Reykjavik Pride week has started with all sorts of events and activities taking place in Reykjavik for a few days. Last night Iceland´s most entertaining competition took place at the old Opera with kings and queens in drag taking on a battle of the crowns.  Handsome Dave and Queen GóGó Starr walked away with the trophies leaving the crowd gagging on all the eleganza. Check out the pictures from last night competition "Draggkeppni Íslands" (Pictures By Pall Gudjonsson)

Páll Óskar aka Paul Oscar, one of Iceland´s best known pop singer and a true gay icon is releasing his new single, "Líttu upp í ljós" (Look into the Light) today. Celebrating life is Paul Oscar´s trademark and thats what his new dance pop singleis all about.

Reykjavik Gay Pride launched a new website and the Pride Magazine listing all events for the the coming up Pride which starts August 4th. The guide includes information about all the Pride events taking place during the festival, interviews and articles on LGBTIQ issues and culture. Reykjavik Pride is a festival that celebrates queer culture and legal rights, but also an event that focuses on human diversity and different aspects of queer culture – and the festival guide is a platform for such discussions.

This year´s Pride is packed with interesting events from August 4th-9th. The theme of Reykjavik Pride this year is "health", and the interviews and articles in the programme guide are focused on various aspects of health, health care and the queer society.

Check out Reykjavik Pride brand new website and Pride Magazine. 

Reykjavik Gay Pride will kick off for the 17th time August 4th and is accepting applications from those interested in participating in the Pride Parade August 8th. The Reykjavik Pride Parade has become one of Iceland´s biggest outdoor events is definitely the highlight of the event which last from 4-9th of August.

This year´s theme is "Health" and everyone who´s interested to participate is encouraged to send a application.

The Gay Route The parade will go from point A to C, Sound systems and generators will be fitted on trucks and cars at point D. The route gives the participants a lot of space so don´t be short on decorations! Among events on Schedule this year apart from the big parade are concerts, gay cruise, and a Pride Ball. Check out Reykjavik Gay Pride website for more details.

Among events on Schedule this year apart from the big parade are concerts, gay cruise, and a Pride Ball. Check out Reykjavik Gay Pride website for more details.

ILGA-Europe, The European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, has released its 2015 ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map, reflecting the National legal and policy human rights situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and interest (LGBTI) people in Europe. Iceland came in 8th place in their 2014 Index but drops down to number 12th on the list. The total score for Iceland remains about the same (63%) but Malta’s rise to 3rd in ILGA´s 2015 rating is undoubtedly the most eye-catching story of the 2015 Rainbow Map.

Iceland comes 8th on the 2014 ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map with the score of 64%. The ILGA map reflects the National legal and policy human rights situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and interest (LGBTI) people in Europe. UK is on top of the list scoring 82%, Belgium comes second with 78% and Spain is in third place with 73% score. Of the Scandinavian countries Norway is number 5 on the list and Sweden comes number seven.

Iceland´s drawback on the ILGA are on numerous topics and issues, mostly related to the recognition and protection of individuals based on gender identity, automatic co-parent recognition and lack of policy tackling hate speech.

The 2015 Ru Paul´s Condragulations Tour did a stop-over in Reykjavik April 17th (2015) with the one and only Michelle Visage hosting a fantastic show where some of the best names in drag put on a memorable show for the Icelandic audience. Adore Delano, Alaska 5000, Ivy Winters, Jinkx Monsoon, Pandora Boxx and Sharon Needles made the crowd went wild with their energetic and entertaining two hour performance. Check out Gayice.is pictures from the Reykjavik Condragulations tour and Drag Gazette´s YouTube video from their show in Reykjavik.

Samtökin 78, The National Queer Organization, has selected new board of directors. Hilmar Magnusson will take the Chair of Samtökin '78 board of directors serving his second term on the Organization´s front line. 5 new members will join the board for the next term of the 7 selected each year. According to Hilmar, newly elected Chair of Samtökin '78, some of the most important challenges ahead comes from within the organization such as getting the Community Center back on track, fund proper staffing and involving social groups more actively within the Organization. "Last year Samtökin sold their old headquarters on Laugavegur and getting the new facility up and running has been hectic and time consuming. Hopefully we´ll see end of that early spring" says Hilmar.