Hunk of the day June 30

Hunk of the day June 27

Hunk of the day June 15

Beautiful #12

Gay pride event in Shanghai ends with a party at a bar on the city's famous Bund promenade

Organisers of Shanghai's gay pride week said Friday that authorities had cancelled several key activities in the event, the first-ever in a country where homosexuality remains largely in the closet. The week is due to end with a party at a bar on the city's famous Bund promenade and a barbecue elsewhere.

According to a spokesman for organisers Shanghai LGBT, who asked to remain anonymous, a film screening and play were stopped by city officials.

The two venues due to host the final events Saturday had received phone calls from local authorities, although there was no indication of any cancellations.

"Today, we're just keeping our fingers crossed that we can end the whole festival on a positive note," the organiser told AFP.

"I don't think the central government is trying to stop our events - I think it's more of a local intervention -- but this has a very intimidating effect on our audience, especially the Chinese audience," he said.

The festival has been celebrated at private venues without a public parade - in stark contrast to similar events elsewhere in the world - to avoid stirring up unwanted official attention.

But the week of art exhibitions, film screenings, workshops and plays has been marred by last-minute cancellations by local authorities citing a lack of proper authorisation.

Restaurant Kathleen's Five was forced to cancel the screening of a lesbian-themed film after local government officials said it had no authorisation to show films, the spokesman said.

Another film due to be screened there was shown at a different venue.

Authorities also forced the cancellation of a play that was to be performed at a local photo gallery on Friday night.

The state-run China Daily newspaper said Friday: "The cancellation of film screenings might have been to do with the films' content and China's rules on public advertisements."

The Shanghai Pride spokesman said uniformed policemen also entered a venue hosting a gay pride literary event on Tuesday evening.

"Nothing happened but if you're in the audience and you see policemen arrive, it's really intimidating," he said.

Homosexuality has long been a sensitive subject in China with gay sex decriminalised only in 1997, while homosexual behaviour was officially viewed as a mental disorder until 2001.

Nevertheless, Shanghai -- a vibrant metropolis of around 20 million - is more tolerant of its gay community than most Chinese cities, with bars that attract an exclusively gay clientele.

"Compared to the 1980s and early 1990s - when most gays and lesbians had to meet covertly in toilets, public bathhouses, parks and bus stations - the situation has changed dramatically," the official China Daily said.

The English-language newspaper said Shanghai had proved itself "one of the most open and progressive Chinese cities" with its "increasingly active gay and lesbian community" and the festival.

Thomas Beatie gave birth to his second child early Tuesday morning

Thomas Beatie, believed to be the world’s first ‘pregnant man’, has given birth to his second child in America. While Beatie and his wife Nancy have not yet named the baby but sources close to the couple said that the baby was born via natural childbirth.

Announcing his second pregnancy in an interview with Barbara Walters in the US last November, Mr Beatie said: "I feel good. I had my checkups with my hormone level, as far as the HCG. And everything is right on track."

Mr Beatie, 35, was born a girl named Tracy Lagondino but had gender reassignment surgery and is now legally male, wears a beard, and is married to Nancy. Despite changing his gender, Mr Beatie had kept his female organs so he could fall pregnant one day. The couple decided he should get pregnant after learning that Nancy was unable to bear another child due to a hysterectomy.

Beatie told U.S. talk show host Barbara Walters last year they regard themselves as a normal, heterosexual family. 'We are a man, woman and child,' he said. 'It's ironic that we are so different but yet, we're just a family, just the same as anyone else.
'I am my daughter's father, and that's all I'll ever be to her.'
Thomas told Oprah Winfrey last year his first attempt at conceiving resulted in an ectopic pregnancy with triplets. They had to be aborted, he said, and he lost his right fallopian tube.

'Despite the fact that my belly is growing with a new life inside me, I am stable and confident being the man that I am," Thomas said when news of the pregnancy broke in March.

Hunk of the day June 07

Beautiful #11

Hunk of the day June 1