Austria

It’s very easy to get caught up in the doom and gloom of being an LGBTQ person because we still have to fight for the rights and protection of our people every day. Let’s take a look at the other side for a moment.

Israel’s conservative government just named a gay man Minister of Justice. No one would imagine that happening in the Trump administration.

A court ruling legalizing marriage equality went into effect at midnight on January 1. Moments later, they were wed.

Before she became CEO, her company donated money to Congressman Steve King, one of America’s most racist politicians.

He apparently doesn’t “walk, act and dress” like a gay man.

Can you name what they all stand for?

Same-sex marriages will begin in January 2019 or earlier if Parliament lifts the ban before the ruling goes into place.

The school likened her being trans to “having an allergy.”

Angela Merkel, who has stated her adamant opposition to same-sex marriage, has a 74% approval rating. Where’s the disconnect?

Partnerships would be registered where marriage records are kept and the spot for “last name” will be changed to “family name.”

The lights show couples — a man and a woman, two women or two men. Set up recently at 47 crossings, they were to be taken down in June, after the conclusion of several gay-friendly events.

Some Vienna pedestrian traffic lights are suddenly not only red or green. They’re also gay or straight. And Austria’s right-wing Freedom Party is livid.

Police estimated around 2,000 people participated in the protest Friday, forcing the closure of one downtown street. Some of the demonstrators exchanged long kisses.

Prior to the decision Wednesday, same-sex partners could adopt a child only if one of them was the child’s biological parent.

Europe is changing, and Conchita Wurst is both beneficiary and agent of that change. Her stardom is proof that Austria is willing to love someone different. Now’s she’s been elevated to a global stage.

STRASBOURG, France — A prominent, openly lesbian politician from Austria presented Pope Francis with a rainbow scarf on Tuesday, and called on the Pontiff to speak up for women’s rights and same-sex marriage.

VIENNA — A man who attacked Austria’s openly gay Greens politician Ulrike Lunacek by spraying butyric acid on her at Vienna’s LGBT pride parade last month, will not face charges because no injuries were sustained. While the suspect has been identified, yet remains at large, prosecutors say he will not be charged, as no one was injured.

VIENNA — Austria’s first openly gay politician was the victim of an attack at Friday’s annual LGBT pride parade in Vienna. An unknown assailant sprayed butyric acid at Ulrike Lunacek, leader of the Austrian Greens’ delegation to the European Parliament, as she was giving an interview on the sidelines of the parade.

VIENNA — Party-goers dressed in little more than body paint rubbed shoulders with men in tuxedoes and cross-dressers in wild costumes on Saturday, transforming Vienna’s City Hall into a fantasy land. But in the end, Conchita Wurst stole the show. The occasion, Europe’s biggest charity event, was serious: raising money for AIDS research.

VIENNA — So… who was the real Conchita Wurst? The one on stage, of course. But with some of the fans gathered Sunday to fete the hirsute Austrian drag queen wearing fake beards, it was a justified question.