Today Yoko Ono will give the Biennial LENNON ONO GRANT FOR PEACE to five activists while celebrating the birthday of John Lennon and his son Sean. LADY GAGA is among the five activists who are to receive the peace award in Reykjavik today and is expected to donate her prize to the Elton John Aids Foundation to support their work combating HIV among disadvantaged youth in the U.S.

Read more ...

For the second time the Rainbow Reykjavik LGBT winter festival kicks off in Reykjavik, Iceland, January 31st, 2013.

This four day event (January 31st - February 3rd) offers a great mixture of events such as sight seeing tours, visit to the world famous Blue lagoon, city walk, northern light tours and ofcourse some late night partying. 

Mayor of Reykjavík Mr. Jón Gnarr has asked Moscow authorities to allow a proposed gay pride march to go forward without police interference. In a letter Mr. Jón Gnarr recently sent to Moscow´s mayor, Mr. Sergey Sobyanin, he encourages him to re-evaluate the decision to ban gay pride in Moscow and "support LGBT people in their wish to live a decent life instead of preventing in". By banning gay pride authorities is simply "a discrimination against citizens based on sexual orientation: a human rights violation".

Read more ...

There is a busy weekend coming up with bears taking over the local gay scene. The "Men Only Dance" at the downtown venue Iðusalur (Lækjargata 2) September 8th (Saturday night) marks the highlight of the weekend with Danish DJ Mikael Costa performing and the local DJs Dramatik and Bistro Boy. A special guest performer will be the gay icon Páll Óskar (Paul Oscar) who is also Iceland´s most popular singer and performer. House opens 10 pm. Free drink for those who show up early! Pre sale tickets cost ISK 1.000 and are available at the Queer Center (Samtökin '78) on Laugavegur 3 or ISK 1.500 at the door Saturday night.

For the 8th time BEARS ON ICE will take over Reykjavik´s gay scene for a long weekend, September 6-9. The event has been growing every year since it was first held in 2005 and this year event organizers have a record number of guests coming for the event from all over the world. Event program has a good number of activities on the list such as Golden Circle sight seeing tour, trip to the geothermal Blue lagoon and a visit to the Icelandic Phallological Museum. In addition there is a party organized every night starting with the opening party at the Queer Center Thursday night (September 6th), A Furry Friday at Club Faktory (September 7th) and Saturday men only party (September 8th) at Iða (Lækjargata 2, city center).

Read more ...

Reykjavik Gay Pride has finished but Gayice.is has kept a good record of what was happening during a week of fantastic and fun events. Gay Pride weekend had an early start with Iceland´s most entertaining competition, The Iceland Drag Contest (Draggkeppni Íslands) where Iceland get to choose the King and Queen for the year. 

Once again Reykjavik Gay Pride weekend is over. This year´s pride was just as successful as the successful prides in the past if not more successful for the vibe and the message it brought. It was definitely more political in a way than I recall. Reykjavik´s mayor Mr. Jon Gnarr made a strong statement in the Saturday parade with his act when showing support to the Russian feminists Pussy Riot who have been behind bars for speaking up and speaking their mind in their home country.

Read more ...

The annual Human Rights Prize, given to individuals and a group or an organization for their contribution to the humanitarian cause, where handed out last night at the Reykjavik Gay Pride Opening ceremony last night.  Anna Kristjánsdóttir (pictured above) was awarded for her long time contribution to the LGBT cause but Anna has been on the front line for a very long time fighting for the recognition of transgender people in Iceland and their basic human rights. Óttar Guðmundson is a medical doctor has been supporting transgenders in Iceland for a long time and paving the way for improved medical treatment and support in Iceland. Mbl TV is an online web tv has run a series of episodes with interviews with transgender individuals as well as coming out stories, raising the awareness on LGBT issues.