill reaction to stumbling on an LA Pride Parade

"If only more straight men were like this."

via StanChris/Instagram (used with permission)

Chris Stanley interviews Timm Hanly.

LGBTQ influencer Chris Stanley was doing on-the-street reporting on June 2nd at the WeHo Pride Parade in West Hollywood, California, when he ran into a straight guy with the best reaction to the event.

WeHo is one of the largest annual Pride celebrations in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of people every June.

Australian TV star Timm Hanly was chomping down an ice cream cone when he ran into Stanley, who asked why he was there. He calmly told Stanley that he is “straight, not gay” and just there “for the vibes.” Hanly added that his family was visiting from Australia and it was their second day in the city.

Hanly appeared on “The Bachelorette Australia” in 2019 and “Bachelor in Paradise” in 2020 and then married his wife, Briana. The couple had a baby last October. However, his newfound domestic bliss didn’t stop Hanly from enjoying the festivities. When Stanley asked if the gays threw a good party, he adamantly agreed.

“F**king’ oath. One hundred percent. No one does it better, really,” Hanly replied. (For those who don’t speak fluent Aussie, “oath” is a very affirmative version of “yes,” like when American Gen Zers say “bet.”)

Hanly doubled down on his LGBTQ allyship when he grabbed the mic after being asked how he feels when hit on by gay men. “Oh, I love this,” he responded. “Let’s say I’m walking down the street and a gay guy is like looking at me. That’s as good as a girl looking at me. That counts. That’s as good for my ego as a hot chick looking at me,” Hanly said as Chris laughed.

The video captures what many people believe LGBTQ pride is all about love, acceptance, and having a good time. Many people thought that Hanly was the perfect example of straight allyship. “I think so many people loved it because there was zero toxic masculinity at all,” Chris told Upworthy. “He was just a dude who stumbled across something gay and admired it for what it was without any hostility involved. Something we need more of.”

“My favorite response was when he said he’s ‘just here for the vibes,’” Stanley continued.

A lot of the commenters agree with Stanley.

“And that’s how straight guys who are comfortable in their own sexuality should react to [a Pride parade],” Masterwill7 wrote. “Can Tim and his wife stay in the US and teach the men around here how to be better?” HJomckinney_added.

To further his quest to understand what Pride means in America. Stanley recently created a 22-minute short film about one of the smallest Pride celebrations in America in Morgantown, West Virginia.

“Imagine a Pride celebration so small, it’s almost a secret,” he says in the opening scene. The film explains what life is like for LGBTQ Americans in a state where intolerance is a part of life. “Everyone in West Virginia has a gay neighbor, but not everyone in West Virginia wants to talk about the fact that they have a gay neighbor,” Dustin Blankenship, from nearby Granville, says in the film.

I Went to the Smallest Pride in America! | LGBTQ+ Documentary

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Identity

Adorable animated short tells the story of a gay kid 'outed by his heart'

Enjoy four minutes of 100% pure sweetness 💕

Photo pulled from YouTube video

Animated short about closeted love.

After a much anticipation, the animated kids short "In a Heartbeat" was finally released on July 31, 2017.

The four-minute short film — which follows a closeted boy as he "runs the risk of being outed by his own heart after it pops out of his chest to chase down the boy of his dreams" — captivated certain corners of the internet once its trailer was released in May and instantly went viral.

The finished film is just as adorable and sweet and pure and squee-worthy as fans were hoping.

People are just totally loving it.

Like, honestly, truly adoring it.

The short is only four minutes long and completely void of narration or dialogue.

But its creators, Beth David and Esteban Bravo — who completed the project as part of their college senior thesis project — were able to invoke so manyrelatable emotions to queer fans watching at home: the helplessness of puppy love, the adolescent dread of being outed as LGBTQ, the judgmental gaze from peers when you are outed as LGBTQ, and the comfort of finally learning you're not alone.

The project's 30-second trailer tugged at heartstrings back in May, so you can imagine what a difference the full movie is making now.

"We're very touched by the response we've gotten so far and we're happy to know that our project has already had a positive impact on so many people," the creators said in May of the film's blossoming fandom. "It proves to us that there is a need and a want for media that addresses LGBT+ themes in a positive and lighthearted way."

The two hoped their film's positive reception will lead to more LGBTQ-inclusive films being produced down the line.

Fans, it seems, passionately agree:

Take four minutes out of your day and watch "In a Heartbeat" right now, below:

This article originally appeared on 07.31.17

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'Normal and natural': Scientists admit the animal kingdom is a lot gayer than they thought

It's “widespread and natural in the animal kingdom.”

via DSD/Pexels and Sebastian Voortman/Pexels

Some adorable penguins and monkeys.

LGBTQ people have faced discrimination around the globe for centuries. A big reason is that non-heterosexual relationships have been seen as unnatural by both church and state. LGBTQ people have either been seen as acting against the will of God for rejecting the traditional family structure or, nature, for engaging in sexual activity that doesn’t result in reproduction.

However, science has slowly been striking down the idea that homosexuality is unnatural by proving that it’s seen across countless species, from bonobo monkeys to black swans to fruit flies. A landmark 2019 research paper found that over 1500 species of animals exhibit homosexual behavior.

However, now it appears that the paper wildly underestimated the amount of homosexual activity happening in nature.

A new report published on June 20, 2024, in the journal PLOSOne shows that same-sex sexual behavior in the animal kingdom is much more prevalent than previously documented. The big reason is that researchers have been underreporting their observations.

The study surveyed 65 experts and 77% said that they had observed same-sex sexual behavior in the species they studied. However, only 48% reported collecting data on the observations and only 18% published their findings.

“Many respondents reported that their lack of recording data or publishing on SSSB [same-sex sexual behavior] was due to a perception that it was very rare,” Karyn Anderson, a PhD candidate in evolutionary anthropology at the Univerity of Texas, who led the study, told CNN. “When looked at on a broader scale, we found instead that it was very commonly observed by our survey participants.”

Anderson adds that homosexuality is, in fact, “widespread and natural in the animal kingdom.”

The news doesn’t surprise Josh Davis, author of “A Little Gay Natural History,” a book that examines the diversity of sexual behavior in the natural world.

“Whilst it has only been officially recorded in around 1,500 species, this figure is likely a massive underestimate,” he told IFL Science. “This is because it can be found in pretty much every branch of the evolutionary tree, from beetles and butterflies to turtles and squirrels, so the idea that it is limited to just a few hundred species out of the 2.13 million described to date is incredibly unlikely.”

“There’s a growing suggestion it’s normal and natural to almost every species,” he added. “It’s probably more rare to be a purely heterosexual species.”

lgbtq, gay animals, sexuality research

People enjoying a pride parade.

via Aleks Magnusson/Pexels

At first, it may seem as though same-sex sexual behavior runs counter to evolution. If animals reproduce through heterosexual intercourse, why do some still have same-sex relations?

Researchers believe that homosexuality may have evolved in humans because individuals with a degree of same-sex attraction benefit from greater social integration, mobility, and stronger social bonds. So, there is a survival benefit to participating in same-sex sexual behavior.

These developments are further proof that humans and the rest of the animal kingdom have never been exclusively heterosexual and those that have same-sex relations are as natural as those who do not. It seems the more we learn about the science of sexuality, the more we realize that Lady Gaga was right on the mark when she wrote “Born This Way.”

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A Texas dad gave a heart-wrenching speech about his trans son. It's a must-see.

Ken Ballard wants you to know his son's story.

Photo pulled from video

Texas dad giving heartfelt speech.

A baseball cap on his head, his hands tucked snugly in his front blue jean pockets, Ken Ballard stood in front of a room of onlookers, admittedly a little out of his element.

But the issue at hand was so critical, Ballard said, he couldn't keep quiet.

Ballard was speaking during Texas' 85th Legislative Session this past winter about his 14-year-old transgender son, Ashur, who attempted suicide twice.

Ashur, like many trans people, had wrestled with his identity in a world where ignorance and irrational fear-mongering continue harming people like him.

"Was I going to be his bully?" an emotional Ballard said in response to his son's coming out. "Was I going to try and put him back into a box that fit the rules of my world at the time or wait it out and see if it would just pass and go back to the way it’d use to be?"

Advocacy group Equality Texas, who's worked with Ballard in fighting for LGBTQ rights in the state, recently shared a video of him speaking during the session. Although it was captured on video several months ago, Ballard's emotional plea in front of his fellow Texans is just now making waves online.

Since Equality Texas shared the video on Facebook, the comment section has filled with loving messages of support and admiration.

The comments, although mostly positive, are a bit bittersweet to Ballard.

"I ... see comments that too many parents missed out on what could have been an amazing journey for them and their child by not accepting them," Ballard explains. "Be as excited about your kid's life as you were at the sonogram, when 'we are having a baby' was enough."

The ongoing debate over trans rights isn't isolated in Ballard's home state. Legislatures at both the state and local level across the country are pushing forward with harmful bills this very moment.

A recently proposed Texas "bathroom bill" — which would have forced trans Texans to use the restroom that corresponds with the sex they were assigned at birth (not the gender they identify) — was just rejected by House Speaker Joe Straus, which was great news for human rights groups like Equality Texas.

But there's still much at stake in the Lone Star State and in jurisdictions from coast to coast.

A handful of states, including Montana, Virginia, and Minnesota — as well as local school boards spanning the U.S. — deliberating similar bathroom bills. Research shows these laws leave trans people even more vulnerable to dangerous circumstances in their own communities — yet, their passing doesn't protect anyone.

Chances are, equality — and trans lives — might be at stake in your own region of the country.

As for Ballard and Ashur, they're living proof that acceptance and inclusion save lives.

And, as Ballard's moving speech illustrates so well, it's important our laws reflect that critical reality.

"I've watched a kid go from someone who, 26 months ago, was in despair," Ballard says of his son's mental health. "Now, [he's] flourishing."


This article originally appeared on 07.06.17

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