Dear Neighbors to the North, I thought it was a thing of the past until I was corrected by an article on the news site of the BBC. How women after ten, twenty years of marriage find out that their husband is gay. Unfortunately there are still men who prefer to get married instead of confronting and upsetting the family, even in Western Europe.

The Public Health Service of Amsterdam (GGD Amsterdam) has started a research project involving homosexual men and transgenders on the usability of PrEP for HIV prevention: the AMPrEP (Amsterdam PrEP) project.

When it comes to a sense of humor, the British label Pepe Jeans London is an absolute must. Humor was also the source of inspiration for their 2015 spring and summer collection.

The European Commission issued a statement that current anti-discriminatory EU legislation will protect all transgender against unequal treatment. The European Commission makes it clear in this statement that the ban on discrimination on the grounds of gender does not only apply to transgenders undergoing a sex change. On the basis of gender identity, it applies to all transgenders, even those who are not undergoing a sex change.

The Turkish police have used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets against participants of Istanbul Pride. Governor Vasip Sahin of Istanbul had banned the Pride demonstration at a moment’s notice because of the Ramadan. Last year, Istanbul Pride also coincided with the Ramadan, but then it was not a reason to ban the Pride.

In 1931, Thomas Mann’s children Erika and Klaus published the travel report “Das Buch von der Riviera” as the fourteenth volume in the series “Was nicht im ‘Baedeker’ steht.” It was the intention of this series to give a subjective description of holiday destinations that would help tourists with less money and little luggage, unlike the other, more established middle-class travel guides. They did a wonderful job. For example in Marseille, they visit a “small, dirty” cinema near the red light district, that showed a silent movie with Ramón Novarro.

The Aids Fonds and Doctors Without Borders have called on the Dutch Lower House to put the international patent system on the agenda during the Dutch chairmanship of the EU in 2016. They did so by presenting the petition ‘Geen medicijnen is doodzonde’ (No medication is a Mortal Sin) to the Lower House.

As of last June, sex with someone of the same gender is no longer punishable in Mozambique. It is the result of the work of Lambda, a partner organisation of COC Netherlands in Mozambique

The Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan has stricken the country’s anti-gay law, as it considers the law to be unconstitutional. The media suggests that this step has been taken because of Kazakhstan's ambition to organise the 2022 Winter Olympics. LGBTI activists point out that even without an anti-gay law, homo/bi/transphobia is a growing problem.

“Tom of Finland: The Pleasure of Play,” which opened on June 14 at New York’s Artists Space, is one of the most comprehensive Tom of Finland survey exhibitions to date, spanning six decades to include more than 180 drawings, 1930s childhood paper dolls, the full set of 1940s gouaches along with triptychs, individual drawings, storyboards and over 300 reference pages.

Amsterdam Gay Pride is a large festival as well as an impressive plea for the emancipation of the LGTB community. Amsterdam is renowned for it's tolerance towards the LGBT community. With 450,000 visitors, Amsterdam Gay Pride is one of the largest Pride events in Europe, and celebrates Pride with a colourful boat parade, the Canal Parade.

Say: "Gay Pride" and many people will initially think right at our famous Boat Parade. And rightly so. It is a so-called pearl of the Amsterdam Gay Pride. But the festival is much more than that. Nine days the Amsterdam Gay Pride is a big party while an impressive plea for the emancipation of the gay, lesbian bisexual and trans communities. Every year hundreds of thousands of visitors to the capital.

For the second time, Gallery MooiMan will be showcasing itself at Amsterdam Pride - now with the Erotic Male in Art. From Friday, July 24 to Sunday, August 2, the top floor of Gays & Gadgets will be the domain of tough men in art who will show themselves from every possible perspective; visual, tactile and olfactory.